Warning: blood and swearing

Summary: Naraku has come up with a new devious little scheme. To use Magatsuhi, his new little minion created from the jewel shard itself to wound Sesshomaru enough so he himself can absorb the wounded inu youkai's wondrous powers. Can Inuyasha help his wounded brother heal after the assault and will Naraku succeed in gaining Sesshomaru's powers for himself? Read and find out.

AN: the main battle takes place in chapters 513 through 518 at if anyone is interested in reading the real thing. Though understand I changed quite a bit of it.

Thoughts

'flashback'

"Talking"

Chapter 1

"Lord Sesshomaru, why are all these demons trying to attack you all of a sudden?"

The proud Taiyoukai glanced over the fur that rested on his shoulder to look at the girl who had asked the innocent question. Rin was sitting on top of Ah-Un, both of her legs dangling over one side of the large beast. A small, happy smile was on her face as she tilted her head back to fully look at her Lord.

He silencing Jaken with a look (the imp had opened his beak, no doubt to snap at the child). She had good reason to ask, a couple of trolls had come out of the mountains they had just passed a day ago and attempted to 'have a taste of inu meat'. "They wish to defeat me, therefore rising themselves in ranks amongst the other demons." He looked forward again, "There's nothing for you to worry about."

The sun was hanging low in the sky, teasing them with the gorgeous red, orange and gold streaks across the lighting blue sky. A slight breeze wafted through the area, bringing no strange or significant smells to his sensitive nose. The small group was currently walking across an empty field, void of mountains, rivers or trees. He could see a rather large forest a couple hundred meters to their right.

"Then why are a lot of the demons trying to attack Kohaku?"

Said boy looked up at the girl. The youkai exterminator was currently walking besides the dragon, about a foot of space between the girls swinging feet and himself. "They probably want the jewel shard embedded in my back. That's one of the drives for all of the demons to try and attack Lord Sesshomaru". The slayer looked away from Rin and his gaze landed on the famous sword at the Taiyoukai's hip. "Ever since Inuyasha was given the Meidow Zangetshuha the demons' seem to think that he'll be weaker. They think that they'll be able to kill him since he's without a weapon and get an easier chance at my shard."

"Oh," the girl nodded thoughtfully as she too looked at the sword that had revived her after she had been killed by the wolves. What Kohaku had said made perfect since, even if the demons were incredibly stupid for ever thinking of their Lord as weak.

"It all means nothing you foolish humans!" Jaken had apparently been unable to keep his own thoughts to himself for a very long time, which he had never really been able to do. "Lord Sesshomaru shall never be defeated by youkai as pathetic as the ones we've seen. Why, Naraku and Inuyasha have been the only ones to ever get on our Lord's last strength."

The humans shared a look before sharing the same look with the dragon. Jaken marched on with his head held high and his eyes closed, not seeing that their Lord had stopped walking. They took a step back as Jaken fell to the ground after running into the white hakamas. Looking up the imp was gifted with the sight of a cold golden eye looking at him.

Breaking out into a cold sweat and laughing nervously Jaken began sputtering apologies. "Ano….heheheheh of course they shall never defeat you my Lord. After all they are nothing more than lowly half-aurgh."

The imp broke off his sentence as his head was once again reacquainted with Sesshomaru's fist. Lying in the dirt he heard Rin call out: "Hurry up Master Jaken, or you'll be left behind."

Sesshomaru blocked out the imp's rather annoying voice as he rambled on and on with sincerest apologies and instead dwelled on what Kohaku had stated. He unconsciously ran a clawed hand run over Tenseiga's hilt. It had been a mere month since Tetsaiga had reabsorbed his sword's only attack move. He held back a smile as he noticed that there was no will ill towards his little brother for taking the weapon. In fact he felt rather proud of his otouto for finally proving his worth of their late father's great fang.

Although he was a tad bit jealous of the hanyou. Though he wouldn't admit either fact he was secretly impressed with Inuyasha's growth in strength.

Ah-Un gave a loud aggravated groan. It wasn't the little girl's humming that was bothering them, it was Jaken who kept rambling on and on. An amused glint appeared in both of their eyes as the imp once again met with the back of Sesshomaru's legs. Jaken looked up fearfully, afraid to see those harsh eyes again but he was met with no eyes. Confused as to why his Lord had stopped he asked, "My Lord? What is it?"

Kohaku suddenly tensed and gave out a light gasp as one of his hands shot up to touch where the shard was. Rin shot both of the males a confused and concerned look. Sesshomaru wasn't completely surprised about Kohaku being able to sense the presence and make him go on the alert. A strange scent had assailed his sensitive nose. It smelled similar to that of Naraku's but, it also had a complete unique scent of its own. A new offspring perhaps?

A very powerful aura ran over the group with the same power and force of a stampeding deer's pack. Jaken gripped onto the staff of two heads, his small form trembling. Ah-Un shifted uneasily as both heads swiveled about in the air, attempting to locate the source. Kohaku shook and took his weapon into his hands, Rin pursed her lips and instinctivly bounced off Ah-Un and hid behind her guardian.

Sesshomaru growled and his liquid looking golden orbs hardened to a glare as they swept over the skies. This unknown demon's power was stronger than Naraku's, and considering the kumo was only shy one shard he was immensely powerful.

"Rin, Kohaku."

The humans looked up at him with questioning looks, full of fear.

"Get on Ah-Un and un-strap their muzzles."

"Hai Lord Sesshomaru," Rin stood up straight and saluted as she got to work on the beasts' muzzles. Kohaku assisted her in the job and only after it was completed hoisted her up onto the dragon's back before climbing on himself. Ah-Un bared their fangs, smoke lifting out of their nostrils as they stood on alert.

Sesshomaru was suddenly assaulted with a large wave of the newcomer's scent as a large dark cloud flew over head, before crashing into the ground a few meters ahead of them. Sesshomaru was the only one who didn't flinch as the impact made a loud boom, causing an explosion of rock and dust in the air.

Sesshomaru cracked his knuckles, preparing himself for battle. Jaken glanced up at his Lord when he heard the ominous sound and flinched both inwardly and out when he saw the small grin on his face. The screen of dust cleared into the air, allowing the demon displaying the great amount of demonic power to be portrayed to the group.

The markings on his face, wrists and the elfish looking ears made him look rather similar to an inu youkai. However, the red eyes and black hair along with his scent made it very easy to tell that he was indeed not. A baroque looking black kimono adorned his slim body.

The demon smirked and said without prompting, "You are weak." Suddenly, a tentacle protruded from his back and flew towards them at an incredible rate. Sesshomaru jumped neatly out of the way, Ah-Un taking the humans to the air, and Jaken made it but just (and not without a shout mind you).

Sesshomaru let out a low laugh, this battle is going to be rather fun. He darted towards the newcomer and drove his clawed hand through his chest.

"Ha!" Jaken cackled and pointed towards the impaled youkai with glee. "That's what you get you impudent youkai! How dare you call my Lord weak!"

The inu youkai frowned inwardly but kept his outside composed. Something was wrong here….His sharp hearing picked out the short passing of words from Rin and Kohaku.

Kohaku: "Something's wrong about the way that looks…."

Rin: "What do you mean?"

Kohaku: "Lord Sesshomaru's arm, it should have penetrated that demon but…it looks like it is being sucked in."

That short conversation and the rather smug look on the youkai's face added worry to his own suspicion. His eyes widened slightly when he felt his arm begin to burn and move deeper into the newcomer's chest without his consent. Six large tentacles erupted out of the creature's back and swarmed around Sesshomaru. They were curving in and about to shove the rest of his body into the demon's before he pulled his arm out and jumped back.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Your arm my Lord!"

The Taiyoukai didn't need to look at his arm to access the damage done to it. He could feel the damage to the limp, and it hurt, even though no one else knew about the flicker of pain flashing through his body. He kept his eyes on the youkai before him, their gazes locked, as he attempted to think of a good attack point.

I don't understand, Jaken's brow was sweating and furrowed with concern and worry. Lord Sesshomaru has poison within his very own claws, he glanced at the newcomer. Is this guy's poison stronger? It would most certainly have to be! My Lord's poison runs throughout his entire body, just underneath his flesh, it prevents any other types of poisons from affecting my Lord. Never before has he ever been affected by any other's beings' poisons, not even the poison maker from the Band of Seven, not even Naraku's miasma.

It appeared, that Sesshomaru didn't have to make the next move as tentacles streamed to where he stood and grabbed at him. And, as usual, he jumped out of their way clear before they had a chance of touching him. But, Jaken, whom had been standing behind his Lord as he tells himself personal backup but was really there for protection wasn't that lucky. He once again just barely made it out of their way, having them strike the ground so close to his feet he was thrown through the air.

"Gah," he gasped as he landed a few feet away on his back, breathing heavily as his head swam.

"Poison claws!"

Sesshomaru's hand glowed a bright green as the poison evacuated from his insides through his claws and he swiped at the nearing tentacles, making them break apart and boil. Dodge, swipe, dodge, swipe, their attacks were turning almost into an intricate dance brought even more exotically beautiful because of the fatherly setting sun.

The Taiyoukai snarled as one of the tentacles got past his defense and plunged deep into his shoulder. Blood spurted out of the wound, staining his kimono and fur, and causing Rin to shout out in concern.

The demon suddenly appeared before him and Sesshomaru had a sudden feeling that he now knew how Inuyasha felt whenever he did the same to him. The tentacles immediately begin to move in the same movements that they had done before. Then, the tentacles stopped as a curved blade was thrown through the air, the tip of the bone piercing the enemy's temple.

Both youkai's looked up to see Kohaku partly sitting and standing on Ah-Un in front of Rin. He was clutching the chain that connected to the bone with a determined look on his face.

You idiot Kohaku! Get the hell out of here! Sesshomaru seldom worried about the boy, seeing how he is an exceptional slayer, but this youkai was rivaling his own strength and speed. No way in hell could Kohaku this one, and how dare he even attempt such an idiotic thing with Rin so bloody close to him!

Rin gave a loud scream as the tentacles moved their way up the chain with impressive speed and headed straight for the humans. Ah-Un roared and Sesshomaru tore the piece of flesh the demon had shoved into his shoulder he took to the air as fast as he could go. He threw out his arm as he neared them. He forced his arm in front of his pack members and the tentacles impaled the limp in three different spots instead of Kohaku.

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

His name and title was shouted at the same time by three different mouths, the tone laced with fear and concern in all three, a low whine coming from Ah-Un.

"You," turning angry golden eyes onto Kohaku he growled, "Don't you dare do that again. Especially with Rin so close to you!"

The boy shivered and nodded, his Lord's blood speckled his face. "But, the demon…"

"Don't do it again," the words were firm, daring the boy to go against his orders, Kohaku promptly shut up and nodded. Inside Sesshomaru was wincing from the pain, three rather thick tentacles were protruding from the other side of his arm, their brown flesh murky with his blood. They made a sudden jerking movement which brought him to the ground.

No doubt the new enemy had expected him to land on his gut or any other part of his body besides his feet from the force of the assault but he landed gracefully on his feet, aggravating the youkai. His hand twitched, with difficulty considering one of the tentacles were going through his palm, causing the poison whip to slash the tentacles in half, the parts still in him falling out afterwards.

He wasn't Inuyasha damnit. So what if a hole was now in his right hand, his forearm, and his bicep, he wasn't going to let the wound bother him in this battle. In fact, he felt a sudden and very familiar surge of anger towards his otouto. If he hadn't taken his weapon, no, if he hadn't given Inuyasha his weapon he wouldn't have been this wounded.

Jaken ran over to him sputtering nonsense that he was just oh so very good at. "Oh my Lord, that looks so painful."

Not even answering the imp Sesshomaru glared at the smug looking youkai. Anger at being wounded and simple fury towards the enemy made his flesh knit back together. In seconds the only thing that even suggested wounds were the wet bloodstreams on his arm and fur.

Sesshomaru growled and ran forward. If I tear off his head he should die, unless he ends up continuing to fight like Naraku. The enemy laughed, "Coming at me is just going to get your arm eaten again." The smug look faltered when he saw Sesshomaru's once golden eyes bleed red.

Sesshomaru felt his skull stretch, he could feel fur begin to sprout upon every inch of his body. Red wind picked up around him as he ran and he felt a slight pressure at the bottom of his spine where his tail was forming. He felt his bones shift into a different skeletal structure as he continued to transform.

Rin gasped as suddenly a very large white dog flew out of the tiny tornado, and watched as the giant jaw wrapped around the shocked youkai's head. There was a pronounced ripping sound followed by a pop as the teeth tore the enemy's head off his neck.

His tail curved as he stood, still in a fighting stance facing the decapitated form.

"Ha! Face my Lord's true form and power! He did it!"

Rin and Kohaku gulped. The first and only time they had seen this form of their Lord was when he had flown into the air to be with his mother for a mere couple of seconds. Unlike the other two youkai in the group, the two humans had never seen the giant dog fight, and were a little unnerved by the even more threatening growls emanating from that giant mouth. Jaken screamed as tentacles burst out of the open wound and miasma flowed out thick like lava.

Sesshomaru's eyes widened as the thick limps wrapped themselves around his person, squeezing him. The head between his teeth laughed as the tentacles wrapped around his legs, torso, tail and snout.

"To warn you, I cannot be killed so easily. This is merely a borrowed body."

"A borrowed body!?"

Kohaku's shout made the three demons on the ground to look up. Sesshomaru growled and shook his head, attempting to dislodge the thick and very strong limps from his jaw but to no prevail.

"Who in the hell are you!?" Jaken had never been so shocked in his live, never had he thought or even dreamed about seeing his master in such a predicament and in his true form too! "Are you an offspring of Naraku?"

The head chuckled. "Don't compare me to that bastard hanyou. If you wish to know I am Magatsuhi, the demon spirits that once resided in the sacred jewel shard."

Kohaku gasped, his weapon still clutched in his hand. That was how he knew someone was coming! His shard reacted to this youkai who was apparently the jewel itself! Rin on the other hand couldn't make heads nor tails of the conversation and nor was she worried about it. All she cared about at the moment was that her father figure was in some serious trouble.

Sesshomaru dug his claws into the ground and snared ferociously before shaking his entire body. Magatsuhi just lauged and slipped between the massive fangs and choosing to float in the air and watch the inu struggle.

Why? Why couldn't his Lord break free? Jaken watched with growing horror as his master's struggles became more and more desperate. Despite that the enemy was the sacred jewel shard itself, Lord Sesshomaru in his true form, holding his true power should be able to break free. So why can't he? Perhaps if he undid the transformation he would be able to slip through the tentacles, but doesn't he realize that? Well, Jaken thought seriously, he is just an inu, he doesn't seem all that smart. At least in this form.

Ah-Un roared when the tentacles suddenly pulled at one of Sesshomaru's hind legs, successfully bringing the magnificent inu youkai down to the ground. The ground trembled when he crashed, making Jaken fall backwards yet again. The limps wrapped securely around his body, pinning him to the ground.

"Lord Sesshomaru!"Rin's shout was deafening and tears shone brightly in her eyes. Erupting out of Ah's mouth was a bright slash of lightening that charred and destroyed the tentacle that was slithering its way to his master.

Sesshomaru's red eyes widened until the blue pupil didn't even seem to exist. This was absurd! Oh if only he hadn't given his weapon over to his half brother, a growl emitted from his throat when the tentacles tightened. They started to constrict around his torso, weakening his air supply. He had to break the transformation, that was the only way to escape. Before he could start to undo his transformation he heard words coming from Kohaku's mouth that successfully froze his heart for a few minutes.

"Please stop! Naraku seeks the shard within me doesn't he! Take the shard and leave them alone…please."

Ah-Un moaned disapprovingly and Rin grabbed onto his armor. "Kohaku! What're you saying!? If he takes your shard you'll die!"

She couldn't take it anymore. Lord Sesshomaru was actually in trouble with this battle and Kohaku was handing over his life? Hot tears spilled over her eyes as she clutched at the demon slayers armor for dear life. "Y-You can't g-go! You can'-t! If he t-takes it you'll di-die. Y-you can't go. You'll b-be he-lping him! You'll be hel-ping Na-Naraku!" Her voice was stuttering from between the sobs and hiccups, and she couldn't keep herself from crying for all she was worth. She bawled as arms wrapped around her.

"I'm sorry Rin." Hands pried at her clutching fingers and she cried harder than she had before. Kohaku was like her brother and he was handing himself over to the enemy, Lord Sesshomaru was like her father and he was in trouble at said enemy's hands. "N-NO!"

The boy pried himself from her grip and jumped off of Ah-Un. He landed in front of the inu's face, the red eyes were glaring into his soul and the reprimanding growls were forbidding him from proceding.

Shooting an apologized look to the captive inu he ran into the clearing and looked up at Magatsuhi's floating head, who in turn gazed down at him with thoughtful, malicious eyes.

"You'll give me your shard human? You'll sacrifice your life?"

"Only in exchange for theirs. Please, let them go."

Jaken stared, wide eyed and opened mouthed at the boy. He was willing to sacrifice himself for them?

Sesshomaru struggled with newfound vigor. No! He would not let one of his pack die, no matter the reason! He would not allow that to happen!

Tentacles flew towards Kohaku who was watching the struggling inu. Lord Sesshomaru will find a way to kill Naraku, that much I'm certain of. A picture of a smiling girl with long dark hair and a two tailed cat popped into his mind. Sango, goodbye sister. Kohaku tightly closed his eyes, knowing that the oncoming limps would hit their mark.

Yay, my first Inuyasha fanfic! Please review, second chapter is in progress so it should be out soon. Criticism is accepted and wanted as long as they are not flamers. Please let me know if it is any good.