Leo: Thank you for the reviews my loves!

The Fragile
Chapter 4 – The Wretched

Kagome gasped, standing back with her arms protectively around the smaller girl. Naraku had them all surrounded now and this time it wasn't just a mindless puppet! They were fighting the real Naraku with the power of the Shikon shards. She looked around, desperate for an escape, any escape; but there was no way out. Naraku had the absolute upper hand. She had no weapon, Inuyasha was at half strength, and Sesshoumaru was still recovering.

"Rin, stay close to me." She whispered to the fearful child. 'Poor Rin, she shouldn't have to face this…' Kagome thought sadly. Small hands hugged her arm and Rin held the Tenseiga close to her. "Why are you doing this Naraku!?" Kagome called, her voice laced in fear.

"Why, you ask? A mortal couldn't possibly understand, now could she?" His voice echoed through the valley.

"You're horrible." Kagome coughed. "What you've done is unforgivable!"

"Save your breath, Kagome! We're better off just saying what we've got to say with our swords!" Inuyasha said slicing Tetsusaiga through that invisible slot in the air that triggered the sword's power, but the slashes and attacks were useless. Naraku's new body had a barrier much more powerful than even Tetsusaiga could break.

"Man…this…this." Inuyasha panted, pulling the sword back in front of him.

"This really sucks." Kagome finished. 'It would have been funny if Sesshoumaru had said it. I think Naraku would have even chuckled, but of course he wouldn't do that and we're not here to amuse Naraku!' She thought to herself, biting her lip in frustration, what could they do this time? Tenseiga only moved them and apparently not far enough to really get away from Naraku. Actually it only seemed to have dropped them in his territory! 'Talk about luck.'

"Someone think of something…" Inuyasha gritted, holding his defense as tight as he could. 'Why isn't he attacking?!' He thought. Naraku had progressed against them hardly at all. All he had done was block them from getting away.

"I'll give you an ultimatum." Naraku finally spoke. "Give me Sesshoumaru, and I will let the rest of you go free. Refuse, and I'll kill you until all that remains is the one for whom I asked. And I'll start with the human child."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. Going for Rin first was dirty, even for him. He made no motion, but the thought ran through his mind. He could always find a way to free himself of Naraku when the demon composite wasn't expecting it. A little obedience could potentially provide an easy way out of that predicament.

"Not a chance jackass!" Inuyasha stepped forward with the Steel Cleaving Fang drawn and ready for attack. "I don't know what you're planning, but you're out of your mind if you think I'm going to let you take Sesshoumaru and find a way to use him against me! He's already my enemy, I don't need you pulling his strings!"

"You lack the want for self preservation, don't you?" Sesshoumaru muttered in a low tone.

Inuyasha looked at his half brother incredulously, "Don't you even tell me you were considering it! The answer is no, Naraku! He doesn't even get a say in this!"

"What gives you the right, half breed?" Sesshoumaru asked stepping back away from the reawakening black limbs of Naraku's alienated form.

"Do you want to be controlled by Naraku?" The half-breed asked.

"That is a stupid question."

"Then you're not going with him!" The Tetsusaiga slashed at the air once again, blasting away at the limbs with more forced than before.

"Is that all the power you have? Because that will simply not protect you from me!" Naraku's human form controlled the plant like appendages that were closing in rapidly now, even despite the efforts by Sesshoumaru with Tokijin, and Inuyasha with Tetsusaiga.

Kagome shrieked when a limb darted in her direction and wrapped about Rin's body, successfully snatching the girl out of her grasp. "Rin!" She screamed in fear of Naraku killing her like he said he was going to do.

Sesshoumaru's attention automatically redirected to the commotion caused by Kagome and the sight of Rin in his enemy's grasp. With his distraction on Rin, he was unable to block the limb that charged him from behind. He winced and grit his teeth upon feeling the limb pierce into his back. He dropped down to one knee and panted.

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha charge and sliced apart the next offender that went after his injured brother. "And you say I'm the careless one!" He growled, staving off more of the oversized weeds.

"Now, Sesshoumaru…" Naraku taunted, " I will ask you again." He glanced up at Rin's form, as she was pulled closer to his core. "Will you cooperate, or will this girl suffer the consequences?"

'What good am I…if I cannot even protect a human child…' The demon lord thought, but remained silent and impassive as ever.

'He wouldn't really kill her, would he? How horrible can one individual possibly be?' Kagome thought, gripping the robes that she's slipped back over her shoulders. 'I wish I had a bow!' Her heart cried at the idea that Rin could be saved if only she had a weapon!

"Make your decision quickly, My Lord." His tone was mocking, "I grow impatient."

Silence loomed so heavily that it was crushing Kagome and she watched in absolute horror when Sesshoumaru stepped forward. Either way, there was no winning. Sesshoumaru would either fall into Naraku's hands or Rin would die. Both were horrible options and who was to say Naraku would even let them go? She couldn't stand by and watch him make a mistake like that! "Sesshoumaru, no! Naraku wants to you do that! Don't you see, he'll kill her no matter what!"

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin cried, still clutching Tenseiga to her little body.

'…Tenseiga!' Sesshoumaru realized and recalled his step. 'She has Tenseiga to protect her…unless it fails…'

"See that Naraku, you're not intimidating anyone!" Inuyasha sneered.

"Oh? How do you feel about this, dear child? Your own Lord is letting you die." Naraku shook his head, with a pseudo sympathetic expression.

"Lord Sesshoumaru will protect me!" Her small voice somehow angered Naraku. How dare she assume that that mutt could save her from his power, when Sesshoumaru could hardly save himself!

"You've outlived your usefulness, we'll see how well he protects you now!" Naraku lifted an arm, which began to distort and reform. It turned black with veins rippling through his hand while it got longer. It narrowed to a tip and molded itself into what resembled a sharp black blade.

"Rin, no!" Kagome screamed through bleary eyes, her heart thumping so loudly in her chest that she could not hear her own voice.

The expected massacre never came. Naraku's attention shifted and the smell of fire overwhelmed the half demon's senses. Flames erupted over his skin and trailed up, catching his robes ablaze. He had no choice but to release his hold on the human girl and step away from the source, quickly enough to eradicate the flames. His eyes narrowed, but a smile still crawled across his face. Rin was surely damaged beyond saving in the flames that made him drop her, but to his horror a white light flashed and the flames blew out in the wind, leaving Sesshoumaru's little human unscathed. 'What, is this?'

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru!" called an impish voice.

Sesshoumaru looked into the wall of smoke to see a small form, carrying a staff, immerge into the clearing, "…Jaken?"

"Aye milord!" The small creature, heavily resembling a toad, nodded and scurried toward his lord, tapping his staff against Rin's back to push her away from Naraku as well.

"You saved Rin! For once I'm actually glad to see you, toad!" Kagome breathed with such relief that she could have sworn that incident had made her ten years older. She ran toward Rin, startled only by Inuyasha's sudden slash into the air behind her.

"Be careful Kagome! Don't turn your back on this bastard! Keep a close eye on him. Who knows what he'll try next!"

'…Eye….' Sesshoumaru pondered, staring off at his would-be captor. "That's it…" He said aloud and looked back to Inuyasha.

"What's 'it'? And why are you looking-" Inuyasha's question held no ground against his half brother's sudden movement. He was swirling in a world of pain that erupted from his left eye. Sesshoumaru's claws had found their way behind his eye once again. "Aaaah!" He gasped, feeling Sesshoumaru remove his claws as well as a black pearl between the two fingers.

'What is this?' Naraku watched perplexed. Had madness finally snapped the older brother to attack one who was more his ally now, than enemy? How absurd and short-lived that union was, unless there was something else taking place.

"The black pearl." Kagome whispered, clutching Inuyasha's arm. His hand was over his eye and he trembled from the pain of the unexpected assault.

"Jaken, the staff. Now." Sesshoumaru dropped the pearl and snatched the staff from the imp, who readily handed it to his lord. He tapped the foot of the staff over the black pearl and the old man on the staff laughed an eerie laugh that could only come from the Staff of Heads. A black light swirled in the space before them and Sesshoumaru wasted no time in kicking Jaken through. He nodded to Rin, giving her a look that commanded her to follow; and she readily did as told.

Sesshoumaru's claws closed over the Fire Rat material of Inuyasha's robes and he bodily hurled Inuyasha through the portal. He grabbed Kagome about the waist and jumped through, just before the portal closed upon them. Naraku was cut off and they were very temporarily out of the demon's reach. Sesshoumaru was proud of himself for that epiphany in the midst of a small crisis. It had been a miracle Jaken had showed up, with the staff in hand, when he had. They fell through the upside down world, being caught by the skeletal bird demons that still remained in motion after so many years. Jaken and Rin were already descending to the base of the brothers' father's large carcass. Inuyasha looked up at Sesshoumaru, who still had Kagome in his possession. The demon lord dropped to the ground much quicker than the others, who were guided by the demon birds.

He landed in the bone-covered ground with a heavy and loud crunch, which was fortunate to not have been any of his own bones, but the ones under his feet. Kagome was only a few feet higher than he and she fell into his grasp easily and very thankful that he hadn't decided to let her tough out that fall on her own. Because there was no way she would have survived that landing without his help.

Inuyasha dropped down from the skeleton bird and angrily stormed toward Sesshoumaru. His feet crunched in the bones when he leapt at his brother, fist drawn. The demon lord did not bother to dodge or parry and Inuyasha's fist connected with his face, creating an echoing thud through the outlandish dwelling.

"You bastard!"

Sesshoumaru simply stared at his brother with an impassive look. He supposed that he, too, might have been a little upset had it been his eye gouged out for the sake of escape. But even with that, at least they were out of Naraku's reach. "I do not care if you are angry, at least you are not dead, whelp."

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, trying to calm the raging half demon, "He's right, because of his quick thinking we've evaded Naraku."

"We should have killed him! For once he was right in front of us!"

"It does not matter when there was no way we could have won."

"You don't know that!" The half demon shouted indignantly, blinking his eye. He was thankful that he was half demon, other wise the eye gouging would have probably killed him rather than just temporarily blind him on the left side. He slumped to the ground, "He was so close…for once…He was actually within reach!"

"There was no chance, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru said, stepping in front of Inuyasha and looking down. "Listen to me, for once in your pathetic life and I will never ask it of you again. Naraku holds more of the jewel than he ever has before. His power has multiplied tenfold. I, Sesshoumaru, am not weak and I see the futility of a struggle against a creature that has become a monster. Until there is a guaranteed method to erase him from this plane of existence, the most beneficial option is to stay out of his reach."

"You mean to 'run', is that it?" the dog-eared brother snorted, not bothering to look up at Sesshoumaru, "Well my human blood won't stand for just giving up!"

"I don't remembering speaking any such words as 'give up'." Retorted Sesshoumaru, thus easily earning a questioning look from Inuyasha. "I merely suggested that perhaps it would be prudent to at have a plan before attacking blindly and hoping the sword cuts. The last two times we have evaded capture was due to pure luck. I do not appreciate luck. Because luck runs out and against Naraku, we don't get to run out of luck and expect a second chance. Had you been there during the battle against the Panther Demon Clan, I could have taught you that, but instead I will teach you now."

Inuyasha was silent. He had never heard his brother speak so many words in succession like that before. Hell, he never remembered his brother speaking so many words all put together. It was then that it occurred to him the severity of the situation. Naraku had Sesshoumaru on the run; and the demon lord was actually, seriously, concerned. He could no longer be that unexpected individual that showed up bickering about who should have Tetsusaiga. He was now Naraku's most wanted target and he couldn't seem to keep the bastard from finding him. He was, potentially, Naraku's future puppet to destroy them all. Inuyasha shivered at the concept of fighting a soulless Sesshoumaru being used by their mutual enemy. It was bad enough the icy demon acted soulless already.

"What can we do?" He whispered.

"You can stop sniveling like a puppy and relish in the very concept that I am not going to kill you while you sleep."

"Is that a sense of humor?" Inuyasha raised and eyebrow and Sesshoumaru closed his eyes slowly, but did not respond.

He opened his eyes and stared up at the large body of their father, 'I will not make it easy for you Naraku. This Sesshoumaru is no one's plaything.'

The air fell heavy and stagnant once again. Naraku stood in the open field. His body was once again resembling that of a human, rather than a disfigured body with plantlike branches sprouting from his arms. He was confounded. Before him had stood the collected group of individuals who posed the greatest threat to him and they had vanished into a black vortex brought on by a black pearl within the half demon's eye? 'This is most displeasing…'

Naraku's Saimyosho buzzed loudly in a large cloud at the new order of their master. They set to scour the lands in search of the demon lord and his new companions. Evading his puppet once was almost acceptable, even expected; however, escaping twice and against his actual person was unforgivably maddening.

"Kagura." He cut into the air with his flat voice, "I wish you to make way to the village in which Inuyasha resides. Find the monk and the demon slayer. If Inuyasha is to return to that place, I will be notified."

Kagura appeared from the far tree line. She made no indication the order had been heard, but Naraku was not concerned about her loyalty. If she ever wanted her heart in her own possession, then it was in her best interest to obey his wishes. "Naraku, where will you go?" She asked, not caring too much whether she was imposing on his personal resolve.

"I will travel to the West. I'm sure, one way or another, the brothers will turn up. Sesshoumaru is no fool, but it is truly a fact that dogs will return home even if they have to travel a thousand days. He is no different than a dog in such a sense," a grin slowly formed in his wretched face. 'Your time runs thinner, Lord Sesshoumaru.' The wind howled and Naraku, as well as Kagura, vanished from the plains; leaving no trace of their presence.

The echoing howl of the heavy winds made Kagome shiver. She'd remembered the last time being there, but that was much different. They were struggling in a fight. That was more of a rush to keep Sesshoumaru from achieving whatever his goal was. This time it was to keep away from Naraku. This was for 'self preservation' as Sesshoumaru had worded it. Truthfully, it scared her a little. She hugged Rin in her lap, humming softly to the shaken girl.

"Where are we going to go now, Sesshoumaru? Your plan to get us away from him worked, but not if we end up going right back into his hands." Inuyasha asked, standing beside his brother, looking out into the endless tomb of his father.

"This portal can open up anywhere."

"What?!"

"Did you not know this? My Inuyasha, you truly are an uninformed mutt, aren't you?"

"Bastard," The half demon scowled under his breath.

Kagome sighed, 'some things never change.' She shook her head at the brothers. She couldn't really defend Inuyasha sometimes. Sesshoumaru may have always started the flying insults, but Inuyasha egged him on. "Come on, you guys. This place is freaking me out, can we get a move on?"

Sesshoumaru glanced at Kagome and smirked very faintly, "Your human is quite shaken. Perhaps you should comfort her, dear brother."

"Oh shuddup. And she's not 'my' human jackass!"

"Then why are you so temperamental upon the subject?"

"Sesshoumaru, will you stop it! This isn't helping," Kagome groaned. She had this feeling that she would never stop the endless squabbling from either side.

Sesshoumaru's eyes shifted to Kagome, "Be thankful, human, that I have resolved myself to not kill you."

Kagome froze up at the chilly nature of his voice. 'Geeze, and here I was thinking he was starting to become a nice guy. He's so moody.' She hugged Rin, who was oblivious to the irritable tone of the adults.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, why are you traveling with such human filth?" the impish Jaken questioned. Kagome was ready to stand up and kick him across the platform, but amazingly enough Sesshoumaru beat her to it. Jaken tumbled across the bone-covered rostrum with the swift motion of the demon lord's foot.

"I almost feel sorry for him." Kagome chuckled along side her sigh. "I have to wonder why Sesshoumaru treats his own minions like that."

"It amuses Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin giggled. She wanted to stand and chase after Jaken like she normally did when her Lord raged on his servant, but the broken bones and uneven ground left her not wanting to walk for fear of hurting her little feet.

"So where are we going to open this portal at?" Inuyasha asked with a single eyebrow raised as he watched Sesshoumaru pick up several decent sized rocks to chuck at Jaken, once the imp appeared again.

The dog demon tossed the rock, successfully nailing Jaken, before he spoke: "We'll exit in my lands. Of any place, I assure you that my castle is the safest dwelling and Naraku would have much traveling to do before he could catch up. That will buy us time," He concluded tossing another rock and refraining from voicing his secondary thought, 'time that we will need.'

To be contiuued….

Leo: To answer a question, Any grammar used in Kagome's chapters may not be perfect, because Kagome is not perfect. I try to get the best grammar I can in the 3rd person narrative chapters, but in Kagomes chapters I've loosened up a bit to get a feel for her character. In the English dub I've heard her say "even still", so I used it!

For GP information, I have already written 60 plus pages of this story, which amount to about 8 chapters. I started this story from the beginning, a week ago! So I think I'm moving along pretty quickly. I'm just stalling updates because I have to beta check them.