PLEASE READ THIS!

I originally wrote this fic eight years ago. EIGHT YEARS AGO. I do this with some hesitation because I never finished it. That's right, there is no conclusion to this fic. Please keep that in mind.

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or its characters

"Capture, Betrayal, Freedom"

Dark, cold, damp, and restrained, that's how he felt. Even with his demon's eyes, he couldn't see much through the haze of his foggy mind. His body felt cold like some of his clothes were missing. He was damp like someone had poured water over his head; some of it still lingered in his hair.

He was restrained, hands in shackles above his head and his ankles in shackles bolted to the floor forcing him to kneel. He heard footsteps coming towards him and he tried to look at the person coming at him.

"I see you are awake, InuYasha," came a voice he recognized as Kagura's.

He flinched and tried to move as if to escape from his bindings. He felt wounds tear and it hurt him more than it should.

"Try not to move too much. Your wounds haven't fully recovered from your battle with Naraku," she cautioned.

InuYasha grunted at her. "Why the hell do you care, bitch?" he spat hoarsely at where he thought she was standing because he couldn't really see her.

She placed down the tray she was carrying on the floor. "I don't," she answered.

She dipped the cloth into the bowl of water and brought it to his face in order to clean some of the blood away. The half demon jerked his head away when the cloth touched his face. Seeing he wasn't going to cooperate, the wind sorceress grabbed his chin tightly in order to hold his head still.

The blood was beginning to harden from where it had flown from the wound on his head. Kagura quietly hoped that she had enough bandages to cover all of the wounds Naraku had inflicted on the half demon.

"What happened to me?" InuYasha coughed out.

Kagura felt pity towards the prisoner; his eyes kept jumping around trying to focus on something. It seemed as though he had a slight concussion from the head injury. It was also sad to see such a proud creature forced on his knees in front of her.

"Naraku attacked your group and captured you," Kagura explained briefly.

"Are the others okay? Is Kagome okay?" he continued to question her.

Kagura shook her head as she reached for the bandages. "They are not here so they are either dead or alive. That's all the answer I can give."

He made no more motions to fight against her first aid. Kagura wondered briefly if he had fallen back asleep.

As she dressed one of the wounds on his chest, she spoke. "Must be hard to be chained up like that, you can't go anywhere, you're trapped."

InuYasha shifted in order to test how limited he was in his movements. He suddenly longed to be able to move his feet, run like the devil was on his heels. He wanted the move his arms and hit something, anything would be nice at the moment.

"Am I right?" Kagura asked as she finished tying the bandage.

He huffed as a response.

Kagura took a step back to see if there were any wounds she had missed. Naraku had ordered her to dress them all or suffer the consequences. The half demon looked so pitiful from where she was standing, a stark contrast to the normally cocky opponent she was used to.

Kagura sighed and got ready to perform her next task, getting the stubborn jerk to eat something. Though, considering how thoroughly beaten he was, that might not be as much of a challenge as she originally had thought.

"You wouldn't know what it is like," InuYasha coughed out.

She needed to do something about that voice. Kagura went for the liquid on the tray and picked up the cup it was in.

"Drink this," ordered bringing the cup to his lips.

He refused to open his mouth and let any of the liquid in.

"If I wanted to poison you, do you think I would do it now after I took all that time to dress your wounds?" Kagura reasoned.

InuYasha then took in some of the liquid into his mouth and swallowed.

"What wouldn't I know what it is like?" the wind sorceress asked.

"To be locked up," he said simply.

She froze. Of course she knew what it was like to be locked up, that was all she had ever known. "You're wrong; I don't know what it is like to be free."

"You're saying that I'm free?" he asked bewilderedly.

"You have your own free will, do you not?" she responded. The demon looked at her tray which contained nothing but leftovers from Naraku's last meal. The contents were all mixed together so it was hard to tell what it used to be but it was supposedly edible.

InuYasha snorted at her. "I'm a half demon. Half demons aren't treated like we have free wills; we are hell-spawned, worse than demons."

Kagura brought some of the food to his mouth and he refused it again by turning his head to one side.

"But at least you have your heart, when I was born Naraku removed mine in order to control me," Kagura said.

"If you expect me to feel sor-" he was cut off when the demon shoved the food into his mouth and immediately clamped it shut to prevent him from spitting it out.

"I don't want you to feel sorry for me," she announced. "Now swallow."

Seeing as he wasn't going to win this battle, he obeyed the command.

"I don't see why you insist on fighting Naraku, you can't beat him," Kagura said.

InuYasha's ears twitched. The demon noticed that his vision seemed to have cleared a bit because he looked right at her.

"If not me, than whom do you think will defeat him? No one else has come close besides us," he challenged.

"Sesshomaru could do it," she responded. "Open."

InuYasha willingly accepted another helping of the food, having it shoved down his throat was not too appealing an idea at the moment.

"My brother, he doesn't have anything to do with Naraku. He won't get involved unless it directly affects him," InuYasha said.

The concussion must have been worse than the wind sorceress had thought. He didn't seem to be anything like the usual rude half demon she normally dealt with.

"But what if he were to get involved, then Naraku would have an opponent worth worry about."

InuYasha chuckled. "Naraku would have to do something to tick him off pretty badly. Sesshomaru isn't one to jump into a fight without fully understanding his enemy and allies."

"Unlike you who rushes into battle without a second thought," Kagura defended.

"You like my brother, don't you?" the half demon asked out of the blue.

Kagura froze and almost dropped the piece of food she was holding and her cheeks began to head up.

Before she had a chance to say anything to the prison, she sensed Naraku's presence and quickly shoved the food into InuYasha's mouth hoping it would keep him quiet for a moment.

"Welcome, InuYasha. Have you enjoyed your stay here under Kagura's care?" he asked.

The half demon choked down the food the wind sorceress had quickly shoved in his mouth. "I've had better."

Naraku motioned for his minion to move aside so he could speak where his prisoner could see him.

"What do you want?" InuYasha asked.

"To make a deal with you," Naraku responded.

"What kind of deal?"

"I want you to work for me."

"Why would I do that?" asked a puzzled half demon.

"If you work for me, I can promise that no harm will come to Kikyo's reincarnation," Naraku said smoothly.

InuYasha paused for a moment as if he were confused. "What will happen to Kagome?"

Kagura saw Naraku twitch in annoyance. "I just said no harm will come to her."

"What if I refuse?"

"I shall kill the girl myself and bring her head to you by sundown."

InuYasha hung his head in shame. "Fine, you may have me."

Naraku laughed maliciously and grabbed the half demon's chin and forced him to look upward. "Good choice."

Chapter One End