Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Naruto or Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha. InuYasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Viz Media, ShoPro Entertainment, and Shounen; while Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, Shueisha, Viz Media, and Madman Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended with this purely fan-made crossover, especially since no money is being made from this.

Altruistic Tenacity
The Pain of Living...

Dawn came far too early for Kagome's tastes as all she wanted to do was burrow deeper under her covers and rest her weary body. As much as she hated to admit it, she was out of shape. The years she spent traveling across Feudal Japan seemed like a far-away dream in both her mind and body. The stamina she had once had had dwindled down to nothing. If carrying a near-dead man from the edge of Fire Country to Kumogakure caused her that much fatigue and soreness, she was terrified to think of what had happened to her archery skills.

It seemed the only parts of her that were still constantly in use were her mind and her hama no reiryoku. In most of her spare time she had read up on all the history of this world that she could get her hands on. That was about the only thing she agreed on with A -- if she was now stuck in this world, then she needed to know everything she could about it. If she did not know certain facts about history and people and events, then it made her incredibly suspicious to anyone with a brain. Even civilian children knew the basics of ninja history. She had resigned herself to living in this world for the rest of her life and so, she decided she might as well know all she could about it.

There was another reason, too. Perhaps, she had thought, somewhere buried within a scroll or on a scrapped piece of parchment, there would be something that could allow her to go back home. She was homesick, plain and simple. And who in her position would not be? She had spent nearly a year traveling across Feudal Japan putting together a jewel she broke, then three years in her true era to get a degree she would never use and wanting to head back to where her heart lay, only to be taken to this world or time instead. (She still had no clear idea as to whether or not she was in a new world or a time in the future yet. Though, everything did point to her being in the future. She could not get over the habit of calling it a "world" though as it was different from her own.)

As those feelings of homesickness once again welled in her, she rolled over onto her stomach. She wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with her memories. Yet she knew she could not do that. If she did not wake and head off to watch over Kirabi's training, she would be receiving visitors of the elite ninja kind. While she did not mind them, she knew it would not be the best thing for them to see her new charge.

Kagome rolled out of bed at that thought. All her hard work would go to waste if her patient was discovered. There was just something about him that she knew would not go over well with A or his council, and it was not the young man's beauty or age. Though she was sure that would be part of it. But no, there was something else about him that was nagging at her. She just could not put her finger on what.

The motions of dressing were done automaton. Her wardrobe hardly changed each day as she was used to wearing one outfit almost every day from school. It was one routine she had done countless times before to give too much thought to, but now she also wanted to check up on her patient. While his condition had been still stable when she returned from her meeting with the Raikage, she did not know how he had fared through the night.

And just as she had left him last night, he was still the same. He had not moved an inch, and from what she could tell, he was still stable and getting better. She smiled brightly as she left a plate of fruit next to him, in case he woke while she was gone. Kagome leaned in closer, taking in his returning color and brushing her hands through his hair.

"Good morning, shinobi," she said. She hoped he could hear her and know that there was someone watching over him. "I have to leave now, but I'll be back soon. If you wake up, there's some fresh fruit for you to eat."

There was no reply, but she was not expecting one. With one last concerned look at his body, she left and headed to the training grounds.

"Late again! Why don't you show up when you say so we can begin?" Kirabi's snide comment was the first thing to greet her as she arrived. It was fast becoming routine between them as he did not like her and, by extension, she did not care for him either.

Kagome looked at the shadow cast by the entrance post and sighed. She was five minutes late, so sue her! Of course, not literally.

"Well, excuse me for being a normal person and liking to sleep!" She crossed her arms. "It's only five minutes, not five hours."

Normally, Kagome could get along with anyone. She had a natural charm and cheery disposition that drew people in and made it nearly impossible for people to hate her. However, she could not get along with Kirabi. Ever since they had met, their relationship was strained at best. She attributed their dislike of each other to the demon called 'Hachibi', his older brother's obvious interest in her, and her lack of strength and ninja skills.

Like most other ninja, Kirabi looked for strength. Most notably, strength in taijutsu and ninjutsu. She was more than lacking in taijutsu and had no ability in ninjutsu. She knew because she had tried her hand at both. No teacher had had the patience to sit through and teach her moves and techniques that children half her age had mastered. Then there was the problem with chakra: apparently, she had none. Unfortunately, most ninja gave respect to those who were strong in those aspects because they kept one alive. And respect translated into something bordering camaraderie.

The next mark against her was not entirely her fault. It was just her bad luck that his older brother was the Raikage and had a major crush on her. No matter what she said in her defense to Kirabi made him like her anymore. Not only did he not like the fact that his older brother liked someone as weak as she, he did not like the fact that she did not return the affections.

The third and final mark against her was something she could not blame him for feeling. Miko and demons did not mix well nor did they normally get along. The Hachibi no doubt knew exactly what she was and what she could do to him. While strength was valued, her strong hama no reiryoku was not. It made her able to kill him with one touch. The people and things that were stronger, and enough so to kill without breaking a sweat, were always feared and resented.

On her end, her reason for being mean back was that she treated people the way she was treated. Until he showed her that he respected her and that she had worth, she would treat him the same way he was treating her. That was the only thing keeping her from always being nice and continuing to try to be his friend. Friendship outside of civilians and the three-men team was not something that happened often, at least in Kumogakure.

The fact that she had told him to quit his rhyming probably did not help matters. Even if Hachibi agreed with her. She supposed that was why he went out of his way to always rhyme when talking to her.

"Just stay outta the way and keep from ruining my day!"

Kagome rolled her eyes and sat down in her normal spot. It was far enough away that she would not get in the way of his training, but close enough that she could step in if he decided to push the limits a little too far. A had requested (though it would be more accurate to say "demanded") that Kirabi never transform into the full eight-tailed beast. He often broke that rule, but Kagome did not mind this at all and never told A what was going on.

For the most part, Kirabi and Hachibi worked together as partners. While they did not always see eye-to-eye, they were on the same page. So Hachibi hardly ever got out of hand and tried to force its influence, nor did it attempt to destroy everything in sight when Kirabi would allow him full control. It was why Kagome had never bothered to tell on him. It had only happened once over the past two years, and it had been because of her presence. The very first time she had watched Kirabi train, it had ended with him using up his chakra in anger, thus allowing Hachibi to rise to the surface and kill the threat.

Which had been her.

Needless to say, the attack did not work. She had been able to suppress Hachibi before anything drastic could happen. Ever since then, though, she had been a constant fixture in his training sessions.

And after two years, his training sessions were decidedly boring. She knew all his moves and attacks. She had watched him practice the same sets of kata for twenty-three months, and she had seen all the ninjutsu he would use in her presence. The only thing she never saw him do was genjutsu and when she asked, she never got an answer. Though, to be honest, she was not expecting one either.

Instead she let her mind wander to her family and friends. It seemed whenever the anniversary of her appearing in this world or time came around, she found herself feeling lonelier and lost in memories. With each passing day, it seemed as if she remembered less and less about her loved ones.

After so many months, she found it hard to remember exactly how they looked, and she could not even recall the sound of their voices. All she had were a few things to remember them by: her mother's smile, the scent of her Jii-chan, her brother's laughter, the molten gold of Inuyasha's eyes, the color of Sango's yukuta, Miroku's soothing presence, the innocence in Shippou's face.

That was all she had left. And even those things were fading fast from her memory. It caused her sadness to deepen that much more.

Kirabi watched her and felt the immense waves of sadness flowing off her. It was the first time he had ever noticed her being sad, as she was either happy or angry. He never saw her at peace or feeling anything other than those two emotions, and it was strange to him. The woman he thought incapable of being brought down was now sad.

It made him wonder just what could take away her cheeriness. And wonder just what she could have to be sad about. In his eyes, she had everything: a nice place to live, respect of the civilians, loved by the children, the attention of his older brother; and she did not have to work a day in her life for it.

'You seem to forget that she's just as much a prisoner as you,' Hachibi said. Unlike his host, he did not entirely hate the woman in front of him. He only hated the fact that she could kill him with just a touch.

'Who the hell asked you?'

Kirabi could tell his tailed beast rolled its eyes. 'Before you start thinking about how fucking bad you have it, try to remember that everyone has their own issues. She's been stuck in this village for almost two years. Have you ever seen her visit with family? Have you ever heard her talk of her home? Hell, for all we know she could be unable to see her family or leave because of your brother.'

That had never occurred to him. When one was a Jinchuuriki, it was hard to notice the pain and suffering of others as it paled in comparison to the pain they had suffered. Perhaps she was not as horrible as he first thought.

She smiled softly when she noticed him looking at her. Kagome stood up and walked over to him. "Done all ready?"

He nodded before leaving. With his new thoughts about the weak woman stuck watching over him, he did not trust anything that would come out of his mouth. Who knew what Hachibi would cause him to say?

The first thing that filled his ears was the sound of soft humming. It started out as nothing more than a muffled whisper that taunted him with its melody in the darkness. The desire to hear it and see who was singing it had him struggling out of the inky waves that surrounded him to follow it. The beginning was slow going as his body felt as if he had not moved it in years. Then he remembered.

He pushed himself to the limit in order to die in front of his brother. It was his last gift to his little brother, and all he had given him was his way of apologizing. The awakening of the mangekyou sharingan and the passing on of all the techniques he learned for it was all he could give Sasuke in return for how much he had taken from him.

So was this the land of the dead, and was the haunting melody leading him into his afterlife?

He decided that it could not be the land of the dead. As he followed the melody, the louder it got and the more pain he felt. Instead of the bliss and loss of emotion he knew had to come with death, he could feel every movement his body made, the chakra that was trying to replenish itself, and the darkness that only seemed to lighten. No longer was it an all-encompassing darkness, but a much lighter one he knew to be of the living world. After all, only life had need of light.

As he came more into his awareness, he felt a cold rag brush against his skin. First his face, then down to his neck. A soft hand supported his back and he could feel the warmth from another body nearby. Using what strength he could muster, he grabbed the hand washing his face.

The small wrist that his hand easily encircled caused him to have second thoughts about the sex of his caretaker. The knowledge that he was being taken care of by a female cemented itself in his mind when he heard her soft, feminine gasp. Then again, it would not be the first time he had come across a man who had all the makings of a woman.

"So, you've decided to wake up," the woman said softly before easily removing her hand from his grip. "Don't worry, all I'm doing is cleaning you up since you were covered in sweat and dirt. I figured you'd like to be somewhat clean whenever you decided to wake up."

His hand fell; he no longer had the strength to keep it up. If this was the price of nearly dying, he wished he had been allowed to. Death was something he had longed for for years. After living for nearly seven years with the guilt of all he had done in the name of loyalty and altruism, he wanted the freedom of death. Yet he could not help but feel relieved that he lived. In life, he could do more to redeem himself.

However, he had only two questions. It was hard trying to find the strength to open his mouth and force words out. "How? ...Why?" At hearing his raspy voice, he winced.

His ears worked just fine and he could hear her smile. "How is probably better saved for another day. But I will tell you, you're completely fine. Except for your eyes, but I have a feeling you know that. As for why... Why not? You were injured, so of course I'm going to help."

He did know about his eyes. That was one thing he expected to go his entire life without if he did manage to live. The abilities of his eyes were the one thing he could give to his little brother that would ensure he survived and did what he could not do for the world of ninja. For what he did to his little brother, his eyesight was a small price to pay.

Those thoughts were washed away as a bucket full of lukewarm water was dumped over his head. Anything he was going to try to say in response to that was cut off as her hands ran through his hair. It had been years since he last had his hair washed by someone else, and he missed the feeling of dainty fingers running through his hair and lightly scratching his scalp.

"Oh, and don't worry. No one knows you're here. I don't know why, but you seem as if there'd be quite a few people after you if they found out where you were."

The relaxation he had been feeling was quickly destroyed at hearing that. If anyone did find out just who he was and that he was still alive, there would be trouble. He could already tell that the second Zetsu noticed him missing, Akatsuki would be looking for him. Not to mention he would most likely be killed by any ninja that recognized him just so they could say they killed Uchiha Itachi. And she would be in danger, too. Leave it to altruism to cause so many troubles.

Yet altruism was what caused the entire situation years ago.

Another bucket of water was dumped over his head, and he allowed those thoughts to be washed away too. There would be time when he had more strength to worry over the repercussions of what happened. His eyes closed as she hummed the haunting melody that brought him out of the darkness.