Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

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First Sign

At about midday, give or take a few hours, a disgruntled Inuyasha called for the group to rest their weary legs and enjoy a quick break. Five minutes, for five hours of hiking uphill.

Now there was no disputing that even Inuyasha got tired out sometimes, but the weather was agreeable, there was no rugged terrain, and no one had even asked for a break yet.

"Why so generous?" Kagome asked curiously. She knew that when Inuyasha had Naraku on the brain, his determination drove them across all of Japan in a matter of weeks.

"I heard someone's stomach growl ten freakin' times and I got sick of it," he shrugged, his hands folded behind his head, and tried to look nonchalant, but Kagome could practically see the word "ramen" flashing in neon green run through his head.

As did everyone else. Inuyasha's ears twitched and rose as she immediately began to dig in her bag for food.

But as all good things must come to an end, his dream of sweet, sweet ramen disappeared into a pool of acid before it even began. Because with the smell of his dried, but savory ramen came the scent of one of his least favorite people.

Scratch that. The guy was just a bastard.

Before he could move, he met a face full of golden-eyed fury.

"Naraku," Sesshomaru hissed the name as venom rolled from his tongue. "Is active."

Inuyasha didn't know which one of the three pissed him off more: the fact that it was his stupid stomach that had moaned all the way there, and that now there was at the very least a good ten minute delay to a decent lunch, the fact that his brother Sesshomaru was there, or the very reminder that Naraku was still around, doing crazy bad-ass stuff, and wasn't dead by his claws. Yet.

… He chalked it up to the hunger thing.

"No shit," Inuyasha sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Or did you just miss the last four years?

Yes, it was definitely a distinct lack-of-ramen that made him so bold and careless. In his irritability, Inuyasha completely disregarded the first rule to Sesshomaru: don't start insulting until you're already swinging Tessaiga.

There were collective gasps as both Sango and Kagome stumbled to their feet; faster than anyone could follow, Inuyasha went flying through the air. His red-clad back slammed against a tree trunk and before his eyes could even begin to focus, Sesshomaru shoved a forearm against his throat, the other hand dripping with poison.

His lips curled into a silent snarl.

Miroku coughed nervously. "Inuyasha, I'm sure that Lord Sesshomaru has been very diligent in all matters concerning Naraku."

Inuyasha's face was slowly turning red from lack of oxygen. Nevertheless, "Then you obviously don't know the bastard. Strolling around with a damn useless human-"

"SIT!" Kagome shrieked, and he plummeted to the ground.

Acid eroded the bark behind the place where Inuyasha's face had just been.

Sesshomaru flashed Kagome, who had turned a deathly white, an unbelievably irritated look. It would have been down-right murderous, but no one could deny the humor in watching his brother "lick the ground".

He paused and glanced down at Inuyasha in disgust, who was yelling obscenities face-down in the dirt. Sesshomaru pulled back his foot slightly, as if he was about to bury his boot into Inuyasha's side, but seemed to deem it a waste of time. With a dangerous air, he turned away from Inuyasha, still subdued, and strode purposefully towards Sango.

She inched towards Hiraikotsu.

"I have need of the fire neko," he demanded, motioning towards Kirara indifferently.

"What about Ah Un?" She asked cautiously. The only plausible reason that he would need Kirara would be for transportation reasons but, then again, he had Ah Un for that.

His face contorted in rage. "He is currently… indisposed."

"And Jaken?" Kagome whispered from some distance behind him.

The anger that had settled somewhere around his stomach dulled to a manageable roar. It was replaced by something foreign; a false sort of calm that flowed through his veins instead of blood and reassured him – quite stupidly – that everything would be okay.

Maybe it was just the miko's positive outlook, inspired by the sound of her voice that had done that to him. Or maybe, just maybe, he was trying to convince himself that the majority of his pack had not been poisoned in the middle of the night by a worthless fool who deserved to be skinned like the baboon that he really was.

Either way, something was going to die.

"Sesshomaru?"

Someone touched his shoulder lightly, and he spun around to kill the stupid person who – oh. It was Kagome. Suddenly frustrated for an unknown reason, Sesshomaru grabbed her hand and glared.

"You are coming with me."

They both vanished.

"Well..." Miroku said awkwardly after a long period of stunned silence. "At least she left the ramen."

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Author's Note: A rather quick update, I think. Well hope you enjoyed it! It's a bit longer than the previous chapters, less one-shot style, and more normal.

Please… tell me what you think!