Chapter 322: Symposium

n. to have a meeting to discuss a particular topic.

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Kagome thought the questioning would start as soon as the door to the Hotel room had closed, but Temari went about setting up her futon for bed and finishing up her toiletries.

"Aren't we going to talk about the seals?" whispered Kagome, her lower lip finding its ways between her teeth as she shifted from foot to foot in her place beside the door.

"Yeah, eventually," shrugged Temari, winching as she pulled her brush through her knotted hair.

"Here, let me help," offered Kagome as she reached out to take the brush that Temari offered her.

"There you are!" crowed Kankuro as he kicked open the door. Kagome jumped at the burst of motion, spending a moment to be grateful that she had just moved. "Did you or Baki find anything about those weird seals? I've been tracking the sealer all day! Oh, sorry, Kagome, I didn't know you were here. This is for a mission."

"Oh, uh… I can leave?" owlishly proposed Kagome, as she continued to brush out Temari's hair.

"No, you're staying here, and we are having a family talk when Baki gets back," ordered Temari, her eyes narrowing on Kankuro until he reclined next to them.

"Why'd you do it?" prompted Temari, determined to keep the flash of hurt from broadcasting across her face. Temari thought that Kagome was supporting their cause, she thought Kagome understood, how it would benefit Suna to finish this invasion, but Temari had been wrong before.

As soon as Temari could feel the flash of fiery temper rush through her, she turned her attention away from the fidgeting Kagome to set her eyes on the stonily silent Baki. Temari breathed loudly through her nose, waiting for Kagome's response.

After what seemed like ages, Kagome took a deep breath and took turns to look all of them in the eyes.

"This is a war between ninja," she resolved, "The rest of us are just 'pawns' in this political skirmish. Pieces to be sacrificed to achieve some sway over the enemy, but I don't believe that is how it should be."

Temari's eyebrows creased as her mouth pulled into a frown. Her confusion evident as she glanced towards Baki. Ninja obeyed the orders given to them by their Kazekage, they didn't have opinions about those orders. Temari opened and closed her mouth, searching for the right words to explain this idea to Kagome.

"Kagome…" called Baki monotonously. All three teenagers' eyes shot towards the towering man as he leaned against the doorway. Kankuro's attention had been split between his sister and Kagome, bouncing between them as if it was a particularly interesting kunai volley. He had been watching the conversation progress in bewilderment, barely following his sister's implication as well as Kagome's defense.

"We are a family," Baki finally stated emphatically, "our goal is to keep one another safe. Your actions brought danger upon yourself, thus putting danger on us all."

Kagome gasped, her eyes shining brightly in the low light of the lamp, until silent tears began to slip over her lower lashes. Kankuro chaffed under the perceived belief that Kagome would ever seek to cause them harm. An odd feeling filled him as he watched Kagome silently swipe her tears away.

"There isn't anything that you can do Kagome, that we can't handle," asserted Kankuro boldly, his eyes narrowing in hostility towards Baki.

"You misunderstand. It is not that we cannot 'handle' the situation, but rather that if any harm were to befall you Kagome, we would also feel harmed."

Baki stepped towards Kagome, gently resting his hand upon her head.

Kagome spent the rest of the night immobilized on her futon. After the team had talked late into the night, they had finally resolved to deal with any resulting issues as they arose, before the three teenagers had collapsed into their separate bedrolls.

She spent the night wondering on the differences of this world and the world in which she was raised. Her trips to the Feudal Era had opened her eyes to the differences of perspectives to her own, but for the first time Kagome witnessed how very differently this world of ninja was to anything she had ever been taught. She had never seen these differences as insurmountable, and she still didn't, but she felt unmoored in this Era.

Kagome turned her head to gaze towards where Temari and Kankuro had rolled into each other's futons, a smile tugging at her lips as she watched a sleeping Temari shove a snoring Kankuro away from her ear. A drowsy protest leaving Temari's lips as Kankuro tugged Temari's pillow into his arms and hugged it under his chin.

Kagome might not understand the ideas of shadowy dockets or strategic warfare, but she knew that these people had become her family.

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