There's an important author's note at the end of the chapter regarding my upload schedule.
Chapter 13: First moves
Kagome winced as her small fingers passed on top of the black and blue stained patch of skin. Her reiki would instinctively heal her, but she knew by now what kind of bruises would be gone in an hour and which would take a couple of days. The swelling on her arm told her she'd still be sore tomorrow.
Wincing again, the girl applied some pressure to the bruise as she continued covering it with ointment. Kagome wasn't the kind of girl to cry for something as simple as this, but she wasn't about to prolong her pain either.
At least Sasuke being late from training was good for something.
She frowned, she hated hiding things from him, but the one time he saw one of the bruises that didn't heal fast enough after one of Fugaku-sama's training inspections, the boy had almost run inside the house to yell at his father.
Nope, that wouldn't do, at all.
"Kagome."
The familiar soft voice lifted her mood, the jar of ointment slipping from her hand as she stood up with a jump, the pain in her leg swiftly ignored. Not thinking twice, the small girl raced into waiting arms, the familiar feeling of safety enveloping her along with them.
"Itachi."
"Rough training?" Long fingers combed through her hair.
"Ah...hum..."
She trailed off; Itachi's temper was way calmer compared to his little brother. But lately, there had been a lot of tension between him and the Uchiha patriarch, and things always got worse whenever she had to ask the older boy for help with tying whatever bandage she couldn't reach. Last month he'd straight out screamed at the man during dinner.
"Come on, let me take a look at it."
His arms lifted her gently as he sat her in his desk, eyes inspecting the discolored patch of skin with disapproval. Kagome shifted uneasily; she really didn't want to cause more problems for any of them. Blood-related or not, she owed everything she had to this family. And Itachi always got upset when she ended up hurt.
"I thought Mother was supposed to handle this week's lessons."
"Uhmm...I learned the sets faster this week." His fingers pressed against her skin.
"Sorry," he added softly at her wince.
"It's fine, it'll be gone in two days."
The boy remained silent, careful fingers wrapping the new roll of bandages around her leg, and Kagome tried to relax. These last few months, the friction between Itachi and his parents had grown worse, and so did the uneasy feeling at the pit her stomach.
"And Sasuke?" he asked, breaking the silence.
Kagome pouted, "late, he went to the outside training grounds with Naruto-kun, and he's probably still there."
"Not worried about leaving those two alone anymore?" Itachi laughed as her expression grew more annoyed.
"He keeps starting fights, but I know he's just bored. And Naruto-kun gets really angry for five minutes, and then he's laughing again." She knew they didn't hate each other, but apparently acting friendly was just impossible for them. "I don't get it."
"That's because Kagome-chan is a kind person." His hand moved to place a lock of raven hair behind her ear. "You've always preferred it when everyone is smiling."
She beamed, glowing under his praise, her previous uneasiness momentarily forgotten as she basked in the warm feeling she always felt by his side. If being with Sasuke always reminded her of the lazy afternoons they spent playing around, then Itachi made her think of home, warm and safe. With all the missions the older boy was being sent to, their chances to be together were growing smaller and smaller. Any little bits of time they could steal and share together was always a treasure to cherish.
"How long are you going to stay this time?"
"Not long..."His voice trailed off, guilt clear on his words. "I already have another assignment."
"Huh? But you've just retur..." a sound outside the window caught her attention, a jittery feeling overtaking her as she slipped out of Itachi's loose hold. She needed to see what was outside.
Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
Strong arms stopped her next step, turning her around and wrapping around her in a hold that was a bit too strong. Still, she felt safe.
"You're strong, Kagome." Itachi's voice sounded muffled against her shoulder, something she couldn't recognize tainting his words. "You'll overcome this...take care of him for me..."
One hand left her back to lift her chin, azure locked into crimson.
Her world became black.
Panic flowed through her veins in a cold wave.
She couldn't see.
No.
She could see, her hands and arms were clearly visible, darkness was all around her, though. Itachi's room had vanished, leaving her alone in this black space.
No.
No, rooms didn't just vanish like that.
The truth sunk into her with a mix of relief and fear. Genjutsu, this was simply an illusion, nothing more. Not that knowing made any difference, she was still new to chakra manipulation...no, an illusion cast by Itachi wasn't something she'd ever be able to dispel even if she knew how.
"Itachi..."
Her voice echoed around the dark...room? Box? Space?
"What's wrong?"
Slowly, ignoring the dizzying feeling of not being able to see the floor beneath her, the girl made one hesitant step forward.
"Di-did I do something wrong?"
Silence was her only answer.
"I...I'm sorry if I did..." Her voice was starting to waver as the emptiness of the place seemed to crush her. "Itachi...please...let me out?"
Another shaky step into the darkness gave her nothing, no sense of direction, nothing but the eery feeling of this void she was in. She couldn't see anything else, couldn't hear anything but her own voice...she couldn't even feel the presence of the one person she knew had to be close to her.
She was alone.
"Itachi, let me out...please...let me out!"
This was a genjutsu, nothing but an illusion; there was no point in trying to move around. Kagome started running.
She was alone.
Alone.
Abandoned.
Unwanted.
"Itachi! Please!"
She kept running, with no direction in mind, just crashing against invisible walls and turning to run again. Dark halls she couldn't see were closing in around her. Pain shocked her as her legs tangled in each other in her haste, sending her to a floor that was just more darkness.
"Let me out!"
What was going on? What was wrong? She couldn't understand.
"Please!"
Did she do something wrong? Was Itachi mad at her? Had she messed up and was being punished now?
"Itachi!"
He had to let her out...right? Sasuke would notice her missing the moment he came back home; Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-sama would realize something was wrong when she didn't show up for dinner...right?
"Sasuke!"
They cared for her after all, didn't they? She belonged with them, so they had to notice. Itachi cared for her, so he would let her out...right?
"Someone!"
The shrill sound of her cries was something she failed to recognize at least until Sasuke's worried screams of her name finally cut through her panic.
"...gome! Kagome! It's alright, you're safe now!"
Oh, gods...
She'd forgotten, hadn't she...
Throwing the strangling sheets off of her, the only survivor of her clan ignored the Uchiha's voice as she ran. Bare feet hit against the floor in loud thumps as she made her way to the one room that had remained closed for years.
How stupid could she be?
She had completely forgotten about it.
Even after spending hours upon hours going through all her memories of him, she'd somehow forgotten about it.
Panicked motions pushed back worried hands as she slid open the one door they didn't bother to trap. The loud of the sliding door banging against its frame echoed in the silent house, making a chorus with her agitated breathing. Dust filled her vision for a second, dancing in the air due to the wave of air her actions created. Uncaring, she rushed forwards.
No hands stopped her this time as she reached the window.
It wasn't swift, the window had gotten stuck in its hinges thanks to years of being all but abandoned, but she ignored the pain in her palm after a splinted piece of wood sliced her skin.
Leaning out, the girl had a clear view of the whole street, all the way to the corners and a bit more after that. Azure eyes narrowed as she took in the distance.
"Kagome, what the hell is going on?"
"Were there any corpses there?" she asked, ignoring his concerned question.
Whatever words Sasuke was planning on saying must've died in his throat. Not once had she ever asked for details about the nightmare scenario he'd been privy to so long ago, let alone this bluntly.
"I...where?"
She moved back, her hand leaving a crimson trail on his wrist as she guided the boy to take her place in the window.
"There, in the left corner."
Careful eyes watched as Sasuke turned to look at the place she pointed. A different kind of frown marring his face as he tried to remembers what had to be the worst day of his life. It was a terrible thing; what she was asking him, traitors or not, those people had still been his family, but she needed to know, to be sure.
"Not exactly in the corner, a bit further away, but yeah..."
Slender fingers tightened around the boy's stained wrist while the weight of the confirmation threatened to overwhelm her.
"He wasn't alone."
"What?"
"That day," She let go of his hand, stumbling back a bit, a faded scene playing back before her eyes. "that day, I was here. Fugaku-sa..." she caught herself, barely. "That man decided I should be able to handle a higher taijutsu level and insisted on a hands-on approach. The swelling on my leg was worse than I thought, and I'd ran out of poultice, so I came here to look for some...Itachi thought my training schedule was the same as the week before; he didn't expect to find me here. He still helped me with the bandages, and we talked for a bit...and then I heard something."
The girl moved forward again, her stained hand reaching up to touch the broken window. "It was coming from outside...I had no idea what it was back then, but...I was scared, terrified really, but I had to check...and then he stopped me.
"Itachi stopped me. He was absolutely fine with talking and wrapping my wounds. The second I stepped towards the window, he jumped to stop me though, something was happening outside the window, and he knew what it was."
The usual barely contained rage Sasuke showed whenever she talked about the incident was glaringly missing. Instead, his eyes had darkened as he took in the new bits of information she had spent so long trying to hide. There had been no need for him to know how often his father miscalculated her fighting abilities and went overboard. Not when in a span of two days, no trace of pain remained.
"So you're saying that..."
"Was he injured?" At his silent look, Kagome elaborated. "When you met Itachi that night, was he wounded?"
"No...not even a scratch."
She was being unfair, her nightmares were vivid and capable of sending her to a frenzy, but at least they didn't involve seeing the mutilated corpses of her friends and family. If they wanted to find out what really happened, if they wanted the truth, then reopening their wounds was unavoidable.
"So, he knocks me out first, and let's suppose he manages to catch all the lower ranking or non-combatants unaware. Fine, he could do it, but what about the others? A good number were jounins, fairly capable with the sharingan, and you're telling me not one of them could land a single hit against him?"
"Clones would..." He started, but even she could hear the disbelief in his voice. Once again, things refused to add up.
"Clones would not have disobeyed orders and started the attack earlier, and there's no way Itachi lost track of time. There had to be someone else, who didn't care enough to keep to the schedule, someone he didn't want me to see." It made sense, really, no matter how talented, how could a single person be able to kill so many high-level shinobi without sustaining a single injury.
"No..."The girl opened her mouth only to be cut off. "I'm not saying there wasn't another person, but...so what if you saw someone else, the sharingan could've easily changed or erased that part of your memory.
"It wasn't this other person he was trying to hide. It was you."
"Me?" The idea sounded...unreal, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to reject it outright.
"So I could've been killed had I been seen?"
"Not even the protection of the village was enough to get people to stop hunting your clan, not until they hid underground." And even then, it hadn't been enough. "Your blood is invaluable, something that hasn't been seen for generations. Even with just a basic knowledge of the Uchiha's physical characteristics, only one look at your eyes will do to know you're not a part of the clan."
And according to the records, blue eyes were an easy way to distinguish their two clans. People from within the village knew the Uchiha were taking care of her, someone had tried to take her when she was younger, and the story had to have reached everyone in Konoha.
This second person they were thinking about was someone who had ignored their orders and cared not about upsetting the famous Uchiha prodigy. Had she been seen, what would their reaction be?
If it was indeed her blood what caught their attention...maybe death wouldn't have been such a terrible fate.
Itachi had been anxious.
For a long time, she'd assumed it was because of what he was about to do, the chances of there being a completely different answer were growing stronger. Which brought an even more pressing question.
If someone else was here, someone brazen enough to disregard orders in what had to be a highly classified mission, then...who was the second person?
Tired blue eyes glanced to his left.
His childhood friends walked side by side, like always. Their somewhat agitated breathing the only hint that they were just as tired as he felt (maybe even more), simply better than him at hiding it. Not that he blamed them for trying to retain a bit of their dignity if there was one thing they'd all discovered as a true and proved universal truth, was that no matter how bad the mission, it would always (and could always) get worse once they added babysitting to the mix.
Patience was a gift only one person in their team had, and eve Kagome-chan was ready to drop the tantrum loving brats down the lake they were cleaning.
After the Wave mission, he'd hoped they would stop being saddled with crappy D-ranks, but evidently, that was nothing more than wishful thinking. Sure, they were finally training more seriously, using chakra in almost every session in one way or another. Though, in his humble opinion, it did not make up for the quality of their assignments. It wasn't like he was asking for another B or A rank. Naruto may be stubborn, but even he had a sense of self-preservation, no matter what the bastard said. The risks and dangers they faced when fighting against Zabuza were a bit too high for him to want an immediate repeat performance.
But surely, the original C-rank protection detail the whole bridge thing was supposed to be, was something they could handle no problem, right?
Clearly, their sensei disagreed with his brilliant deductions. The man had spewed something about their new regimen being more tiring or whatever and stuck the with their old bunch of five to seen simultaneous, equally crappy D-ranks.
Again, he glanced at his left.
They looked the same as always, but Naruto hadn't been their friend for over five years now to not notice when something was wrong. Oh, after that morning earlier in the week, they were back to arriving on time (two to three hours before Kakashi-sensei deigned to show himself), something was bothering them though, and the blond wasn't sure what to do.
At first, he'd chalked it up to frustration he'd been to both the Uchiha archives and their personal library. They were truly massive; looking for something in specific had to be a nightmare. The obvious lack of sleep couldn't be helping their mood. For him, however, it was clear there was more to the story.
So far, they were acting normal, they'd trained together, and he'd even slept over last night. Yet, there were small actions, tiny hints here and there that they were both worried or upset about something.
"So, what do you have in mind for dinner?" The girl's voice broke his musings.
"Ichiraku ramen!"
"Try again." Sasuke scoffed, his annoyance only half-faked.
He opened his mouth only to falter for a second. "Some meat then?"
"Humm, we're running out on steak...there's a store nearby though"
Crap, he'd relented on Ichiraku's because he realized whatever it was that was bothering them got worse whenever other villagers were around. It was really subtle, and originally he figured they were just feeling frustrated with the missions since it was when talking with their clients that they began to show irritation.
It wasn't.
Two days ago, it happened again when eating out at a restaurant that was fairly indifferent to his presence. He thought choosing something they could eat at their home would help, but he'd just dug a deeper hole.
The owner of the store in the next street was one of the ones who would sometimes send veiled insults towards him. Naruto didn't mind anymore, used to them as he was. But if the man tried to insult him in front of them, Kagome's seemingly endless patience would snap, and the pair would cut another store from their list of approved places...yet again.
"Oh...then I'll wait for you guys here." He forced a grin; it wasn't like they'd take too long waiting outside wouldn't be too bad.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, sure I've...got some..." Cerulean eyes traveled around the street, desperate for something to do that would allow him to deny the girl's concern. Relief welled up inside him at the sight of the obviously-not-a-rock rock. "I've got some catching up to do with Konohamaru here!"
Cheerfully, he lifted the box on top of the Hokage's grandson. The boy, as spoiled as he'd been when they first met, had honestly grown on him a bit. And no, it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the boy praised almost everything he did. Not at all.
He blinked at the sight of the other two kids hidden under the extremely fake rock. When or how exactly those two ended up attached to Konohamaru, Naruto wasn't really sure; he couldn't say he wasn't happy for the boy, though. Having friends that saw him for who he was instead of his position was probably something really important.
"How? How did you see through our super awesome disguise?!" Genuine surprise was in every face...like they honestly thought they were being sneaky...
"Little hint...no rock has perfect angles, perfect corners...and eye holes!" he screamed, hands waving around the painfully obvious cardboard box. Yes, some of his plans didn't work out exactly as planned, but he'd never been this obvious. "Kind of a big hint right there! Plus, the stone pattern is also all wrong!"
"I see," Kagome giggled softly. "If that's the case, we'll be back soon, okay?"
"Yup, don't worry, don't worry."
He crossed his arms behind his head and grinned. There wasn't much he could do when he had no clue of the reason behind their annoyance, but whatever little he could do to ease things up, he would do it. In time, they would tell him, he was sure of it. For now, he'd just try to help them as much as he could.
"Huh?" the boy asked as soon as his friends had turned the corner. "You're planning something today?"
"Err, yeah, they were begging me to help them train, so I'm sleeping over with those guys tonight." His grin grew wider; if the bastard heard him, he'd be really pissed. "Helping others is a trait every good ninja must have."
"But, you promised to play ninja with us today?!" Geez, the kid had a good pair of lungs when it came to whining.
Ugh, right. He'd totally forgotten about that detail. Handling their usual batch of missions probably had something to do with it. Not that remembering now that he was already in a pinch helped him much.
It wasn't like he didn't have the time or that he had any sort of special plans. They were all tired and frustrated and annoyed, so there was no chance any of them actually wanted to practice. Quite honestly, they would most likely eat and laze around the house. Something that, in Naruto's humble opinion, should be done more often. If he agreed to play with Konohamaru and his little friends, though, he'd be giving up not only his relaxed afternoon but even his free meal.
Kagome indulged the kids often enough, but Sasuke had no patience for them after the first words out of the Hokage's grandson towards him were 'Oh, so you're the last Uchiha!'
Not the kid's brightest moment.
Thanks to that, he knew there was no chance in hell, he could convince Kagome, to convince Sasuke, to invite the trio into the Uchiha district for dinner. The girl was kinder than the bastard for sure, and she was good at keeping him from indiscriminately punching anyone who annoyed him, but even she couldn't create miracles. Because while sure, there was some rivalry between the two boys, Konohamaru always made things look bigger than they were, and even Naruto winced at some of the brat's comments. And those would always end up irritating Sasuke even more.
"Really, a ninja playing ninja?"
The voice almost made him flinch. He'd played the fool earlier this week, forcefully pushing back the sting of the pinkette's words, he wasn't sure he could do it again. He still felt admiration for the girl's smarts and cute looks, but all the scathing comments towards him and Kagome were starting to pile up.
"Eh...that's..." Now that he looked at her, the girl looked quite winded; pink hair disheveled and clothes ragged, on her back was a big backpack. Oh, so she just got back from a C-rank then...maybe keeping quiet would be a good idea.
"Hey, boss," Konohamaru pretended to whisper. "Who's the cutie?"
If anything, at least the loudly voiced praise seemed to have cheered his former classmate up a bit. Now, Naruto only hoped the boy wouldn't put his foot on his mouth.
"Oh, umm Sakura-chan is..."
"Wait! You don't have to say it, Boss," Konohamaru grinned, the blond was getting a bad feeling about this. "Since you're so smart and cool and all, hehe. It's plain to see you and her..." The boy made a gesture with his hand, and Naruto was absolutely right about his bad feeling. "You know, right?"
The blond froze; on the one hand, Sakura-chan was always quick to respond in aggressive terms, even during a good day. On the other hand, however...heat rushed to his cheeks.
"Like hell!"
The pain on his cheek was honestly, not as bad as the punches he got while training (even Kagome-chan, who usually stayed away from hand to hand, could make him hurt more when she got serious). It was still enough to send him rolling to the other side of the street.
Ignoring the loud and overly dramatic screams of the kid trio, Naruto winced. With his luck, he'd bruise just long enough for Kagome to get back, see it, and get upset in his defense...which would, of course, upset the bastard.
"What did you do that for?!"
He could grab the trio and make a run for it...but those two were going to look for him here, and he really didn't want to miss free dinner. It wasn't Ichiraku's, but unlike him, the pair had bothered to learn how to cook and weren't half bad at it.
"Don't die on us, leader!"
If he couldn't leave, then he needed to make her go away, and he had no idea how to go about it. Maybe if he kept quiet, that would be enough for her to tire and go home? If Sakura really just came from a C-rank, it meant the girl had probably been walking for a couple of days, so rest had to be high on her priority list.
"You witch!"
Naruto almost jumped from the floor, a bit too late to reach the Hokage's grandson in time to save the boy a good hit on the head. He winced in sympathy, damn that had to hurt for someone not used to harsh training.
"Konohamaru! Boss! Are you okay?"
"Geez, that broad-browed fire breathing hag!" The kid was clearly not used to getting hit. Funny, he was sure by his age, both his friends were capable of taking stronger hits. "Is she even a female? She'd nothing like Kagome-nechan!"
A chill ran down the blond's spine as he looked towards the end of the street where the girl had stopped walking.
"Run!"
Sure, her hits were far from the worst he'd felt, but that didn't mean he was happy with the idea of being used as a punching bag. Making sure to remain behind the brats, Naruto sprinted, pushing whichever kid from the trio fell behind. All reservations about missing dinner forgotten in an instant, it would be far worse if they found him and the kid trio being pounded by the pinkette anyway.
"Ouch!"
Konohamaru winced, the speed he was running with sent him to the floor after colliding with...with who was that?
Two weird persons were standing in front of him. Well, to be fair, the girl looked normal on her own the weird one was the boy. Dressed all in black, including some weird veil thingy where his forehead protector was sown in, the boy was carrying some...thing...wrapped in bandages. Weirdest still was the make-up plastered all over his face.
And he thought Zabuza looked like a freak.
Regardless of their looks, there was something definitely off about these guys. They certainly looked out of place.
With no warning, the weird one lifted Konohamaru's small body with a single swipe of his arm. The boy shifted in the air with no control of his own. This was bad.
"Konohamaru!"
"That hurt, you snot face!"
The freak shook his arm, Konohamaru's small body shaking powerless as the boy tried and failed to grab at the arm holding him.
"Knock it off," the unknown blonde protested halfheartedly. "You're going to get it as it is."
"I...I'm sorry." Sakura had apparently finally caught up to them, her anger deflating as she looked at what was going on. "It was my fault, I was fooling around and..."
And that wasn't to work.
Of course, it wasn't going to work when the fucking weirdo seemed happy with bullying a child half of his size. "Put him down, you big ape!"
"I just want to play with him a little, while we're waiting for the nuisance to get here."
Another shake, and this time Konohamaru didn't even try to lift his arms. He didn't think twice, his legs moving before he noticed that he had no plan.
"You son of a !"
Something moved against his leg, his scream and sprint cut short as it moved around him, sending him crashing to the ground. The familiarity of it finally sunk in.
Wires.
Or something close to it, he couldn't feel it anymore, but there was no way he could spar with Kagome and not know how it felt to have the thin cords trip him up. Whoever this freak was, he was using some sort of jutsu against him.
"What a wimp," he snorted. "Is that the best Konoha's genins can do?"
Shit.
This was not good, this was so not good.
In the first place, he had no idea who these weirdos were, and if there was anything he'd learned from his childhood friend was, that knowing your enemy was important. And second, whoever this was, they were not unwilling to play dirty.
Punching a stranger in the face to stop him from assaulting a kid was one thing; going against them with actual jutsus was a different matter.
"First off, I'm allergic to shrimp." This situation was spiraling out of control in a way he couldn't understand. They were still inside the village, just who were these people? "Bad enough that you're a short little kid, you're even disrespecting your elders. You make me want to kill him!"
Okay, bad.
This was worse than bad.
He had to think of something quick.
"I...will not be held responsible for this..." The unknown blonde stepped back.
"Great, so I'll just finish with this tiny shrimp and move on to the jumbo shrimp over there."
Crap.
Fuck.
This guy was really going to do to, he really was going to go all out against a child. The blonde had given up on controlling her partner, and Sakura was completely frozen behind him.
Fuck the rules of courtesy them.
He could worry about the fallout later.
His hands were moving as he ran.
He managed to catch himself, barely, before hitting the floor, his steps faltering as a rock flew past him hitting the painted weirdo hard enough to force him to let go of Konohamaru.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's overjoyed scream answered his unspoken question.
"I'm sorry for making you wait..." A shuddering sigh of relief left him at the sound of Kagome's soft, calm voice. "is what I'd like to say, but it looks like something else is going on."
Looking back, he could see the girl giving the strangers a polite smile, shopping bags held together in front of her as she walked. The braid she'd tied her hair into during the mission was gone, letting her long locks fall freely framing her face, and her stance was firm, no trace of exhaustion in her movements. Oh, he was sure the girl was just as tired as she'd been fifteen minutes ago, but he remembered her telling him how important it was to control how your enemy viewed you.
Sasuke (cocky bastard that he was) was sitting on a tree playing with a second rock on his hand. Just to show off. Hell, he'd had to have passed his bags to Kagome, jump the fence, and then climb the tree just for that entrance. He couldn't be happier to see him sending a dark glare to the two strangers.
"Something going on, you say?" the freak repeated, a weird tone in his voice as he eyed his female teammate. "This little shrimp here was the one who started this. I'm just asking for proper compensation."
"I see, in that case then please, accept my apologies on behalf of my teammate." She gave a shallow bow, like, a really, really shallow bow. "I hope we can settle it with this. Unless, of course, you'd rather lodge a formal complaint and explain what amount of damage a boy half your size did to you that's bad enough to justify the mistreatment of said civilian child." The blonde failed to contain a snort at her partner's expense, and Naruto risked another look at the still smiling Kagome-chan. Oh, she was pissed. "If that's not what you wish for, then why not just leave things as they are and avoid straining the treaty by such a small matter."
"That's how you treat your guests?"
"Guests?" the Uchiha interjected, lazily sending another rock into the air. "A better question here is, what are you doing in our village?"
An even worse frown made its way into the stranger's painted face as he shifted his creepy eyes from Kagome to Sasuke.
"Oh, look. Another little brat."
"Get lost."
The tension in the air got heavier, and the prankster glanced back at Kagome. Whatever politics were going on here, the girl was still smiling, so he figured even if a fight were to occur, they had the upper hand...in that at least.
"Come down, you little squirrel!" the weirdo screamed at his friend, anger very clear on his voice. "Think you're so smart, don't you?"
The Uchiha simply gave an unimpressed glare back. The stranger moved, obviously pissed, the weird bandaged thing already posed in the ground. And Naruto couldn't help but wonder if he should try to defuse the situation before pushing the thought away. Those jerks were willing to hurt a child just for bumping into them, with his friends here, they could handle the weirdos.
"Wait!" The unknown girl was suddenly invested once more in stopping her partner. "Tell me you're not planning on using the crow?!"
"Kankuro, don't!"
A new voice pierced the street.
Kagome turned around, her movements fast and even...panicked? Naruto looked at the tree Sasuke was sitting on, the place where the voice was coming from. Did Kagome-chan fail to notice the new stranger's presence?
Then again...
The newcomer was just as much of a weirdo as the other. Red hair, some creepy thing strapped to his back, a red kanji tattoed to his forehead, and a lack of eyebrows (what was with people with no eyebrows?). He was definitely in the creep territory.
"You're a disgrace to our entire village."
"G-Gaara..."
Taking another glance at his childhood friend, the prankster stilled. The earlier faked easiness was gone from her posture. Now the girl was tense, the bags changed to one so she could grab a blade if necessary. And suddenly things were not looking as great.
"It annoys me that you'd lose control in a quarrel with children." If glares could kill, the painted weirdo would've been six feet under by now. "Have you forgotten why we came here?"
"But Gaara, they started it!" Was this guy seriously trying to tattle on them? He was the one who went overboard with his retaliation. "The little one slammed me!"
"Shut up...or I'll kill you."
The older boy, Kankuro was it, shut up. He was almost shivering as he tried to gurgle up a response, and one question made it's way to Naruto's mind. What the hell did the short redhead do to make his own teammate so freaking scared?
"You're right, I was out of line."
"We're sorry..." they looked terrified, the girl's indifference was completely gone now. "Okay, Gaara? Really, really sorry."
"Sorry about my friends."
The new-comer gave a quick glance at the group in the street, freezing blue passing through him without a second thought. He stopped only on Kagome for one long second before moving again to land on Sasuke. Whatever he decided, the redhead vanished in a cloud of sand only to reappear between his two...teammates? Could he still call them that when they were so clearly afraid of the guy?
"I know we're a little early, but we didn't come here to play around."
"I swear it won't happen again." All the previous bravado in Kankuro's stance had been replaced in an instant.
"Let's go."
"Excuse me," Kagome said, stopping their retreat. "Like I said before, there's no need to strain the treaty any more, but even then, Suna nins still need proper authorization to pass the border." Her former polite smile was gone. "So, if you could please show us your papers, so we can all go on with our days...?"
"Ever heard the saying about it being darkest at the base of the brightest lighthouse?" The other girl seemed to have recovered some of her arrogance as she took some papers out of her pocket. "Weren't you informed?
"Like you said, we're genins from Suna, we're here to take the Chuunin Selection Exam. Anything else you'd like to see?"
That's alright." Kagome smiled again, all forced politeness. "Sorry for the inconvenience."
"Your names?"
Naruto blinked at the unexpected question coming from the short redhead. The guy looked the less social from his group. If he was taking notice of them, though...
"Huh, wanna know our names?"
"Not you." Gaara's eyes hadn't even flickered to him, his gaze set on his childhood friends. "Those two."
"...Higurashi Kagome."
"Uchiha Sasuke." The bastard sent a mild glare to the Suna nin. "And you are?"
"Gaara of the Desert."
With a curt nod, the redhead turned around again, the other two quickly falling in line after the shortie, anger bubbled up to the surface of his thoughts for a bit.
They were friends, and they'd spent years training together. He wasn't that far behind Sasuke, damn it. He was just as good as him. That's why they fit together as a team.
"Konohamaru-kun." Kagome's voice shook him from his thoughts, her tone calm and soothing as she approached the Hokage's grandson. "Are you alright?"
"Huh..ah-aha, y-yeah, of course I am." Konohamaru blushed at being the sole focus of the girl.
"I see, that's great." His teammate took out three bars of some sort of candy and offered them to the kid. "Here, I figured since we were stealing Naruto-kun for the day, I might as well give you something. Now, go on and go back to your teacher, I'm sure he's worried by now."
The kid trio took the offered sweets, grins and blushes on display until they sprinted the opposite way the weirdos went. Naruto huffed, really they were happy to take candies as a replacement for their idol? Bunch of traitors they were. Still...
"We're going to need to be more careful from now on. That group is nothing but bad news." Kagome was looking at him with a worried look in her face, probably trying to make sure he was alright. She had that habit.
"Yeah, and what gave you that idea?" The angry voice of Sakura took him by surprise.
Naruto winced, right, he'd actually forgotten the pink-haired kunoichi was the original reason this whole thing got out of control. And right now, neither of his friends were in a good mood.
"They'll only get in trouble if the fact that they harmed someone can actually be proven," Kagome said tersely, all her patience apparently spent with the foreigners. "I simply thought it might be wise to remind all of us, of course, I'm sure you'll be able to handle yourself just fine should anything happen, Haruno-san."
"He...hey Kagome-chan..." He wasn't good at trying to defuse a fight, especially when one of the parties was his usually calm friend. "Why don't we..."
"I was just saying there's no point in saying things that were so obvious, I mean, it's just common sense." Sakura smiled at the Uchiha, completely ignoring him. It was as if he wasn't even in the street with them. "Right, Sasuke-kun?"
Oh boy, for someone as smart as her, the girl definitely lived quite deluded if she thought Sasuke would ever not back Kagome-chan in public.
"Listen, why don't you..." With the speed of someone way too used to it, Kagome went to grab the Uchiha's hand, potentially stopping him from actually snapping. "Just shut the hell up. Stay out of our business."
The pinkette visibly deflated.
"Oi, Naruto, What are you waiting for? Get going." The Uchiha snapped at him as he began to walk in a familiar road. "Let's go home."
The blond nodded, still feeling conflicted about his former classmate. He still liked her, or at least he thought so. But lately, it was getting harder to find the things he used to admire in her.
"Naruto-kun," Kagome said, once within the silence of the Uchiha district. "I meant what I said back there. The chuunin exams are not going to end in a day. We'll need to be careful with those three until they're out of the village. Them and the extra eyes that are arriving in the village."
Golden eyes closed as he took in the relative peace around him. They'd arrived at the Hidden Village only a couple of days ago, and even though he'd sent his subordinates to scout the place, Sesshomaru hadn't had a chance to enjoy some peace until now.
Unsurprisingly, their arrival had been received with more wariness than anything else. It was something he'd been prepared for; nonetheless, it was irritating to have inferior chuunins and jounins question him after he delivered his prepared statement. It had been nothing other than platitudes, and it said something that they'd been able to catch the emptiness of his words, regardless it was all they would obtain from him.
Just because his clan had never seen fit to use their right to assist whatever little events they organized didn't mean they didn't have it.
Idly, he wondered why his mother wasn't called for this assignment. The woman easily fulfilled each and every requirement with the added benefit that she enjoyed playing with important people as she flaunted her power. She was also every bit as deadly now as she was before she married; there was no reason for her not to take it.
Then again, Inuyasha was (in an impressive act of self-preservation) terrified of his mother. It mattered not if the woman was fond of anyone or not; if she took a liking to you, you could forget about having a peaceful life. Perhaps his father had decided to spare his youngest the potential trauma of having to travel with the esteemed lady.
He opened his eyes in time to receive his ordered tea and see the object of his mission, entering the teahouse.
As usual, Miroku's information was every bit as reliable as one obtained from the higher-ups. By the end of their first day, the boy had managed to find a good description of the girl, and last night a list of the places she frequented was placed in front of him. To be fair, this was the kind of place he would've naturally gravitated to had he been left to his own devices. It was a nice coincidence the heiress had chosen this place.
It seemed like his father's calculations had been off for a couple of years.
She was certainly young, but he could see her talk and smile at the attendant in an impressive demonstration of a political mask.
Unfortunately, he'd been stuck fending the subtle prodding of Konoha's council the last day. But Miroku's detailed report about the confrontation with the Suna nins was reliable enough that now that he could look for it, he could see the similarities.
Back home, it was only the deep knowledge that the Lady Kimi was by any and all accounts a sadistic woman, that kept him and his family for falling for her smiles. The woman had made an art of lying, and trying to find tells in her performance was an exercise in futility.
Her favorite one, however, was that infuriating little smile that made it clear she knew something no else did; the one the Higurashi heiress showed was certainly not the same, kinder, gentler even. Making it seem like she actually cared about the people she was talking to. Had he not lived in the same house as the Taisho matriarch, he might've bought it, from what he could see, it was likely there was only a half-lie under those smiles.
Deep azure orbs looked into his eyes for just an instant.
His movement almost faltered at the momentary connection as he rose his cup to his lips. Had she noticed him watching? Perhaps, but that shouldn't give much of anything away. His actions all fell into the normal range for any foreigner to put her on edge. He kept watching as the girl and the Uchiha moved further back of where he was seated, passing by his side for just a second.
The familiar jingles cut his train of thoughts.
His con-artist of a student was now making himself at home in the seat in front of him, and this was not the way their observations were supposed to work.
"Monk," he spoke softly even as irritation filled the one word. "Do you have anything to report?"
"What if I said I just happened to pass by and decided I wished to share a cup of tea?"
"You would no longer be among the living," he hissed as he watched the teen flirt outrageously with the waitress that had taken to attend him. At least, he didn't have to worry about leaving unexpected surprises behind, as the boy was just as conscious and responsible about adding members to his bloodline as everyone else form his clan. "So, what is it you want?"
"Now, now, I just thought it wise to inform you that there seems to be someone else interested in the little lady." The teen's voice was just low enough to mix and mingle with the general chatter of the shop, his smile never faltering despite the words he spoke.
"From their own?"
"Ah, as much of an honor it is for milord to think so highly of me, I'm forced to admit I'm not yet at the point where I could see an ANBU if they were set on not being seen."
So someone from the other villages was trying to keep an eye on the young heiress. It could be nothing more than a coincidence, it wasn't weird to think that, after arriving in Konoha, someone from the other contingents had heard about the girl and decided to take advantage of the situation and try to get some valuable data.
He repressed a scoff, believing in coincidences lead to early graves. It would seem, however, that their short stay would become quite interesting now.
A/N:
Regarding the upload schedule: So...hopefully, my uploads will remain regular since from the very beginning I chose a schedule that was fairly relaxed but college starts tomorrow for me (online of course) so there is a chance it will take me some time to get a handle on my time. Like I said at the beginning I've got a backlog of about ten chapters (I'm currently working on finishing 22 and starting 23) but those are just drafts, to put things in perspective there's an average of about 1,000 words in difference between the draft and what gets published. That's because while editing I add dialog tags and make small changes here and there (adding some details, erasing others) as necessary, some times I'll add a completely new scene that wasn't in the draft at all, or add an omake.
Still, I should be able to keep up regardless, I hope so at least. However in case that turns out to be harder than I thought I figured you guys might want to know why. I'm determined on finishing this, so while there may be some delays here and there it will not go on hiatus.
As for the story, well here we finally see what Kagome experienced during the massacre and how that plays out...well that's to be seen. Also the chuunin exams are about to start now, little by little changes are gonna start happening.
Like always thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Any and all reviews, comments and criticism are very much welcome.