InuYasha Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ When in Doubt ❯ When in Doubt ( Chapter 1 )

When in Doubt

By: KibaSin/Kiba

 

Summary: Everyone wondered if they'd ever make it, since it never really seemed like they were a couple. Even Kagome was beginning to have her doubts. [Shino/Kagome]

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto. They belong to Takahashi Rumiko©, and Kishimoto Masashi©.

 

Genre: Romance/A little Drama

 

Rating: A, All Audiences

 

OoO

 

She could hear them whispering every time she walked past, ever since she'd taken a liking to Aburame Shino. Always asking her stupid things like if Shino had ever taken his glasses off for her, or if he'd ever done anything reckless and so on. Stupid things really. But, as Kagome readjusted her headband again, she could understand why they'd ask such things. From what she knew, though he had taken his sunglasses off a few times, he'd never done it for anyone else, except perhaps his family. Still, sometimes those stupid girls could get ridiculous.

 

“Look at her sitting there,” someone snorted. Kagome twitched at the voice, knowing instantly they were talking about her.

 

“I know, it makes you wonder if Shino's already left her, or standing her up finally,” another sighed.

 

“Poor girl,” the first giggled a little, “it must be so hard not knowing if your stoic boyfriend actually loves you or is just using you.”

 

“I know.” Kagome growled to herself, turning her head slightly to the side as she rested her chin on her hand. She didn't have to listen to this stuff, but she knew from experience that Shino had actually been rather uncomfortable and out of place when they'd first started dating. Now, he didn't seem like it so much, but he was still calm, collected, and only took off his sunglasses on special occasions for her to see his deep hazel eyes. Still, the words were annoying, since she knew Shino wasn't using her, and though he hadn't said it, she felt that he would only stay and do such rare things with her because he loved her. Those women were just idiots.

 

Knowing they were probably going to continue, Kagome stood from her seat in the oden stand. Placing her money on the counter, and waving to the owner, she stepped out, watching as the woman staring at her instantly quieted. She merely smiled at them, not wishing to be rude even though they were annoying. Then, she turned down the street and began to walk, her ears and senses taking in the sounds and chakra signals around her.

 

Dust kicked up around her, as she walked toward the training grounds, hoping to find someone to help her vent her frustrations a little. At this point she'd even put up with Uchiha Sasuke's rude comments as he mocked her poor aim or something, as long as she could find someone to throw a couple punches at. Hearing others talk about her love life was something that she'd always found annoying, even when she never mentioned it, since it was none of their damn business.

 

Glancing around, her eyes taking in as much as they could, she searched for anyone familiar. True, she could simply train by herself, but she liked having the human company. And she liked her friends, especially after she'd lost everyone within her old village, barely escaping being killed within the massacre herself and managing to make it to Konoha in secret. The Godaime Hokage had listened to her story and taken her in, and in doing so had given her a new life, new friends, and a person to truly love, since she'd come to learn during her time with Shino that Ishikure Inuyasha had merely been a simple crush. Besides, he was the bastard that had betrayed her former village; he deserved nothing but her contempt.

 

Turning her eyes, she smiled brightly. Her hand came up and readjusted her headband again, before tightening the straps. Then, she rushed forward, nearly running into the person she wanted, grabbing ahold of the heiress's shoulders as she smiled at her companion. “Neji-san!” she greeted, seeing him frown deeply at her, “I'm afraid I'm going to be taking little Hinata for a while.”

 

“W-What?” Hinata stuttered.

 

“Hinata-sama,” Kagome smirked, pulling her away from her cousin, “I need you.”

 

“O-oh,” Hinata blushed, “okay.”

 

Neji rolled his eyes, “Promise to bring her back in one piece, Higurashi-san, or I—”

 

Kagome waved her hand innocently, “I know. I know.” She smiled a little more, “We'll see you later, Neji-san!”

 

“B-Bye, b-brother,” Hinata said, waving at Neji as Kagome dragged her down the street. Managing to pull herself away from Kagome a little, she turned, and stared at her friend. “Where are we g-going exactly, Ka-Kagome?”

 

“Training grounds,” Kagome replied, running a little faster.

 

Hinata nodded, “I see.”

 

“I need to vent!” Kagome said, thrusting her free hand into the air.

 

Her friend understood instantly, as they rushed into the forest. It didn't take long for them to stop, Kagome looking around at the training area she'd chosen and nodding. Hinata merely watched, frowning a little more, before asking, “I-is this about S-Shino?”

 

“Stupid other people can't keep their noses out of my business,” Kagome growled. “I don't care if Shino is apart of the Aburame Clan, it gives them no right to talk about me when I can hear them.”

 

Hinata smiled, “You should learn t-to not listen to them.”

 

“Its hard,” Kagome smiled. “In my old village, as you know, I listened to everything. I knew someone instantly when they approached me, and now I'm only starting to feel apart of this village.” She reached up to push her headband up a little more. “In my old village, it was only natural to know everything that was going on in case danger was lurking underneath the surface. My clan trained their ears and their senses for such things, trying everything in their power to keep the village safe, and yet still… I did not hear…”

 

Hinata placed her hand onto Kagome's shoulder, “I-It was not y-your fault.”

 

Kagome smiled a little, “I know. Just like you know that you need to stop stuttering all the time. But we both know that isn't going to happen anytime soon, is it?”

 

Hinata blushed, shaking her head.

 

“Still,” Kagome frowned. “You were on Shino's squad, weren't you, Hinata?”

 

“Yes,” Hinata nodded.

 

“Is what they say true?” she asked. “I've only known him since I came here three years ago. I-I…” she blushed, “I've come to love him, but from listening to them say that he may be simply using me for his own pleasure, or whatever, it hurts a little. I know that I should know the answer to my question, but I'm not so certain from listening to those who have known him longer than I have, Hinata. So, I ask you, is he?”

 

Hinata's brow knitted together. “U-using you?” Hinata gasped at last. “N-No, Ka-Kagome! No! S-Shino isn't like that… we didn't talk much, but I-I don't think he'd ever do anything to hurt you. I-in fact, I know that he-he's going to…” Hinata stopped, placing her hand over her mouth rather quickly, her pervious blush returning full force.

 

“What?” Kagome asked, a little shocked by Hinata's straightforwardness. However, from the way she'd stopped, she wasn't sure if she should take that as a good thing or a bad thing. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, her doubts growing a bit more, and she asked, “I-is he going to dump me, Hinata?”

 

“N-No!” Hinata brought her hands up. Waving them, her face still a pleasant red, she tried to continue, “J-just wait until he… ah… until he-he shows you. Y-yeah, that's it.” Hinata bit her lip; sure she was going to give something away any minute now, but not liking the fact that her friend might start to cry. “Please, Kagome, j-just wait a little longer.”

 

“I don't underst—”

 

Hinata quickly cut her off, “I-I have to go, Kagome. I'm terribly sorry, b-but my father is probably expecting m-me anytime now.”

 

“Oh,” Kagome frowned. “Alright, I'm sorry that I tore you away from Neji for this. I hope you don't get into any type of trouble because of me.”

 

“O-oh, it's fine,” Hinata smiled.

 

Kagome watched her go, her eyes boring into her back before she disappeared into the trees. She cursed underneath her breath, she was sure she could have gotten Hinata to tell her whatever it was she was going to in the first place. Now she was curious, and wanted to go pester Shino about it, but knew that would probably get her a small blush and an excuse to leave. He'd always looked so embarrassed whenever she'd pester him about something or fuss over his wounds whenever he was hurt on a mission or something similar—not that that was often, since she ended up in the hospital until her Kekkei Genkai activated under serious injuries or blood loss.

 

Deciding that she could still use that training, though, she turned to the dummy sitting innocently in the middle of the training field. Silently telling it to prepare itself, though that sounded stupid all by itself, she began to rush forward, her hands coming up to make quick hand seals. Then, instantly, four clones drug themselves from the ground around her, each one of them setting their sights on the dummy. And, she was sure if it was alive, its x-shaped eyes would be staring at her in fear as she pulled out a kunai, her one hand already making one-handed seals. And, she was sure if it could, it would gulp and probably run for the hills. Unfortunately for the dummy it was made of straw and didn't stand a chance when her lightning dragon tore it to pieces, hundreds of cloned kunai flying out from within soon afterward, striking the trees. Her clones then turned on her as if betraying her, the real training beginning in that moment.

 

OoO

 

Where was he? Kagome's eyebrow twitched, her hands clenching her shirt in annoyance and anger. She'd been sitting there for fifteen extra minutes after Ino, Sakura, and Hinata told her that Shino wished to see her at a certain time and place. Well, he wasn't there. It had been amusing at first thinking about all the things he may be doing, like muttering poetry under his breath or wondering what he was going to say—whatever he wanted to say—but this was getting ridiculous.

 

Really, wasn't the girl the one who was supposed to be late?

 

Then again, Kagome's face dropped a little, the words of those stupid women flooding back into her head. So many times she'd heard it, she'd thought that she'd be able to ignore it by now. However, they echoed into her head, and she sighed once more. If he didn't show up in the next five minutes, she was going to leave.

 

OoO

 

“Where is he?”

 

“I-I don't know,” Hinata replied. “H-he should be here!”

 

“Maybe Tsunade-sama called him for an urgent mission?” Sakura suggested.

 

“Hinata,” Ino hissed, “you said that Shino had everything, right?” Seeing the Hyuuga heiress nod, she continued, “Then what's taking him. Kagome's going to leave if he doesn't come soon! And it was all perfect, too.”

 

“Maybe he's got cold feet?” Sakura asked.

 

Silence settled over them.

 

“Are insects cold-blooded?” Ino asked. “Do they even have blood? He has tons of them crawling inside his body, maybe… maybe…” Ino shivered at the thought, “Now that I think about it, what does she see in that guy? I'd keep seeing the bugs crawling underneath his skin.”

 

Sakura shuddered. “Ew,” she coughed.

 

“S-Shino taught me that bugs aren't that bad,” Hinata blushed a little, remembering when she'd thought the same thing at one point. “E-especially the ones within the Aburame Clan. T-they're quite useful.”

 

“Still,” Ino whispered, “they are bugs.”

 

“She's got to see something,” Sakura blinked. “I never hear him say more than one sentence at a time, and he's always so mysterious while wearing those sunglasses. Seriously, it'd be hard to see anything in him besides the bugs.” She shivered again, glad that Sasuke wasn't apart of the Aburame Clan, since she'd probably shudder every time she saw him.

 

“That's true,” Ino nodded. “But that's not the point! We had the perfect night, the right setting—though Kagome hasn't seemed to notice it yet—and everything was perfect for him to pop the question! Why isn't he here? Hinata!”

 

“W-What?” Hinata nearly shouted, not liking the way Ino suddenly turned on her.

 

“Find that blasted bug user,” Ino hissed. “Find him now!”

 

“A-alright,” Hinata nodded. She then tried not to make eye contact with them, knowing they'd probably hate the fact that Shino didn't like their chosen setting and would probably come to whisk Kagome away in a swarm of insects or something when she was going to leave.

 

The others watched as Hinata disappeared out of sight. Then, Sakura frowned. “I kind of wish Sasuke-kun would do this for me.”

 

Ino snorted, “Like you have a chance with Sasuke-kun.”

 

“What?” Sakura hissed, glaring at the blonde.

 

“You heard me, billboard brow,” Ino shot back.

 

“Oooh,” Sakura growled, opening her mouth to shoot something back. However, she noticed something, and gasped. “Look, look!”

 

“What? What is it?” Ino asked, turning back to the sight. “Is that…?”

 

“That's Sasuke-kun!” Sakura pointed.

 

“Where?” Ino gasped, happiness bubbling in her voice.

 

“Talking to Kagome!”

 

“WHAT!”

 

OoO

 

“Are you waiting for someone?”

 

“Yes, Uchiha-san,” Kagome sighed. “Why else would I be sitting here by myself?”

 

“I don't know,” Sasuke said, sitting next to her. “You could be sulking over the fact that someone stood you up.” He shrugged, smirking lightly, though not enough that she would notice. He didn't really like getting orders from those who weren't his superiors, but he was doing this to prove to Naruto that he could.

 

“How did you…?” Kagome's eyes widened. They narrowed fairly quickly afterward, and she stood up. “You… you're in on this, aren't you?” she hissed, very angry at this point.

 

“In on what?” Sasuke asked innocently.

 

“I don't know,” she shoved her face into his. “You tell me, Uchiha Sasuke.”

 

“How about I don't and say I did?” Sasuke smirked, watching her get closer and closer. Seeing her hand begin to raise, no doubt in anger, thinking that they'd set this whole thing up, he moved. She stepped back, shocked at his sudden movement, and he placed his hand over her mouth, wrapping his other arm around her waist as his teleportation jutsu activated, both of them disappearing in a poof of smoke.

 

OoO

 

“Did he just…?” Sakura's mouth went slack.

 

“He… he…” Ino's lip trembled.

 

Neither of them could believe it.

 

Then, they whined together, “Sasuke-kun likes Kagome!”

 

Sniffling, Sakura bit her lip, “How could he? How could he?”

 

“And on this night,” Ino added. “How could he kidnap Kagome on this night?”

 

“Poor Shino,” they both echoed, “He doesn't stand a chance against Sasuke-kun!”

 

Both of them felt like their hearts were breaking.

 

OoO

 

Kagome's eyes opened, and she pushed away from the smirking Uchiha. “How dare you?” she hissed, pointing her finger at him. Then, she turned her head, and narrowed her eyes at the unfamiliar surroundings. “Where are we?”

 

Sasuke, unable to help himself, taunted her, “In the perfect place for me to have my way with you. No one will even hear your screams.” His tone was mocking, but she instantly took an extra step away from him, her hand forming a one-handed seal. Then, he rolled his eyes, and watched as Naruto came bursting through the trees.

 

“Sasuke-teme,” Naruto growled. “What are you doing tell her things like that? You're not supposed to hit on another guys girl, that's against the rules!”

 

“It was a joke, dobe,” Sasuke sighed, rolling his eyes.

 

Naruto blinked, “Oh, well then it's ok then.” Rubbing his hands together, he turned his eyes toward the woman staring at them suspiciously, her shoulders tense. “Come on, Kagome-chan,” Naruto smiled, “you gotta come this way.” He grabbed her hands and pulled her a bit, but found that she was quite strong and managed to keep him from moving her at all.

 

“Why should I go with you anywhere?” Kagome asked. Her heart was pounding, and she silently wished that she could communicate with any type of insect, since she had no idea what these two men wanted with her. However, nothing that came to mind was a good thing.

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. Then, he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward toward the trees. “Just walk through these trees until you come to the lake straight ahead, alright. You think you can do that, Higurashi?”

 

She pulled herself away from him, “Why should I?”

 

“You'll have to go to find out,” Sasuke replied. “Either way, you've never been to this part of the forest, you'll never find your way back unless you go to him.”

 

“Him?” Kagome hissed, wondering if they were working with Inuyasha.

 

“Yeah, Sh—” Naruto began, only for Sasuke to hit him. “Ow, hey, that hurt, Sasuke-teme!”

 

“Shut up, dobe,” Sasuke growled. Grabbing his shoulder, he said, “Let's go!”

 

“Fine, fine,” Naruto wasn't able to finish before they disappear from her sight. Kagome eyed the spot they'd just been at, and felt fear prickle across her skin. However, from the thing that Naruto had begun to say, she was sure that it wasn't Inuyasha. That, though, did not give her much hope on who else it could be, or if they were tricking her. But, from Sasuke's words, the whole she'd never find her way back, that wasn't a very pleasing thought.

 

Sighing to herself, Kagome turned to the trees Sasuke had told her to go through, straight through, which she rolled her eyes at. Really, like she was so stupid that she wouldn't have figured that one out on her own. That Uchiha was very frustrating at times, but other times he seemed to be a person who could turn out to be a protective and interesting friend. If she could ever get used to his insults, which seemed to be sharpened at the tip of his tongue at all times, that was.

 

Easily, she pushed the branches apart, and began to walk forward. She felt for a moment that she was being followed, and turned to look, her senses flaring. Finding nothing, she listened to the darkness, and heard nothing but the occasional chirping of crickets in the distance, along with the ripples of the water ahead of her. Frowning at that, knowing that something had to be making the ripples, she wished that Shino had showed up on time. Then she wouldn't have been sent on this wild goose chase into a possible enemies arms, or suddenly have two lusty men jump her from behind. Neither were possibilities that she liked.

 

Snagging her silver dress on a branch, she hissed underneath her breath as she tried to tug it free. After a few moments of tugging, cursing, and pleading with it, in case her possible escort back to the village decided to leave early, she managed to pull it free without it ripping. Thanking it over and over again, she smiled a little, and then patted it down, remembering why she'd worn the dress in the first place. Shino had mentioned that he'd like the way the color brought out her dark hair and eyes. That caused her to frown, and sigh, before moving forward once more, her black shinobi sandals crunching against the dead leaves lining the path she was taking.

 

The moonlight finally broke through the dense foliage, and she thanked everything she could silently that she was finally going to get out of these trees, which seemed awfully close together. Then again, they were close to a lake, so there was a lot of water for them to feed off of. Shaking her head, she brushed her hand over her neck when she thought she felt something crawl against the skin there, before continuing forward.

 

Once again, she brushed the branches out of her way, and sighed when she finally came to the last bit. However, she paused for a moment, and then shook her head. Pushing the branches aside, her eyes widened as she stared at the sight in front of her. Her hold on the branches remained, almost like she would hide herself at any moment, as Shino's out stretched pull itself toward his body, a tiny firefly fluttering from the tips of his fingers. She watched, as he gazed out at the moonlit lake, the water also reflecting the light of the hundreds of tiny fireflies fluttering around him. She blinked, smiling at his simple black outfit covered by his coat, though the collar seemed to be open from her angle, so she wasn't sure if it was the coat he normally wore.

 

“I know you're there.” Kagome squeaked a little. “The female landed on you as soon as you arrived with the Uchiha, and her scent is quite strong at this point to the males, telling me and them that she is very close by.”

 

Kagome blushed, watching as a tiny insect fluttered off her shoulder and toward the stoic Aburame. She scowled, and then stepped out of the trees, crossing her arms. “Why did—?”

 

His hand outstretched itself toward her, his body turned halfway toward her. His sunglasses gleamed in the light of the fireflies, as he said, “Come.”

 

Her anger forgotten, she stepped forward. “Shino?” she asked, when she finally stepped up next to him, looking into his glasses. His arm wrapped around her waist, and he turned them toward the lake, gleaming so innocently next to them. It was beautiful, but even more so as Shino reached up and removed his glasses, revealing his hazel eyes. The gaze he sent her caused her to blush, and lower her eyes, as she fiddled with the straps hanging from her headband, though she'd tied it around her neck for the night.

 

“I thought of you when I found this place,” he said quietly.

 

“You did?” she asked, looking back up at him.

 

He once again stretched his hand out, a tiny smile forming on his lips. “There were so many fireflies,” he replied. “You always said you liked them.”

 

“I do.” One of the tiny insects landed on Shino's fingers, and he brought it up to her eyes. She smiled, watching it for a moment, before it flew off to join the others flying over the lake. There were so many of them, but she was sure that Shino had given them a little encouragement when it came to so many gathering in the same place. She smiled a little more, “They remind me of Rin… and Sesshoumaru.”

 

Shino turned his eyes to her.

 

“Sesshoumaru was my sensei,” she said. “Rin was his young ward, as he called her. She went everywhere with us, except on missions. She was so young and so cute. She loved fireflies so much that I couldn't help but love them myself.”

 

Shino nodded in understanding, his free hand reaching into the deep pocket of his coat. Kagome watched as he pulled out something, and blinked in surprise when it was a small black box. She tilted her head slightly, and then turned her eyes back up to his own, seeing him giving her that intense look once more. It was calm, but filled with so much determination and passion that she felt like she was being pulled into it.

 

“I chose this place because…” Shino paused, “it reminds me of your beauty.”

 

Kagome blushed a bit. “It-it does?”

 

“Yes,” Shino smiled. “It reminds me of how happy I am with you.” He paused again, “And how you make everything brighter with your smiles.”

 

She leaned further into him, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. He was stilled staring at her so deeply that she felt like her heart was going to burst at any moment. Not from what he was saying, but from what she was feeling, how she was sure he felt at that moment.

 

Shino closed his eyes for a moment. “It reminds of how much I love you, Kagome.”

 

She smiled finally, feeling tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “I—” she stopped feeling his lips brush against her own, not realizing he'd gotten so close. When he pulled away, she blushed a bit, though her smile did not falter. A soft `sh' stopped her from trying to speak away, as she gazed at him.

 

“This place,” Shino continued, “made me realize I wish to keep you.” He opened the tiny box in his other hand, and allowed Kagome to gaze at the tiny ring inside, the tiny wings stretching out from the diamond in the middle. “Forever, if you'll have me.”

 

The tiny fireflies began flying around them, creating a shield from the outside as Kagome felt a few tears escape her eyes. She smiled so brilliantly that she was sure her face would hurt the next day, but she didn't care. She nearly squealed, and leapt into Shino's arms as quickly as she could, feeling his arms wrap around her. She hugged him so tightly, and felt her heart pound against her chest as she crushed his lips with her own. Then, she pulled away and hugged him even tighter, repeating “yes” over and over again in his ear.

 

Finally, after a few moments, she calmed and allowed Shino to place her feet back onto the ground. However, she did squeal at the smile he gave her after he slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed it. Then, she felt his arms wrap tightly around her, and held onto him as he held her, the comments of others flying from her head. She didn't care anymore; she was going to be Shino's wife! She was going to be Aburame Kagome!

 

And, she was glad she didn't get the information out of Hinata, because the surprise was so much better.

 

OoO

 

The next day, she was smiling so much that the others eyed her suspiciously.

 

“So, what happened between you and Sasuke-kun last night, Kagome?” Ino asked.

 

“What?” Kagome asked, blinking rapidly as she was pulling out of her little world filled with hazel-eyed children who constantly wished to be held and play with the insects they loved so much.

 

“You and Sasuke-kun,” Sakura growled.

 

Hinata giggled behind her hand.

 

“What do you think happened?” Kagome asked, lifting an eyebrow.

 

“We think that he stole your heart and asked you to marry him,” Ino snapped. “Why else would you be so happy?”

 

Kagome twitched; smiling cruelly when she noticed Sasuke had just walked into the ramen stand. He didn't seem to notice they were even there, until she spoke a little too loudly, saying, “Yeah, Uchiha Kagome. That has very nice ring to it, doesn't it, Hinata?”

 

Sasuke's eyes snapped to her. What?

 

Hinata giggled again. “O-oh, yes. I think y-you and S-Sasuke will be very happy and h-have many children.”

 

What? Sasuke thought, staring at them in horror.

 

Ino and Sakura cried, bringing their hands up to cover their faces. They still couldn't believe it.

 

Kagome smirked, unable to help herself. “It's a shame really, considering the fact I will be…”

 

Ino and Sakura sucked in their breath.

 

“…Aburame Kagome,” Kagome smiled. “Sasuke will just have to live his life without me. The poor guy, I'm sure our children would have been very handsome.”

 

Ino and Sakura both shouted, “WHAT!”

 

She ignored them. “Don't you think so, Hinata?”

 

“O-oh yes, Kagome,” Hinata smiled.

 

Sasuke stilled stared at them, and then shook his head. I wish Shino luck. He's going to need it with that crazy wench.

 

--Fin