Chapter Two

Sango kept wondering about the half-demon's questions, for the thoughts swirling in her head would not cease. When Inuyasha wasn't paying attention, the slayer would turn her brown eyes over to him and carefully observed him, her gaze never faltering as she watched him argue and hit Shippo on his head, leading to cries of incoherent blubbering and the infamous word of subjugation.

Watching these childish and aggressive antics from her hanyou companion, the slayer sighed mentally at her assumptions. It truly isn't possible for him to understand, or even guess, what's going on through her head. As she thought this, Sango suddenly felt something skim across her bottom, and with a deadly glare in place, she stood from her spot and smacked the monk square in the face.

Miroku looked up at her sheepishly, a grin spread on his face from ear to ear. "Come now Sango was it necessary to hit me that hard?"

"Of course you perverted jerk!" Sango shouted heatedly, and gripped her Hiraikotsu, holding it threateningly close to his skull.

"All right, all right," the houshi said nervously as he held up his hands in defeat, mostly to keep her weapon at a distance away from his face.

The slayer lowered it a notch, but kept it firmly wedged between her and Miroku. Turning her attention back to the hanyou who was now spitting out dirt, Sango shook her head in disapproval, mostly directed to her previous ideas.

The kitsune teased the hanyou mercilessly again, thinking that he had won since he had Kagome on his side.

Inuyasha stared hard at Shippo and with a smirk, grabbed him hard by the skull and pushed his face into the hole made by his own face. "Now, what were you saying about being stronger than me?"

Flailing his arms wildly in the air, the fox child started crying out from the ground, and luckily for him, unfortunate for Inuyasha, Kagome saw this and told him to sit. But Inuyasha's face came crashing into Shippo's back instead of the earth.

This made Shippo cry out harder and jump immediately from his position to kick the hanyou in the back of the head.

"Stupid Inuyasha! Why'd you hit my back with that hard head of yours? We all know that your skull can kill someone."

Grumbling through gritted teeth, Inuyasha sat up and crossed his arms, knowing he was beaten and to further continue would only lead to the result of an aching spine.

"Really Inuyasha," the miko said primly. "I keep telling you to take it easy on Shippo."

At this point, the hanyou lost all interest in what they were saying and leaned his head on his fist. He was annoyed. Not just with the crybaby and Kagome, but also with the other woman's endless scrutiny. Sango's eyes seemed to bore into his back and he was getting tired of it. Why she was doing it was beyond him, for he did nothing to her, well except from earlier.

Still, that was not enough of a strong reason to glare constantly at him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw just in time that she turned her head when he looked at her direction. He'll never understand that woman, or any other woman for that matter.

"Are you listening?" Kagome's voice inquired angrily.

"Yeah, yeah, would ya shut up already? I already know not to hit the runt,"

This broke out into another argument and Miroku shook his head while Sango only heaved a pensive sigh.

Night had fallen again, and the taijiya struggled to stay awake.

She refused to return to the endless darkness, for once she was there, she'd be under Naraku's subjection again, and she was frightened of the thought of never waking up to save her brother and avenge her people.

Did she fear Naraku though? No. Did she fear her mind? Yes.

She was frightened by the images that'd play in her mind when she was asleep. Haunted by them in her memory during the day, she was tortured endlessly when she was no longer awake to keep them buried to an extent.

She'd watch with abhorrence as Naraku smiled and patted Kohaku on the head, the same affectionate gesture she'd always use on her brother.

Light would reflect off something made of metal, then as the streak of light stopped blinding her eyes, a sharp pain would be felt through her back, bringing her to her knees and she'd stare up, not into the face of her resurrected sibling, but the hard and cold face of her father.

Was did she do wrong? She had failed them all miserably.

If she was stronger, more durable and sturdy like a man, perhaps she wouldn't have watched them die because of her late warning.

Her father's silhouette would begin to fade, Kohaku standing at his side as he raised his weapon and in her father's place, Naraku would again pat Kohaku and smile as her blood stained the ground.

"Sango…"

She would stir as she fought for control. The voice was familiar; it was gentle and soothing, whispering to her,

"Rest… and give me your pain…"

Something delicate brushed against her cheek, she felt it's warmth as the darkness began to dissipate. She saw the light glow radiantly, and felt calm and peaceful as she drifted away.

Sango opened her eyes to see the new dawn, spreading its golden rays along the forest floor. She just noticed that she couldn't recall when she had fallen asleep, and absentmindedly touched her cheek, the vivid feeling still in mind.

"Odd," she whispered to herself. Tilting her head to the tree over her head, the slayer caught the silver tendrils that dangled lazily over the edge of a tree branch.

Standing up to her full height, Sango stretched her tired muscles, and then petted her cat softly on the ears.

"Morning Sango-chan," a voice murmured to her.

Sango glanced over her shoulder and gave her friend a small smile. "Morning, Kagome-chan."

The miko yawned as the kitsune her slept on her lap woke up to the sound of their voices. "You guys are awfully chatty this early."

"Aw, shut it," Inuyasha huffed from the tree as he crossed his arms and jumped down.

Kagome frowned at him. "I'm, sorry; we didn't mean to disturb you."

"You didn't," the hanyou retorted. "You disturbed the little runt right there. I was up a while ago."

Sango eyed him curiously and turned to him. "Were you now?"

The half-demon quirked an eyebrow at her tone, not pleased with the early interrogation. "Yeah; what ya got a problem with that or something?"

"No," she replied. "I'm just asking a simple question Inuyasha, no need to get so defensive."

"Too late," Shippo said as he rubbed his eyes and smirked at the silver-haired male.

Cracking his knuckles, Inuyasha sauntered over and was about to hit the little fox demon on the head when he paused as his ears twitched on his head. A familiar gut wrenching scent reached his nose, causing him to automatically grip the hilt of his sword.

"Naraku's nearby."

A/N: Too short? I know. Next will be longer though, if I can make it.