AN: My very first Crossover! Bleach/Inuyasha. The section completely in italics is a flashback.

Disclaimer: Only OC:s belong to me. Inuyasha/Bleach characters don't.

Chapter 1

Night falls upon a castle in the Feudal Japan. A young master of the castle, Hitomi Kagewaki, leaves the confines of his rooms to walk around the castle grounds. This is something he does every evening. To his 'father' and his servants and soldiers he's no more than a sickly young master of the castle; however what he truly is is hidden from everyone. He is Naraku, a hanyou born when a group of youkai devoured the soul and body of a human thief Onigumo.

His walk is suddenly disrupted when he senses something. It's not youki, nor holy powers, it's something else. Something… different. Very soon he finds someone lying on the ground. A woman. She doesn't seem to be hurt, but she definitely is unconscious.

He looks at her for a while, taking in her clothing. She is wearing black kimono and hakama, with a white sash. Next to her is lying a sheathed katana, apparently hers. He considers her beautiful with her finely shaped face and hair that shines like pure gold in the light of the torches. On her forehead, more precisely right in between of her eyebrows, is a dark blue jewel hanging from a golden chain. It seems that her entire skin, the parts he can see at least, is covered with thin golden stripes, like tattoos.

For a moment he tries to figure out what to do with her. Very soon he would be ready to make his next move to try to gather the shards of the Shikon no Tama, and he will be needing assistance to do so.

He reaches a decision and places her katana in to his sash and scoops her into his arms and heads for his castle.

As soon as he reaches his castle several servants approach him to offer to carry this woman for him.

"I can handle her. Prepare one of the guest rooms and get a healer." He observes as the servants rush to obey his orders. As soon as the room is prepared he carries her in and lowers her to lie on the futon.

Very soon the old woman he recognises as the castle's main healer arrives. He gives her instructions and leaves the two women in the room.

Some while later the healer leaves the room and faces him. "What are her injuries?" He asks her slightly concerned.

"My lord, she has no external wounds and I couldn't find any signs of internal wounds. Her bones aren't fractured, her heart is strong and beating steadily. She's also breathing well. All we can do is to wait until she awakens.

He listens to her words, but his mind is somewhere else. What happened to her? What is she? She looks like human, but that energy is not human, nor youkai. He decides to find out as soon as she wakes up. After a moment he kneels next to her futon, to wait for her awakening.

Slowly he reaches out his hand to trace one of the stripes on her cheek with his finger. When he touches the stripe, he feels energy tingling on the tip of his finger. He finds this quite interesting.

Then he moves tips of his fingers to her skin right above the stripe. This time there is no tingling. He frowns slightly. Stripes seem not to be tattoos or something she was born with. What are they?

For hours he observes her, until he dozes off, right before the sunrise.

Next morning finds the woman stirring in between her sheets. Slowly she comes to. Keeping her eyes closed she begins to study her surroundings with her other senses. I am lying on something soft, a futon perhaps? What else? I can hear that someone is breathing, slowly and steadily. Asleep. Where am I?

Then she tries to remember what happened to her before passing out. Obviously she did pass out at some point, for she can't remember being in bed. She frowns as she realises that she can't actually remember anything. She tries to concentrate and force out some memories, but as usual when trying to force memories out, she fails.

Almost growling in frustration she turns her attention back to her body and her place of rest. She can't feel any sore spots, nothing is hurting. Good. Then she tries to sense presences. For some reason she knows she can do it. She just senses one being nearby, albeit it is someone she doesn't recognise. Bitterly she thinks that she probably wouldn't recognise her own mother right now. She frowns again. Does she have a mother? Or is she dead?

She sighs softly, deciding to open her eyes at last. At first she can't see a thing, but soon enough she begins to see shapes, and finally see can see perfectly well the room she's in. The room itself is fairly plain. There is no other furniture than the futon she's lying on. A glance to her left reveals a window, and a quick glance to her right reveals a man.

She frowns as she studies him. He is kneeling not too far from her. He seems to be dozing so she has enough time to take in his dark long wavy hair, and his face, which to her looks quite feminine. For a moment she considers the possibility that he's actually she, but his hands that are resting on his knees are too big to belong to a woman.

Her gaze moves to his attire. He is wearing a blue kimono, light blue hakama, and a white haori with beautiful designs on it. Right by him she can see a pile of clothes, black and white. She frowns as she looks at them. Those clothes… Do they belong to me? She can also see a sheathed katana leaning against the wall near the clothes. That must be his. I do not think that I would use katana, would I?

She really hopes that she could remember something, anything. Anything at all. In frustration she gazes at the light coloured roof above her, trying to force memories to surface once more. Again, no avail.

Naraku awakes with a start and realises that the mysterious woman is awake already, staring at the roof with her golden eyes. Golden? I thought only youkai can have such unusual colours. But she's no youkai. What can she be?

He decides to address her. "How are you feeling, young lady?"

She recoils and turns to look at the young brown eyed man. "I feel well, I presume. I do not feel pain nor discomfort. May I inquire about my current location?"

"I am Hitomi Kagewaki, the young Lord of this castle. Castle itself belongs to my father. What is your name, young lady, if I may ask?"

She heaves a sigh. "I fear I do not remember my name. My apologies. What were the circumstances regarding my arrival in this castle?"

"I found you near the castle during my evening walk. At the time you were unconscious and I brought you here. That katana was lying next to you, so I assumed that it belonged to you and brought it as well."

"I thank you for your kindness towards a stranger such as myself. Was I by myself when you found me? I have tried to recall the events prior to my awakening this morning, but I have yet to succeed."

"You were alone. There were some sighs of fighting near you, but no bodies, living or dead."

She nods and tries to sits up, but Naraku reaches for her shoulders, pushing her back to the futon. "Young lady, I must insist. We don't know how long you have been unconscious."

She glares at him, pushing him away. "I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing, however I feel well."

As she moves, she feels something touching her forehead. She lifts her hand to feel the moving object, which appears to be a jewel of some kind. She can even feel the chain which holds it. Why would there be a jewel adorning my forehead? Could it be something I can use to figure out who I am?

Her train of thought is cut off by a servant who appears behind the shoji screen inquiring if his lord and 'milady' would like some breakfast, and if they would like to eat in this room, or will they join the others in the dining room.

Naraku looks at the woman, amazed again by the golden stripes across her skin. They seem to enter to, or leave from, a place on her forehead that the jewel touches. "Are you hungry, young lady?"

She nods and Naraku looks back at the servant. "Bring them in here."

The servant leaves only to return a moment later with breakfast for both. As soon as they receive it and begin to eat it, Naraku observes the woman's eating. She eats somewhat hastily, as if she would be starving, but she eats neatly. She has table manners. A member of nobility? But would a noble woman use a katana? Perhaps some do. Judging by the way she speaks, she could be one..

After the two have finished, she speaks. "My body requires fresh air. Is it possible for me to satisfy the demands of my body by taking a walk in your garden?"

"Do you feel that you are well enough for it?" She nods and he continues. "I would love to take you around my garden. I will get a maid to bring you some suitable clothing." He stands up, she following right after him.

"Wait here until the maid comes. She will help you should you need it. After you're done, she will bring you to me."

After Naraku has left the room Aurora decides to check the pile of clothes if they would tell something about who she is. The first piece of clothing she picks up is a black short kimono. It seems to carry no insignia to help her to identify her. With a sigh she picks up a white undershirt, a white sash, and pair of white socks.

She puts the clothes away and reaches for the katana. Doing so she notices gold stripes going across her wrist, arm, and hand. What are these? She shakes her head and decides to figure it out later so she can concentrate on the katana for now.

The woman reaches for the weapon once again taking it into her hands. At first she studies the finely made black sheath. It seems to be in perfect condition. Is the sword new? Or perhaps merely the sheath is new.

Then she grabs the hilt, noticing that the wrap is gold, and draws the katana from the sheath. Studying the guard, she notices that it is gracefully carved, inside a wavy square shaped frame she can see shapes of flowers with thin oval shape petals and moon crests.

She pulls the sword to study its blade. She realises that the slender blade has neither nicks nor stains. Have this ever been used? As she moves her fingers across the blade's side she suddenly senses something weird, yet calming coming from the sword. As if it would be talking to her. But swords don't talk, right?

She closes her eyes and tries to listen to the words. Unfortunately only one of the words seems to reach his head loud and clear.

'Aurora.'

She thinks about the word. Could it be my name? It sounds familiar enough. Her ponderings are interrupted by a maid asking for her permission to enter. She gives the permission and the maid slides the shoji screen open. As soon as she is inside she presents the woman with a pale blue kimono with dark blue embroidery and a light purple obi.

The maid helps her out of the sleeping yukata and into the kimono. After the maid has tied the obi she leads the woman to her footwear and to Kagewaki, who's waiting at the door to the garden.

As he sees the two women coming at him he can't prevent a small smile crossing his lips. The woman carries herself as if she would be a noble. She holds her head high, observing her surroundings carefully. Her strides are confident and would be a lot longer and faster if she wouldn't have to follow the maid.

As the two women approach the young lord, the maid bows at him and the other woman before she leaves them. Naraku offers his arm to her. With a smile she takes it, thanking him for the beautiful kimono.

They step outside and begin their walk around the garden. He shows her every flower, tree, and bush they pass and tells more of every plant she wants to stop to observe closer. Finally they stop in front of the blossoming sakura tree, which Kagewaki introduces to her being the oldest tree in the castle garden.

Seeing the cherry tree she suddenly gets an odd feeling. A memory resurfaces into her mind. Unfortunately before she can grab it, it's gone. What was that about? She looks at the tree again. Could this tree have something to do with my name?

Noticing the woman's silence her companion turns to look at her worry in his eyes. "Young lady, is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. That tree… It merely seemed to awaken a memory, which I could not quite seize. I have got a feeling that it has something to do with my name."

"Can you remember something already?"

"I am fairly certain that my first name is Aurora." He gives her a questioning look, so she continues to tell him how exactly she figured it out. However, before he can ask any more questions Aurora feels her knees failing under her and she falls. The only thing preventing her from falling to the ground is Naraku who manages to catch her into his arms.

He carries her into her room and lowers her on her futon. "Young lady, I apologise. I should've not let you get off from bed this early. Now, try to sleep." With this he leaves her room.

She wearily tries to change into her yukata, but her body just doesn't seem to co-operate, so she allows sleep to claim her.

During Aurora's sleep Naraku is trying to find out who and what she is. He is in his room going through every report and journal entry that might give a clue to her identity. At first he goes through the things he already knows of her.

Her first name is Aurora, and her family name most likely has something to do with cherry. Then another detail crosses his mind. Didn't she say that her sword was trying to talk to her? Swords don't usually talk. Youkai blades can, but this was no youkai blade.

He studies the parchments, finally finding a journal of a miko who worked in the castle some while ago. She wrote that approximately twenty years ago she met a very unordinary man. This man was wearing clothing similar to the woman's.

According to the priestess no one else in the castle was able to see the man. They had a talk, and the man had used a name, which she could not remember, when he was referring to his katana. She had also figured out that the katana apparently communicated with the man.

He stops at this. This sounds familiar. Eager to find out more, he reads on. According to the miko the man had told her that he was a shinigami, or death god, or soul reaper, a spiritual entity who lives in the world of souls, and who protects and guides souls.

Naraku closes his eyes and considers what he had just read. A spirit entity. Could she be one? She is neither youkai nor human. A celestial being? No. Her energy is different. She has to be a shinigami, or death god.

He opens his eyes and smirks. Death gods deal with souls. The Sacred Jewel has the souls of Midoriko and youkai fighting inside it. I'm sure she can help, by seeing the shards. And of course I can use her fighting skills. Though I won't tell this to her yet.

The woman wakes up later in the evening. She yawns and gets up to check how long she slept. The sun is fairly low, yet it's not time of sunset, not for at least an hour or so. I must have slept several hours. She straightens her kimono and decides to go outside again. She feels that she must return to that tree, so she goes to the garden again, hoping to remember her life.

She passes many servants on her way, but the garden itself has no other people in it. Once she reaches the cherry tree she sits down in front of it, her back against the tree. Than she just allows her thoughts wander around.

During the first couple of minutes she can only recall things that happened earlier that day. However, suddenly a new image fills her mind.

She is sitting her back against a cherry tree in her own corner of their garden. She is smiling. The scent of this tree is amazing.

Suddenly her musings are interrupted as she hears noises. "Aurora!" Yawning she looks at the approaching man in shikahusho, shinigami outfit.

She groans. "What is it now, chichi-ue? I was in the middle of a very relaxing daydream."

The man halts in front of his young daughter. If she would be a human, people would guess that she's merely ten years of age. "Aurora, your presence is required at the dinner."

She grins and runs to her father, hugging his waist. He reaches down to move the jewel on her forehead, similar to his necklace. And the stripes leaving from below her jewel are similar to his stripes leaving from below the jewel hanging on her forehead. "Aurora, you are aware of the importance of keeping the seal at its place, do you not?"

She looks at his face. "Yes, chichi-ue."

He detaches himself from her and takes her hand. "Come, your haha-ue is waiting."

Her eyes lighten up. "Will they be there too?"

He laughs and ruffles his daughter's hair. "Yes they will."

Suddenly Aurora snaps out of her memory, interrupted by a familiar male voice. "Young lady, my servants informed me that you were seen coming in here. Are you feeling better?"

She tilts her head backwards to look at lord Kagewaki. "I feel better, thank you for asking. I came here hoping to recall more of my lost memories. I apologise if I caused you to worry about me."

"You didn't. Do you mind if I join you?" She shakes her head so he sits down next to her. "Did it work?"

"I was in a garden like this, at my home, when a man came to me, calling me Aurora, so that truly is my name. He was wearing an outfit similar to the one you found me in. I think it is called 'shikahusho'. I believe it is a uniform of a shinigami, albeit I have no recollection as what shinigami is. He had a jewel in a necklace, and from beneath it a group of stripes similar to mine left to cover all the skin I saw. He touched the one on my forehead and called it a seal. I was a young girl at the time."

Naraku listens to her words silently. As she finishes the two are quiet for a while, both pondering over her words. Aurora is trying to understand why it would be important to keep this 'seal' in place. And what is shinigami? Is she one herself? She has to be, by the fact that she has their uniform.

Naraku himself smirks inwardly to this information. She is a shinigami after all. Now, I just have to figure out the seal. His mind begins to make plans considering how to keep this young woman with him, and how to get her to help him to find the Shikon shards.

After a moment of silence he speaks, capturing her golden gaze with his currently brown. "Tell me, what are you planning to do once you have fully recovered?"

Her eyes widen a fraction before she averts her gaze and shakes her head 'no'. She really hadn't though about it. "I have merely tried to recall my past and life, I have not thought of anything else, such as the future."

Naraku is quiet for a moment before reaching out with his hand and forces her gently to look at him. "I wish that you would stay in the castle, at least for a while longer, until you remember everything you have to. After that I would be happy to help you to return to your friends and family."

Aurora's eyes widen even more before she lowers her gaze. "I thank you for your offer, my lord, and I gladly accept it. I am hoping to be able to return the kindness you showed me."

He lowers his hand to cover hers. "I want you to stay here to keep me company. I'm very sickly and I could use the company of someone else than my servants."

Aurora blushes and she looks at his hand, which still lies above hers. Neither is making any move to remove one's hand. From his hand he turns his gaze to her lap. "If you wish me to stay, I will."

He smiles to her. "I do."

Her blush deepens as she looks at him. After a second of hesitation she smiles back at him. "Then I will stay."