Mamoru by kaoruhana

From Comrades to Friends to Lovers

A/N: Hello all.  I haven't written in a while, but here's another fun story.  For those who follow Naruto, please enjoy the story as I'm sure you'll find the similiarities :)  

Title: Comrades to Friends to Lovers

Author: Kaoruhana

Recipient: Walter205

Rating: T

Summary: In a world ravaged by war, two comrades--an old teacher who is the last of his line and an ex-student who is a skilled medic--come together to mourn, and forge a new friendship that later turns into something more.  One could say, that it now seemed all the masks finally came down.

Note: This is not the actual gift, it went over in word count so I made a second one. This is a bonus story which happens to be the prequel to the gift story. (Part II)

* * * * * 

Kagome tore her gaze from the body of the man in front of her, trying her hardest to remind herself that he was an enemy.  Shippo and Sesshomaru stood next to her with Miroku, each of them lost in their own thoughts.  Eyes tearing up, Kagome turned away and moved to help the other miko medics at the camp set up away from the battlefield.  She needed some space to grieve on her own.  Shippo stood there, being comforted by Miroku, while Sesshomaru watched her leave.  None of them said a word, each silently grieving for their old comrade, who lay dead before them.  After all, to them his death had been much more than the end of the Fourth Shikon War.

His death meant the end of an era.  It spelled the end of a time in their lives.  And to Shippo, who was suffering the most because it had been his blow that had felled Inuyasha, it meant the end of a friendship he had cherished as a brotherly bond.

It was three days later, after Kagome had worked herself non-stop and nearly collapsed in a heap that Sesshomaru came to her after spending days wallowing in his own dark and depressing thoughts.  He had been forced to take a break by Kaede-sama and then he'd been ordered to bring Kagome along because she needed a break too.  He watched her as she moved from patient to patient working on autopilot.  Her movements were mechanical, her words clipped and cold, her eyes listless.

It was all Inuyasha’s fault.

Sesshomaru had long since felt that he didn’t care for Inuyasha, but he knew that no matter what anyone else told him or the others, the remnants of team seven still considered him their team-mate; a boy they had grown up with, and a student who one of them had failed in more ways than one.   

“Kagome,” he called.  He found it difficult to see her this way, reduced to this being in front of him.  She didn’t react to her own name and he frowned.  Eyes narrowing, he moved across the room towards her.  He grabbed her arms and forcefully pulled her away from her patient.  Another medic gave him a relieved smile, and rushed in to take her place.

“What are you doing?” Kagome hissed as she rounded on him.  “I was in the middle of caring for that patient.  What are you…”  Her words trailed off as she saw the masked face of the man who had pulled her away.  Blue eyes clouded, and he saw the tears she didn’t want, but needed to shed.  He saw his own grief reflected in them.

“Sesshomaru-sensei…”  Her voice was broken, and it was enough for him to act.  He led her out of the tent, to where Shippo and Miroku sat by a fire with bottles of sake.

“You are no good to anyone like this, Kagome.”  He spoke as they walked towards their friends.  “Come sit with us.”  Kagome defiantly dug her feet in.

A moment passed as they stared at each other in the remnants of a battlefield.  The Allied Forces stood around them, some in medical camps and tents, others celebrating with friends.  She had seen more than her fair share of friends and comrades perish in the war.  None of them had affected her this much.  No one could understand how integral Inuyasha had been in her life.  No one, but team seven.  Kagome moved the hand from her arm until it grasped her hand.

Sesshomaru-sensei was right, and she would acknowledge it for now.  But she didn’t want to be here all night.  She would go away, cry some more, and lick her wounds in private.  That seemed the right thing to do—to finally grieve in private like she needed to do.  As though realizing what she wanted, his hand tightened, and Sesshomaru led her to a nearby fire, making her sit next to Miroku and Shippo.  The two other boys—her boys—passed her a bottle of sake and threw their arms around her in a silent gesture of comfort and support.

The odd group, that was team seven, would stay together the next few days, joined by comrades and allies.  They would get drunk, and reminisce, and cry while celebrating the end of the war.  And then they would each go to lick their wounds and grieve in private.  Except, somehow, through it all Sesshomaru would always find Kagome.  She would end up crying on his shoulder while he nursed a bottle of beer as they mourned the deaths they had seen.  It seemed they knew that without the other they might spiral into a rut neither could get out of.

And then a month after the war, when they were all back in Inugakure, and rebuilding after the war, it happened when they were at her apartment.

“Call me Sesshomaru, Kagome.”  When she turned confused blue eyes on him at their nightly binge session, he shrugged his shoulders.  “We’re more friends now than teacher and student.”  Eyes narrowing at the row of beer bottles in front of them, he stood.  He was tired of this grief, of this depression.   What was it Kaede had said?  Something about moving on and letting go.  Maybe, it was time he acted on those words.

Picking up the bottles he emptied them in the sink.  He turned to look at her.  “Come on, we’re going out to eat.”

It took her a moment to respond, but then she nodded.  “Okay.”

And that was how Kagome and Sesshomaru became more than teacher and student.  They were respected comrades, two people who had seen and been through so much that their entire relationship had changed.  After that month, they became something akin to best friends.

* * * * *

“Kagome-san!”  The medic miko looked up from the young boy she was treating.  “You’re needed in the emergency room!  A black ops team just came in with serious injuries.”  Kagome paused, her eyes clearing to show some emotion for a moment, but her hand continued its steady task.  And then, she acted, just as she had been trained to do.  

“Rin,” she addressed the medic miko in training, “he’s got a hairline fracture in his elbow.  I began the initial assessment by incorporating some basic mending with my reiki.  I need you to take care of the rest.” Rin nodded, leaving Kagome to head to her task.

It was rare for the medic miko to see anyone come in with such bad injuries.  During the Fourth Shikon War, this had been normal.  Now, five years later into the period of peace, injuries like this were rare, scary, and a political nightmare.  She wondered who the black-ops team consisted of.  As far as she knew only two were out of Inugakure.  Team Two, which consisted of, Kanna, Souten, and Kohaku had just left yesterday.  Surely it couldn’t be them!

But if it wasn’t them, then it had to be black ops - Team One.  Eyes hardening, she went on her way.  If it was team one, she needed to get to them immediately.  Sesshomaru’s team would never have let this happen to them.  He cared for all of his teammates, and he would always ensure their safety.  Sango and Miroku were some of the best soldiers they had.  If Sesshomaru had gotten hurt saving them, she knew something had happened.

Please, she prayed, please don’t be his team!  She was experienced, and she could handle the situation, but she wasn’t ready for the eventual emotional upheaval it would cause.

“Kagome!” Her mentor, Kaede-shishou stood in the scrubbing room by the operating theatre with her assistant Shiori.  Shiori was scrubbing in and gave a quick nod to Kagome before heading inside.

That meant the matter was worse than it appeared if Kagome and Shiori were told to go inside the operating theatre.

“Kagome, we’re looking at punctured lungs, internal bleeding, and multiple lacerations.”  Kaede stated with narrowed eyes, confusing Kagome who knew that she alone should have been able to handle the injuries.  “I need to go, but you should know that I’m only sending in Shiori to help you.  You’ve had a long shift.”

The miko medic nodded as she put her hair up and walked over to a sink.  She hid a relieved smile. “Understood Shishou.” Still, even knowing that it wasn’t as bad as she expected, it took her record time to get ready, prepare, and head in to heal the three patients in the operating room.

Five hours later, an exhausted Kagome collapsed on the seat in her office.  She had finished the actual operation a while ago, but had immediately reported to the Inukagure Kage’s office for information related to the wounds.  Not only did she give a detailed list to her shishou of the operating procedures and injuries, she had been debriefed on the cause of the wounds: nuke soldiers from Umegakure who were uneasy with the peace.

Sesshomaru’s team had been on their way to deliver a scroll when they were attacked by a ten man cell of nuke-soldiers from Ume.  She knew how tired his team was after having run nearly three back to back diplomatic missions in this month.  Thus, the easy to handle ten-man cell became harder to handle.  Apparently, Sesshomaru had been smart enough to send his summons Ah-Un to Kaede who had immediately dispatched Kohaku’s team to handle the situation.

“Team two is fine.”  Kaede stated again, as Shippo, her appointed successor grew restless.  He knew his lover had been sent to dispatch the nuke soldiers.  “They’re escorting the surviving members to Ume as we speak before delivering the message to Umegakure as intended.”

“I see.”  Kagome hesitated and Kaede asked her what was wrong.

“Will everything be alright shishou?  I mean the alliances are still fresh and the war…”  Kaede’s eyes glinted in amusement, and she shot Shippo a grin.  He was laughing in the background. “What is it?”  Kagome asked, her eyes narrowing, and her foot tapping on the floor.  She was irked that they knew something she didn’t.

Kaede crossed her hands and put her chin on them.  “Kagome, I can’t believe you don’t remember who the Ume Kage is.”

Kagome thought for a minute, her eyes narrowing.  Ume was a land that they had had difficult relations with until she had saved the last Kage’s daughter, Kagura during the war. That had been the final catalyst that had led to Ume joining the Allied Forces.  And then, last year, the Kage had retired and...

“Kagura is the Kage.”  She stated shaking her head, suddenly glad that Sesshomaru hadn’t been able to deliver the note.  She and Kagura were good friends but Kagome couldn’t stand to see Kagura fawning over Sesshomaru.

Kaede nodded.  “Yes, so you see it won’t be a problem.”  The Inugakure Kage then pointed to the door.  “Now why don’t you get going?  You have some papers to do for me don’t you?”

Kagome suppressed the sigh she wanted to let out.  “Hai, shishou!”  Kagome turned and left to do as instructed, this time her audible sigh and sarcasm apparent to all.

And now, an hour after that conversation, just as she had settled in for a good long rest after all the paperwork.  There was a knock on her hospital office door.

“Hey, Ship.”  She greeted the man at the door recognizing him by his youki signature even before he opened the door.

Shippo was her best friend and one of her closest confidants.  An orphan, he had been placed on the elusive team seven, with her and Inuyasha under the guidance of Sesshomaru-sensei.  A lot of time had passed since she had first met him.  She had considered him to be the class clown who couldn’t do anything worthwhile.  Less than a year after knowing Shippo, Inuyasha had betrayed Inugakure. He had sought power under Naraku in order to avenge the Inu massacre.  War had erupted thereafter and both she and Shippo had grown up.

The two remaining students of team seven had advanced swiftly through the rank and file. Shippo was considered black-ops, but his dream of becoming Kage was becoming less a dream and more a new career, forcing him to stay away from the dangerous missions.  As for Kagome—she had sought out Kaede-shishou, begging to be trained until she achieved her current status.  Head miko medic of Inugakure and the surrounding lands.

But the three of them weren’t the only members of team seven.  There was also Sesshomaru-sensei who was no longer an acting sensei for his remaining team-members.  

Sesshomaru’s path was different.  After the nightmare that had been team seven, he never wanted to teach again.  So he had pushed himself, rejoining the black-ops he had left to teach.  And then war had erupted, and he found himself leading the Allied Forces against the Forces of Shikon.  After that war, she and Shippo had made silent vows to each other.  She would do what she could to make sure that Sesshomaru would live long after he had seen and achieved so much.  And Shippo promised to be there for him as well.  But more than him, it was Kagome who mattered.

Sesshomaru was her best friend.  She couldn’t afford to lose him.

“I heard about what you did,” Shippo stated.  He came around the desk, placing a hand on her shoulder.  He forced her thoughts back to the present and the surgery she had finished a while back.  “You okay, Kagome?”  It was known to those who knew her that she tended to be a workaholic and needed to be dragged away from the hospital from time to time.

“I guess,” said Kagome.  She laid her head on her hands. She was grateful for Shippo’s presence.   She bit her lip and pieced her thoughts together.  “I just… it scares me when things like this happen to one of you guys. I know I can heal you—my boys—but I just can’t help thinking—what if this is the one time I can’t?”  Her eyes glanced to the door in front of her. Her thoughts going back to a time when she would not have been as useful as she was now.

“Kagome,” Shippo began, not sure what to do.  Growing up, they had always known the career they were going into came with a high mortality risk.  It couldn’t be helped.  So he didn’t say anything more and pulled his hand away, changing the topic.  “Sesshomaru should be up tomorrow I heard.”

“Yeah.”  Kagome pushed herself off her arms, a grin on her face.  “That is, if I can keep him here.  I swear, he’s the worst patient this hospital has ever seen.  I do need to find a way to get him to stay this time though.  His arm… it’s getting worse.  I can tell.”

Shippo nodded as he slouched against her desk.  And then he grinned, a wicked thought going through his mind.  “Oi, do you know what he wears under that mask of his?  Huh?  Now that you've operated on him and all that?”

Kagome bit her lip to stifle a smile.  She had known for a while, four years almost.  After all those late night binge drinking sessions and dinners, she had casually asked Sesshomaru about that mask he always wore which hid his nose and mouth.  He had stared at her then, across the coffee table in her apartment, over their meal of beer and tempura.  And then he had pulled it down and continued his meal as though it was completely normal.

“You do know what he looks like don’t you!”  Shippo groused his eyes narrowed.  “Man, that’s not fair!  Even Miroku’s seen his face.  How come I’m the only one that hasn't?”

“He probably knows how much you’d gloat about it.”  Kagome hummed as she stood and made her way to the door.  “What are you doing now, Ship?  I’ve got to check on him and the others.”

“And then go home right?”  Shippo asked as he followed her out the door and down hospital corridor.

“Maybe.”  She quietly led him the rest of the way to the room.

Kagome made a face as she opened the door to Sesshomaru’s room, not surprised to see him awake and looking disgruntled.  Rin sat by his side grinning widely.  He glared half-heartedly at Kagome as she entered, his mask back on his face.  Kagome had placed it there after the surgery, knowing that he treasured his privacy.

“I’m not spending the night.”  The masked man stated.

“Yes you are.”  Kagome demanded as she marched over to stand at the foot of his bed.  “Why are you so against it anyway?”  Sesshomaru’s golden eyes narrowed as he watched her check the sheets on the clipboard.  She knew why, and he didn’t need to answer her.

“Well,” Kagome stated, “you are stable from a medical standpoint.  Shishou just wants to keep you for one night.”  When Sesshomaru continued to glare, Kagome cocked a hand on her hip and poked his leg—his recently healed broken leg.  Sesshomaru tried to mask it, but she saw through his wincing.

“Stay the night, Sesshomaru.”  Shippo and Rin watched in the background wide smiles on their faces at his predicament.  Sesshomaru glared at them, refusing to give in.

“No.”

“Sesshomaru.  You will spend the night!  Got it?”  Kagome punctuated each word with another poke to his leg.

He scowled.  “I thought medics were supposed to be nice to their patients.”

Kagome scoffed.

“Not to unruly ones.”  She watched the expressions play out on his face.  Anger, resentment, and finally resignation.  Knowing what he wanted to hear, she turned to Shippo and Rin.  The former protested loudly at being kicked out while the latter just rolled her eyes and dragged him away, shutting the door behind them.

“How are they?”  Sesshomaru asked softly once they disappeared.

“Fine.  Sango will be out for two weeks since her lungs were affected.  Nothing terrible, just a precaution to make sure she heals correctly.  As for Miroku, he’ll be up and ready again in no time.”  Kagome sat on the edge of the bed.  “And you… why didn’t you tell me your arm was bothering you again?”

He shrugged and then looked at her, his eyes hardening.  “It wasn’t a problem before.”  A hand came out and touched one of hers when she didn’t reply.  “What is it, Kagome?”

Kagome hesitated.  Sesshomaru’s arm had always been a sensitive issue.  Years ago, the left arm had been reattached to his body by Kaede-shishou after a bloody battle.  Except, reattached limbs were never the same as the original.  Sesshomaru’s arm, no matter how much he conditioned it, was reaching its limit.  If he didn’t quit now, his arm would be useless again.  But how could she tell this man that?  Sesshomaru would hate being useless.

“Kagome?”  Sesshomaru repeated squeezing her hand.  “What is it?”

“Your arm.”  She answered as she looked at him with her blue eyes.  Her voice suddenly took on a scolding tone as her eyes hardened.  “You idiot!  Why didn’t you tell me that it was bothering you?  I could have done something, anything!  Now it’s…”  She didn’t want to say the words “too late.”  Those words implied a finality she didn’t want to accept.

“Hm.”  He turned his eyes away to look at their joined hands.  “Kaede wants to retire and have me take over.”

“What?”  Kagome turned wide eyes to him.  It was true that he seemed a good candidate, but it had seemed that the title of Kage would always go to Shippo.

As always, Sesshomaru seemed to know what she was thinking.  “It would just be for a while.  Until Shippo is ready to take over.  Two years I think.  And then…” he shrugged, “I don’t know what I will do.  Maybe go back and try to teach at the academy.”  Kagome laughed, her eyes tearing up as she realized Sesshomaru was always one step ahead of her.  He had known about his arm before she did.

“Will you be okay?”  She asked softly.

“I don’t know.”  He answered honestly glancing back at her.  “Will you be there with me?”

It was a loaded question and one that took Kagome by surprise.  But, she supposed she had to have seen this coming.  In some ways, Sesshomaru knew her better than anybody, including Shippo.  And she knew that she would always stand by all of team seven—her boys: her Shippo, her Sesshomaru, and her Miroku— for as long as she could.  Brushing his hair away from his face, she squeezed the hand holding hers.  Sesshomaru was her best friend, her closest confidante.

“Okay.  Just don’t do anything stupid.”

“I won’t.”  He answered grinning.  “After all, I have you to keep me in line don’t I?”

* * * * *

It was three months after his release that Kaede quit.  She promptly announced she would stay in Inugakure and run the hospital full-time while Sesshomaru would act as transitioning Kage with Shippo.  The village loved the news, the Council even more so, to the point they were trying to encourage Sesshomaru to take the position permanently.  His answer had shocked them into silence and sent the rest of the soldiers into raucous amounts of laughter and appreciation.

And now, Kagome sat with her boys (and their significant others) in her apartment sharing dinner.  After team seven had adopted Miroku, he and Shippo continued to come to Kagome and Sesshomaru whenever anything important in their lives occurred.  As orphans, team seven was their family, in more ways than one.  So it was decided by the two of them that when things were getting serious in their romances, they would introduce these girls to their family.

“Souten and I are leaving the black-ops.”  Sango’s statement caught both Sesshomaru and Kagome off guard.

“Why?”  The medic asked in between dishing out food to the rest of the table.

Sango blushed, looking at Miroku.  “Well, I decided to become a team instructor.  Now that Miroku and I are…closer, we felt it best if we no longer work together.”

“Oh.”  Kagome looked down at her bowl of rice before glancing up at Souten.  She hadn’t been told why Souten was leaving yet.  Said women fidgeted for a bit, until finally, Shippo sighed and nudged her, causing a barrier to flicker out of existence.  

“You?”  Kagome looked at Souten and then at her stomach as the rest of the room turned to look at Shippo with shocked expressions on their faces.  “When?  How long?”  Souten flushed as Shippo answered for the both of them, and the rest of the room grinned in understanding.

“Last week.  Souten wasn’t feeling well so I had her go to see someone. Rin told us.”  He was given barely ten seconds to recover from his statement before Sango and Kagome pounced on the expecting couple with a hug.

“Congratulations!”  The women yelled, excited at the information.

They threw more questions, reveling in the good news, until they were pulled back to their seats, and the meal commenced again.  The group dinner was livelier than ever before with happiness radiating all around.  Eventually, after a good meal was shared, leftovers handed over, and people ushered out, it was just Kagome and Sesshomaru in the apartment.

“What is it?”  She asked noting him watch her closely as she began to wash the dishes in her sink.

“I always thought you would be the first.”  Kagome nearly dropped the plate in her hands as she took in Sesshomaru’s words.  Years ago, what he was saying would have made sense.  She had been caught up in love with a boy who would never return it.  She had focused on him to the point that she had nearly sacrificed her future.

“Times change.”  She answered resuming her task at the sink.  “But I’m happy for them you know?  I think they’re good for each other.”

“And yourself?”  Sesshomaru moved to the sink, his hands taking the soapy dishes from hers and rinsing them.  “Do you see yourself that way?”

Kagome didn’t answer, and he didn’t pry.  Instead, the two of them stood there, in front of her kitchen sink, washing the dishes and putting them away.  It was after they had finished, and the two of them sat on her couch, that he spoke again.

“Marry me.”

“What?”  Kagome’s shocked tone didn’t surprise him.  She watched him, taking in his features.

Sesshomaru had let down his mask now that the others had gone.  His strong jaw line had a few nicks from where he had gotten injured before.  His eyes were always the same: gold and slanted. If you knew him well enough, you knew to read him through his eyes.  His question had come suddenly, but she supposed she should have seen this coming.  There was no one she trusted more and loved more than him.  And it only took his proposal to show her.

“Ask me again in two years.”  She stated softly, her hand coming to cup his face.  “I don’t want to be a kage’s wife, I want to be your wife.”

“And until then?” He asked needing clarification.

“You have me.”  His eyes softened, his hand coming up to caress her cheek before he smiled and then leaned down to meet her lips halfway.