Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Inuyasha.
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Significance
He first saw her by the river bank, bloodied kunais and shurikens filling up a basket on her left side, while the basket on the right side held cleanly washed projectiles.
She was crying as she dumped one cleaned kunai after another into the right basket. Fat droplets of tears stained her pretty white face, yet she made no sound nor wipe them away as she throw projectiles after projectiles into the basket with vengeance.
She was a Senju.
Fingering his own weapons, he watched her repetitive movements as she washed hundreds of projectiles.
It would have been so easy, to just jump out, stab her in the back, and loot the weapons for his clan.
So why didn't he?
"What? Never seen a girl cry before?" he blinked in surprise when her voice rang out with a hint of annoyance, and corrected his notions that it would be easy. She might look young, but she was still one of the Senju clan.
"Why do you cry?" he should have left the moment he was found out. He was too close to their camp, he wasn't sure if he could outrun the adults should she scream out for help.
Yet somehow, he had felt compelled to ask.
"Does it matter?" she huffed, never once stopping in her cleaning, "You won't understand, anyways. No one does!"
"I am not 'no one'." he bit back arrogantly, annoyed at her attitude, but at the same time wondering why wasn't she screaming.
"What is it to you?" finally, she turned around to face him, and he found himself marvelling at the intensity of her blue eyes. He had never seen such colour before. Dark blue, like that of the ocean, yet brightly lit, like a light.
Before he could respond however, she had glanced back and said,
"You should leave, people are coming."
He did, rushing back to his clan.
It was only when he knew that he was within his clan's grounds, did he question himself.
Why did she let him go?
He was thirteen then, naive and innocent.
.
.
He saw her again when he decided to take a stroll in the woods. Dressed in a simple yukata, she would have been easily overlooked as a common village girl with that basket of herbs.
However, she was not.
With a sudden burst of speed, he had wrapped an arm around her arms and waist from behind, a kunai held to her throat.
"What is your mission?" he had threatened fiercely.
"And here I thought you Uchihas are famed for your eyes." she responded blandly, calm despite the weapon on her throat.
"Answer me!" he hissed, pressing the kunai against her throat warningly.
"Can't you see my basket, you pineapple head? I'm gathering herbs! Those are for the coming winter and it only grows around here!" she yelled back at him, her cheeks flushed in anger.
"You're lying!" he shook her, annoyed at being called a pineapple head, his hair was just a little spiky!
"I'm not even armed! Had it been any other Uchiha they would have left me alone, you idiot!" she scowled at him.
"Weaponless does not equal harmless!" he fought back.
"Had I wanted to harm you, you would be crying back to your mommy now!"
"I'm the one holding a kunai to your throat!" he reminded her fiercely, pressing it further to prove his point. He would not run to his mother! How dare she to say that! He was a proud, full-fledged Uchiha!
"Well, yeah, but you didn't hold my arms tight enough!" she shouted back, and before he knew it, she had reached up to grab his hand and pulled it off her neck.
Then he had felt the strangest burning sensation as he was slammed over her shoulder and onto the ground.
"Ha!" she had laughed before letting him go,
Seconds after that, she had screamed.
"My herbs!"
Was she stupid? He couldn't help but think as he slowly got up. Ignoring the burns on his right wrist, he watched as she busied about gathering the fallen plants. He should be fighting her, he should be doing some hand seals, and shoot some fireballs at her in retaliation.
He found that he couldn't, not when his opponent didn't seem to have the will to fight.
"Hey! If you have nothing to do, help me out, won't you?" she called out to him, her cheeks puffed out.
Had she been any other girls, he would have thought that she was adorable.
Rooted on his spot, eyeing her incredulously, it was the reason he had noticed her tensing and shifting her eyes to look into the woods.
"Hey, brat! There you are, your father been calling- Oh! Flirting aren't we!" two amused adults walked out with smirks on their face.
"No, I'm not!" he quickly stood up, "She's-"
By right, he should have told them about her. He should have reported this. Yet as he glanced back at her stiffened form, he suddenly recalled how she had let him go.
He had his honor too, as an Uchiha.
"She's cute... alright..." instead, he had mumbled lowly, heat reddening his cheeks in embarrassment, whether it was at the statement, or his predicament, he had no idea.
They laughed out loud, one ruffling his hair with a grin on his face,
"Don't worry, don't worry! We'll keep it a secret from your pops! You mind if we take him away, little girl?"
Blushing, the Senju female shook her head shyly.
As they head back into the woods, he couldn't help but glance back. She was still on her knees, gathering her herbs.
Yet when she noticed his attention, she had beamed him a small, beautiful smile.
He had turned his head forward again, a light blush heating up his cheeks.
He was fourteen, emotional and prideful.
.
.
He had been stupid, to not realize that the shrubs were covering a short cliff.
It wasn't a bad fall, but his legs were definitely injured, enough to deter him from returning back for several more days.
The problem laid on the fact that, he was near the Senju's territory, and he wasn't able to move.
He couldn't decide if it was fortunate, or bad luck for him to be found by, of all the Senju out there, the girl.
He hadn't thought much about her, truthfully, for he had doubted that he would meet her again, if ever. She was just a strange girl, and the strange types never last long in these times.
He was wrong.
"What are you doing- you're injured!" she had gasped and had immediately went to his side.
"Never seen an injured Uchiha before?" he snorted, wondering if this was the end for him.
"Shut up, pineapple head, you're too close to the patrols!" she hissed before shifting him up over her shoulder. Adjusting her hold so that he wouldn't accidentally slipped off, she jumped away from the spot and into the woods.
He kept his silence, knowing that he was in her mercy. Keeping his eyes on the terrain, he was soon brought into a secluded cave hidden by the foliage.
Placed down against the rocks, he stared at the female wearily. She had grown taller, like he had. Her hair had lengthened to her waist, and she was still dressed in a yukata despite those smooth movements.
"No one should know of this place, I'll be back in a bit." she had said before leaving.
Perhaps he was already dead. This couldn't be right, for a Senju to save him, an Uchiha. Seeing as they had just went against one another the previous month, resulting in casualties from both sides, she was either insane or plain crazy to be bothered with rescuing him.
Yet she had returned, with fresh bandages and herbs.
"Why?" he just have to ask, and with a glance, he knew that she understood what he was asking.
"Why not?" she had shrugged before folding his pants up to reveal the injured calves.
"I am an Uchiha." he spoke, his voice soft due to exhaustion, "This isn't right."
"What makes it wrong?" her voice too, had fallen into whispers as she answered him.
"I am an Uchiha." he insisted, once again, as if it would make her understand, "You are a Senju."
Tying the bandages expertly, she finally looked to him. Her hard, determined blue eyes were as bright as they were before as she pointed to herself, and proudly declared,
"I am Kagome."
They didn't speak anymore for the next five days. She would come to ensure that he ate and drank before checking on his wounds. Once done, she would leave until the next day.
It was the sixth day that he felt himself well enough to return to his clan, where he was no doubt declared missing in action. She seemed to know that too, for she had handed him some ration bars and his Uchiha clothes, freshly washed.
Eyeing the girl who was cleaning up the place and his bandages, he finally uttered out.
"Tobi"
She blinked up at him in surprise, and he had looked away before leaping off the area.
He had been fifteen, confused, yet intrigued.
.
.
He had been in a town for the festival when he saw her.
Dressed in a lovely blue yukata, she had been with a friend, giggling about as they ate their takoyaki. With her hair pinned up that way, he couldn't deny her beauty.
So he watched as she played in the different game stands. For a Kunoichi, she was rather horrible in them, he thought as she missed in the hoop throwing stand once again.
"Come on, Kagome-chan, you know how horrible you are with these!" laughed her friend as she pulled the female by her arm.
"But that doll is so cute!" she pouted adorably, pointing at the large white dog doll that she had been aiming for.
"Well, if you spent all your money here, you won't have any for yakisoba!" the female warned, wagging of her finger.
"Aww..." she had sulked before agreeing to leave.
Raising a brow, he had eyed the large white fluff before scratching his forehead.
He must be going crazy, to even think about it.
From afar he waited as the little girl he had asked for help from deliver the large doll to her. Her jaws had dropped in awe, and crimson colored her cheeks as she hugged the doll to herself.
Girls, he snorted as she squealed and gushed about with her friend, but couldn't help the small smile that graced his lips.
At sixteen, perhaps he had start to question why.
.
.
"Really now..." he wasn't as surprised anymore to find her loitering about near the 'Uchiha territory', gathering mushrooms. It was the season for it, and many villagers had done the same.
"If you got the time to stalk me, come and help, won't you?" she called out to him, humming under her breath as she plucked the edible mushrooms.
"I would think that this is safety precaution instead of stalking." he uttered the word with distaste as he landed near her. He should have known that she was a sensor, all the signs had been there since they first met.
"When do you have to return?" she asked curiously, going under the next tree for more mushrooms.
"Tomorrow." he shrugged, it was anytime he found the perimeter safe, but he couldn't tell her that.
"If you help me fill this basket up, I'll cook you some mushroom stew tonight!" she grinned back, playfully adding, "You don't want to miss my mushroom stew!"
"Why bother when I can just take that basket from you and cook myself some?" he raised a brow.
"Because!" she raised a finger and wagged them with confidence, "That is like comparing a Ramen to an Oden!"
He eyed her strangely, and she complained back with an indignant huff,
"Oden is wayyyyyy better than Ramen!"
She was still crazy, he thought with a sigh, but proceeded to gather the mushrooms nearby.
He looked away when she beamed him with a pleased grin.
Seventeen was the last time he would ever feel this peace.
.
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The next time he saw her was on the battle field. Chaotic, bloody, and destructive. He had never understood the significance of recognition until he watched her healing her comrades, who went on to kill his.
"Pay attention to me, you Uchiha!" the female voice had him turning to face his opponent. He knew her too. She was the girl who had been with her in the festival.
Attuned to the battle, with adrenaline pumping his veins, his body moved out of instincts as he shunshin behind the female and stabbed the back of her neck with his kunai.
He heard her strangled cry, but could not stop as he moved on to the next nearest target.
His body numb, his mind blank, and for the first time since his initiation did he feel the fear and the horror of a battle field.
He was eighteen when he wondered what were they fighting for.
.
.
She was sobbing under a large tree when he approached. He recognized the large weapon stabbed onto the soil belonging to the female he had killed.
It had been a year since.
"Why do you come? To laugh at me?" she had screamed at him as she turned around, her cheeks wet with tears.
Holding onto the small bouquet of white flowers, he wasn't sure why he had returned to this particular battle field either. Perhaps it had been because he had grown up with most of the Uchiha who had participated, and died in this particular battle.
Or perhaps, it was because he had killed her best friend.
Saying nothing, he had placed the flowers on the ground before turning around to leave.
Before he could take several steps however, he found himself encased in her arms, and he could feel her tears soaking the back of his shirt.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she had sobbed, gripping the front of his shirt tightly, "But why, why must we fight? Why must there be battles? Why must there be bloodshed?"
Looking down, he was about to reach for her dainty hands when he stopped, eyeing the blood that would never disappear. She too, was the same, her hands drenched in blood.
They were the same, he mused as he peeled her hands off his waist. Turning around to face her, he reached up to caress her tear stained cheek.
"I don't know." he told her before leaning down to press his lips against hers.
At nineteen, he realized just what was wrong.
.
.
Again they met, before the same grave, with one more addition buried in the soil under their feet. Placing his flowers on it, he let her hide her tears in his shoulder blades.
"Miroku was a pervert, but he was a good pervert." she murmured softly, "He always had eyes for Sango-chan, and when she... passed... He just lost his will to live."
"I suppose that... that..." he held her silently as she mourned, "that he was asking you to grant him his wish."
"Yes, he did." he answered, closing his eyes to breathe in her sweet scent. The man had pulled him aside to settle the matter in a duel. They didn't speak, nor did he throw him any accusations or justifications, as many had. They had simply battled to death. Perhaps, the man had wanted to see if he had been worthy of killing his beloved, if he had been using some dishonorable tricks.
As he stabbed the shinobi the same way he did the female, he thought that the man had nodded at him in approval.
It had been survival of the fittest, and he had won again.
"I wish that there will be peace." she sobbed to his chest, "I wish that there will be no need to fight, no need for wars, no crime. I wish people will just be happy with what they have, to find joy in simply living."
He felt sick just thinking about it, and hugged her closer to himself for some form of comfort.
He was twenty when he too, wished for a change.
.
.
It had been a simple mission, to infiltrate and steal a precious scroll from the manor. Out of expectations, he had been sent in a duo man party with his brother.
It was a dark rainy night as they slipped past half asleep guards and deep into the large manor. The instructions had been clear, the scroll was held in the main room for display.
Too clear, in fact, that he had suspected Senju's involvements.
He was right.
Disabling the numerous traps around the manor, it didn't take long for them to be separated by the ingenious traps laid around.
With the agreement to meet at the main room, he set off alone.
There was a Senju guarding in the main room. It was dark, and while his Sharingan should by right have the advantage over a Senju in this darkness, he found that his opponent was extremely agile and swift in his movements. Hooded, they traded blows after blows silently.
He thought that it was strange for his opponent to not make a huge ruckus and called for the attention of others within the manor, but did not dwell on the thought as he dodged hit after hit.
His opponent was fast, but he was stronger.
With the narrowing of his Sharingan, he caught the figure in a swift genjutsu. The enemy was quick to dispel it, but not quick enough.
With a slam of his body, he pounced on the smaller figure, stabbing the chest with the kunai in his hand.
It was then the hood fell from her head, following their descend onto the ground.
And he felt his world stopping.
It was...
Not her!
A genjutsu counter!The thought pierced his mind, and seated atop her stomach, he did the release seal.
"Kai!"
It couldn't be...
"Kai! Kai! Kai!" he yelled out, and at some point his hands trembled furiously as the reality slowly overcame the denial.
She let out a chuckle, one that sounded more like a gurgle than anything. Like a kunai stabbing into his head, he swiftly moved to tear her hood off.
"Don't move!" he hissed as he let his trembling hands glowed green, pressing them onto her chest. With quivering lips he focused all of his chakra into her, willing the wound to close internally so that he could remove that kunai that didn't belong in her heart.
"Neee..." she stretched the word weakly as she struggled to lift up her hand.
"I said, don't move!" he shouted as he pumped more chakra into her, but did nothing to stop the hand that slowly moved up to lightly touch his cheek.
"Listen to me for once!" he ordered, finding his voice stuck in his throat when the wounds wouldn't close despite the amount of chakra he had pumped.
This was not happening.
"I wish..." her blue eyes were glistened with tears, yet her trembling lips spread into a small, weary smile,
"I wish that things were different..."
And with that... the hand fell.
"Does it matter?" she huffed, never once stopping in her cleaning, "You won't understand, anyways. No one does!"
"Had I wanted to harm you, you would have been crying back to your mommy!"
"I am Kagome."
"But that doll is so cute!" she pouted adorably, pointing at the large white dog doll that she had been aiming for.
"Because!" she raised a finger and wagged them with confidence, "That is like comparing a Ramen to an Oden!"
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she had sobbed, gripping the front of his shirt tightly, "But why, why must we fight? Why must there be battles? Why must there be bloodshed?"
"I wish there will be peace." she sobbed to his chest, "I wish there will be no need to fight, no need for wars, no crime. I wish people will just be happy with what they have, to find joy in simply living."
"I wish that things were different..."
It felt like a millennia as he stood up to his feet the same time his brother entered the room. Exhausted from his own journey, he did not sense the tenseness in the air, nor the silence that could be cut by a kunai.
"Good job, get the scroll and let's leave." he had told him
Walking over to take the scroll, he fingered its smooth texture absently.
"Hey, Aniki." he called out as he opened his eyes to look back.
At twenty one, he made a promise to the blood that fell from his Mangekyou Sharingan,
That he would make her wish, a reality.
"Give me your eyes," he held out his hand, before adding, "please."
"That eyes-" he didn't even have the time to scream before he fell limp onto the ground.
Stepping beside the body, he had leaned down, and easily gouged out the eyes that would serve his purpose.
He would grant her wish, for it was what the world need, it was what they need.
Whatever means necessary.
w
A/N: One of the few things I'd been toying with. I thought to continue on till the end, or make a series out of this, but a one-shot seems perfect. Thought to do a sequel, but think that this ending is not bad as it is.
Depending on the rate of interest (literally), maybe I'll do a Kagome POV.