AN: Yes, I'm back, with a new story. This one's going to turn out much better than my old one, I promise.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters.

"Bye, mom! I'll be back soon!" Kagome called from over her shoulder. She had just finished packing all the essentials for the Feudal Era, plus extra ramen for Inuyasha and toys for Shippo.

"Just be careful there, ok?" Her mother's caring voice asked from the door frame of their house. Most moms would have never let their daughter time travel, but Kagome's mom knew that there was a good reason why her daughter was pulled down that well. It was all fate.

"I will be. Oh and thanks for the crayons, I'm sure Shippo will love them!" And with that she disappeared down the well, allowing the blue light to completely envelop her.

"That Kagome…" Her mother trailed off before going off to wake Souta up and prepare breakfast for the family.

Kagome smiled while the well took it's time transporting her to the past. Life really had become better for them all. Inuyasha had been seeing Kikyo less and less and he and Kagome were closer than ever with each other. And she was almost certain Miroku and Sango would make a breakthrough soon. They had an okay amount of jewel shards, and they had a decent lead on Naraku. Yes, overall life was really taking a turn for the best.

Climbing up the ladder of the well, amber eyes greeted her. "There you are, I was about to come and get you."

"Good to see you too, Inuyasha." Kagome muttered while looking around for Shippo.

"Hey, where's Shippo?" She asked, thoroughly scanning their surroundings.

"The little brat took off to go with Miroku." Inuyasha said while giving her a hand to help her up.

"Thanks. I'm afraid Miroku's having a bad influence on him. Before we know it, he'll be asking women to bear his children." Kagome laughed.

"Yeah, I'm hungry, hurry up and make us lunch." He ordered, before taking off to the hut they were staying in.

Kagome rolled her eyes and proceeded to slowly walk after him.

"I know. It's true. Shippo is destined to be Miroku's successor. "

Kagome and Sango laughed, sharing jokes and telling stories. That was what they would often due while cooking everyone's lunch. Normally Kaede would do it, but if she wasn't there or they were out finding jewel shards, it was up to those two. Miroku was busy meditating, really he was just pretending though; he was listening to the two girls' conversations.

"What kind of ramen sounds good to you? Chicken or Shrimp?" Kagome asked while reaching into her bag and pulling out all of the ramen.

"We had shrimp yesterday, let's go with chicken." Sango said while checking the water. "It's boiling,"

Kagome nodded her head in understanding. Wordlessly putting the packets into the pot, she then disposed of all her wrappers.

Just then Inuyasha ran into the small house. "Is the food done?"

"Be patient Inuyasha, it'll be done soon."

"Hurry it up. We don't have time to be waiting. We need to find Naraku."

"It should be done cooking in a few minutes, okay?" Kagome then continued on cooking as if nothing had happened.

After waiting roughly five minutes, she took the pot and poured the contents into a bowl. "Here you go, Inuyasha." She handed the steaming bowl of noodles to said half demon. He quickly took the noodles and began swallowing down the ramen with alarming speed.

"Sango, do you want to go to the hot springs with me?" Kagome asked out of politeness. She knew all too well that Sango would turn her down.

"No, I just bathed yesterday, maybe tomorrow." Sango replied while stirring her sill cooking ramen.

Kagome packed up her supplies and shut her backpack. "Bye Inuyasha, I'm going to take a bath, I'll see you in a little while." Kagome hollered while hoisting the large yellow bag onto her back.

"Be careful, Kagome! You don't want to run into the Shichinintai." Sango warned the teenager, looking up from the ramen she was cooking for Miroku and herself.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay," Kagome assured, walking out of the hut. Oh yes, the Band of Seven. They were still around. Kagome shivered just thinking about them, especially the leader, Bankotsu.

"Feh, whatever, just be back soon. I don't want to have to come looking for you." Inuyasha muttered while slurping up his ramen.

Kagome rolled her eyes, but smiled. She knew that that was Inuyasha's strange way of telling her he cared. After being around him for nearly a year, she had become very successful in reading in-between the lines, something necessary when dealing with the half demon.

'Now where is that hot spring Sango and I discovered last night?' Kagome thought to herself, straining to remember if they had gone north or west.

Choosing west, Kagome began to let her thoughts take control of her body. 'Too bad Sango only likes to bathe every few days, or else I would ask her to come.' Sango and the others generally followed a three to four day bathing schedule, while Kagome felt insanely filthy if she skipped even a day.

"Oh, there it is!" Kagome cheerfully rejoiced, thankful she had actually chose the right direction, if she hadn't, Kagome was certain that she would have spent hours trying to get back to the location of the village. 'I can't wait to take a nice, long, relaxing soak.'

After taking a stress-relieving bath, Kagome made her way towards where Inuyasha and the others were staying. Peering inside the small hut, Kagome expected to receive a warm welcome from her friends, but instead, Kagome entered an empty hut. 'That's strange; I wonder where they could be. Maybe Kaede would know.'

Sighing, she took off to look for Kaede. After searching through the village, she found her in the last place she had figured she would be."

"Kaede! There you are. I have been looking all over for you. You were in the last place I thought to look!" Kagome said while sprinting towards the fields where Kaede was helping some men with the field preparations.

"I have been here the whole time, child. What is it ye need?" Kaede asked, standing up from the field.

"Do you need any help?"

"That will not be necessary. I had just finished, now what is it you wanted?" Kaede answered, it was evident that she was tired by the way her voice lagged on.

"Have you seen Inuyasha or anyone else for that matter?"

"I'm afraid I have not. Although I did indeed see Shippo playing with some young girls in the village, but I believe the others left."

'Shippo's turning into quite the ladies man.' She remarked to herself as a side note.

"Oh," Kagome looked upset. 'Why didn't they tell me?'

Kaede, sensing Kagome's distress, reassured the girl. "Do not worry; I am sure they will be back soon. They probably just did not want to disturb you."

"Yeah, you're right, I'm worrying over nothing. I guess I'll go look in the village to see if they're back yet." Kagome stated, taking off in the direction of the village.

Trekking through the village, Kagome ran up to every villager she had seen, asking if they had any idea of her friends' whereabouts. All of their answers were the same, no. Only one young girl had said that they thought she might have seen them in the forest.

Now Kagome was bored, no bored was an understatement, she would rather be fighting a demon, by herself. She couldn't find her friends anywhere even after searching for nearly two hours and now she was on some wild goose chase into the forest. And with her luck, she most likely would run into the Band of Seven.

'Where did they go off to?' She thought anxiously. She had already asked Kaede and she had been no major help. And after combing through the village and asking nearly everyone, she went towards the forest.

'I don't understand why they wouldn't have told me. At least Sango or Miroku would have thought to make sure that I knew where they were if they thought they were going to be gone for a while.'

Kagome stopped herself. 'I'm being so selfish, what if they're hurt or they had another encounter with the Band of Seven. Or maybe one of them got trapped in a cave, or Miroku's wind tunnel got scratched. Kagome, you stop right now, or before you know it, you'll be flipped out over what's probably nothing.'

Then she suddenly she stumbled over something, causing her to temporarily forget about her friends. "What's that?" She whispered to herself.

Picking the offending object up, she noticed immediately how heavy the book was. It was very thick but small and strangely, the binding was much like the books in her time, something she hadn't thought she'd see around Feudal Japan. There was a lot of damage though, and the writing style seemed to be even more primitive than this time. The paper inside seemed to be modern also, confusing the girl.

'It's not mine; I wonder how it got here. I am the only one from the present, right?'

While pondering the possibilities, she gazed over the cover. There were beautiful letters that made up the title in gold with leaves bordering the edges. It was difficult to read, due to the elegant writing, but after much strain Kagome found it read, Passageway. She then flipped through the pages.

The text inside was beautifully illustrated. Each letter looked as if it took an hour to make. It had to have been done by a professional calligraphist.

"I don't understand, it looks like it could be one thousand years old, but the way it's made, it could be from my time. In this era they still used scrolls, I thought." Kagome continued to flip through the books contents, mumbling phrases.

Kagome sat down on the grass and started reading, so absorbed in the book that little did she know that a certain mercenary was watching her. Not even sensing the jewel shards in his neck and halberd.

Bankotsu crept up in the bushes. Careful not to make a sound, although he figured it was probably in vain, as she was able to sense the jewel shards in his neck.

The Shichinintai had agreed to spilt up for a week to try and kill off all of Naraku's enemies.

"Big brother? Do we have a set time before we have to have all of his enemies killed?" Renkotsu asked while they were eating dinner.

"I don't think so, but he said that we must kill them soon. But don't worry about it you guys." Bankotsu answered hesitantly, he didn't want any of his brothers to worry about anything. He figured they should just enjoy their time on Earth. They had got a one in a million second chance.

"Well, maybe we should split up." Suikotsu suggested. He wanted to get the job done as soon as possible, and Naraku's enemies were scattered all over the place. Splitting up temporally would be the best option.

"That's a good idea." Bankotsu said approvingly.

"I want to go fight Inuyasha!" Jakotsu shouted happily.

"Not so loud." Renkotsu grumbled.

"Gesh," Ginkotsu agreed.

"No, I'll go take on Inuyasha." Bankotsu stated, polishing off the rest of his food.

"Aw, why? I never get to fight with him." Jakotsu objected and pouted.

"Jakotsu." The way Bankotsu said that, Jakotsu immediately shut up, reminding Renkotsu why he was the leader.

'Big Brother may seem stupid, but he does have remarkable leadership skills.' He thought. He soon jumped on top of Ginkotsu and begun to upgrade him, Inuyasha had messed up a few things during their last battle, although nothing too bad.

"Jakotsu, how about you go with Suikotsu." Bankotsu recommended.

"Who will we be fighting?" Jakotsu asked hesitantly, hoping that he would get a cutie to fight.

"Sesshomaru."

"Isn't that Inuyasha's older brother?"

"Yes," Bankotsu responded.

"Good, maybe he'll have dog ears, too." Jakotsu then began to imagine just what the demon might look like.

"Don't get your hopes up, from what Kohaku tells me, he's full demon. Nobility too." Bankotsu told the cross dresser, effectively bursting his bubble.

"You mean he's a demon lord?" Suikotsu questioned, "How strong is he?"

"Don't worry. I am confident you and Jakotsu can take him. You will be able to take him, correct?"

"Yes Big Brother," Suikotsu answered, indicating that he was fine with the task.

"Good, now Renkotsu, Ginkotsu, I want you guys to go after Koga. Naraku wants us to take his two jewel shards in his legs."

"Gesh," Ginkotsu said, pleased with the thought of working with Renkotsu. Ginkotsu and Renkotsu had become fast friends as soon as the two met each other.

"Of course," Renkotsu said, not looking up from his repairs on the machine.

"And I'll take on Inuyasha." Bankotsu said, lifting his Banryuu into the air.

"Right," Jakotsu sighed, not thrilled about losing yet another chance to fight with the half demon.

"Don't worry, Jakotsu. I'm sure you'll get your chance." Suikotsu told the mercenary in an effort to cheer him up.

"You're right. Then I'll cut him all up, and he'll scream as I cut off his pretty little ears and he'll be begging for me…"

Renkotsu visibly cringed as Jakotsu went into fantasy mode. Something he had been doing every time he thought about Inuyasha. Although Bankotsu found it hilarious, Renkotsu had a very different opinion about the matter.

"I'm sure he will. Let's meet up here in one week. I'll see you guys then." Bankotsu smirked over his shoulder, and with that, he left to go find the half demon.

Yes, by now Ginkotsu and Renkotsu should have been meeting up with Koga, as long as he was still where Naraku said he was last, at the base of the barrier. That would be perfect. Ginkotsu could hide behind the barrier and shoot him and if that didn't work out, they might be able to force him into it, purifying him.

Suikotsu and Jakotsu still had a ways to go before they would meet up with Sesshomaru. Hopefully, that would all go well, too.

'Inuyasha's wench? Shouldn't she have sensed my shards by now? What is she holding? It looks kind of like a scroll.' Bankotsu wondered while looking at the young priestess, preparing to attack. But he stopped suddenly when he heard her read aloud; curious as to what she was reading.

"Two people from different worlds

Paths cross in a never ending struggle

Destiny forever intertwined

The man who cheated death must save a world far from his own

The girl who appeared out of nowhere must betray the people she loves

And overcome their boundaries

In order for peace to be made"

Kagome reread the words, "Hmm, I wonder what that means. Sounds like a prophecy of sorts. Wait, I sense the jewel shards! How could I pay so little attention to my surroundings?"

'Hmm, so the girl finally realized I'm here.' Bankotsu thought, gripping his sword to strike.

Stopping both of them, the book lifted itself into the air and started to glow a purple color, causing Kagome to gasp.

'What did I do?' She thought frantically, staring at the ornate book with wide eyes.

Then her body was overcome in a strange scarlet tinted light. 'What's happening? Suddenly I feel so tired; I can't keep my eyes open…'

At the same time Bankotsu had started to glow a brilliant shade of blue. 'What the hell? What did that girl do? I'm going to kill her…'

Then a blinding purple light flashed over the scene and with that they vanished with the book.

Sango witnessed the whole exchange. She had gone after Kagome to tell her where they had gone since Kaede said she had been looking for them. But she noticed Bankotsu and decided to watch for a moment to see what he was going to do.

"Kagome!" Sango shouted anxiously, worried about what was happening to her friend, especially since the same thing was happening to the mercenary behind her.

Running up to the girl who had now passed out, she tried to grab her, but she disappeared into thin air. Then a sheet fell from the sky, although the majority of the book had disappeared with the two.

'This looks like part of the book Kagome was reading from.' Sango noticed before picking up the torn page.

'Kagome, please be safe. Wherever you went, I am almost certain Bankotsu is there, too.' Sango took off to go get the others. Inuyasha would be angry, Shippo would probably be really scared for the priestess and crying and Miroku would sit quietly, something he would always do when he was worried. Maybe Kaede could explain things.

"Just be safe Kagome…" She whispered, not knowing what Bankotsu might do to her.