Chapter 29: Fruitless search

It was not hiding; this was not hiding at all. Sasuke was just...enjoying the view of the back of the compound from the highest tree branch he could climb because...because he wanted to admire the buildings his clan made...on his birthday...

But he was definitely not hiding.

Since that would mean he was sulking, and Uchiha Sasuke did not sulk; least of all, because of some stupid reason, like not wanting to see the idiot that had taken to follow Kagome around like a lost puppy. Even going as far as invading the special time that was supposed to belong to just the three of them. It had been months, and the boy still couldn't understand why the girl chose to pay attention to the blond that could only think about stupid pranks; she was even taking the noisy brat's side.

Honestly, he had hoped the azure-eyed girl would've gotten tired of the kid after the first few weeks.

Then again, Sasuke should've known better. There was no person more stubborn than Kagome when something got stuck in her head. And being friends with the idiot was the latest idea on her mind. Happily ignoring the fact that if father caught them sneaking the other boy into the compound, all of them would get punished.

So here he was...admiring the view instead of watching Uzumaki Naruto waste both the girl and Itachi's time with his idiotic plans.

"I wasn't aware that watching the backs of buildings was a new way of celebration."

"N-nii-san!" he had to flail around to regain his balance as the calm, familiar voice sounded just behind him, making him jump. "W-welcome back..."

"So..." His brother raised a brow, clearly not impressed with his weak attempt to change the conversation. "Any reason you are suddenly fascinated with seeing how the back of old man Yuuhio's house looks like?"

He could try to lie. The younger Uchiha wasn't that bad when it came to lying. At the very least, his mother always believed him when he did. One glance at the look the teen was sending him, though, made it clear Itachi wouldn't be fooled as easily as their parents were.

"Not really..." he mumbled instead.

"Oh." Again, the older boy looked anything but happy with his answer. "You're sure it doesn't have anything to do with the little girl that kept looking around when she came to greet me because she was trying to see if you'd come as well?"

It was silly, really, but he couldn't help the way he turned his face away from his brother's eyes at that. Heat rushing to his cheeks when the realization that Kagome had been looking for him all this time. It was stupid; she wouldn't just forget about him, but knowing it did nothing to help silence the envy growing every time he heard the idiot's name coming from her.

"Say, Sasuke...you do remember we're not related by blood to her, don't you?"

He nodded.

Of course, he remembered. There was no way his father would let them forget that little detail, every innocent slip of the tongue was strictly reprimanded. Something that never failed in making the girl's good mood turn strained and fake. Truthfully, he hated those talks.

"How do you think she'd feel if there was no one waiting for her when she got back home for training? If when she woke up, there was only silence to greet her?" Itachi was looking at him, not letting him try to run away.

The boy frowned. Silence was not something that fit with Higurashi Kagome; the girl was always smiling and chatting with someone, his parents, the uncles, and aunts who owned stores within the district, his cousin...if she was alone, then...

"Naruto-kun doesn't have anyone with him." It must have shown in his face, the place his thoughts went, because Itachi's voice had softened. "What do you think Kagome sees when she looks at him?"

Eyes widened in realization, guilt that he'd never admit to feeling pooled in his stomach. Even if the girl had not even once said it out loud, Sasuke knew why she always tried so hard not to cause problems, why she made sure to follow their instructions to the letter...the fear of not belonging...of being sent away...alone.

She was seeing herself in the blond...or at least what could have happened t her had Father not taken care of her...

"You don't have to become his best friend, but isn't she worth having a bit more patience?" There was no recrimination in his brother's words, just a gentle nudge.

The nod he gave was slight, eyes averting him because he knew even with what the boy knew now, there was still a bitter taste in his tongue...but, for her, Sasuke supposed he could endure it.

He blinked as his vision blurred, Itachi's arms lifting him effortlessly as the older boy jumped down to the floor. Barely, he managed to hold back a scream; he knew where they were going without having to ask. And if what his brother said about Kagome looking for him was true, it likely meant she hadn't stopped since he hi...since he decided to explore a different part of the compound...some two hours ago.

"Kagome." The teen didn't hesitate to call out as soon as they made it to the training grounds they frequented.

"Itachi! Have you..." the words trailed off, probably as her eyes fell on to him, though Sasuke wasn't sure considering he was slung over like a sack of potatoes on his brother's shoulder. "Sasuke! Where were you? Are you alright?"

"Where's the idiot?" he grumbled before he could stop himself as soon as his feet touched the ground.

"Huh? Why would he be here?" There was genuine confusion in her eyes as she looked at him. "We're going to the river like we always do on birthdays...ah! don't call Naruto-kun an idiot!"

"Fine, a moron then." He failed a bit in hiding the satisfaction of knowing she still valued him, valued them more than the blond. "Sorry...by the way."

"Oh, don't worry, don't worry. I just ran around the compound like seven times already," she said, a large smile on her face.

A shiver ran down his spine...she was mad alright, and that overly sweet grin only meant he was going to pay for it in a week or so, when he'd already forgotten about it and lowered his guard. One look at his brother as the teen struggled to keep from laughing made it clear that Sasuke was going to have to deal with it on his own...

"Happy birthday, Sasuke!"

He blinked at the sound.

Something was...off.

Looking back at her, the boy could see bright crimson was staining the soft blue fabric of her kimono, the far off sound of people training in the grounds vanished, allowing silence to envelop the area. Kagome was struggling to stay standing, older now, hair disheveled, eyes glassy as she stared somewhere behind him.

"You think you can protect her?"

Dread flowed through his veins, and yet...had that been a threat...or a warning...?

The hissing of snakes broke the asphyxiating silence as the scaly beasts began to creep through the trees, trails of crimson left behind them. Panic broke through him.

They had to run.

They couldn't win.

They had to run and get away from the compound...if they got to the gates and out, then...

Then...what?

Then they could ask for help?

From who?"

The ANBU hadn't come to help, the chuunin in patrol failed to offer help...even knowing their lives were in danger...knowing a maniac infiltrated, they did nothing. Was there anyone in this village that would help them? Anyone they could trust not to betray them?

"If you want to protect her...then live...learn to survive and get stronger..."

It took him a second to recognize the sounds of the machines in the room as the hum of the hospital equipment. The smell of something stung his nose while his eyes snapped open, memories of what had happened before came back rushing, the pain of the seal forcefully restraining the curse mark on his shoulder.

Something stopped his hand as he tried to lift it to his neck. His gaze flew to his right only to relax slightly at the sight of Kagome sleeping on the chair next to what had to be his hospital bed. His hand was firmly held between hers. New clean bandages were covering her arms, and her clothes were clearly a different set than the ragged mess that would go to the trash when they made their way back home.

And judging from the bulging silhouette on the side of her chair, they'd also have a lot of washing to do...just great. At least there was sure to be a change of clothes for him inside as well.

A bitter laugh got stuck on his throat as the vivid memory of how the Uchiha had spent the never-ending hours waiting for the girl to wake up after the incident happened came back to him. In a way, it was like they'd reversed their roles. It was now her who battled her fears waiting for him.

If Kagome never had to be placed in this position again, he would have no complaints.

"She's been waking up and going back to sleep every so often." The lazy drawl of his teacher's voice shouldn't have taken him by surprise. "I don't imagine that's too comfy, but when the nurse tried to suggest getting her a room of her own, I was sure Kagome-chan would try to use her for target practice."

His left arm moved, ignoring the pull of the cables stuck to him to get rid of the oxygen mask on his face. There was still some leftover pain in his limbs, but it wasn't anything compared to what the boy had been through before; he could breathe just fine on his own. And truthfully, the less injured he looked by the time the girl woke, the better. Even with all the injuries she got, Kagome would still worry herself into a fit if he allowed the pain to show.

"Her wounds..." His voice sounded raspy, as the words were forced out.

"I had a doctor treat them here," the man answered, saving him the embarrassment of being unable to finish a simple question. "She's fine now, just chakra exhaustion, but that should recover in a few days, even if they leave it on its own."

Too tired to try and hold it back, Sasuke let out a sigh; that alone was a weight off his shoulders. Neither of them liked going to the hospital, had they left this place without her being treated, there would surely be an issue. With him wanting to get her healed up and the stubborn Higurashi refusing to spare them both the feelings getting close to the Konoha hospital always brought up. Plus, this way, her chakra and reiki reserves would fill up faster.

"The prelims..."

"She won her match, Naruto as well." There was something odd in the way the copy ninja was speaking. "Things are only going to get harder from now on, though. All three of you managed to get annoying opponents."

"Who..."

Whatever else he was going to try and say died on his tongue as he noticed the girl stirring. Blurry azure eyes blinked at him as she quietly rose from what he knew had to have been a nightmare. Her gaze seemed to sharpen in an instant as she fully took him in, processing the fact that he was awake. Unsurprisingly, the girl almost jumped in her haste to stand up.

"You're awake..."The sheer relief in her voice made guilt pool in his gut. "How are you feeling? Is it still hurting? Are you sure you're ok without the oxygen?"

"I'm fine." Thankfully his voice remained stable this time. "It barely hurts now."

Are you sure?"

He nodded, not willing to run the risk of his tone betraying any hint of pain. There was no reason for Kakashi-sensei to lie about how often Kagome had been waking up; he'd treat their menace of a friend for a year if the girl had managed more than a few minutes of proper rest.

"You know..." Kakashi's drawl stopped her from going to another tirade. "One would think you doubt the fine doctors of the hospital...and my own work."

"Ah, not at all...it's just..." Uncharacteristically, the girl faltered.

A testament of how tired she was, was that the honeyed lies that would usually come forth to cover the fact that, of course she doubted them, failed to show.

"You were saying about the prelims."

"Don't worry about it, for now, it's still the middle of the night." For all that the words were spoken softly, they were still an order. "I'll be staying here until you get out, so go back to sleep and focus on recovering."

All of him wanted to protest, there were questions pressing on the back of his mind, and he wanted, no, needed answers. As it was, however, his body was refusing to listen to him, ignoring his wishes. Already, the Uchiha could feel the exhaustion that knocked him out in the first place, began to resurface once more.

Giving up with a sigh, Sasuke resigned himself to go back to sleep, his hand tightening around Kagome's as the girl sleepily nodded. Now that the burst of emotions from seeing him awake had passed, tiredness was starting to rear it's head in her as well. With groggy movements, the Higurashi heiress tried to settle back, looking for as comfortable a position leaning on the edge of the bed could be afforded. Pushing himself to the side that had fewer cables tied to his arms, he nodded towards her, a clear motion for her to just ignore the stupid chair and try to and fit to his side, similar to how they'd weathered their previous stay in the damned place. He couldn't care less for their teacher's presence in the room. Kagome wouldn't get a wink of sleep if she insisted on remaining proper. It wasn't like the man didn't know anyway; they'd done it back in Wave after all. As her familiar weight fell on the mattress, the boy could feel some of the leftover tension fade away.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad...

Yes, the last part of it belonged more in the territory of a nightmare instead of a dream, but the first part...it had been so long since the Uchiha allowed himself to think back to those days. Back when their greatest concerns were nothing but petty fights between him and the village's prankster, and Itachi would always make sure to smooth things over when their squabbles got too serious.

It wouldn't be so bad for him to see those memories again, even if, in the end, it devolved into the nightmares he was so used to.

This...was so not what he was thinking he got when he convinced the perverted old man that had managed to knock out the closet perv that was supposed to teach him to train him instead...

Naruto had known training the basics would end up like one of those lame and annoying exercises Kakashi-sensei had them doing for months at the start. Yes, it was necessary, and yes, he often forgot about them in the heat of the moment (his form got sloppy, and he projected his moves too clearly, and blah, blah, blah), but it wasn't like he'd ever suffered because of it during their missions, or even when they sparred most of the time. That was one of the reasons he definitely hadn't been so happy to see what the supposed elite ninja had planned for his personalized training. How much of a difference could there really be between how his fighting style worked right now if he fully mastered the bases?

Still, the blond had hoped that by ditching Ebisu, he'd finally gotten one over their lazy excuse of a teacher. It almost looked like it for a minute too, when the old man had pressed (punched more like)some pressure points or whatever in his stomach. After that, walking on water had been as easy as breathing, his feet staying well above the burning hot-spring. And yet, here he was, trying and completely failing to summon a frog while his newly appointed mentor was spying on the girls he could hear playing in the lake.

His luck with teachers just sucked, didn't it?

Not like he was getting behind his teammates in terms of training, considering they were still trying to recover from their wounds. At least both of them were out of the hospital now... even if his friends were far from getting the green card that would allow them to get some proper training. Relief had threatened to make him fall when he went straight to the Uchiha compound earlier this week to find them both moving around the big house. His eyes deliberately not pausing to see the care both of them had not to move too quickly.

Nope.

No, no, he refused to think about that right now.

The important thing was that they were back home and would probably start training in the next couple of days. So really, the blond should be focusing on his own training here or risk falling behind.

Frustration seemed to be growing at the same rate his feet began to sink into the water he was supposed to be standing on top of. And from the groans of the clones around him, all of them were feeling more or less the same. This was making him look way more pathetic than he thought possible. How in the world did the perverted old man manage to summon a toad that was big enough for him to stand on top of it?

With a groan of his own, the prankster allowed the technique to dispel. The tiredness hit him like he thought it would, a bit of extra anxiety slipping with it.

The old sennin, Jiraiya, hadn't outright told him he wanted him to use the Kyuubi's chakra, but Naruto wasn't that stupid to fail to make the connection between his second, red chakra and the monster that had taken control of him that time with Gatou's mercenaries. The thing that allowed him to keep his team safe and finish the mission...as well as the reason the boy hadn't hesitated as he tore through the paid swords bought by the mob lord...his own consciousness drowned by a red mist that seemed to revel in the pain it caused.

When telling his friends about the weirdo he met, Kagome had gotten an odd look before smiling and telling him it should be ok to follow Ero-sennin's instructions. Something about how that should help him learn how to control the fox's energy instead of just repressing it, like the whole meditation thing with Kakashi-sensei was supposed to go. Sasuke also agreed after that, saying it would be stupid not to use the weapons he had right in front of him. It had been those reassurances that made him come back the day after their not so great meeting. But a small part of him couldn't help but worry about what would happen if the monster were to try and take control again.

This jutsu needed a huge amount of chakra, though.

The kind of chakra the Kyuubi had.

Which meant, first of all, that the blonde needed to use up all of his energy. And somehow, instead of doing something like sparring to tire him out, he was told to walk on water...

The genius idea of using clones to speed up the process had been him, of course. The memory of almost buckling under the exhaustion after the first time he dispelled the technique during Kakashi-sensei's special training came to him in a flash of inspiration...a half an hour into this stupid exercise.

"Ok, ok, I think that's enough." There was a blush on the old man's cheeks as he coughed in an attempt to look composed.

Jerk hadn't even been looking his way, Naruto was so damn sure the only reason the pervy old man was back to teaching was that the girls playing in the lake were gone. Forcefully shaking his head, the prankster tried to shake those thoughts away as well.

This time, he would get a toad.

Not a tadpole...a real, four-legged toad...

For sure!

Smoke burst in front of him, his heartbeat almost stopping while he waited for it to lift.

"Wrong!" What was more upsetting, Ero-sennin's annoyed shouting or his own disappointment as the small, squiggly tadpole jumped around in a rock...Naruto wasn't sure. "How many times do I have to tell you, you moron! Release all your chakra in you're about to die!"

"Shut up!" Screaming was probably not going to help him; he did it anyway. "I'm trying my best!"

Silence fell between them, the wet sound of the tadpole still flailing around in front of him, the only thing he could hear...

"Once more!"

"I know!"

Like hell he would be happy summoning something as sad as the stupid tadpole when trying to fight a Taisho.

If only Ero-sennin's instructions made more sense, things would surely be easier...argh, this was usually when he'd go to Kagome, the girl had a knack to be able to explain things to him in a way he could understand them. He couldn't do that now; not only was the girl still in the Uchiha district but whenever he'd seen her for dinner, both of them would still look tired. They may not be in any condition to train, but he'd bet his whole allowance that those two were still making daily trips to the Uchiha library, scouring through mountains of scrolls. They would try to help him if he asked them to (yes, even the bastard would make time, for all the grumbling he'd do); he didn't want to take what little time they had to rest, though.

So, he would train with Ero-sennin and get as much as he could out of the old man.

Then again... he found the pervy man when he was trying to peek on the women's side of the onsen...and there hadn't been a sliver of shame as he declared himself a 'perverted gentleman'. The blond had been so surprised to see the weird self-proclaimed pervert beat the snobby instructor so easily; he didn't think twice about convincing him to teach him...though, now that he thought about it, Ebisu wasn't that difficult to beat. Naruto himself had managed even before he learned how to walk up trees.

And yet, Jiraiya didn't lie when he said he could help him; if he'd stuck to the closet pervert, the prankster would likely still be struggling with walking on water. The techniques Ero-sennin had shown him had been legit. It was fine even if the man sucked as a teacher. Naruto didn't need him to be so great; even without his friends helping him, it would be fine.

He could figure it out on his own.

He would figure it out.

Uzumaki Naruto was not just the class clown. He was strong enough to be on the same team as the two genius clan heirs. Strong enough to stand on their level, to beat a Taisho...no matter what others said.

He blinked.

And then, he blinked again.

Golden eyes looked around the trees that surrounded him in search of a familiar blinding white figure that Taisho Toga already dreaded he would not find. After all, fifteen minutes had already passed...

In what he knew was a meaningless endeavor; he closed his eyes and tried to feel any chakra nearby. The head of the Taisho clan was certainly talented when it came to detecting chakra, but the person he was looking for was even better at hiding. Unsurprisingly, he found nothing. Not a single trace left he could use to try and track her down.

Taking advantage of the emptiness of the place, the man let out a long-suffering groan.

He'd lost his wife.

Worse, it had been fifteen minutes since he lost sight of his wife.

Curses his youngest would love to learn, ran through his mind as he began making his own way to the gates. They'd been so close to reaching them before the ever so dignified lady asked him to stop since it was urgent for her to have some alone time in the forest. He should have known, of course, he should've known Kimi would try to pull off something like this. And now, he could only hurry and run towards the gates to do as much damage control as possible and save whatever unfortunate poor soul had the bad luck to be pulled into whatever game his wife was playing.

The woman was too fond of her games.

The same kind of headache Toga felt when receiving his eldest unscheduled report was already threatening to rear back its ugly head. Orochimaru, of course, someone as problematic as he just had to intervene with the whole thing. And to have set his greedy eyes on the Higurashi heiress. Oh, he'd known from the beginning that as soon as her name began to pop up within their circle, they'd have to be extremely cautious. And a part of him knew there would be outside interference sooner or later...this particular S-rank nuke nin was not what he'd been expecting, though. Having the Uchiha heir, the girl was so reportedly attached to, marked would certainly complicate things.

His wife hadn't wasted a second before announcing they would have to make the trip themselves. At least, the third phase of the exam already allowed the rulers and families of the remaining participants to visit the hosting village. This time their presence shouldn't be so eye-catching.

Honestly, just one of them was more than enough, and he already missed Izayoi's calming aura. There was a very good reason Toga had married the woman who was the matriarch of their clan, though. Kimi's bloodline was not only impeccable, but her intellect was in a plane of its own. The kunoichi was as ruthless with diplomacy as she was on the battlefield, and a good general always knew when it was time to delegate.

The clan may have alliances with basically every hidden village, but those alliances would only hold as long as their strength held.

Which was why they decided to move together.

Their family situation was far from the norm, he knew that, even within their clan, the practice wasn't an overly popular one (though he knew some families still practiced it from time to time). Managing emotions could get messy if one was not careful. He and Kimi, though, just worked like that. Both entered the arrangement knowing perfectly well what they were getting themselves into, just as much as they knew what they were getting in return. She was a reliable partner, one he could trust not only with his life but the future of the clan as well, someone he didn't have to suspect. In return, she got power, status, the right to play all her little games with proper backup. Yes, they worked well together, but just as partners, and he knew that was something most people couldn't wrap their heads around. Any perceived rift between the two rulers could be seen as a weakness to exploit.

If he were to send her here alone, it wouldn't take too much to twist the narrative. The matriarch of the Taisho clan pulled away from her partner and made the travel on her own. Pushing away from the clan...selling that story would be fairly simple. On the other hand, him going alone and leaving her behind could easily be construed as a lack of trust on his part. Not to mention the scandal trying to bring Izayoi along would create, about his preference to stay with his lover instead of doing his duty and place his clan first.

No, that wouldn't do.

So here they were, both rulers, traveling together while his princess remained behind. It was a good plan; it showed that their relationship was as strong as it ever was. It also showed the trust both of them had in the civilian princess being capable of handling any political situations that could come up in their absence.

It didn't mean he wouldn't get a headache out of having to deal with the whole mess.

The man swallowed back a sigh while he began to slow down as he neared Konoha's gates. This was already going to be trying enough without giving his allies reasons to complain about him attempting to run past the checkpoints without following the proper protocols. Plus, if he was right, this would be the best place to find his wayward wife.

"Halt!" The voice of a man echoed throughout the forest, a bit confused. "Identify yourself!"

A chuckle got stuck on his throat at that. He was sure to the current guard he must look quite lost, with only the upper part of armor and clothes that didn't really fit with most of the common wardrobe choices for shinobis. That without taking into account the fact that he was completely and utterly alone. He probably looked more the part of a lost lord than a ninja. Even if the signature long silver hair of his clan should be a dead giveaway. Choosing to make the trip without any retainers was also a decision taken with their image very much in mind.

The heads of the Taisho clan did not need an entourage...of course, that the people who would normally form such a group were now the ones in charge of his princess' security detail was something that didn't need to be publicized. Plus, with the punishing pace they set to move, it was probably faster for them to travel alone.

"Would this suffice?" With a flick of his wrist, the id was on his hand, politely offered to the man. "I believe Sandaime-sama should've gotten a letter announcing our arrival." Delivered via summon and probably only the day before if he knew his eldest at all. "Also, I apologize for the possible inconvenience, but you see, my partner appears to have gotten..."

"Oh, and there he is." A melodious, familiar voice echoed throughout the forest, the familiar sight of his wife crossed the treeline. "My darling traveling companion."

He could see the shock on the poor shinobi's face as his eyes fell upon the crest emblazoned on his armor. Obviously, his darling wife had pushed her long silver tresses to the front to cover the one adorning her own clothing. Add to it that she was wearing what looked for all to see like a common (if extremely expensive and luxurious) kimono, and her acting skills...no one would've thought of her as a skilled kunoichi instead of a poor lost noble lady.

"My lady." Resigned fondness slipped through his words. "And here I thought you'd have beaten me here."

"Oh, Toga dear," Gracefully, the woman made her way towards him, a playful smile on her lips. "I was just admiring the nature around here; it's been quite some time since the last time we came, after all."

Right, the last time they'd come had been right after the Yondaime's death, a necessary trip to reaffirm the treaties under the third once more. And what little changes had been going on, were effectively halted when the old man took command yet again.

Change had been something the exuberant blond man had looked for, unlike his predecessors who were happy to keep the state quo. And they'd been all too happy to allow for that, wanting to see what this place held that had made their long time allies give up their lives for it. To say he'd mourned the loss of both, the man that would've made it possible and the change itself would've been an understatement.

"Regardless, we better hurry." A fan was on her hand in a blink. Sending a quick wink to the chuunin who'd guided her here. "Come on, dear, we don't want to leave the children waiting."

And now, she was turning it on him...like she wasn't the reason he was currently resisting the urge to bang his head against the nearest tree...again. Well, if she was driving him insane so early in their trip, she was doubtlessly going to run circles around basically everyone else. It was also why he always left the final decisions on the trickier situations to her, the woman could make anyone agree with her.

Golden eyes wandered as they moved leisurely through the gates. Predictably, for a village full of shinobi, he could already spot a decent amount of people who were certainly not civilians trying to look casual while attempting to get a better look at them. He supposed it was the same whenever there was a high concentration of ninja; gossip always spread like wildfire.

A slight movement from his wife's eyes had him looking around the crowd once again. Still mostly unaware of what he was supposed to notice, the man kept gazing across the place until his sight fell on the pair of teens that had momentarily stopped to peek at them. Two teens that fit the physical description of the person they had mobilized for and her constant guard. Sharp azure eyes seemed to lock on to his for just a second before going over and speaking to the Uchiha survivor before turning around and began to walk into the less crowded streets. The boy followed her after sending the two of them a loaded glare. If memory served right, they were going to end up in what had once been the Uchiha district.

Why the two of them were still living in what was a ghost compound, Togas had no clue...he wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

The white of the Hokage tower was one sight he hadn't expected to see once more in at least some other 5 years or so when a new Hokage would have to be elected and renewal of treaties became necessary. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that nothing had gone according to plan considering Kimi was so amused by it. The woman had one sadistic sense of humor.

He couldn't deny though, that the expression on Inuyasha's face as the door opened to let them into the Hokage's office was admittedly funny enough for him to have to cough in an effort to hide a laugh. It would seem his eldest had inherited some sort of his mother's humor and had forgotten to notify his team who else would be arriving at Konoha.

"Wha..."

His youngest's words died at the sharp elbow digging on his side courtesy of the monk impersonator. Miroku had always been quick on the uptake.

"Mother." Sesshoumaru may not be an expert actor like his mother, but he could keep his words as cold as ice every single time.

"Ah, my darling sons, it feels like it's been so long since I've seen you." Not waiting for a second, the woman sprinted into the room, wrapping her arms around the teen before letting go and turn to the other silver-haired man in the room. "Come here; I feel like you're getting taller."

Inuyasha almost seemed to freeze as the noblewoman wrapped her deceptively strong arms around him. The boy's terror of the Taisho matriarch was a well-known thing within the clan though everyone who knew about the even had been sworn to secrecy by the then 4-year-old toddles, his little face redder than a tomato. And the threat of breaking that oath was a thing that happened at least once every two months.

"Dear, your manners."

"Ah, of course, my apologies." There was an artificial blush on her face before hiding it behind her favorite fan. "It's just that well, not seeing my children for this long is har on a mother's heart. "

All the sweetness was absolutely fabricated. He knew the woman had lounged around the estate without any care in the world. Still, her referring to both of his sons as hers, was also a way to show that his children were not going to become a point of dissension. Inuyasha may technically be a bastard child, but he was acknowledged by everyone in the clan. His youngest could not be used as a way to get to the matriarch.

Pure and simple.

If she took some twisted pleasure out of watching him squirm in her hold because he knew he couldn't try and get away like back home at the open show of her affection. Well, that wasn't anyone needed to know.

"Of course," the old Hokage smiled indulgently. "Family is always important."

"Children, congratulations on passing to the finals," Toga spoke with a hint of amusement he couldn't quite hide.

"Ah yes, of course." Finally, Kimi let go of the boy to turn to Inuyasha's teammates. "Both your families send their love as well. They're terribly proud of you. We all are."

"We are honored, Kimi-sama." Unsurprisingly, Miroku was the first to react.

"Us as well, Toga-sama," Sandaime spoke once more, an attempt to regain control of the conversation, no doubt. "We are always happy to receive news from you and yours."

"Our travels do take us away from time to time."

"And yet, we just couldn't miss the opportunity to see all of them participate." Smart and graceful, his wife once more wrestled control once more. "I mean, after all, things do seem to be getting so interesting this time around."

It was subtle, of course it was, the man wouldn't have survived as the Sandaime Hokage for so long if he couldn't repress his reactions. But Toga wouldn't have lasted so long living with his wife had he not learned how to read other people's expressions. Not because he could read the woman, not even close, but because his darling wife would not let him live it down if she had to point out what she wanted him to notice. There had been a definite reaction to Kimi's not so subtle insinuation if the man thought they could keep quiet about being infiltrated by their own traitor, then he had another thing coming.

They were not where they were today by being naive.

A/N:So, to explain a bit why I changed the Naruto vs Neji, honestly, I needed Neji to have an interaction with Kagome, and considering at this point in the story he still absolutely hates Hinata and those who talk to her or support her...yeah, there was no way he'd agree to spend even 5 minutes talking to her, also, she doesn't like him very much either. The match during the tournament was honestly the only way I could come up that would still feel natural. Since I took the chance of standing toe to toe and even winning against the Hyuuga prodigy from Naruto I figured I'd give him a match that would still give him a decent boost to his reputation by even simply keeping up, ergo, Inuyasha. Also, more Inuyasha characters are slowly trickling down, though this was foreshadowed before.

As always, thank you guys so much for reading and any review/comment/criticism is greatly appreciated