Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine!!!

This is in response to Kurama'sFoxyMiko's challenge!

Just Trying to Forget the Pain

Chapter 1

firefox369

Staring out at the morning sun, I turned to face Inuyasha as I sat in the middle of the field. This morning was one of the few mornings that he wasn't bossy and self-centered. He was thinking about what was about to happen, and what the results might be. Glancing at Sango, I saw her sharpening her katana and staring out in the distance. Miroku was beside her, writing down ofudas and also staring in to the distance. Sighing, I looked at my quiver and found that it was stuffed with arrows. I wouldn't be able to fit another one in there without destroying another. Returning my gaze to the sky, I saw the pinks, oranges, reds... all blending together to create a beautiful scene that seemed to be from a painting.

A figure made its way towards us and I recognized it as Sesshoumaru. I had forced Inuyasha to accept his help long ago, and although he wouldn't admit it, I knew that he was relieved that Sesshoumaru was helping us, too. Looking at the stoic lord, I gave a small smile but he ignored it. Glancing towards the horizon, he walked over to Inuyasha.

"The wolf is on his way. We'll leave once he gets here."

Inuyasha nodded grudgingly, but knew that it was best to listen to his half-brother. It wasn't very often that Sesshoumaru worked with others, and when he did, he expected to be listened to. Inuyasha learned that the hard way. I saw a small tornado in the distance and knew that Kouga had arrived. I picked up my bow and quiver of arrows and stood. Sango and Miroku looked at me, knowing that it was time. They gathered their items and prepared to leave. Pouring water and shoving dirt on to the fire, they watched as the smoke rose as it was muffled. When Kouga stopped in front of me, I saw that he was nervous too. He didn't begin his antics yet, and he was pale.

Sesshoumaru looked all of us over and turned around, walking into the nearby trees without making a noise. Sango got on top of Kirara and we followed after him, close behind. The world around us was a blur as we ran through the trees, ignoring everything except our thoughts, and our fear and hatred, of Naraku. We broke through into a clearing and I watched as the sky darkened around us. I was glad that I had left Shippo back at the village. I only hoped that he wouldn't be stubborn and decide to follow us.

I heard cold laughter and I looked around, trying to pinpoint where Naraku might be hiding, but to no avail. His voice was like thunder all around us, echoing off of everything, leaving our ears useless when trying to find him. Our eyes saw only the decoys, and our own voices would not draw him out. The only way would be to play along with him.

"How convenient..." he drawled, voice booming, "All my enemies crowded into one area... certainly makes it easier than hunting you all down one by one..." A swarm of demons appeared from the sky and I glared. He was sending waves, as usual. I watched as Sango pulled out her giant bomerang and as Miroku began to undo the beads around his hand. Kouga flexed his fingers, along with Sesshoumaru, and Inuyasha unsheathed his tetsusaiga. I stepped into the safety of the shadows and watched as the demons descended on them.

"Hiraikosu!" rang out and the bone sliced through a row of demons, slicing its way through another on its way back. Sango caught it with ease and unleashed it again. I saw Miroku using his wind tunnel on as many demons as he could before the others scattered, making it hard for him without sucking one of the others. He sealed it and swung his staff, bashing demons' skulls in with practiced ease, the rings jingling. A demon snuck up on Miroku but a flash of green cut it in half.

Sesshoumaru swiftly got rid of all the demons around him and was now working on the ones that remained. He movements were fluid and precise, not wasting a single bit of his youki.

"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha roared and diamonds shot out of the large blade, destroying all the demons in his path. In contrast to Sesshoumaru, his movements were jerky, and wasted a lot of power, but did their job nonetheless.

Kouga growled and slashed the demons with his claws. They didn't even notice him because of his speed, so he took down many without much difficulty. Hearing a roar, I glanced at the neko youkai and saw her biting and slashing the demons, protecting her master from all harm. I hadn't done anything by the ending of the first wave, and none of the others seemed to be breaking a sweat. We might have actually had a chance at defeating Naraku.

"Is that all you've got, Naraku?" Inuyasha taunted and Kouga glared at him.

"Don't get cocky, Inuyasha, who knows what he might do."

Naraku's sadistic laugh rang through the air again and another wave of demons dove towards us. Before anyone could kill them, however, Miroku took his chance and sucked them all into his wind tunnel. Everyone looked at him and he smirked.

"Well they were all in a straight line, so why not?" he asked and Sango cracked a smile.

"It sure saved us a lot of trouble" she stated and Kirara nodded in agreement. Her eyes then widened in shock as a shadow stepped out of the trees on the other side of the clearing. "Kohaku?" she whispered but the boy didn't seem to hear her. His eyes were dull and glazed over with influence of Naraku's evil.

As another wave of demons showed themselves, Kohaku lunged at his older sister. She dodged and blocked his attacks, not wanting to hurt him. The others began to struggle a little as a one of Naraku's decoys appeared. They eventually defeated it, but Kohaku was still making attempts at injuring his sister when the third wave was beaten. That's when the real Naraku showed himself, shooting a tentacle towards Kohaku. Sango wouldn't take it though. Even though her brother wanted to kill her, she would still protect him. Jumping into the way of the tenacle, she took the blow instead of her younger brother. The appendage tore straigt through her heart, killing her instantly.

"Sango!!!" Miroku shouted as she fell to the ground. The tentacle had still succeeded on retreiving the jewel shards from Kohaku's back, however, and he screamed in pain as the blood oozed out of him. He fell to the ground beside his sister and crawled over to her, dying beside her. This angered me to no end. Pulling out my bow, I took an arrow from my quiver and knocked it, aiming towards Naraku.

"Die..." I hissed, releasing it. Naraku noticed and blocked it with an appendage, letting it burn off instead of dying himself. I continued to attack him, along with Inuyasha and the others, when a familiar scream was heard.

"Shippo..." I gasped and the small redheaded kitsune was held up. Inuyasha had just finished his Kaze no Kizu, though, and couldn't stop it from hitting the kit. I screamed and Naraku laughed, absorbing the small fox into himself. I scowled and aimed another at him. I fired, but Kouga didn't notice it and accidentally ran into it. He let out a scream of pain and turned into ash.

"Stop killing your allies, human" Naraku sneered and I felt my blood boiling. As Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha distracted him, I pulled out another arrow, and concentrated as much as my miko energy into the tip. I released it and it flew straight towards my target. I smirked as it hit him dead on. He screamed in pain as he slowly began to disintegrate and I sighed with a little bit of relief. He was finally gone. Coming out of the shadows, I finally got a full view of the battle field. It was dyed red with the spilt blood of demons, and I grimaced at the sight. I saw Inuyasha standing over Naraku's remains, Kouga's jewel shards in his hand. He picked up the part of the jewel that Naraku had and put them together.

"Are you going to become a human, Inuyasha...?" I asked softly and he glanced at me. His eyes were bleeding red. "...Inuyasha...?"

He smiled cruelly and ripped the shards off my neck, making the jewel whole again. It was tainted black with the youki emenating off of him.

"I wish to become a full-blooded-" he began but I felt my anger rising. Before I knew it, there was a large, bright flash of light and Inuyasha was just a pile of ashes on the ground. The jewel still floated in the air and just hovered their for a few seconds before shooting towards me. I screamed when I felt it enter me again, this time in my heart. I was then engulfed in blue and I was at the bottom of the well. I looked up and saw that the shrinehouse was where I now was. The ceiling blocked all light, so I was engulfed in darkness, the dank, humid feeling of the atmosphere sticking to my skin. The dust got up my nose and I stifled a sneeze.

Placing my hand over my heart, I felt a slight warmth as it glowed. The jewel had entered my heart. Realisation dawned on me. I was the protector of the jewel until the day I died. Remebering what the mass amount of demons that I had fought with Inuyasha, and Kikyo's past, I knew that I would never get rest again. I would die young, and endanger all of those around me... unless...

Standing up, I looked around the shrinehouse and smiled when I saw all the supplies that I needed. Gathering them, I took a handful of rice and drew a circle around me with them. With a match, I lit a few candles, and with a knife, I pricked my finger, letting it bleed. I shut my eyes and began to meditate.

Is this what you really want, Kagome? a voice asked softly.

"Yes" I replied.

Then your wish shall come true.

My eyes snapped open and I tried to release some of my miko powers. I smiled when nothing happened. I had sealed them. It would take a lot to break the seal, and I knew that if my miko powers were sealed, so were the powers of the Sikon no Tama. I was safe from whatever troubles the jewel would cause in this era for now.

Shakilly getting to my feet, I ignored the queasy feeling in my stomach when I saw my blood-soaked clothes. Images of Sango and Kohaku lying together in death appeared in my mind and I tried to forget it. Another image of Kouga turning into ash appeared and I shut my eyes, forcing myself to forget.

"Happy thoughts. Kagome, Happy thoughts..." I whispered. No such luck.

All the memories I had were from when Sango, Shippo and Inuyasha were still alive. Any thoughts about them right now just made my heart ache and a lump form in my throat.

Leaning against the wall for support, I made my way out of the shrinehouse and slid the door open to the outside world, and my front yard. Looking at the light blue sky, I sighed. So many things had happened in the last few hours... none of them anything that I wanted to remember.

I felt a lone tear roll down my cheek and I took a deep breath before shouting "I'm home!"

To be Continued...

End of chapter 1!! This is the first time I ever got into detail about Naraku's death, so sorry if its crappy.