W/B - Chapter 2: Conflicting opinions

Swallowing down his annoyance took more effort than Inuyasha thought it would, and he didn't even bother to try to hide the glare he sent the group's newest addition.

Like hell he'd trust in this man who appeared out of thin air.

Being human didn't mean the guy wasn't connected to Naraku. The vile bastard wasn't above using humans whenever he thought it might be worth it. Their experience with Tsubaki made it clear that there was nothing too low for the spider to sink in. Besides, two days with no suspicious activity didn't mean the so-called warrior was on the clear. If there was one thing the vile piece of shit that was Naraku could be, it was patient. Especially when he thought there was something he could get out of it. No...it was naive to assume that everything would be alright as long as this Itachi and the spider weren't related. The Shikon attracted all sorts of enemies, and this man was hiding something; he knew it, so what if he couldn't prove it yet? Through the years, the hanyou learned that it was better to trust his instincts, and right now, they were screaming that this guy was dangerous.

Just because Kagome was right about how their shitty first meetings led to strong bonds didn't mean she wasn't wrong about Itachi. It wouldn't be the first time that her kindness bordered on naivety and made it easy for others to take advantage of her trusting nature. Assholes wouldn't hesitate to harm her. It was up to him to keep her safe. He wouldn't...couldn't fail her. Not again. The stupid girl was gonna get herself killed if she kept being so damn nice.

For the last couple of days, she'd remained close to the so-called warrior to make sure there were no lingering injuries so he couldn't voice his complaints. His mood only soured further after he realized that Itachi managed to hang around her without looking like an annoyingly clingy idiot; instead, the guy constantly came up with something to talk about with the priestess, comparing their worlds and some other inane shit. It made him want to pull his hair out with how much she'd dropped her guard around someone who was basically a stranger, and the kit followed along. Because, of course, he did. In a single day, Shippo was already comfortable enough to jump on the warrior's shoulder, babbling about whatever; and maybe, if the guy would get irritated with the little runt, it would be less frustrating to watch. After all, Kagome was super protective of the kid, anyone who snapped at the fox would get a guaranteed earful, but somehow, the jerk was obnoxiously patient. It was getting ridiculous; if Inuyasha had to bet, the only other person who remained wary was Miroku. The monk was subtle, but the hanyou could tell the con artist remained cautious to avoid ending up on the receiving end of one of Kagome's glares. So here he was, sitting on a tree, pretending not to look at the group as they relaxed after dinner. Their newest addition softly talked with Sango as he offered to help the exterminator to sharpen some of the blades she was working on while the priestess attempted to read one of her modern books.

"Argh...I'm done!"

With a frustrated groan, the girl smacked the book on the ground, causing all eyes to land on her. Not scoffing took more effort than it was worth. Seriously, no matter how much the priestess tried to explain it to him, Inuyasha still didn't get why she bothered with something like school anyway when they had to deal with her bad mood after her study sessions. It was nothing but a waste of time; whatever was in that homework of hers wouldn't help them at all to hunt down Naraku, and it wasn't as if Kagome enjoyed doing that shit in the first place.

"Kagome-chan?"

"I give up!" The girl almost exploded at Sango's hesitant question. "I can't understand this; I keep getting this problem wrong!"

"We-well, I'm certain if you can get your hands on some note things, you'll be able to understand it, Kagome-sama." Damn, if the monk was trying to calm her down, then it was really bad.

"I already have notes for this." Her voice was starting to tremble...was she tearing up? Should he intervene? "And I have exams queued up the next time I go home...I'm going to fail math."

"Keh, just drop it," From up his tree, Inuyasha scoffed. "We have more urgent things to do anyway."

"I can't just drop out. It's bad enough my grades went down; I can't have mama deal with me failing a class." The girl turned to glare at him, irritation dripping from every word. This is what he got for trying to distract her.

"Can I take a look?" The frustratingly, increasingly familiar voice of Itachi stopped the priestess's tirade.

"Huh? Umm...sure, here."

It was like each, and every time this guy opened his mouth, the hanyou grew more frustrated. Biting his tongue, he watched the older teen move to sit beside Kagome, calmly taking the book from her hands. At one point or another, all members of their group tried to read the girl's textbooks out of curiosity, only to give up after being unable to make any sense of anything related to her schoolwork. That was a common pattern with almost everything she brought from the future. Other than the simplest things like Shippo's coloring stuff or the special bandages from her first aid kit, no one was supposed to really touch her things. They were bad enough with modern technology that Kagome absolutely refused to let any of them touch anything without her present, after the hanyou broke yet another clock, and Sango and Miroku almost started a forest fire trying to cook.

"Do you have an extra pencil?" Taking the offered tool, Itachi scribbled something and turned the paper to show the girl. "I believe this is where you got it wrong. You missed a negative."

"You understand that?" No fucking way.

"It looks like the bases of arithmetics remain the same." Dark eyes turned to look at the hanyou, just as calm as ever. "Though I supposed that shouldn't be so surprising."

"You sure you're not just making shit up?"

"No...no, he's right," the priestess said slowly, eyes still locked on the book. "I just double-checked the answer; this is correct." With fast motions, Kagome flipped to a different page and all but shoved it on the bastard's face. "Do you know how to solve this one? What about this?"

"This...yes, I can explain it to you if you want me to."

"Really?"

"Well, I think I can only really help you in this area."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" In a blink, the girl's stress seemed to vanish. "I can get passing grades for the rest of my classes somehow, but math is what kills me."

"I'm gonna make some rounds." His voice was harsh, but Inuyasha couldn't care less how he sounded

Not waiting for anyone to respond, the hanyou took off.

He'd thought someone like Kouga was irritating, but apparently, he'd underestimated how frustrating someone who was calm and collected could be. Partly because while Kagome was nicer than she should to the stupid wolf, Itachi was now a part of their group, and there was no chance in hell that the guy would be left behind.

Frowning, Inuyasha stopped his sprint and jumped to a tree still close enough to hear the group, just in case he needed to rush back. This wasn't sulking; he just didn't want to be forced to watch the girl be so open when the hanyou could acknowledge (if only to himself) that he didn't have much of a leg to stand on.

"Inuyasha?"

"What do you want, Miroku?" He glanced down, sending a weak glare to the monk standing beneath the tree he'd chosen as his bed for the night.

"Me? I merely wish to offer a word of advice, my friend." The man's innocent look could fool a saint, but then again, that the pervert was such a good liar. "Otherwise, I fear you might end up eating dirt in place of a meal sooner rather than later."

"You can't tell me you buy his bullshit."

"That's not what I'm trying to say; I believe Itachi-san's story was just as carefully worded as the one we provided, perhaps more so." As always, it felt like there were 20 more words hidden in every single thing Miroku uttered. "But I don't believe there is any worth in being openly hostile."

"He's a risk."

"I won't deny there's a very good chance he might be dangerous." Before Inuyasha could interrupt, the monk raised his hands in a placating gesture. "However, he's not dangerous to Kagome-sama. I'm sure you can tell too, if I had to say, that man is almost devoted to her. Not surprising, considering she's literally brought him back from the brink of death twice."

"And that is a good thing?" the hanyou asked incredulously.

"Devotion can blind someone to the truth; it can be easily twisted into something malicious due to misguided intentions." It...made sense, somewhat. "From the interactions I've been able to observe, while there is gratefulness in his actions, there doesn't seem to be anything that would make me worry. Besides, Kagome-sama would notice something like that."

"So we just wait and hope he's not a threat?" Granted, that was kinda the same strategy they'd used with everyone they'd come to call a friend, but still.

"On the contrary, I have no doubt Itachi-san can be a threat. It doesn't matter what kind of differences there are between our worlds; it's impossible to survive on the frontlines for 10 years out of pure luck...it's just that he's not dangerous to her."

To his credit, Kagome supposed, the hanyou was trying to be a little bit more diplomatic.

Yes, Inuyasha was still sulking and glaring at the group's newest addition, but at the very least, the verbal attacks had finally stopped, which made her life slightly easier. She'd had to remember to thank Miroku later. Because as much as she knew Inuyasha wasn't being unreasonable, the priestess couldn't help but trust Itachi even if his confirmation about being used to combat made all her friends act a little more guarded. To her, what little she'd found out about the young man only seemed to lead her to two words.

Child soldier.

He'd been so young when they first met, and yet, he'd already been sent to the frontlines, pushed to risk his life and hurt others for the sake of his country. In the middle of the feudal era, where wars happened constantly, it was probably easier to ignore how barbaric that practice was. But Kagome couldn't pretend not to see the melancholy within the older teen's eyes. There since he was a child. Perhaps it was naive of her to trust him so much, so quickly; maybe the bond Miroku talked about was still present in some way, making her feel safe, but it didn't really make a difference. Nobody should be forced to deal with facing their own demise before reaching double digits. It wasn't fair...and yet, despite all that Itachi had to have gone through, he was kind. For all of Inuyasha's bad temper, the older teen hadn't said a word in complaint, and he'd been patient enough to spend most of last night teaching her arithmetic rules and going over her mistakes. It would surprise her if there wasn't blood in his hands; he'd admitted to have been a warrior, but if the priestess couldn't help but feel the word suited him. Not that she thought Itachi was incapable of using violence, but looking at him while he walked by her side in the town they'd stopped at, Kagome was confident he got no enjoyment out of those fights.

"Huh...so even some of the plants are the same," she whispered, careful so that her voice wouldn't carry as she compared the two bunches of herbs in her hands.

The nature of her travels made it insanely difficult to plan any sort of schedule, but she was definitely spending more time in the feudal era than she'd intended, so her supplies were starting to run low. Her first-aid kit needed an urgent refill; for now, medicinal herbs would have to do as replacements. So even though their three non-human members were rudely told to wait outside, the group had no choice but to acquiesce. Trying to save some time, Miroku and Sango went off to get more arrows while she and Itachi zeroed in on her backpack's dwindling supplies. As they went through them, the dark-eyed teen managed to recognize a handful.

"Just some of them, from what I can tell."

"That's more than what I started with," Kagome said with a laugh. "Honestly, modern medicine is way more effective, but this is better than nothing. Kaede-baachan teaches me whenever there's time, and lately I've gotten my hands on some books about pharmaceutics to see if there's any way I can replicate some of the effects with what we have here. It hasn't really worked so far. Well, I'll get it eventually...hopefully. I just need to find some spare time after studying."

"Did I delay you too much?" There was an apologetic tone in the teen's voice.

"Why would you say that?"

"Your supplies are way too low, and you were really close to the village."

"It's not like we were delayed...I mean, sure, I was thinking about it, but it's not like we can really plan around bad weather leaving us stranded, or being attacked, so my family is used to it. As long as I don't miss exam week, they won't worry." That wasn't what she'd call a perfect strategy, but it was the one that worked so far. "Souta will make sure Jii-chan's excuses don't get too out of control...well, he'll do his best."

Having a growing reputation as the sickly girl was far from ideal, though, at least, her grandpa was having the time of his life coming up with new ailments for her. It was almost like an easter egg hunt, with how odd and obscure diseases he would find, which were still better than early onset arthritis. That said, there was little else they could do when he was often the first to pick up the phone or call the school. Not like there were many ways to explain away so many absences. Better be the sickly girl instead of a violent delinquent, or another disastrous repetition of her first trip down the well. Dispersing the odd rumors after her sudden three-day disappearance hadn't been helped by the fact her family was well-known within the neighborhood.

"It sounds like you're quite close to your family." It was subtle, but Kagome could swear she heard something else in the young man's voice.

"We are; this made things harder for everyone, but they do their best to support me in whatever way they can. Souta is the one who's been helping me out with my schoolwork; he was the one who copied last night's notes." A silent nod had her keep talking. "He's my little brother. We get along better now; ironically, I think falling down the well made us realize we were taking each other for granted. Oh, I'm not saying we fought before, but... we'd argue about silly stuff, like him entering my room, me not wanting to take him to the park. Nothing important. It's probably petty of me to say this, since my brother lives in such a peaceful time, but...I'm worried this mess has forced him to grow up a bit too fast."

Of course, she did her best to be careful with what she told her family, and any time Kagome ended up with slow-healing injuries, she made sure to hide them as best as she could. Her bloodied clothes were pushed under the blankets until the girl found time to use the laundry machine on her own, and the uniforms that weren't salvageable anymore were quietly thrown in the garbage. As much as she hated that her brother had to see the crimson-stained fabric, the boy was indispensable in helping her obscure the worst of it. Whenever the priestess felt too tired, her brother would silently do her chores for her; and he often picked up crimson tainted objects she might've missed. Souta was probably well aware of why she never let him help out to bandage her injuries, even if most of them weren't bad enough to scar. All in all, they were still drastically privileged when compared to the conditions those in the warring states lived through.

"Worrying about a younger sibling is what any older sibling would do," Itachi shook his head, attempting to reassure her once more. "I wouldn't call that petty."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"A younger brother, he's a year or two younger than you." He smiled softly, and there was something different to it now. "We used to be close, but that was a long time ago now."

"It sounds like you really care about him." Her voice was careful, unwilling to let her curiosity take over.

"By the time he was born, I was already old enough to take care of him." Yes, Itachi's voice was lighter now; she was sure of it. "He followed me around everywhere, even if it wasn't safe for him to do so."

"And, then he'd pout and sulk when you told him he couldn't keep it up while insisting he wasn't pouting or sulking?"

"If he got too upset, he'd stomp away too." It wasn't one of those soothing, barely-there, smiles the priestess had gotten these past few days.

Kagome laughed; Souta had definitely done that more than once when the boy was a toddler. That this had to be the happiest the girl had ever seen him since they met also helped brighten her own mood. Melancholy still hovered above him, yet it was more than evident the young warrior loved his brother. Words got tangled on their way out, restrained by hesitation. Inuyasha would call her nosy, Miroku would advise caution because, at the end of the day, they all knew too little about the older teen and the situation surrounding him. This was the same as willingly entering into a minefield. But this was the first time Itachi mentioned a specific person, not even bothering to hide the pain the distance from his brother caused him. He'd been ready to die, insisted that all his affairs were in order; that was the argument he'd used to explain why she shouldn't worry too much about sending him back to his own world. And yet, whatever he'd done to tie things up hadn't changed anything for the better when it came to the one person he mentioned. Well, the priestess thought, this wouldn't be the first time she blindly jumped head first into the abyss.

"And then they're all grown up, in the blink of an eye." Azure eyes glanced to her right, even as they moved around the market. "...you can tell me to stop if you want me to shut up." Kagome lowered her voice a notch, making sure there was not a hint of accusation in her words. "But you're still here, right? If we can find a way to open the connection once more, then you could try to talk to him, or...something?"

"It's not something that can be easily solved. Sasuke has every reason to hate me." Looking at his smile was...painful, an echo of the same feeling she got when she saw him ten years ago, bleeding out and resigned to his fate. "Besides, he's strong enough now; he'll be able to keep himself safe."

"...what happened?"

"That's...not something you'd probably like to hear." He wasn't upset, nor could she detect any anger or frustration, for whatever that was worth considering her limited samples.

"Alright, I won't push it." Another silent nod was her only answer and the thing that gave her the courage to go ahead with one more sentence. "But if I can say just one more thing...being related by blood may not mean much; I've seen how fragile those bonds can be. Real family though, those whose feelings are true, they don't simply let go, for better or worse."

"You...truly have quite a unique perspective, Kagome-san...you're kind."

"And naive too," the priestess sighed, finishing the sentence she'd heard over a hundred times by now. "Yeah, I know."

"If I had to choose a word to describe you, I believe forgiving is a better fit." At her clearly confused expression, Itachi continued. "I meant it as praise. It can be dangerous in the wrong situations, but for anyone to be able to forgive, they need a different kind of strength not everyone possesses. Isn't that how you found your allies in this time period?"

Heat rushed to her cheeks, azure eyes flickered to the ground.

This wasn't the first time the dark-eyed teen offered genuine praise; it made her flustered. With her low scores and still fumbling her way through the skill she needed in the Sengoku era, Kagome wasn't used to receiving compliments from anyone that wasn't Shippo-chan anymore. Mumbling an embarrassed "thanks", the girl hurried to push the last of their purchases into her yellow backpack so she could pull Itachi back to the town's center to regroup with Sango and Miroku. They had to be done by now.

Conversation went back to innocent topics with little effort, and Kagome couldn't be more thankful for the time it gave her to calm back down.

While she'd agreed to stand back today, it didn't mean she'd decided to give up and forget their previous topic. Itachi may have agreed to let her try to find a way back for him. And yet, the priestess felt confident that concession was just a way to humor her. Honestly, if not for the talk just now, Kagome would've probably been convinced, eventually, to go back to hunting for the Shikon fragments and nothing else, after all, the last thing she would want to do was to force him into an active battlefield he had no interest in returning to. Except it was impossible to miss how much talking about his brother had affected him. For today, she'd keep her words and stop her questioning, but the decision was already made in her mind. The moment the chance to help presented itself, Kagome would take it.

Because while her educated guesses held no water to what someone like Miroku could manage, she was confident they weren't terribly off target.

At some point in time, probably long before the current war, something happened that involved the young man's family. Whatever it was, it completely shattered his relationship with his brother and going from what he'd said, Itachi likely played a crucial part in it. It was painfully clear that the young warrior was carrying a multitude of sins on his back, and her common sense was loudly yelling in her head to just turn around and run away. Or, at the very least, to take the out Itachi himself was giving her by agreeing to his unspoken request of willful ignorance. It would certainly be easier to pretend not to notice the past that haunted their new companion's gaze...For better or worse, that wasn't who Higurashi Kagome was. And whether it was because of her own, egoistic empathy or the remnants of whatever bond was forged between them over a decade ago, she wanted to know more about him. Help him chase away the shadows that hunted him.

What exactly could she even do; the priestess wasn't sure. Especially when everything pointed to the passage between their worlds being closed for good, but Kagome was good at adapting to unusual circumstances. Sooner or later, she'd come up with something, and even if nothing could be done, just talking with someone could help ease the burden. Forcing the issue wouldn't do anything for her, though. He had to trust her enough to confide in her...and no matter what, she had to be prepared for whatever she could potentially hear.

It would be okay; there was no point in agonizing about the future. One day at a time. She had to focus on what was in front of her without losing track of her goals. Kagome was sure to find a way out.

"You know," Shippo started, because the runt just could not be silent for more than five minutes to save his life. "If you didn't act all grumpy, maybe they would've let us in."

Hitting the brat would have him face-planting into the ground in a heartbeat; of course, the crybaby liked to tattle.

"But nooo, you had to go and yell at the townspeople." Those assholes were already judging them by the time Inuyasha raised his voice; it didn't make any difference. "Even Miroku couldn't convince them to let us in."

Then again, maybe eating dirt would be worth it; his ears would appreciate the calm.

"I mean, I don't get why you're so angry in the first place." Bright, green eyes blinked at him; the brat finally got bold enough to climb onto his shoulder to continue with his whining. "You were complaining that Kagome was going back to her home, but now that she agreed to stay an extra week, you're sulking all over the place."

"I'm not sulking!" His clawed hands found nothing but air as the hanyou went to grab the little shit, and now it was on. He'd pound the kit; he was a demon, he could take it. "Stay still, damn it!"

"Is it because of Itachi-san?"

"W-what?"

Annoyance made his movements falter, making him trip on nothing as he chased the irritating boy. Inuyasha liked the kid (he really did, he swore) during the few times the fox managed to not be a smartass and spout out every thought that crossed his mind, at least. And fucking hell, but for a child, the runt could be stupidly observant at all the worst times.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?!"

"You're jealous of him, duh," Shippo nodded, as if what he said was obvious. "You did the same thing when Kagome helped Kouga out...no, wait, she's never wanted Kouga to travel with us."

That...that was right, wasn't it?

Up until now, the hanyou had chalked the girl's actions up to her typical naivete. Her being nice was the reason she let that mangy wolf run around with the Shikin fragments and even helped his bastard of a half-brother with the human child that followed the ice prick around. Now that he thought about it, the way she acted with those two wasn't the same as how she was acting now. He'd been too focused on keeping his guard up around the guy to really notice the differences in Kagome's behaviors. And maybe Inuyasha had developed a bit too much of a tunnel vision.

"Hmm, guess it makes sense she'd like Itachi-san," the kit kept talking, rubbing his chin with his hand, imitating Miroku. "He's really nice to her,"

"So what? Doesn't mean we can trust him." The hanyou crossed his arms and let himself plot to the ground.

"Doesn't mean we can't either." Really, for someone born in this era, Shippo could be just as naive as Kagome. "Why would he try to hurt us?"

Because people, humans and demons alike, were not nice.

Anyone could betray anyone for no apparent reason; that was just how things worked in this world. Over and over, Inuyasha had seen it happen. Hell, their very group had been tricked more than once by people who'd asked for help. It had happened before, and it would happen again. Still, the words refused to come out of his mouth, because as much as it all remained true, it turned out it wasn't as universal a truth as he'd once believed. After all, Sango Miroku...Kagome...they all stayed by his side and were more than willing to entrust their lives to him while protecting his back. Yes, he could try, and argue that having Naraku as a common enemy meant no one in their group would turn into a traitor that easily, but even the inu-hanyou knew that was bullshit. It wasn't just their group either, while no one else had joined them, a decent number of people had become reliable allies. Kagome was naive, yes, but she wasn't wrong either...

Which didn't mean he had to like this whole Itachi situation.

"Tch, you wouldn't understand. You're still a kid." With a scoff, Inuyasha turned his head away.

"Heh...that's what Miroku says whenever he says whenever he doesn't know how to answer." Finally tired of running around, the kit sat back down, this time close to the nekomata who'd been content to watch them.

Next time he got Miroku alone, he would slap him upside the head. Of course, the perverted monk had to use that phrase whenever he wanted to slither his way out of the girls' questioning, and he'd used it so much that those two warned the fox kit against it. A simple grunt was far from the most satisfying way to end this conversation, but try as he might, Inuyasha couldn't find a way to give a retort that wouldn't give the brat more material to try and talk circles around him, again. And no, it wasn't just an excuse for him to not admit that maybe it was less him being reasonably wary and more annoyed at the attention the guy was getting from the time-traveling priestess.

"Aha!" The kit exclaimed in victory, not noticing the metallic scent that reached the hanyou's nose. "So, you really don't have an answer!"

Shut it," he said, cutting the runt's complaints with a wave. "It's not that. Use your nose."

"That's..."

Miroku mentioned there was another town relatively close by, and judging by how strong the smell of blood that was nearing this village at what had to be horse-riding speed, there was no way whoever it was could be coming from anywhere else. From here, even his nose couldn't tell what attacked this person, but even if Naraku wasn't involved, there could always be a Shikon fragment behind this. No, shard or not, Inuyasha knew the group would want to help.

"Shippo," Inuyasha snapped. "Go and get the others; we're moving."

"...but we're not supposed to go inside." Geez, he really was still a child.

"You're telling me those bunches of idiots would be able to see through your illusions?" The hanyou offered him a grin and almost sighed at the resolution in the fox's green eyes.

"I'll be right back!"

If Shippo got back fast enough, then they could intercept this person before they entered the town. The faint trace of snake that was intertwining with the stench of blood likely told him what they were about to be up against, but jumping into battle blind wasn't something the hanyou was a fan of. And, regardless of how much he'd rather not enter into a fight while feeling uncertain about their newest addition, Inuyasha supposed he was about to find out if the guy could be trustworthy in battle.

A/N: And here it is! Second chapter, sorry about the inconsistent schedule but the change between virtual classes to physical ones have been quite...chaotic. Still, I am definitely not abandoning this fic or any others.

As always thank you guys so much for reading and any and all reviews/criticism/comments are greatly, greatly appreciated.