Naruto/Kagome
I don't own the rights to these characters

Shortly after Naruto's birth, the Third Hokage sought a way to help the jinchuriki, and contacted an old ally.
Now the Enjo-sha has arrived and it's time to honor the contract between the two villages. Too bad no one told Naruto about it.

Unwanted

Looking at the paper in her hands yet again, then glancing at another paper lying on her desk, Tsunade sighed. She looked up at Shikamaru for confirmation and he nodded. There was no mistaking the situation. The Third really had made the contract, and the foreign Lord was on his way to Konoha right now to fulfill his part of it. Thanks to the message being intercepted by the Sound before her ANBU were able to retrieve it a few days later, he could be at the gates at any minute. Sarutobi Hiruzen was a sly old dog, but this time he had kept his cards too close to his chest. Even the Elders hadn't known about the contract. While it looked like a good deal, she knew a certain somebody was not going to like it one bit.

"Shikamaru, put on some formal clothing and prepare to greet our guests at the gates. Shizune, find Naruto, get him cleaned up, and get him up here immediately. Better bring Kakashi and Yamato, too. They may be needed to restrain him while I explain his good fortune to him." This was not going to be fun.
_

As Shikamaru approached the gate, Kotetsu jumped down to greet him. "You sure are dressed formally. What's up?"

"The village is about to receive some very important guests and I'm supposed to greet them. It's such a drag," he said as he adjusted the haori of his montsuki. It was also way too hot to be dressed like this. "I guess you haven't spotted anyone yet."

"Not a soul. So who's coming?"

"I can't comment on that, except to say they are old allies of ours from a far away land."

"Some kind of secret, classified meeting, huh? Interesting!"

"Not a word to anyone," he warned the guard.

Just then, Izumo yelled, "Hey! Where did he come from?"

Appearing on the outside of the gate was a tall shinobi dressed completely in black with long, red hair tied at the nape of his neck.

"I win!" he announced triumphantly.

Then a second strange shinobi came bounding into view. This one was also dressed in black, but he had long, silver hair.

"You cheated, you little bastard!"

Then they heard a feminine laugh ring out as a third black-clad shinobi appeared directly in front of the silver-haired one. "No, he didn't! He won, fair and square, Inuyasha."

Frowning down at the small, obviously female member of the group, the one named Inuyasha growled, "You always take his side!"

"Face it, dog-boy, I'm just faster than you."

Jumping down to stand by Kotetsu and Shikamaru, Izumo looked closer at the three strangers. The silver-haired one did have dog ears!

"Don't antagonize him, Shippou. The winner should always be gracious," the woman admonished the redhead. "And so should the loser," she frowned at the one with the dog ears.

Shikamaru watched their interactions closely. They were obviously a three-man squad, traveling ahead of the man who he knew was both the kage and the daimyo of their land. As he examined them, he realized none of them was wearing a forehead protector. The woman must be their leader. She was small—no taller than five feet, with long, glossy black hair tied tightly into a braid that reached down to her hips. The close-fitting, knee-length black pants and the black vest over a long-sleeved, black mesh shirt did nothing to hide a very womanly figure, which he was sure worked to her advantage in providing distraction in a fight. She was very attractive, especially with that smile and laugh of hers. However, she didn't seem to be carrying any weapons and wore no pouches for them. How very odd.

The redhead was tall and lean, and seemed to be younger than the other two. He was carrying two sai strapped to his legs, and had one pouch on his hip and several pockets in the vest he wore. He just stood there grinning at them, while the silver-haired one scowled and mumbled something under his breath. He wasn't as tall as his comrade, but he was still at least eight inches taller than the woman. All he seemed to be carrying was a sword strapped to his back. Like the woman, he didn't have any pouches. It made Shikamaru wonder briefly what kind of skills and abilities the shinobi from their land might possess. He was built along much more muscular lines than the other guy and with the set of his jaw, he looked like trouble just waiting to happen. Great. Considering how Naruto was likely to react to the news, they really didn't need a hothead on the other side of the matter, too.

"Ah! Kagome-sama! I see you caught up with them."

Shikamaru saw two more black-clad figures leap down from the trees and move to join the others. The man who spoke carried a staff and wore his hair in a short tail at the nape of his neck.

"I had to be here to witness the ending—otherwise they would have argued all day about who won," the woman laughed.

A tall woman with light brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail, carrying a huge weapon Shikamaru had never seen before across her back, came over and rested a hand on the first woman's shoulder. "So, we're here."

"Yes," she replied softly.

At that moment, at least twenty more shinobi dressed in black came out of the tree line and headed towards the gate in a diamond-shaped formation with four sets of five shinobi comprising each group. The two groups on the sides were wearing large backpacks and some were carrying boxes. In the middle walked one of the tallest men Shikamaru had ever seen, dressed in a white kimono and white sashinuki hakama, with a red and white cherry blossom crest at his neck and on the ends of the sleeves. He had spiked armor, reminiscent of a time long ago, across his chest, and his long, silver hair flowed freely down his back all the way to his knees. On his head, he wore a hat that looked very similar to the ones worn by the Five Kage. He had two swords strapped to his back.

The woman who walked a few steps behind him seemed to glide across the ground effortlessly. As impressive as the man was, she was the one who caught Shikamaru's attention the most. She was also tall, for a woman, and her slim, willowy figure looked every bit as regal and elegant as the man in front of her. She was dressed very formally in a white haori with a chihaya decorated with sakura blossoms, and red hakama. Her long, dark hair was tied back with a white ribbon.

Shikamaru's brow furrowed as he studied her. The Enjo-sha was a priestess? That actually made sense. She was very beautiful—like a porcelain doll. As she moved closer, he suddenly turned his attention back to the first kunoichi who had appeared outside the gate. Yes, they looked so much alike that they must be related, although the Enjo-sha had a sort of pale, otherworldly beauty, while the kunoichi exuded warmth and earthiness. He wondered what Naruto would think about her.

Stepping forward, he bowed in greeting. "Welcome to Konoha. I am Nara Shikamaru. Our Hokage sends her greetings. Please allow me to escort you to the Hokage Tower."

The small kunoichi stepped forward and bowed to him. "I'm Higurashi Kagome and this is Lord Sesshoumaru, Tsukikage of the Land of the Rising Sun. Do you have somewhere we could change out of our traveling clothes first?"

"Certainly. Please follow me." He signaled Izumo and Kotetsu to send a message to Lady Tsunade that the guests had arrived. Not that they would need to, considering the amount of attention the group was drawing as they walked through the streets of Konoha like a small army. Shikamaru almost felt like he was leading a parade.

The man with the staff introduced himself as Miroku and walked alongside him, while the woman whose name was Kagome fell back and walked beside Lord Sesshoumaru. He could see the Lord was expertly assessing everything about the village, from the way the streets were laid out, to the various ANBU posts, to its merchants and the trade available. The young woman at his side pointed out a few stands and shops that seemed to catch her eye and the stoic Tsukikage raised a brow at her enthusiasm. Her cheeks pinkened and she ducked her head a bit sheepishly. Then he saw the man stop and put a hand on her shoulder. She stopped and looked up at him, covering his hand with one of hers, and nodded. Shikamaru could easily see there was more to their relationship than simply a leader and his subordinate. She smiled and they moved on.

In contrast to the kunoichi's interest in the village, the Enjo-sha barely glanced at either side of the street. She seemed a bit put out by the people going about their daily business. Shikamaru frowned to himself and wondered if she had been trained in isolation or if she was just a bit of a snob. Whatever the case, if she was going to fulfill the purpose she was here for, she would have to get over it. Of course, she could just be nervous.

"My good man, your village seems to have a sizeable civilian population. Could you tell me what the male to female ratio is?"

"I'm not really sure, but Lady Tsunade's personal assistant, Shizune, will have access to that kind of information.

"Is Shizune an attractive, single lady?"

"Miroku," the tall kunoichi growled at him.

"Just gathering information, Sango-chan," he grinned.

"Yeah, well, the layout of this place is ridiculous," the silver-haired shinobi grumbled. "I feel like we've been going in circles when that damn tower was straight ahead of us."

"It's obviously a deliberate part of the security here. Clever, actually," the tall redhead replied. "By the way, you can call me Shippou. I may just stay here for a while."

"No, you won't! She doesn't need you hanging around making a nuisance of yourself."

"You're just mad because of the whole thing. Don't you go making things difficult for her!"

"Ahem," Miroku cleared his throat and stepped in between the two. "Don't forget where we are. Behave yourselves."

Both of them glanced back and saw the stern look on the Tsukikage's face. They quickly shut up and moved on.

As they approached the tower, Shikamaru stopped and gestured to two buildings on the right. "These are the guest apartments where you will be staying during your visit. The key to each apartment is inside on the desk. Lord Sesshoumaru, your accommodations, and those of the Enjo-sha, are inside the Hokage Tower. I'll take you there and then return here to escort the others when you're ready."

"That is acceptable." Dismissing the twenty shinobi making up his guard with a slight nod of his head, he moved up beside the guide, while the redhead and the dog-eared man collected a few boxes from the others.

Shikamaru was a little surprised the other five shinobi were still accompanying them and hoped Shizune had enough rooms ready for them. He was glad to turn them over to her for a while. This whole thing was very troublesome. And he knew it was only going to get worse.
_

Twenty minutes later, he escorted the rest of the shinobi into the tower where they met up with the Tsukikage. Lord Sesshoumaru directed ten of them to stand guard on the ground floor while the others were to follow them to the floor where the meeting would be held. He was now wearing a montsuki, complete with five kamon, while Miroku appeared to be wearing a monk's robe. Interesting. The other two were still dressed in their shinobi outfits. They waited for the Enjo-sha to come out of her room. The kunoichi named Sango stepped out first, followed by the Enjo-sha. Shikamaru had thought she was going to change clothes, also, but she was still wearing the priestess haori, chihaya, and hakamas. The acknowledged genius of the Leaf Village realized his mistake when the other kunoichi stepped into the hallway and Lord Sesshoumaru walked over and nodded his approval. The one who had introduced herself as Higurashi Kagome was wearing a sapphire blue furisode decorated with red, pink, and white cherry blossoms. The brilliant shade of blue was matched by her eyes, which were outlined in kohl, emphasizing their striking beauty and making them seem more exotic. The sides of her hair were pulled up with white hair combs and then twisted and braided in intricate patterns at the crown of her head, while the rest of her hair spilled down her back in shiny, inky waves. She smiled a bit nervously as she looked around at everyone.

"I guess we should go. I felt him arrive just a few minutes ago."

Shikamaru blinked at that. Naruto had just arrived? He had thought Lady Tsunade would have broken the news to him at least an hour ago. This was really troublesome. And the Enjo-sha—the real Enjo-sha- had sensed and recognized his chakra? He was a bit relieved this girl had turned out to be the one instead of the priestess. He believed she had a better chance of getting along with the knucklehead than the one with the haughty attitude.

When they reached the top floor, Lord Sesshoumaru instructed the remaining ten members of his guard to spread out. Shikamaru knocked and opened the door to the Hokage's office where the meeting would take place. And immediately wished he hadn't. As the Tsukikage stepped over the threshold with the Enjo-sha right behind him, they heard an angry voice yelling.

"This is bullshit! I don't care who she is or where she's from! I'm not marrying her!"

End Chapter One