Disclaimer: I own Inuyasha about as much as my dog owns Harry Potter.
Enjoy!
"Naraku…you bastard…" Inuyasha whispered, pushing against the barren grounds they currently fought on, and wincing at his new injury. Naraku kicked Inuyasha in the gaping wound in his stomach, making him gasp in pain and crumple again towards the ground.
"Stay down," Naraku hissed menacingly.
Sango and Miroku were busy fighting Naraku's minions, and Shippo, along with Kirara, had stayed at Kaede's. Yet Kagome wasn't doing much of anything, much to her dismay. Inuyasha and Naraku were fighting with such speed that she couldn't make a clear shot without possibly wounding Inuyasha. Even though she now had a clear shot, she was much too terrified that Inuyasha was going to die for her to aim straight.
Naraku suddenly turned to grin insidiously at Kagome, making her face lose what little color it had left, and he pulled something unidentifiable from his robes.
"No! Stay away from her!" Inuyasha shouted, trying to pull himself from the ground, but he fell again with a wince. "Don't you dare touch her, I'm your opponent!"
Naraku acted as though he hadn't heard Inuyasha.
"And to conclude this battle, my dear Kagome, I will take the thing you cherish most." Said Naraku, ignoring Inuyasha's protests.
Kagome shot a fearful look towards Inuyasha, who was still fighting against his pain as he was settling himself into a crouching position, holding his stomach that bled freely.
Naraku laughed, "No, he will not die…yet. I plan on taking something else from you…your humanity."
"What?" Asked Kagome, staring at him in confusion.
"You soon shall see," and Naraku fired a dart at her before she could react, just as Inuyasha propped himself on a nearby tree to stand.
Kagome's hand went to her neck, and she gently murmured a quiet, "oh," before collapsing.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, and he ran towards her as though instantly healed. Naraku turned to Inuyasha as he grimaced while crouching to check if Kagome was okay. "What'd you do? Poison her? I thought you were supposed to be strong," he said, determinedly keeping the worry out of his voice.
He stood in front of Kagome protectively to keep Naraku away from her. His hand was over his stomach injury as a vain attempt to get it to stop bleeding.
Naraku ignored his statement. "I trust you'll stay alive, Inuyasha, Kagome may need your support. Thank Kikyo for that little potion contained in the dart…her jealousy for Kagome has risen to a point where she despises her enough to help me." That being said, Naraku left with Inuyasha glaring at his retreating back.
Inuyasha yanked the dart from Kagome's neck. She didn't look like she was dying…
Sango and Miroku ran over to them. Miroku had a deep scratch above his eye and a large bruise on his arm, but other than that, he was fine. Sango, however, was cradling one of her arms and looked very exhausted.
"They all left," said Miroku, referring to Naraku's minions.
"What happened to Kagome?" Asked Sango. "She doesn't look injured anywhere."
"I don't know what happened," Inuyasha admitted, "but Naraku turned tail, and I can't carry Kagome."
"I'll take her," offered Miroku. Inuyasha sent a distrusting look towards him. Miroku held up his hands in defense. "I swear in my honor I will not do anything to Kagome that would upset you. I'm the only one uninjured right now; Sango broke her arm."
Inuyasha gave him a skeptical look before sighing. "Alright, you win, but if you do anything to her…"
"Trust me, I don't touch injured ladies."
Sango snorted, but didn't say anything.
"I trust you about as far as I can throw you…" Inuyasha mumbled. He stepped back and allowed the monk to lift Kagome.
"Then that must mean you must trust me very much."
"It's an expression, meaning I don't trust you."
"Let's just get going…I want to get away from here." Said Sango exasperatedly.
"Alright, alright." Inuyasha grumbled, wincing with each step. "Thank Kami that Kaede isn't far." He murmured.
After about a half-an-hour walk in agony, the group finally arrived at the hut. It was night, and the full moon was partially hidden behind angry dark clouds.
Inuyasha stumbled inside, almost falling on the floor, still clutching his stomach. The blood had stopped, but if Inuyasha had so much as pulled himself upright, the gash would have reopened.
"Ah, I see ye have gotten yourselves into a mess," Kaede stood up shakily. "I'll have ye all bandaged in no time."
Miroku entered last carrying Kagome. "Naraku shot her with a dart of some sort. We think she might be poisoned," he explained.
"Kikyo made the potion in the dart for Naraku." Inuyasha said weakly from the ground. "Out of her jealousy for Kagome. Or so Naraku says. For all I know, it's a bunch of bullshit to get me all worked up about it and to go kill Kikyo or something."
"I see," Kaede replied insightfully. "Well, put her on the futon, I'll take a look at her. In the meantime, Inuyasha, come here. That's a rather nasty wound that could be fatal, even to you."
"Feh." Inuyasha replied, disgruntled. Kaede smiled and swiftly bandaged his torso.
Within an hour, Inuyasha had his stomach wound bound, Sango's arm in a splint, and Miroku had a bandage above his left eye. Kaede was now examining Kagome, going "Hmm," and "Ah," as she prodded her. Inuyasha was biting his tongue to keep himself from cursing the woman for taking so long.
"Well, I have no clue as to what is wrong with her," said Kaede suddenly. The group regarded her with deadpanned looks.
Inuyasha snorted. "Stupid old hag."
"All I can tell you is she most likely won't die. In fact, she seems to be gaining strength. Did Naraku leave any hints as to what he was planning?"
"He said somethin' about 'taking away her humanity.' Whatever that means." Replied Inuyasha.
"Hmm…" Kaede replied again. "We'll wait a few days and see what happens. Maybe then we will be able to tell."
Inuyasha grunted, and rested his head on the wall. Miroku tried to inconspicuously wrap his arms around Sango, but she smacked his hands away.
"This isn't the time, Houshi." She chastised.
Shippo was already curled up asleep by the fire after being assured that Kagome was fine. "Nothing…to worry about…" He murmured in his peaceful slumber, turning his back to the warm flames.
Kagome woke up groggily the next morning, feeling like she would rather go back to sleep, until she remembered the day before, specifically about Inuyasha's gaping wound, and of Naraku laughing.
She suddenly sprang out of the bed. "INUYASHA!"
"What're you screaming about, wench? I'm right here," he answered by her doorway. "You better lie back down though before you hurt yourself."
"I'm so happy you're alright," she said cheerfully, ignoring his request. "I thought that you were…never mind. I don't want to lie back down though, I feel great!"
"That's the problem…Naraku shot you with a dart and it had some sort of potion in it. Kaede said you've had tremendous muscle gain lately, and that's just from lying down. I'm not sure what could happen if you start walking and running around. Feh, stupid wench, always getting yourself into trouble."
Just as Inuyasha said this, Kagome hissed suddenly, grabbing her leg as a searing pain shot through it.
"See what I mean? So go lie down. I don't want to have to save you every time you trip."
"I'm fine, just a small spasm." Replied Kagome, and she walked out of the room. Inuyasha glared at her, worried and angry at the same time. (Though, the dominant feature was anger.)
"Damn it, bitch, can't you listen to me? Somehow you've been gaining a huge amount of muscle mass, and you've been sleeping the whole time. But even now, you're still gaining even if you don't look like it. It could cause some serious problems, considering we don't know what's wrong right now!"
"I DON'T CARE!" Said Kagome, breathing heavily. She had no clue why she suddenly felt so frustrated, so suffocated, as though she was trapped in a hot, stuffy closet with no room to move. "I just can't sit around doing nothing—I can't just lay there all day—"
Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow. "Well, we're not doing anything except for eating breakfast."
"OSUWARI!"
Inuyasha slammed into the ground, cursing. "Damn it, wench, what was that for? I didn't even do anything!"
Kagome glared at him and stormed past, leaving him clueless.
"I'm going home!" she shouted suddenly, then ran from the hut.
Miroku sighed, and said, "What did you do this time, Inuyasha?"
"Nothing!" Inuyasha protested, "I just told her we were eating breakfast, and all of a sudden she went crazy on me, the stupid bitch."
"Mhm…sure." Miroku replied absently.
Inuyasha growled at him.
"Mama! Souta!" Kagome shouted, kicking off her shoes as she walked into the kitchen. "I'm home!"
"Hey, Kagome." Said Souta distractedly, playing his video game. Kagome's mother rounded the corner, and hugged Kagome.
"Are you going to be home for awhile, or do you just want to re-pack?" She asked.
"I think I'm going to spend a few days at school," Kagome replied. "Can I take a bath?"
"Don't you want breakfast?"
"No thanks, I'm not hungry."
"Well, alight, if you say so. I'll keep Souta downstairs so he won't bother you."
"Thanks, Mama." Kagome smiled, and headed up the stairs to settle in her bathtub, hoping it would thaw out her current muscle cramps.
Kagome's fingers had begun to prune. She had nearly spent an hour in the steaming tub, but it was so soothing. Her limbs didn't nearly hurt as much as they did while she was out of the tub.
She down further into the warm water until most of her head was submerged. Kagome was tempted to sleep in the tub; it was very relaxing…
She spent around another half-hour in the tub, until reluctantly getting out to dress and study.
Later that night, Kagome's mother had made teriyaki chicken and rice; she could even smell it from her bedroom, and couldn't resist joning her family for dinner.
But after eating, for some odd reason, her canines began to hurt. It was just this odd pain shooting through them. Kagome brushed her teeth, hoping she wasn't getting cavities, (after all, ever since she had been in the Warring States Era, she hadn't seen the dentist.)
Finally, Kagome went to bed in a state of confusion at all the odd occurrences, and a slight anxiety at going to school instead of going back to the Feudal Era with Inuyasha.
"Kagome! You're going to be late!"
"I'm coming!" Said Kagome as she performed the daily struggle of putting on shoes and brushing her teeth at the same time. She grabbed her book bag and darted out the door towards her school. She immediately muffled a groan as Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi headed her way.
"Hey Kagome!" Called Eri excitedly.
"We heard about how you had a kidney failure," said Yuka, "We're glad you're back though!"
Kagome personally vowed to beat her grandfather over his head with a stick when she got home.
"Erm…yeah. Right."
"Oh wow," Ayumi said suddenly, "You have a gray hair! Must be from all that stress." She plucked it out of Kagome's hair, and showed it to her.
It was a long strand of bright silver hair. Kagome instinctively grabbed a fistful of her hair to make sure there weren't any more.
"Hey guys, I've got to go to geometry class before I'm late."
All three of them winced, and said simultaneously, "good luck Kagome!"
Kagome smiled lightly, and walked inside. Am I too stressed? Maybe I do stress out for my tests a little, but surely that couldn't give a fifteen-year old girl gray hairs, right? Kagome thought to herself as she slowly descended to her math class.
She didn't notice the small twinges on her head, nails or teeth.
There you go, first chapter! And the first Inuyasha fanfic I've ever written. Bravo to me. :) Please review!
By the way—don't think Naraku is stupid enough to do something that could provide as an advantage to the group. He has other plans for Kagome.