Chapter 10: Of lost inheritances
Hatake Kakashi was not one to run away from his responsibilities, from attending therapy sessions and overly energetic green-clad comrades sure, but never from his actual duties. It was cowardly, a sign of weakness...for once he was beginning to see the appeal of it though...
Lazily, he watched from the branch of the tree he was hiding in as his students went through a light warm-up. After getting back home and handing in their report, the Hokage had given his team a two rest day holiday so they could finish recovering from the unexpectedly high-level mission. He could still see a couple of bandages under the sleeves of his only female subordinate, but she'd lost most of them during their trip home. Sasuke, on the other hand, was finally able to remove his last bandage during their rest, and Naruto looked like he hadn't sustained any injuries at all during his anger fueled rampage (not that he was surprised, to be honest).
Which meant they were now ready to get back to training, of course, anything too strenuous was out of the question, unless he wanted to risk them damaging something that remained sensitive by accident.
A perfect time to start training the theoretical aspects of their unique abilities...
Oh, joy.
Pure taijutsu wouldn't cut it anymore, sure they were never supposed to go against such a high-level opponent so soon in their careers, but it just went to show that blindly trusting in the assigned mission levels could be dangerous. Any other team with less confidence and practice on their teamwork could've been wiped out during their first encounter with Zabuza. It was also only the deep trust between the two clan heirs that allowed them to get out of their own fight with relatively light injuries, despite having the deck cut against them. The only reason they got such good results was due to their long time bonds and quite honestly, pure, dumb luck. And any shinobi that lived long enough knew that luck was an unreliable patron.
It was long past the time he moved their training up a level. What little time he could've gained by teaching or asking them to master some other basic ninjutsu had been dashed because his cute little genins were obsessed with training. They'd left him with nothing left.
His life just couldn't be any kind of easy, could it?
Taking a deep breath, the elite ninja resigned himself to suffer the incoming glares and headaches.
"Yo! I can see you're all excited to go back to work." As usual, the jounin ignored the annoyed look on the trio's faces. "Good, good, it's so nice to see all so motivated."
Again, he ignored the predictable grumblings from the blond, a sense of faint relief settling in as he confirmed the boy's reactions were normal. It was one thing for the other two to have taken a life, they were more mature, capable of rationalizing the actions they had to take
(perhaps a bit too capable, but then again they weren't the usual graduates he was dealing with here, they'd both underwent some deep trauma already).
When talking about Naruto though...the kid he'd met had been starry-eyed at best, stupidly naive at worst.
And his hands had been drenched in blood not a month ago.
Tazuna's decision to name the bridge after the blond had been unexpected but quite useful. Between that and the reassurance that his friends accepted him as he was, demonic parasite and all, had done wonders for the boy's psyche. More than likely, there were still a fair amount of issues hiding under the surface, but Kakashi was not going to poke that. He was not the right man for the job, really they could all do with an extra session or two with Inoichi, but the examinations they passed after returning said anything else was voluntary. The jounin wasn't about to push his students when he tended to ignore them himself.
Hypocrisy was a trait he tried to avoid whenever possible.
"Alright, alright, settle down now." Kakashi stopped the blond mid-sentence before he could say something that would have his genins running laps. The temptation of neglecting this for another day would be too hard to resist. "Now, we're not having your usual training regimen today. In fact, this is not really something that happens all that often." Not when clans were too happy to slice first and ask later with anything regarding the secrets of their bloodlines.
"But considering the situation, I'll be taking over the task of helping you gain some control over you kekkei genkais, and you," he turned to the prankster who'd begun to look dejected at not being included. "I'll help to make sure you don't lose control of the seal again."
He took a moment to observe their reactions.
Sasuke was, unsurprisingly, glaring at him. He had to know there was little from the basics Kakashi didn't know, no secrets would be shared at this point. Even someone as stubborn as the Uchiha had to recognize how useful it would be to have some guidance instead of blindly trying to find his limitations. Clearly, while he'd accepted it, it didn't soothe his annoyance. Kakashi understood the reasoning behind keeping how these things worked a secret (the sharingan became less of a trump card when an opponent knew how it worked), but it made dealing with the Uchiha so much more difficult.
Kagome looked indecisive. She'd had the secrets of her family's techniques (or what they were able to rescue from the ruins of her compound) studied by outsiders from the very beginning, and Kakashi really doubted that her former guardian instilled much pride in the pacifistic nature of her clan. The strategic advantages of keeping quiet about her abilities, though, were obviously remarked as she grew up. Of course, there was also the fact that even with the sharingan, chances were he wouldn't understand half of what was going on. Reiki was, from what he understood of the girl's earlier explanation, not really chakra after all.
Naruto had conflicting looks of hope and wariness fighting for dominance in his face. Talking about anything that involved the fox obviously left him feeling uneasy. Worse still, was the fact that out of all three of them, it was the son of the sensei Kakashi owed so much, the one he could help the least.
After reporting the incident, Sandaime gave him access to some of the research his teacher had done on the seal...something that would be so much more useful if Kakashi had a better idea of how everything came together. He was good with seals, no one gets to ANBU captain without counting with some level of mastery in as many disciplines as possible. Yondaime, however, had been a master. Few people in the elemental nations could compete with the man, even now. As it was, the jounin was sure the blond would whine about the one thing that would certainly help him. Maybe telling Naruto that this new exercise had more than just one application could help, but that would take the fun out of it.
If he had to suffer through this, then so would the blond that insisted on trying to track him home to prank him.
"Now then." He clapped his hands with forced cheer, this was going to become headache-inducing loud in a second. "Naruto, I need you to sit over there and meditate!"
The blond blinked once, and then he blinked again.
"You want me to what?!" And there it was, the loudness the prankster was well known for. "How is that special training?! I can just go back home and do the same thing!"
The jounin repressed a snort, he knew his student was capable of many things. But there was just no way in hell Naruto was able to stay in a deep meditative state for even half an hour.
"The seal is connected to your emotions," he said, willing patience into his voice. "That's what made it possible for the Kyuubi's chakra ton leak in the first place. If you want to have better control over it, then you need to have better control over your feelings. And the best way to do that is through meditation."
Or so he was told. To be honest, the man had learned to just push everything back through sheer will until he could try and ignore them. Not the healthiest way to deal with it, it was probably the reason why Sandaime took him off of ANBU. Still, regardless of his first-hand experience or lack thereof, being able to calm your thoughts and make logical choices was essential for a shinobi. Sadly for the blond, meditating was the best place to start.
"So you just want me to sit and do nothing?" Naruto asked, disbelief coloring his words.
"Nop, I want you to meditate."
"It's the exact same..."
"Naruto-kun, "Kagome interjected, stopping the blond before he could continue protesting and pointed to an almost-even rock. "Did you know that one of the hardest things to accomplish is to completely clear your mind? Very few people can manage to do it."
Kakashi sighed, he could see why all their previous teachers sang her praises when asked for their opinions. With just a couple of cleverly placed words, the girl had intercepted the blond's complaints and morphed his previous distaste into interest. Sure, Naruto wasn't a difficult person to figure out, but it showed her potential. The girl possessed the kind of mind that would allow her to make calculated decisions that could easily create or destroy alliances. A sliver of concern crossed his mind, as the memory of frozen azure eyes unflinching as Kagome waved away killing Gatou like it was nothing special. He pushed it away, he'd probably looked the same at an even younger age. No shinobi that ever made it to jounin could boast of having a healthy psyche, and all three of his genins had more than enough talent to make it that far, if not more.
"Alright! I'll nail this!"
The prankster all but jumped to the rock he'd told him to sit on. That was far too much energy for someone who was about to meditate. Well, that should last for at least some...ten minutes...hopefully.
"Now, Sasuke-kun, you can activate the sharingan at will, right?" A glare and a nod was all he got. Not as bad as it could be. "Right, then activate it and run a couple of laps around the training grounds."
"...why?" It was more a hiss and less an actual question, the jounin sighed. He'd figured the Uchiha wouldn't just nod and go without any sort of explanation once he began talking about the sharingan, but it didn't make it any less bothersome. Notably, Kagome was keeping quiet, not a hint of willingness to intercede in his favor as she did with Naruto.
"The sharingan allows you to see things from a more detailed perspective, things you wouldn't normally notice are suddenly too obvious to miss, it's like the world slows down. Had your opponent not been as fast as he was, it could've actually become more of a disadvantage." The explanation seemed to lower the intensity of the glare, the boy was clearly still not happy though. "So you'll need to get used to moving around while the sharingan is active, to translate how fast you're moving in relation to your slowed down surroundings. So running laps is a good starting line!"
With a grunt and one final glare, the Uchiha stood to start running, crimson taking over onyx as he went. Well, it could've gone worse. He'd yet to feel the pangs of a headache, so far so good, he turned to face his last student. The girl was sitting patiently, a polite smile on her face like always. Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how often had she had to practice to hide all her emotions behind the mask she wore in front of anyone but her teammates.
Was this the way she'd always been? Had it been the massacre that changed her or the way she was raised?
Again he pushed those thoughts back.
Clans like the Uchiha and the Hyuuga had some not so kind rumors floating around about the way they trained their kids, some regimens that were perhaps a bit too harsh for the age they were subjected to. No one could argue with the results though, even if Uchiha Itachi was also a byproduct of those practices.
"Well, to be completely honest, I have no clue how your's work." Right now, his best bet would be to avoid any kind of deception. Complete honesty would be the best approach. "I'm not sure how much information you have, but we should still be able to get something out of it if we combine with what we can observe."
The girl kept silent for just a second too long before she answered. "I do have some scrolls, but none of them offer a complete explanation of how reiki works."
Oh, that was just great, he really was going to have to do this mostly blind. It could be worse, he reminded himself, he could have no sharingan and still be expected to teach the girl. After all, there was no way a Hyuuga would ever agree to help her because of her relationship with their 'rival clan'.
"We can work on those tomorrow," he said, lifting his hand to grab his forehead protector. He'd pay the cost later, but using the sharingan now was more important. "We'll just check your basics for today."
Keeping calm was not something Kagome usually had many difficulties in achieving. Mikoto-sama had been clear when teaching her how to control her emotions so she could fully concentrate on more crucial matters. Sure, she'd had some troubles at first (with that and with lying as well), but the girl was nothing if not determined. Making sure to keep Sasuke and then Naruto out of trouble was great practice in how to keep her head cool even when her emotions threatened to boil. Their little trio already had two potentially rude, hotheads, If she added more kindle to that fire, they might as well begin growing their own vegetables.
"Stop moving."
"I wasn't moving."
"You were tapping your fingers."
It was part of the reason chakra control came so easily to her, she could concentrate under almost any circumstance. When talking about reiki, things were different.
Using reiki was just...instinctual.
Learning how to charge weapons had only taken a slight push, and speeding up her healing was child's play considering her body seemed to automatically use the energy to heal itself. Once she learned the proper hand seals extending that healing to others was fairly easy.
Creating a steady flow of reiki into nothing but air, however, was proving to be much more difficult, especially when she couldn't keep her thoughts from straying. For all that she kept trying to stop thinking about that person, everything ended up coming back to him. Honestly, Kagome shouldn't be surprised; it was because of him that she understood as much as she did about her heritage. The scrolls she'd bring with her today had been based on his advice, and even now, his words were gently trying instructing her on how to keep her mind blank.
"Your breathing is wrong."
"My brea... how the hell can I be breathing wrong?!"
"By doing it like that."
"That's how I've always breathed!"
"Come on, it's not that hard to get it right."
The single crimson eye that was staring at her (despite the constant commentary sent the blond's way) didn't help. Whispers about how Kakashi-sensei wasn't the person who was supposed to train her, were an insistent buzz on her ear. Her attempts to ignore them, to remind herself that this was her reality, her best bet to learn new techniques, did nothing to help keep the shimmering glow in front of her stable.
Choosing the scroll with instructions for a barrier to act as protection had been easy enough. Even if the secret about how it was formed were to be revealed, it would make no difference. As long as she could keep the flow of reiki steady and had enough energy to sustain it, no physical or chakra based attack could break it...in theory, at least.
"Don't move."
"I wasn't moving!"
"You were going to/"
How can you even know that!"
The second one was a harsher pick, in the end, she went with a more complex one but still innocuous. Shikigami were mostly useful for gathering information in their most basic form, unlike most other techniques they had the unique advantage of being able to be scaled up, and take a more offensive role. Perhaps their one downside was that they took longer to prepare, but once done she could carry a good number of them and use only a spark of reiki to activate them. If she could master the basics, then the hidden scrolls back home were detailed enough for her to figure it out on her own.
In a way, Kagoma was lucky Kakashi-sensei chose to prioritize the barrier. If she was having this much trouble concentrating on the easier shield, she cringed to imagine how hard it would be to try and charge up a shikigami.
"Alright, I think that's good enough for today." The jounin clapped his hands. "So go and get some rest, because tomorrow we're back with regular missions!" With a puff of smoke, Kakashi-sensei vanished, an obvious retreat if she ever saw one.
The boys on her sides failed to suppress a groan. Not one of them was under the delusion that they wouldn't be put back on D-missions for a while. Technically she was still wearing a couple of bandages covering some of the wounds she didn't care enough to heal, it might take longer, but there would be no scars anyway. She was actually kind of surprised they weren't benched for longer.
"What is even the point of this!" Naruto's scream echoed on the training grounds. Unsurprisingly, his motivation didn't last long.
The girl winced, Naruto and keeping still were not things that mixed, although she could see how it was necessary. As much as the blond disliked it, he needed to learn how to remain calm. It wasn't just a matter of feelings, maybe if he managed to meditate, the boy would stop forgetting to use the proper forms while fighting.
"It probably wouldn't help much if it was easy?" the girl said, a poor attempt to soothe his frustrations.
"Yeah, right," Sasuke scoffed.
For the last couple of days, the Uchiha had been getting used to the sharingan, and his mood had taken a bit of a dip. His slightly disheveled appearance showed he wasn't quite done mastering the art of moving around when the world around him moved slower. Hitting trees or falling off of branches for overcompensating (or vice versa) was definitely having an impact on him.
A loud growl silenced whatever response the blond was about to hurl, and Kagome couldn't help but laugh.
"I guess I'm a little hungry."
"We can go to Ichiraku's if you want to." The girl offered with a smile.
Like a charm the prankster's spirits lifted, his previous annoyance vanishing like it was never there to begin with.
Kagome hurried to grab Sasuke's hand. They hadn't had any time to really talk about the bombshell the Wave mission uncovered. Other than the short time they got while he helped her dig the graves for Haku and Zabuza (the one kindness she felt she had the right to do for them) while the others helped with the bridge, they'd barely been alone. The day after they returned they'd met up with the blond, who ended up sticking with them and sleeping over for the duration of their vacation. After they got back to training and searching through the small mountain of scrolls so she could choose which techniques she'd share with Kakashi-sensei. Considering they'd crashed that first day, the conversation about the village's secret had been continually delayed.
It was still far too easy to tell just how much less patience the Uchiha had when dealing with anyone not on their team. Ironically enough, Ichiraku's was probably the one place none of them had to work hard to keep up a relaxed expression. The ramen seller had always been kind to the prankster (something that had admittedly spared him more than one of Naruto's super genius pranks) despite all the dirty looks some of his costumers sent his way.
"Oh, oh, I actually had a great idea this earlier." Nice to see that all these meditation sessions were being put to good use.
"Do we have to hear it?" Sasuke drawled, to be fair, that sentence had had them running through rooftops more than once.
"Oh, even you are gonna be interested in this."
"So, what is it?" Kagome asked before Sasuke could turn this into a fight.
"Say..." he trailed off, presumably for dramatic effects. "Don't you ever wonder...what's underneath Kakashi-sensei's mask?"
"The rest of his face," Sasuke said, speaking slowly. Whether to make sure he understood what the blond meant or to make sure the prankster realized the obviousness of the answer, she wasn't sure.
"Well, duh." And now it was Naruto who took the tone of someone trying to explain that the sky was blue. "But why is he hiding it?"
There could be lots of reasons, actually.
From trauma to scars, to personal preference, or another sort of psychological issue. Trying to force the point could be kind of cruel if any of those reasons were to be proven right, but on the other hand...Kagome would be lying if she said the question of how the albino looked behind his mask didn't enter her mind from time to time. Especially when she realized he somehow inhaled his meals without anyone noticing while on Tazuna's house, even with chakra exhaustion.
Would it be so bad if they took a little peek?
If they took a small break from the seriousness around them?
She laughed at the overly silly images Naruto managed to imagine. Even Sasuke was trying and failing to hide the interest on his face.
"Do you even have a plan, moron?"
"Heh, who do you think you're talking to, bastard?" The blond posed like he'd just been offended. "We just have to get him to eat something. He has to take the thing off when eating, right? If all three of us watch him with a camera each, there's no way we can't catch him."
"Did any of you ever caught him eating while at Tazuna's?" Her question stopped them both on their tracks.
"Hmmm..."
"So, it's not going to work." There was an amused smirk on the Uchiha's face.
"We weren't watching him the whole time back then!"
"It's too simple, moron."
"Simple is best!"
Kagome laughed as she followed them to the ramen stand. There were still things that bothered her, whispers in the back of her mind she couldn't chase away that had only grown louder after learning the truth of Naruto's situation. But, at least for now...for just a little while, she'd just laugh and help with their silly little mission.
It was frowned upon, he reminded himself, to maim a member of your own team without a reasonable explanation. And the last thing he planned to do was ruin this mission (and his reputation) by heavily injuring his own subordinate, before even making it out of their clan's current territory.
"Hey bastard, tell me again, why do we need to do this?"
Being obnoxious, loud, and generally uncouth was also, Sesshomaru reminded forcibly reminded himself, not a reasonable explanation for maiming.
"Because father gave us the mission."
"I know that stupid, but what is even the point of us doing this?"
He didn't hate the runt, he really, truly didn't, but his patience was wearing thinner with every rude passing comment. The fact that even he was not informed of the real objective behind this assignment only served to incense him more. That he wouldn't be able to keep that particular detail a secret for long did nothing to help with his ever diminishing patience.
"That is for father to know."
Rumors around the clan said Sesshomaru despised the teen for what he represented, they couldn't be farther from the truth. He'd been more than well aware that his parents' marriage had been nothing but a political affair, done so the clan could have a worthy heir, an insurance that their bloodline would be kept pure and strong. Something that was successfully achieved.
Once he was born, there was no need for them to keep to their vows, it made no sense for him to resent his father's so-called infidelity. Especially considering it was his mother who, after just a couple of years after his birth, began bringing her newest interests to the state. Besides, for all intent and purposes, the noble kunoichi was still the official matriarch of the clan. If anything, his father had been far more respectful. The man had made an effort to be discrete with his dalliances, the only woman he ever brought back home was the one he made an emotional connection with. Even the delicate civilian princess was highly tolerable. Yes, the woman was weak and couldn't bring herself to kill someone to save her life, but even so, she knew how to remain diplomatic and solve social situations. Had Izayoi not managed to convince her father not to raise arms against them when the shinobi assigned as her guard had instead eloped with her, even the Taisho clan could have been in serious trouble.
That she never attempted to start a conversation when he retired to her gardens in search of a haven from the chaos their states often morphed into was something else he could appreciate. Just like the lack of irritating mind games and annoying family bonding moments.
So how could a son raised by such a soft-spoken person become the uncouth, rude teenager Inuyasha was he'd never know.
"What for though? Do we even have a way to make sure this chick is the actual head and not just some random survivor? What if we find nothing?"
They were valid questions, according to their history, his family had once had a strong alliance with this clan until it vanished. Technically, said alliance had never been officially terminated since there was no disagreement between them. No message requesting help was ever sent to them, and while his great grandfather tried to start an investigation, there had been no sign of the culprits. Ironically enough, the biggest influx of information about this clan came when they discovered they hadn't been massacred generations ago...after they were actually massacred. So far there had been nothing but some unsustained rumors about a survivor. Nothing Sesshomaru himself would've considered substantial enough to make a move. His father, however, had shown more than just a passing interest, and after some calculations decided this was the best time to send someone to scout. And that was it.
No more explanations were given.
"We continue and follow through with it. There's no need for anyone else to wonder about our reasons for showing."
"Follow through? We don't even know how long this fucking thing is gonna take, and we don't need their stupid exam!"
Did anyone in his family ever whine quite this much, he wondered. Certainly not his mother, Izayoi also showed proper decorum...maybe it was his father who was to blame. The man was legendary in battle and political situations but once back in the safety of his home, childishness infected his behavior to an extent. It was possible his youngest son had taken the bad habit and increased it.
Yes, they had no idea how long this so-called exam was going to last (past records showed that anywhere between a couple of weeks or a couple of months were possible timeframes), and yes, they had to subject themselves to playing along with the other nations. But if his father, his clan head, deemed it important enough then it was necessary. Blindly following orders was not a quality to be desired in anyone, much less in the heir of an important clan, his father, however, (as much as it took him to acknowledge it, Sesshomaru wouldn't lie to himself) had proved himself to be an excellent commander. For all their love for battle, the silver-haired heir knew subterfuge sometimes was the better option. Regardless of whether he was currently blind to its purpose or not, sooner or later, it would all be revealed.
"Then we can just treat this as an information-gathering mission, surely we can retrieve some valuable data," his brother's best friend commented lightly. "Think how long has it been since anyone has been so close to so many shinobis from all the relevant villages."
"You do know we still have accurate data, right? Even if we don't usually get those missions, others are constantly scouting the elemental nations," the one female in his group replied, a frown on her face.
Once upon a time, the Taisho heir thought his brother's friends to be guilty of instilling bad habits into the runt. Just a week after being 'convinced' to become their trainer, he'd been forced to admit such claim held no weight.
Sango was the heiress of one of their few old high-ranking families. While she had a clear preference to resolve things fast and with a straight approach, the young woman was very much capable of acting as her station required. For all that she was in a position of power, the girl knew how to give deference to her superiors and was humble of her talent.
On the other hand, Miroku came from an inconsequential family who while old, mingled with civilians almost every generation, in order to dilute their rather problematic bloodline. The young man had a silver tongue that in a couple of years more and with the proper instruction could potentially rival the Taisho matriarch herself. No, his brother's faults were his and his alone.
"Yes, I'm well aware we have a steady influx of information, but wouldn't it be of an even better quality if we manage to actually test some of these facts, Sango dearest?" Sesshomaru didn't need to look back to know his oldest subordinate was grinning ear to ear.
"Hmm, I guess you have a point there. Testing an enemy's abilities oneself is always better than relying on statistics."
"Wait, so you're telling me we're basically a glorified recon team?!" Inuyasha exploded, they were in the middle of an open road, did the runt forget this was still a mission?
"That's only if we don't find this person though," Sango said, a poor attempt to calm the impertinent teen.
"What chances do we even have to find her?" Inuyasha had yet to lower his volume and maiming him was still, not an acceptable response. "We don't know they're a she in the first freaking place!"
Pretty high, if his father was to be believed. When talking in private, the man had not once used vague language, it seemed to be more a matter of when and less of if. It was part of why the man had waited until now to send a team to verify, even if their calculations were wrong and the girl was either too young or had already passed the Chuunin Selection Exam, they'd have the whole of Konoha to search.
"Inuyasha, Inuyasha, have you paid no attention to our own history? The head it's always a woman, some of our oldest stories say her beauty it's impossible to confuse and..."
A loud thunk echoed through the empty road, a thunk Sesshomaru simply ignored as he kept walking. He knew exactly what had happened, despite what his appearance would suggest, Miroku made no effort to stop his perverted habits (ones that thankfully his brother never took to). The father of the boy had apparently been a man of the cloth who 'battled' with a similar 'curse' who'd abandoned his vows to marry a kunoichi. Taking inspiration from his story, the teen took a liking to wearing a monk outfit and gave the same stupid excuse for his insistence of placing his hands on places they were not welcome. Ridiculous, yes, especially when taking into account his usual behavior.
Sesshomaru would've forbidden the practice (the fake monk outfit, he had a feeling even the gods would give up on his wandering hands) had it not come in useful in the past. With the boy walking in the middle, they gave an impression of a small group of shinobis escorting a young acolyte, instead of a team full of well-experienced ninja. It also gave the teen more chances to practice his deceptions. Getting free meals and room in exchange for an 'exorcism' seemed to work none times out of ten, and the one time it didn't, Miroku was happy to go the extra mile and design 'an evil spirit in dire need of cleansing'. It was a good and easy way to keep their cover and gain access to quite a lot of sensitive information, if civilians were more willing to tolerate the rude escort of a holy man, well that was just a bonus.
How people bought the teen's act despite him flirting outrageously with any female that walked in front of him...he figured his opinions on civilians had never been high to begin with.
"He does have a point though, what are we supposed to do if we end up coming into contact with her?" Sango's voice sounded a bit closer to his back now.
He thought for a second. No instruction had been given regarding that so whatever he said next was going to be his own assessment of their mission. Keeping quiet, however, was not an option. Being prepared for the unexpected was something he prided himself upon, even if the parameters for the assignment didn't involve any contact, they needed to have a plan of action."
"If keeping a neutral response is unavoidable then keep away from confrontational interactions." So far, their families had formed a peaceful alliance. The chances of his father trying to take actions against them were unlikely.
"But what is even the point for this?!"
They'd only been walking for about four hours.
When he talked to his father about this assignment he'd paid little attention to the time required to complete it. Before being dumped with his brother's team, he'd handled both short destructive missions and long delicate ones with the same rate of success. If they were important enough to be passed to him, then he'd complete them to perfection. That his father wanted to send someone of such high-status was only natural considering some of the possible outcomes to this were either, the reconnection to this estranged ally or conversely an offensive action towards them. An in-depth knowledge about the political standing of the clan was not only useful but required and other than his father himself, there was no one more fitted for the job. Having his team accompany him to provide an adequate cover felt like a natural progression after that. It seemed, however, that he'd failed to consider one crucial aspect of this particular mission.
This was their first day out of the ten days (if it usually took two full weeks he didn't care, he knew they could make it in less if he said so) of travel to Konoha and Sesshomaru was already sorely tempted to maim his own subordinate.
Absentmindedly, he considered turning back, if he wanted he could be back with the clan in less than an hour. As soon as the thought crossed his mind it was gone, pushed away by self-discipline.
He was Sesshomaru, the heir to the strongest clan in existence and he did not fail missions.
It was as simple as that.
If the thought of having to explain to his father why he'd decided to turn tail and go back, and the embarrassment that would produce was forcibly pushed to the back of his mind. Which meant such a thing wasn't worth considering in the first place.
A/N: And the world opens up, some more Inuyasha characters are going to start trickling into the plot but it will be a somewhat slow progression (writing Sesshomaru's silent frustration was surprisingly fun though). I do have most of what I want to do with the Naruto lore to firt the new characters figured out. Of course, more Naruto characters are also coming, honestly canon had been pretty closed until the introduction of the chuunin exams.
As always thanks so much for reading, any review, comment is greatly appreciated, hope you enjoyed it.