Death

The grass whistled, brushing together to create a haunting tune. Yet, she smiled, pleased with the world the way it was and happy she could experience such a serene moment beside it.

"Kagome?"

Softly, she sighed. The moment never lasted. Almost as if it was not allowed to last—that her slice of fragile peace was not meant to be. But, she knew—knew without a doubt—that that was how the world was meant to be.

"Wolf?" The command was more serious the second time, as her code name slipped out harshly. "The Hokage is expecting you."

It was the time of war. She had no hope of escape, even if she chose to ignore those who were sent to retrieve her. It was her duty, after all, and the path that she had chosen to walk was not an easy one to tread.

Only those who died were capable of such a thing.

"I said—"

"I heard you," she replied. "I will be there shortly."

Only those who died—she closed her eyes to the world in that moment—but she was no coward.

It was not her time. She hoped it would never be her time, even years after she was politically married to Uchiha Fugaku. Years after she had given him strong children—those with the Sharingan, no doubt, for Fugaku would have it no other way—and watched them grow into shinobi of the highest caliber.

Yet… there was a feeling in the way the wind blew. The way the grass whistled. The way the world seemed to suddenly suffocate her in her final, tiny moment of peace before the Hokage assigned her to another mission.

A feeling that she knew she could not ignore. After all, it was a feeling she had experienced since she was but a small child. One that every Higurashi claimed to experience when one of their own was walking toward their destruction. One that the clan wished—for they were of the peace-loving sort—they could rid themselves of for the rest of eternity.

But, the question was: who?

Who would be the next to die?

Slowly, Higurashi Kagome stood. Perhaps—yes, perhaps it was her time.

It was perfectly logical. She knew it was. She was a shinobi, an ANBU, and the path she walked was a harsh one filled with blood, despair and loneliness. Therefore, knowing the Hokage had called upon her for her expertise, it made perfect sense.

A soft smile replaced her momentary frown, as she allowed herself the time to experience the world around her. Yes, it saddened her to know she would not marry, love or grow old watching her children. But, there was an old saying within the Higurashi clan: if it must be, it must be.

After all, every shinobi knew the risk. The risk for protecting not only the village, but what they loved. And while that risk was a high one, if it was truly her time, Higurashi Kagome would walk toward it with her head held high.

She was a shinobi, an ANBU, and she was not a coward who would turn tail and run when it came to death.

KibaSin: I haven't uploaded anything in quite some time, and for that I must apologize. I graduated, yay!, and got a job, yay!, and then I got into the hobby of making AMVs on youtube. So, I've been trying to divide my time between writing and making AMVs (unsuccessfully, so far), and HAVE been working on my current stories (just not very quickly..). But, yeah, if you want to see some AMVs that I've made (like that SasuKag one that I posted ^^), you can find the link to my youtube channel on my profile.

Oh, and I know this one only had a hinted / possible pairing of Fugaku x Kagome, but I felt that it still went with the others in this one-shot group.

Kiba