It didn't take too long to reach the Uchiha compound. She noted how it seemed somewhat isolated from the rest of the village. The ANBU led her through the village, paying no attention to the weird looks the two were receiving. At least she didn't think he cared that they were being stared at for the mask covered his face.
"I should have changed into something else before I left home," Kagome thought as she felt the stares of the people around. She also saw people whispering among themselves and glancing in her direction. Kagome sighed. She should be used to it by now. Traveling through the Feudal era with a Monk, a Half-demon, a fox demon, and a demon slayer, many people would gossip. Things such as: 'Isn't she a priestess? Shouldn't she purify those demons?' Kagome shook her head.
The Shikon was complete. Miroku and Sango married, Shippo had found a local girl in Kaedas village and Inuyasha... had gone to hell with Kikyo, leaving her all alone. She served no purpose in the Feudal Era no more. Even the Shikon was gone; she had wished for its existence to disappear forever.
"We've arrived," the ANBU spoke. Kagome nodded as he stepped onto the porch and knocked. A few moments later the door swung open to reveal Mikoto Uchiha.
"Kagome! Come in dear!" The woman ushered her inside,"Thank you for bringing her here!"
"Not a problem Mrs. Uchiha. I will come by for her early in the morning," the ANBU explained.
"Itachi will escort her instead. He's going to see lord hokage anyways. Make sure you inform the Hokage of the small change." He nodded. Mikoto smiled and closed the door after he had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Let's get you settled into your room. Itachi isn't here at the moment. He'll be here before dinner. Sasuke is at the academy and should be arriving within the hour and my husband is working," Mikoto explained as she led Kagome to her room.
"Itachis room is to the left, and Sasukes is to the right. Mine and Fugakus is across the hall. The bathroom is at the end of the hallway. I'll let you get settled in and later we can go out and gather the things you need for your room and wardrobe. Kagome held back a giggle. Mikoto sure loved to talk a lot.
"Thank you for taking me in Mrs. Uchiha!" Kagome bowed.
"Oh, please call me Mikoto or you can call me mom! I've always wanted a girl!" she smiled as Kagome stood straight up. The room was simple. The walls were plain white, a desk in the corner of the room and a twin sized bed against the wall.
"I know it's not anything special because it used to be the guest room. You can decorate anyway you like." she said.
"Thanks again," Kagome set her giant yellow backpack on the bed.
"Come downstairs for some tea, my dear. Sasuke will be home any minute now," Kagome nodded and followed the woman into the Kitchen. She sat down at the table and watched Mikoto prepare the tea and cookies. She hummed as she cooked and Kagome couldn't help but smile at the woman. When the tea was done, she prepared three cups and sat at the table.
As if on cue Kagome heard the door open,"Mom, I'm home!"
"In the kitchen, dear!" Mikoto called through the house. Small footsteps rushed into the Kitchen. Kagome stared wide eyed at the young boy.
"Oh... My... God! He's so CUTE!" Kagome mentally screamed as she watched the young boy pull out a chair beside his mother.
"Sasuke, this is Kagome, Kagome this is my youngest Sasuke. She'll be staying with us for awhile," Mikoto introduced. Sasuke gave Kagome a bright smile. Kagome nearly fell out of her chair. He radiated happiness.
"Nice to meet you!" Kagome greeted with a smile of her own.
"Would you like to go into town with us?" Mikoto asked. Sasuke nodded his head up and down. "As soon as the cookies are done and you've had a few, go change!"
"Yes, mother," he replied.
Kagome had to bite her lip from squealing about how cute he was. Sasuke reminded her of Souta when he was younger.
"Sasuke, you remind me of my little brother when he was your age," Kagome said.
"Where is he?" Sasuke asked. Kagomes eyes softened.
"Far away. I won't be able to see him anymore," she sipped her tea.
"I would be sad if I couldn't see my big brother anymore," Sasuke commented, a frown finding its way to his face at the mere thought of it. Mikoto set a plate of cookies in the middle of the table and his smile returned. He reached to take one and took a bite out of staring at him slightly shocked.
"Sasuke and Itachi are very close," Mikoto explained to her.
"He's so cute!" Kagome squealed. Sasukes face turned slightly red.
"I'm going to change!" he slid down from his chair, pushed it in and rushed upstairs.
"He's going to be a lady killer when he grows up," Kagome giggled.
"Oh, he already is. A few of the academy girls are already crushing on him," Mikoto smiled.
"Well, he's going to be a heart throb then,"
"I'm not so sure. Itachi is pretty popular with the ladies as well," Mikoto let out a small laugh.
"That's how some of the girls were back home with this guy name Hojo," Kagome began. Neither of the women realized another presence in the room leaning against the wall with a smile.
"What about you?" Mikoto asked.
"I wasn't... Interested in Hojo at all. He was very sweet and all. I was hardly at school due to... Sickness... Whenever I was there my friends would try to set me up with him. My friends were concerned about my two- timing 'boyfriend'" Kagome explained.
"Two-timing?" Mikoto leaned forward, obviously interested.
"Yeah... He would sneak off to see her whenever she was around. I would go home crying, but in the end, I just couldn't stay away. In the end he finally left with her. My other friends, Miroku and Sango, got married. My adopted son had found himself a little girlfriend and well my so called two timing boyfriend, Inuyasha, took off with his other lover, Kikyo," Kagome said as she took another cookie.
"That's horrible!" Mikoto gasped
"Yeah..." She shook her head from The memory and continued. "The funny thing about my friends, Miroku and Sango, totally had a thing for one another. But, every chance he'd get, Miroku would approach the prettiest girl around, take her hands in jis own, and ask her to bear his child. Sango would slap him with everything she had." Kagome giggled at the memory.
"Big brother!" a voice squealed. Kagome and Mikoto looked up and watched as Sasuke launched himself into the arms of his brother.
"Nice to see you too Sasuke," he smiled down at his brother.
"Itachi! I didn't even notice you standing there. How long were you there?" Mikoto asked.
"From the point where our guest was talking about someone named Hojo," he replied.
"Kagome this is my eldest son, Itachi. Itachi, this is Kagome. She'll be staying with us for a while," Kagome quickly stood up and bowed.
"N-nice to meet you!" she said.
"Likewise," Kagome stood up straight once more and observed the man before her. He was wearing casual clothing: A black shirt with another symbol Kagome did not recognize on his back. He had bandages around his ankle, much like the others around, and black sandals. He wore tan pants with a weapons pouch strapped to his back. His hair was tied into a ponytail and his eyes held a gentle look in them.
"I thought you'd be... Younger," Kagome said.
"Why's that?" Itachi raised an eyebrow at Kagome.
"Well... I just thought that since Sasuke was so fond of his brother, I was expecting someone around his age," Kagome let out a nervous laugh.
"We can talk on the way to town. Itachi would you like to join us?" Mikoto looked up at Itachi with hope filled eyes. Itachi nodded his head and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.
"U-uh Mikoto... Would it be ok... If we stopped by a weapon shop?" Kagome asked which earned her a shocked looked from Itachi.
"Sure, but what do you need?" She questioned.
"I-I have a little bit of money. I'll grab it and my weapons," Kagome rushed out of the room and up the stairs.
"Weapons?" Itachi raised an eyebrow as the priestess departed the room.
Kagome came back into the kitchen with a bow and a few arrows in her quiver and a small pouch of money. Sasuke stared at the bow in amazement.
"You do archery?" Itachi asked as he eyed the bow. He had seen many bows in many different types of weapon shops, but none were quite like the one she had.
"Yeah. I don't like to sit around and do nothing all day. I would rather do something productive like improving my archery skills and my healing," Kagome shrugged. "And not to mention I had to learn to defend myself from an evil half demon and his minions that threatened to destroy the whole world."
"Well, let's get going so I can hurry back and cook dinner." Mikoto ushered all of them out the door, locking it in the process.
"Kagome," She looked down at Sasuke who was tugging lightly on her skirt,"Can I hold it?"
"My bow?" he nodded and Kagome handed it to him.
"Be careful with it. Someone very important gave that to me," Kagome gave the small boy a wink.
"Hey big brother, do you know how to shoot this?" Sasuke asked looking up at his brother.
"I don't. Sorry, Sasuke," he patted his younger brother on his head.
"Where should we go first, Kagome? Shopping for things for your bedroom? To get you more arrows? Or clothes-"
"No!" Kagome and Itachi said in unison. They looked at one another before Kagome burst into a fit of giggles.
"Why don't we get more arrows. Shopping for clothes can go last," he chuckled.
"Fine," she said and they headed towards the weapon shop. The four of them stepped into the Dusty shop and was greeted by the owner .
"Welcome, welcome!" an elderly man said,"What can I do for you?"
Sasuke handed Kagome her bow,"Sir... I am in need for more arrows."
"What is a pretty thing like you doing with a weapon like this? And how come so many of your arrows are missing?" He asked as he eyed Kagome up and down. Kagome shifted from one foot to another.
"W-well I-I don't like being...useless...I guess... And took up a hobby... I lost many of my arrows while I was... Practicing," She wasn't really lying it was the truth.
"Interesting. May I see an arrow?" he asked. Kagome nodded and reached back to pull out an arrow. She set it down on the desk so he could examine it.
"These arrows are very well made. Even more so than any arrows we have here. Our best quality arrow is very high priced," The man looked up at Kagome's face. She had a disappointed look.
"I see..." she reached for the arrow.
"However, I'll make you a deal. If you can hit a bullseye three times in a row... I'll give you a quiver full... For free," he smiled. He had that kind of smile that practically screamed 'your a girl and can't shoot worth crap'.
"I'll show you," her eye twitched as she forced a smile of her own. "Deal."
"Follow me, the Uchihas may come as well," he led them back into a large field. On the other end was a small target, normally designed for even the best archers to lose a challenge like this.
"Yeah, well, I'm no normal archer. Besides, I've shot moving demons smaller and further than this."
"Now stand over there," he pointed to a spot that aligned perfectly with the target.
She leaned down by Sasuke,"I'll show you what I can do with these arrows," she winked. Sasuke gave her a bright smile.
"Good luck!" Itachi called. Kagome nodded and took her stance. The man handed her the arrow she had let him examine.
"When you're ready," he said as he stepped back. Kagome nocked an arrow and aimed it straight for the bullseye. The man knew she wouldn't be able to fit three arrows on such a small red dot, however he didn't realize the power Kagome had. She took a deep breath, making sure to not use any of her Miko energy, then she pulled back the string and let the arrow fly. It hit right in the middle of the bullseye. She heard Sasuke cheers from the sidelines.
"Sasuke, shh. She has to concentrate," she heard Itachi whisper. Kagome nocked another arrow and aimed slightly to the left, but still in the red circle, then she released yet another one. It hit right next to it. She looked back at the old man who held a smirk on his face.
"Getting a little cocky aren't you?" Kagome glanced at him. His cocky smile didn't waver.
"The thing is," Kagome began as she nocked her third and final arrow, "These targets are too small to win silly challenges like this. It's basically a rip off. However," Kagome let her Miko energy flow through the arrow. She pulled the bowstring back and let it soar through the air. The arrow was instantly surrounded by the usual purple pinkish light. It zipped across the field and split the other arrow in half, successfully landing another bullseye. "I'm no ordinary archer." Kagome threw a smirk at the shocked elderly man.
"Never underestimate me or you'll end up 6 feet under," she walked across the field and retrieved her two remaining arrows.
"That... Was... AWESOME!" Sasuke cheered from Itachis shoulders. She grinned and walked back over to them.
"I think a certain shop owner owes me a quiver full of his finest arrows," Kagome said. The man slumped his shoulders and they headed inside.
"That was amazing!" Mikoto said.
"How did you do that? Infuse your chakra with the arrow and make it turn a different color?" Itachi asked.
The man handed the arrows.
"What's Chakra?" Kagome questioned, slinging the, now full, quiver over her shoulder.
Itachi stared after her as she and his mother walked out the door,"How does she not know what Chakra is?" he muttered.
"Now.. Off to get things for your new bedroom Kagome!" Mikoto exclaimed.
Kagome only smiled and walked beside Itachi as his mother led the way through the village.
Itachi glanced down at Kagome,"You sure are full of mysteries," he thought to himself.
"Kagome! Do you think you could teach me how to do that?" Sasuke asked. Kagome looked up at Sasuke, meeting Itachis eyes only for a second, and smiled at the young energetic boy.
"Maybe when you're older. Its not easy shooting a bow," she said.
"Fine," he mumbled and crossed his arms with a pout.