---Inevitable Love---
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Here's the next chapter. It sort of takes after, err…one of the Naruto filler chapters we've had a while ago. (Episode 158.)
To an anonymous reviewer called 'Random'. I went to Montgomery Elementary. Sorry. (This is funny, because just before I read this, somebody told me that I went to an 'Emerson Middle School. No such luck. XD)
Chapter 7: Assisting Genins
They were standing in the small office, waiting for Tsunade to acknowledge them; for her to look up from her paperwork. Her face…oddly seemed a bit too close to the paper.
Kagome looked up as somebody tapped her on the shoulder.
"I haven't seen you around, and you're not on any of the teams…" Kurenai trailed off, waiting for an answer.
"I'm Higurashi Kagome!" The miko smiled, "Lee's my cousin, and he invited me to a training session. And, you are?"
"I'm Kurenai, Shino, Hinata, and Kiba's teacher." The teacher paused to check if Tsunade had looked up yet, "Lee's your cousin? That's surprising."
"I know."
"You're going to take part in this mission?"
"Yeah…" Kagome scratched the back of her head sheepishly, scuffing her shoe on the ground.
"Tsunade…" Shizune prodded the Hokage, "…Tsunade!" She resorted to whacking her on the back of the head, sighing irritably.
"Huh?" Tsunade jerked up with a start.
"She was sleeping," Kiba muttered, annoyed.
Tsunade coughed, collecting her dignity, "So you're all here…with…who is this?"
"Higurashi Kagome, Lee's cousin."
"Ahh…okay, I'm sure she'll have no trouble at all with this mission anyway…though that means there's an extra person…" Tsunade mumbled, "oh well, I think it'll be fine. Your mission is to assist Genins through the forest. Each of you will be paired up in twos, or in this case, one pair of three, and lead a group of three Genins overnight to the checkpoint at the wide river south of here. Any questions?"
There were a few grumbles, but everybody accepted, and Tsunade moved on.
"Alright…" She glanced at a sheet of paper on her desk, "Shino, Lee, Ino, you're in a group."
Ino scowled, while Lee grinned, and here was no reaction from Shino.
"Sasuke, you're with Tenten."
Two nods.
"Chouji…you're going with Sakura."
Sakura sighed, while Chouji just agreed, eating a chip.
"…Shikamaru with Kiba…"
Shikamaru muttered, "How troublesome." His shoulders sagged in boredom.
Kiba smirked, patting Akamaru on the head.
"…Neji with Kagome, and finally Naruto with Hinata. We gather here tomorrow at six, be ready with all your supplies packed. You will pick up your supplies in advance, and gather your assigned team here. There, you will have twenty four hours to get to the checkpoint. Be sure to teach your Genins the necessary lessons. This is not a contest. Dismissed."
"I guess I'm with you, Neji," Kagome grinned, looking into his blank eyes.
"…Yes…"
121212121212
"Kagome." A finger prodded the side of her body.
She rolled over, mumbling. "…Neji? What time is it…?" Kagome made an effort to open her eyes and make eye contact with the Hyuuga.
"Five, now get up, we have supplies to gather before the meeting."
"Mmmm…." Kagome sighed, stretching. "…What time do we have to meet at Tsunade's, again?"
"At six."
"I hope we don't have some nasty, dumb kids."
Neji nodded in agreement, tossing her weapons onto her lap. "There are your weapons, and here's a knapsack. Get cleaned up, and we're going." He stood, supposedly to find his own knapsack.
Nodding absently, Kagome stumbled off the futon and into the washroom.
Approximately ten minutes later, the pair had their noses in the branch house refrigerator, searching for something to eat in the morning. Settling with a slice of toast, they were off.
121212121212
"You have your kunai-things, right?"
"Yes. And you?"
Kagome grinned hesitantly, "I do, though I'll see how I manage if I don't really know how to use them."
He shrugged, "I've got a lighter, and some water."
"I've got matches…and water."
"Bandages."
"Err…extra change of clothes."
Neji nodded. "Compass."
"…Damn, I don't have that one." Kagome sighed, shaking her head.
"A watch?"
"Yes…that's something I have." She flashed him the contraption on her wrist.
"You compare the twelve with the direction that the short hand is facing, doing the same with that angle. If you match the position up to the sun, the twelve will be facing somewhere near south."
Kagome was quiet for a moment, until she slowly nodded. "I see…thanks, Neji!" She beamed.
He shrugged yet again, fighting down a pool of something in his stomach, "I think that's about it. If we want to teach the Genins something, we must live off what the forest gives us."
"That's very true," Kagome agreed. She glanced down at her watch again. "It's five fifty. I think we should get going."
"Yes, we should."
121212121212
The room was filled with Genins by the time the last two pairs had arrived.
Tsunade, for a change, was awake, scrutinizing the Genins.
They shrunk back a bit when her eyes ran over them, but the Genins were mainly cheerful, whispering to a good friend beside them, or playing with their shoes.
"Konohamaru's not here?" Naruto questioned, frowning.
Chouji shrugged, "Didn't the other Genins graduate last year?"
He paused, going into shock, "And he didn't tell me! I'm going to kill him next time I see him!"
A few others nearby shook their heads.
"Iruka," Tsunade yawned, "You can start now."
Iruka stepped out of the shadows, causing a few surprised reactions from the people who were clueless to his presence in the room, "I hope this will be a good learning experience for all of you…please listen to the instructions passed out by your leaders…"
Tsunade continued on. "Remember, you have twenty four hours. That's from the time you start, until the exact time tomorrow. Don't do anything stupid." At this point, she was only referring to the more brash boys. "And most of all…learn something, will you?"
"Now…if you guys could line up in your teams in number order, please…?" Iruka shuffled his papers and the Genins got up, shifting and uniting with their team in lines, "Team one…with Sasuke and Tenten."
Three mischievous-looking Genins grinned, and Tenten sighed warily, knowing that they would be trouble. They looked like they were going to attempt something…but one look at Sasuke's piercing eyes made them think twice.
"Team two…you're with Chouji and Sakura, I believe…" Iruka murmured thoughtfully.
Sakura nodded when she noted that they looked relatively calm, compared to Sasuke's group.
Chouji offered them a smile, and a snack.
"Shino, Lee, Ino, you've got Team three."
Ino wanted to bang her head against the wall. The poor Genins looked scared of their group.
Lee grinned, "Yosh!"
…And Shino just stared at them.
"Shikamaru, Kiba; team four, here you go."
"Nyah! Idiot Chuunin boys!" One of the Genins stuck their tongue out, making Iruka grimace.
"Why you…brat…!" Kiba was about to stomp up to the kid, but Shikamaru sighed, pulling on the Inuzuka's hood to stop him.
"Naruto and Hinata are with team five."
Hinata offered a tentative smile, while Naruto grinned.
Team five smiled lightly.
"And Neji and…" Iruka paused, noticing that he didn't know her name.
"Kagome." She smiled, nodding her head.
"Neji and Kagome, you have team six."
Neji let out a small noise of acknowledgement, while Kagome tried to comfort the Genins with a small smile.
The group seemed quite quiet, and that made Kagome partially relieved.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto found it quite ironic…that there was no team seven at all.
"Okay guys, get out there are start!" Iruka ushered them all out the door, and that was when everybody finally started to get louder.
121212121212
"Everybody has packed their supplies, right?" Kagome asked, looking down at the three.
"Yes!" They chorused, deciding to introduce themselves.
"I'm Riku."
"Ayaka, it's nice to meet you!"
"Ren."
Kagome nodded slowly, "Yeah…I'm Kagome, and that's Neji." She pointed her thumb behind her, at the Hyuuga that was currently looking over the map they received. "Soo… Neji, what's going to happen?"
"It appears that we have to get here…" He pointed to the very top of the map, "While we are only here." His finger moved down to the bottom left corner of the map.
The three Genins sighed.
"So we have to get there and back here in twenty-four hours?" Riku questioned.
"Yes."
"Well…" Kagome clasped her hands together. "Let's get started, shall we?"
Okay…I'm not favoring any story by updating this again…but I'm just going along with my mood, and flow. Whatever gets updated…gets updated…and I'm very aware that I still have to update Book of Paradise and Road to an Eternity of Wars.
My Kabuto/Kagome is up, please check it out and review if you haven't done so already.
I want to update a story for my birthday, but I fear that I won't be able too! XD (grins)
Yes…this is basically like another filler chapter. (Sighs) Honestly, I didn't mean it to be one. Yeah...I just took up names off the top of my head for the Genins...
Anyway, reviews would be appreciated.
Sayonara,
Tenshi-Battosai