Chapter 4: Meet the protector

'He's...my protector?' Kagome thought to herself.

Naraku chuckled. "If you are, then let's test your skills and protection for Kagome." With that said, he then went on his fighting stance.

InuYasha did his fighting stance as well. "Bring it on."

Naraku chuckled and stayed where he was.

"What's so funny, bastard?" InuYasha asked, raising his voice a bit.

"I can't believe that you honestly think that you can defeat me. You're JUST a boy," Naraku said then chuckled once more. "Just give up, you'll only get yourself killed."

InuYasha could feel his temperature rising up.

'This man better shut his mouth up...' InuYasha then took out a dagger. "I'LL FINISH YOU UP!"

With that said, InuYasha charged at Naraku. Naraku dodged InuYasha's attack fast, so fast that InuYasha did not notice.

"What the-"

All of a sudden, InuYasha felt a huge kick on the head and fell to the ground.

Naraku laughed evilly then walked up to InuYasha slowly. "What did I tell you, boy," he placed his foot on InuYasha's chest and looked down at him. "Now, just give up before I really injure you...or even kill you."

InuYasha growled loudly then yelled, "Never!" then stabbed Naraku's leg with his dagger.

Naraku yelled and took his foot off InuYasha. InuYasha got up quickly and stood in front of Kagome, guarding her as if he was a wall that protects the castle, which was Kagome.

"A-Are you okay?" Kagome asked InuYasha, a bit concerned about his head.

"Yes, I'm fine." InuYasha answered, looking at Naraku who was taking InuYasha's dagger off his leg.

'Shit...that guy has my only weapon," InuYasha thought. 'The princess has to go somewhere else...'

"Hey, princess!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Run, run as far as you can go!"

"B-But what about you?"

"I'll be fine, just go!"

"B-But I-"

"Don't argue with me! Go now!"

Kagome didn't say anything else. She just nodded then started running.

Naraku managed to take the dagger out of his leg then looked at InuYasha with angry eyes. He laughed once more then said, "You can hurt me, but you can't kill me. I'm too powerful, little boy."

InuYasha closed his eyes for a moment. 'Please Rin, give me strength...'

...

Kagome ran as far as she could. She ran for maybe miles. She could feel her feet hurting her from all of the running she's been doing today. Her feet felt like knives were stabbing her.

When she was far enough, she sat down and rested. She looked around. Trees… she was still in the woods, but maybe farther away.

'I hope I got far enough...' Kagome thought to herself. She sighed then looked at her sore, bruised feet. She started rubbing them slowly.

As she rubbed her sore feet, she thought, 'Why am I princess?I mean, it was not my choice to be a princess, I was just born like this...' she looked around some more then spotted a near-by pond. She stopped rubbing her feet then stood up. She walked over to the pond slowly, due to her feet hurting her, then kneeled down and sat on her knees right in front of the pond. She looked at her reflection. "Oh goodness...look at how terrible I look..."

She cupped the water into her hands then splashed it on her face. The water felt nice and cold, just the way she liked it. She cupped the water into her hands again and splashed it on her face once more. She looked down at her reflection again.

'...I hate my life...'

She then took a deep breath and looked up at the tall trees high up in the sky. 'Why couldn't I be just like every other normal girl out there. . .do whatever they want, to make their own choices,' she could feel tears come out of her eyes. 'to marry someone you actually love.'

She looked down at the ground. Her eyes started stinging and welling up with tears. She started crying. To her, it felt good to cry. 'Mom...my mom is probably back there dead...' She looked looked down at her mother's beautiful necklace. She took it off and gently placed it on the ground. 'You don't deserve your own mother's necklace, you horrible person.'

She looked at the pond and thought, 'Maybe death has to take over me...' She stood up slowly then placed her right foot into the water. She took her foot out of the water then jumped into it. The weight of her body dragged her down deep into the water. She closed her eyes and waited till death came.

'Goodbye...'

Then, darkness started surrounding her.

. . . . . .

"Mommy!"

Kagome opened her eyes quickly and looked around her. She was in her garden.

"Mommy!" said a little girl that ran past Kagome.

'Is… that me?' Kagome thought.

The little girl ran up to her mother who was kneeling down.

"What is wrong my dear princess?" the mother asked looking at her daughter.

Kagome gasped as she realized that it her mother and her as a little girl.

Little Kagome sniffled. "I hurt my knees and it hurts so bad!"

The mother smiled gently then said, "I knew something like this would happen…"
She took out a band-aid and placed it on Kagome's bloody knee. "There."

Kagome looked at her knee and smiled with glee. "Thank you mommy!"

Little Kagome then ran and hugged her mother. Her mother hugged her back.

"Now my little princess, injuries like that is something not to cry over," her mother said, pulling away from the hug then looking at her daughter. "You must be strong, for me dear, if anything ever happens to me, you promise my little princess?"

Little Kagome smiled at her mother then nodded, "Yes mommy, I promise!"

Kagome could feel her eyes watering up. 'That's right… I made a promise with my mother that I would stay strong for her…'

"Come now, Kagome. Let us get something to eat."

"Okay, mommy!"

With that said, little Kagome took her mother's hand and they both walked into the castle together.

'Mom...'

"Princess!"

A faint voice called for her. Her eyes were still closed.

'M-Mom…?' Kagome started opening her eyes a bit.

"Princess!" said the faint voice again.

Kagome opened her eyes fully and looked around, the darkness was fading away. She could feel a strong grip pull her out of the darkness. She was being pulled out of the pond...by the man that was protecting her earlier.

InuYasha pulled Kagome out of the pond then placed Kagome on the ground where she started coughing out water.

"Princess! What the hell were you doing?!" InuYasha yelled angrily.

Kagome did not answer right away, she was still coughing up water and took deep breaths. "U-Umm… I don't k-know…"

"Well, you could've gotten yourself killed!"

"I know, I'm sorry..."

"Keh. No need to apologize. Just don't do it again." InuYasha said calming down a bit. He noticed that Kagome was shaking violently.

"You're gonna get a cold from wearing those clothes..." InuYasha started taking his hoodie off and gave it to Kagome. Kagome looked at the hoodie for a moment then took it.

"I recommend taking off your wet clothes though." InuYasha said.

Kagome blushed slightly at the thought of taking off her clothes in front of a man she does not know. "B-But-"

"Don't worry, I ain't gonna look," he got up from his spot. "I'm gonna make a fire back here, you go change, Princess."

With that said, he turned the other way then started making a fire.

Kagome stood up then walked behind a huge tree and started taking off her wet dress, placed it on the ground then wore InuYasha's hoodie. The hoodie was brown and soft; it went down to her knees, to her, it kind of felt like a short dress. The sleeves were long. They went down to her fingertips. She could smell his scent.

'He smells really nice...' Kagome thought to herself, blushing slightly. She looked at her wet dress, picked it up, then walked back to where InuYasha was making the fire.

By the time she got there, he was already done making the fire for them. He was sitting next to it, warming up his cold hands.

"U-Uhmm… I..."

InuYasha turned his head, his body still facing the fire, and looked at Kagome. "Yes?"

"I… uhh...w-where do you want me to put my dress?"

InuYasha looked around for a bit then pointed to a spot near the fire. "It'll help dry off a bit, maybe."

Kagome nodded and placed the dress to where InuYasha pointed to. Then she sat down next to InuYasha.

"I..." Kagome cleared her throat. "I wanted to say my thanks for saving me twice today."

"Twice?" InuYasha asked.

"Yes...remember the pond?"

"Oh yeah...well, you're welcome, Princess."

Kagome smiled. "My name is Kagome! What's yours?"

"InuYasha."

"InuYasha…" Kagome said, repeating the name. "What a lovely name!"

InuYasha didn't say anything else, he just kept looking at the fire.

'I really hope you're alright, Rin.' InuYasha thought. Rin was all he could think of at the moment.

Kagome gasped. "Are those ears?!" Kagome exclaimed.

'Shit.' InuYasha thought, forgetting that he needed the hood to cover up his ears.

"Look, I can explain-" InuYasha was interrupted by Kagome's squealing.

"They're so cute!" Kagome said as she touched InuYasha's ears.

InuYasha started getting irritated with the fact that Kagome called him cute. "Would ya cut it out?!"

Kagome giggled a bit. "Sorry, it is just something I have never seen before."

InuYasha grumbled then went back to looking at the fire.

"So...how did you get them?" Kagome asked.

"Keh. I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh… I understand."

Everything went silent. Kagome felt very awkward. She took a glance at InuYasha and noticed a huge scratch on his face.

"Your face..."

"Huh? What about it?" InuYasha asked finally looking at Kagome.

"Wait right here." she stood up and walked over to her dress.

'Feh. What is she doing?' InuYasha thought.

Kagome ripped a piece of her dress then walked back to InuYasha.

"Here, I got something for you." Kagome said then placed the wet piece of cloth on the scratch.

"G-Gah! That's cold!" InuYasha yelled.

"I know, but it's better than nothing!"

InuYasha growled a bit and let her do as she pleased. 'She's the princess after all.' InuYasha thought.

"Was this from Naraku?" Kagome asked.

"Feh, yeah. He's tough, but he's nothing I can't handle."

"How did you defeat him?"

"I didn't defeat him...he just disappeared, like a little coward." InuYasha said. "But once I see him again, I will kick his ass."

'Along with Victoria.' InuYasha added, thinking to himself.

Kagome smiled. "I'm really thankful, InuYasha, I truly am." She said patting InuYasha's scratch gently with the wet cloth then placed it down.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," InuYasha said, reaching for something in his pocket. "Here, I'm assuming it's yours." He took out Kagome's necklace.

"Oh...my mother's necklace." She took it from him gently then looked at it. She smiled a bit then put it on.

"Your mom must love you a lot." InuYasha said, looking at Kagome.

Kagome looked up from her necklace and at InuYasha then nodded.

"Yes, she sure does." Kagome answered, remembering the flashback she had of her mother and her.

"So does my mother," InuYasha said as he started lying down on his back. "She worries about me a lot. I don't know how long I have been away from her, but I miss her a lot. I bet she misses me too...along with Rin."

"Rin?"

"Yes, my little sister Rin," InuYasha closed his eyes. "She's sick so I'm trying to help her get the money she needs for a doctor."

"I'm sorry InuYasha..." Kagome said sadly. "I can give you the money to save your sister when we get back to the kingdom."

InuYasha's eyes opened wide then he sat up fast. "Are you serious?"

Kagome smiled and nodded. "Yes. You saved my life and it's only right that I pay you back with a reward."

InuYasha started smiling. "Thank you so much princess!"

"You're very welcome, InuYasha." Kagome said with a soft smile. "It's the least I can do."

InuYasha lied back down, sighing happily.

'Rin, you're gonna be okay...' InuYasha thought relieved.

"InuYasha?"

"Yes?"

"I do hope we become the best of friends."

InuYasha started smirking teasingly. "Oh we will, but don't fall for me."

Kagome blushed deeply. "N-No! Of course not!"

InuYasha started laughing a bit. "Alright, if you say so." InuYasha starts closing his eyes. "We should get some sleep, princess."

Kagome nodded. "Okay." She went to lie down and started closing her eyes. "Goodnight, InuYasha."

"Goodnight."

...

"That stupid half dog boy, getting in my way," Naraku said in a low voice. "I'll kill him with my own bare hands."

He slowly reached into his pocket and took out the crown that Kagome had on her head. There was a piece of Kagome's hair. He took it out and looked at it. "Hmmm..."

He smirked then placed Kagome's piece of hair on the floor and took out his spell book. He read a spell from the book and kept repeating the same spell over and over again.

He stopped his spell when he saw a nude female body in sight. He chuckled. "Rise, my mistress, rise."

Within a couple of seconds, the naked female sat up slowly. She looked up at Naraku.

Now, my mistress, you shall address me as Master Naraku."

"Master...Naraku."

"Yes...and you will do as I say."

The naked woman nodded. "Yes, Master Naraku."

"And your name shall be named...Kikyo."

Chapter 5 coming soon!