Chapter 1
Summary: With obsessive as Naraku was over the jewel, he noticed the second it reemerged in the world, altering the whole story we know by getting to the jewel's new protector before she could free Inuyasha from his 50 year slumber. INCOMPLETE, NOT TO BE FINISHED.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
(A/N: This was written quite some time ago, and I have left it in its original form. It is INCOMPLETE, weighing in at only three chapters with no intention of finishing it. So, basically, this is a what-if 'Kagome meets Naraku first' story and for writer's convenience, I have severely shortened the first episode until it gets to the part I divert from cannon.)
15th birthday, blah blah blah, pulled down the well, blah blah blah, sees Inuyasha pinned to a tree, blah blah blah, captured by villagers, blah blah blah, talks with Kaede, blah blah blah, mistress centipede attacks the village.
Meanwhile, Naraku had been wandering across the land for the last 50 years waiting for the sacred jewel to resurface. The instant Kagome found herself at the bottom of the well in the feudal era, Naraku suddenly felt a familiar jolt of power.
"Could it be?" he murmured to himself. "Yes, there is no mistake. The jewel has returned to the world of the living." He chuckled to himself and took off to find it.
He arrived at the edge of a village currently being attacked by some weak, female centipede demon. Scanning the area, he spotted a strange looking girl fleeing from the demon. It was claiming she had the sacred jewel. A large grin spread across his face. 'Its so close, all those years, it's finally within my reach,' he was overflowing with anticipation.
He took a humanoid form and hid his signature red eyes behind brown ones instead. He was dressed in casual, royal garb of dark blues and purples as he moved to join the battle. It really didn't matter if the centipede got the jewel first or not; he could easily defeat it regardless.
Kagome was running as fast as possible, but being a klutz she tripped as she was running through the fields. Mistress centipede let her fangs grow and dived for the girl, biting into her side and throwing her into the air. The jewel popped out and Kagome tumbled down Mistress centipede's body to the ground. The jewel landed right in front of Kagome. Mistress centipede curled her body around Kagome and the jewel cutting off all exits. She lowered her face down to eye level with Kagome, who was still on her knees, and laughed as she stuck out her tongue to suck up the jewel.
Naraku casually walked up to the centipede as it tormented the girl. A thought occurred to him, he had no use for such a weak demon, absorbing it would be a bother. It would also be annoying to have to find the jewel in its carcass. So when it moved to swallow the jewel he shot out a tentacle and cut its head off. The girl already had her eyes squeezed shut in fear and saw nothing. In her eyes he would still appear human. Perhaps he could have a little fun with this.
Kagome heard a sickening noise and then a thump and opened her eyes. She screamed at the sight of the demons severed head lying next to the jewel. The body was still twitching but mostly limp. She quickly snatched up the jewel and scrambled over its coils to head back to the village for safety. She was so shaken up she didn't see the man standing in front of her and ran smack into him.
Naraku had not paid much attention to what the girl looked like until she ran into him and looked up. He could hardly believe his eyes. 'She... looks just like Kikyo,' he realized. If he hadn't seen Kikyo die himself 50 years ago he might have even mistaken the two.
"Oh, I... I'm... sorry," she mumbled. "Wait, did you kill that thing? Did you save me?" She was still in shock.
"I did," was all he said, still trying to get over her appearance. He finally snapped out of it. "You know, demons will continue to come after you as long as you have that in your possession. It would be wise to give it to someone like myself who could protect it better."
"Really?" she didn't know what to do.
"Nay child!" Kaede and the villagers had just caught up to her. "Ye can not trust him, he is a demon!" They had seen him use a tentacle to slay the centipede.
"He's a demon?" Kagome asked, obviously confused and inspecting the male in front of her. "But he looks so normal."
"Appearances can easily be deceiving," Kaede lectured, pleading with Kagome to understand, "ye mustn't hand over the jewel."
Kagome gripped the jewel tighter to her chest, "Uh, th-thank you, for saving me, but I think I better keep it for now."
"Very well," he purred in his deep, hypnotic voice, "if you refuse to hand it over," he paused, "I will simply have to kill you."
"But, but, you saved me," Kagome backed away from the frighteningly handsome man.
"All the more reason why your life now belongs to me," he smirked and let his disguise fall. His eyes turned red and eight sharp, insectile appendages sprung from his back. They reminded Kagome of praying mantis claws.
"Run child," Kaede yelled, snapping Kagome out of her trance. She took off with the jewel as villagers fired upon Naraku. None of their weapons had any effect.
"Spears and arrows don't work," the villagers cried out in panic.
"He is far too powerful, there is no way we can defeat him," Kaede pondered, "however..." She pulled out a rosary and wrapping it around her hands began praying.
Naraku was in no hurry, he would enjoy torturing this girl. She brought back memories of the woman he both loved and hated. This would be truly enjoyable. As she would run away, he would move faster than the human eye could follow to appear directly in front of her time and time again. He reveled in her fear. "Give up girl," he taunted, "you can not win."
Kagome collided with him again and fell on her butt. He advanced on her and suddenly a series of bright lights shot at him and settled around his neck. He only took a second to glance at the new accessory.
"Quickly child, the word of subjugation," Kaede commanded.
"What word?" she asked as she scrambled back to escape him.
"It matters not, your word has the power to hold his spirit," she elaborated.
Naraku raised one of his sharp, insectile appendages, preparing to slay the Kikyo-look-alike.
Kagome searched her mind, "Uh, umm... STOP IT!" Instantly a bolt of purity hit Naraku that looked like lightning. He screamed in pain and fell to his knees panting. He tore at the necklace trying to remove it but it rewarded him with another bolt of purity. He screamed again and fell to his hands and knees.
"Curse you," he growled out, lifting his gaze to glare at the old priestess, "how dare you try to subjugate me, you rotten hag!"
"The word please," Kaede calmly requested of Kagome.
"Stop it," she said calmly and slowly, feeling much more confident. He was hit with another jolt.
"You may be too strong for us to defeat, demon, but you can not over-power my sister's subjugation spell," Kaede explained. Naraku's eyes widened, no wonder the rosary was so powerful, Kikyo must have placed the spell on it before she died. "I should also mention, that if you attempt to harm Kagome, the rosary will react as well. Now, shall we return, my child?" Kagome nodded and the pair left Naraku in his prone position.
In an eerie, phantom castle, not too far away, Naraku retreated to regroup, literally. Locked away in the room below the cellar, he disassembled his conglomerate body in order to attempt to rid himself of the cursed beads. No matter how hard he tried though, they would not detach from his person.
'Damn them,' he ranted, 'how dare that old hag use Kikyo's spell against me. That woman continues to haunt me even in her death. And that girl, I will kill her, if for no other reason than her resemblance to Kikyo.'
Realizing it was fruitless to rid himself of the beads while the girl still lived he began reforming his body. Placing his efforts instead on planning how he will go about eliminating the girl. 'There are many ways to eliminate an enemy besides my own hands,' he chuckled to himself.
Back in the village, Kaede began explaining to Kagome about who she was along with the nature of her powers and the jewel itself. To further explain her powers Kaede had her try out a bow and arrow. Even her first untrained shot turned out to be a sacred arrow, albeit not very strong.
It didn't take long for Kagome to get information overload and snuck away to ponder all she'd just learned.
'Hmmm, so my arrow can purify evil, the Shikon no Tama is a jewel made up of both good and evil, and by making a pure wish the jewel can be destroyed. I wonder... maybe my arrow can purify the evil in the jewel rendering it harmless as well. Seems pretty obvious and straightforward to me. What's the worst that can happen?' Kagome unclasped her necklace with the jewel and hung it on a tree branch. Notching an arrow into her bow and standing only a few feet away to ensure not to miss. She thought cockily, 'I wonder why no one thought of this sooner.'
If only Kagome knew the consequences of what she was about to do, if only she asked Keade first, or really, the smartest thing to do, if only she simply returned home through the well. For those of us who know the story, that would have been her wisest decision, to simply return home, away from evil demons seeking the jewel, away from danger. But if she had, we'd be without a story, so on to shattering the jewel!
She pulled the string back, lining up the shot as best she could. Taking a deep, calming breath she released. The rest happened faster than she could blink so it was a good thing her eyes had been open. The arrow struck the jewel, it glowed blindingly bright and when the light died down there was nothing. The jewel was nowhere to be seen and neither was her arrow. She thought she might have seen some streaks of light shoot away from the jewel but couldn't be sure.
'Did it work?' she wondered. 'Its gone, so it must have been purified.' A smile crept onto her face, "I did it!" She leapt into the air, cheering and doing a little happy dance oblivious to the disaster she had just caused. Ignorance is bliss, but not for long.
Striding swiftly through the forest heading back towards the village, Naraku contemplates just how best to kill his newest enemy. His musings are cut short, however, when a bright streak of light cuts in front of him. Overcome by a bout of curiosity he decides to follow it, for it couldn't have gone far.
Imbedded in a tree trunk not 100 feet away, he found a tiny glowing gem. Once standing before the tree he reached out to touch the gem. It had power, a familiar power, could it be? His suspicions were confirmed when his finger made contact with the shard, causing a jolt of said power to shoot through his body. His eyes widened and a look of shock crossed his face. He dug the shard out and held it in his palm.
'How could this have happened?' he pondered. 'This changes things. It seems I should inquire as to just what has happened to the Shikon jewel.'
Kagome was still having her one-person party when she returned to the village from her walk in the woods.
"There ye are, child," Kaede greeted. "For what reason are ye so excited?"
"I did it, Kaede," Kagome said cheerily, speaking way to fast and in partial sentences, "I shot, and there was a bright light, and I did it. It's gone, destroyed, no more danger from-"
"Slow down child," Kaede halted Kagome's ranting. "Start from the beginning and explain slowly."
Kagome took a deep breath, "I destroyed the jewel." Kaede gasped in surprise as Kagome explained in detail exactly what she did. "So you see, no more dangerous demons will be seeking it."
"I only hope you are correct that it is destroyed, though I have my doubts," Kaede sighed.
"And rightly so," a deep, silky voice interrupted. Naraku stepped out from behind a nearby hut.
"Ahhh!" Kagome shrieked, "It's you again! What do you want here?"
"That is quite the story, Miko," Naraku needled, ignoring her question, "how a mere girl managed to destroy an ancient, powerful jewel that countless others before her failed to do." His voice was just dripping with sarcasm.
"Ha, it's not my fault that no one figured out such a simple solution before now," Kagome huffed.
"Foolish girl," Naraku chided, a hint a humor in his voice at her naïveté, "if the Shikon jewel is destroyed, than how do you explain this?" He retrieved the shard from his haori and held it up for her to see.
"Oh hai, I like not the looks of this," Kaede fretted.
"Is... is that... a shard of the... jewel?" Kagome stuttered, suddenly feeling quite down realizing she didn't succeed after all, she made it worse.
"Yes, it appears you shattered it out of shear stupidity," he taunted, a wide smirk plastered on his face. Kagome hung her head in shame, the shadow of her bangs hiding her eyes.
"Child, ye must collect the shards and reform the jewel," Kaede explained urgently, "lest the shards fall into the wrong hands."
"Like his," Kagome raised her head and gave Naraku a defiant look. "Ok demon, hand it over," she ordered, holding out her hand.
Naraku let out a loud chuckle, "and what will you do if I refuse?"
"Easy," Kagome crossed her arms, "I'll just use that subjugation spell again. Now, last chance to cooperate." She held out her hand again, waiting.
Naraku narrowed his eyes, in his rush to torment the girl he temporarily forgot about the rosary. He now had a choice, attempt to resist and be subdued to the ground again, or hand it over freely. Perhaps it would be beneficial to cooperate for now, get her to lower her guard, maybe even trust him somewhat before killing her. That would make her death all the sweeter. He looked forward to the inevitable betrayed look her face would hold as she died. He held out his hand and dropped the shard into her open palm.
Kagome had not expected him to give in so a look of complete surprise crossed her face when he handed over the shard. Her eyes watched him suspiciously for any sign of his reasoning. A thought occurred to her, 'Maybe he's not as bad as I thought.'
"Tell me, miko, how do you intend to go about collecting these shards? It is obvious you do not know how to fight considering how that weak centipede demon nearly did you in," Naraku teased, beginning to weave his metaphorical web.
"I... uh, well..." Kagome stuttered, completely unsure how to go about her task.
Kaede, who had been watching the whole conversation, stepped in, "Perhaps ye two should work together." Kagome's face dropped, she did not want to work with this arrogant man... er, demon.
Naraku smirked inwardly, 'Perfect, the old miko is playing right into my hand. It would appear far more genuine to have her suggest a truce than for me to do all the talking.'
Kaede continued, "Ye are the jewel's protector, Kagome, and as such should be able to see the shards, and ye, ..."
"Naraku," he supplied his name at the silent request.
"Naraku," Kaede repeated then continued, "seem to have the strength to retrieve the shards once found."
Naraku pretended to contemplate this, he already knew his answer but it would not do for his plans if he were to seem overly eager to agree. "Her sight would hasten the jewel's completion, and thus shorten my wait," he mused aloud.
Kagome sighed in defeat, "Seems I don't have much choice, do I?" Her only answer was an ever-widening smirk across his face.