Chapter 337: Operose

adj. industrious person

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Kagome stepped back from the edge of the well. She took a deep breath through her mouth as she turned suddenly conscious consideration to her surroundings. Gaara stood just behind her, his attention rapt on the well in front of them, a swirl of black-gold aura rising off him.

What if it works? Considered Kagome, biting her lip. What if this was the last time she saw the siblings? Her bag and new bow and arrow had been abandoned back in Konoha. She wouldn't even be able to say goodbye to Baki. Her breath came out panicked as she contemplated leaving this world and jumping into the unknown. Was it worth it to leave a place that she had grown comfortable in?

What she wouldn't give to get one more hug from Mama, to hear Grandpa's stories again, and tease Souta. Or if the well couldn't take her all the way home, she would gladly settle in the feudal era. Traveling with Sango, Miruko, and Inuyasha, cuddling with Kirara, and playing with Shippou.

But what if it doesn't? Kagome wondered as she glanced again at Gaara lifting clouds of sand out of the well. Maybe that would be okay too…

The pinging of particles hitting the sand dragged Kankuro and Temari from their exhausted comatose state.

"Wha's tha-?" yawned Kankuro as he forcefully tugged his arm out of from under Temari's head. Temari groaned as her head hit the edge of her battle fan, held tightly to her chest.

"Kagome?" called Temari as she groggily sat up to look around the room. With awakening awareness Temari's eyes adjusted to the pre-dawn gloom enough to take in their abandoned hut.

"Do you think…" trailed off Kankuro as he managed to stumble to his feet, his limbs uncoordinated after a long night of sleep, his body not awake enough to keep up with his whirling mind. The two oldest siblings exchanged looks before taking off towards the unusual sound in the middle of the deserted village.

Rounding a bend, Kankuro slid on the loose sand that buried the derelict village. Temari barely managing to stop herself from tumbling after her brother with expertly applied chakra.

Kagome was kneeling on the edge of the town's well, while Gaara had his eyes trained in front of him, his hands raised as he directed sand out of the well and dropping it haphazardly around them.

"Is there water in the well?" questioned Temari as she approached Kagome looking over the edge of the well. Kagome startled at her approach, her attention so fixated in front of her that she hadn't noticed the arrival of their remaining group.

"No, not water" rasped Kagome, her eyes were wide and wild, the pupils narrowed despite the milky pre-dawn light.

"Then what…" started Kankuro who stood wearily off to the side. The group froze as they felt the first trickle of energy slip out of the well. It wasn't quite chakra but felt more like Kagome's own brand of power. The energy filled the air, raising bumps along their skin as a veil of static crackled in the air around them.

"What is this Kagome?" shouted Temari over the itching beneath her skull, a fuzziness filled her head as the energy increased from a dribble to a large and steady flow.

"A portal," explained Kagome glancing a last time into the well's depths before backing up to stand with Kankuro and Gaara.

"A portal where?" sharply questioned Gaara, a worried crease in his eyebrows.

"Maybe…" whispered Kagome, her blue eyes a tempest of hope and despair, "a portal home."

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