Chapter Seven – Love for a Child

Miroku let the barrier down and looked at Sutefanii in awe. Her power was considerable but he knew she had no way of controlling it. Kohaku, Miroku, and Inuyasha stared at Sutefanii while she held Aiko and cried silently. She was weak from her outburst and wanted nothing more then too burry the child who reminded her of Mary.

"Get back to the castle" Sesshoumaru said as he landed in front of them returning Toukigin to its rightful place on his belt. "You have more to loose if you don't leave now, we'll follow in a minute."

"Don't be too long" and with that Inuyasha turned and sprinted for the castle.

They all felt Naraku's presence at the palace once Miroku took down the barrier. Inuyasha cursed at himself because he knew Oujouakki was a distraction and whatever Naraku was after had been at the castle all along "Please be okay Kagome, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

Sesshoumaru knelt down in front of Sutefanii and grabbed her neck forcing her to look into his eyes "We will come back to burry her. I know how fond of Aiko you were, but pull yourself together and lets go. The others at the castle need our help. Naraku is there, you can sense him can't you?"

Sutefanii could sense him but she was full of grief and doubt. Part of her wished Lord Sesshoumaru would just choke her and be done with it, but she knew he wouldn't. He let go of her neck and began to leave. She looked at the dead child, hugged her, and placed her on the ground. Sutefanii got to her feet and ran towards the mountain. Lord Sesshoumaru was right, the others needed her help and she still had the will to fight.

"Good girl." Sesshoumaru was impressed to see Sutefanii running back to the palace. She would get there eventually, but he had to hurry because he felt Naraku's presence disappearing and wanted to confront the demon before he had a chance to escape.

"Sango! Sango where are you?" The castle grounds looked like the aftermath of a large battle, which sent Miroku into a panic. "Sango! Sango!!"

Kanaye came running from around the corner "Uncle Miroku she's over here by Kirara!"

They ran to where Kirara lay unconscious next to Sango's Hiraikotsu.

"Sango" Miroku grabbed his wife and held her until he felt himself calm down. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"I'm fine Miroku and so is the baby. Naraku was getting away and I had to do something so I used Hiraikotsu, but he reversed the energy and it came hurdling back to me. Kirara got in the way to protect the child and me. She's okay, but she'll be out of commission for a few days."

"Is my dad back?" Kanaye looked at Miroku hopefully.

"Yes, he should be around here somewhere. Where is your mother, brother, and sister?"

"Inside the castle. I wanted to help aunt Sango so I ran after her and Kirara."

Miroku sighed "You truly are your fathers child."

"I'm going to stay with Kirara, you two go and find Kagome and see if she's all right."

"Okay aunt Sango."

Grabbing his wife by the arm Miroku pulled her in and gave her a kiss "Yell if you need me, and for goodness sakes don't do anything else that could hurt you or the child, please?"

Sango hugged her husband and agreed. Kanaye and Miroku went into the castle looking for Kagome and the rest of her family.

After ten minutes Sutefanii reached the castle gates and found the grounds in shambles. The palace itself seemed okay but many of Sesshoumaru's guards and servants lay dead or injured.

"Shippo!"

The fox demon was bleeding heavily from his abdomen but he was awake and aware of his surroundings.

"It's good to see you Sutefanii. I heard the village explode and smelled a lot of smoke after you all left."

"Shippo are you okay? What happened?"

"Naraku and some stranger stormed the palace and began killing people. Kagome hit Naraku with a few arrows, but he slammed her through one of the castle walls. Yasuo and Mine went after her while Kanaye followed Sango to get Hiraikotsu."

"How did you get injured?"

"The stranger was going after Rin. Kiyoshi and Jaken tried to stop him but Naraku hit them from behind with an energy attack. Jaken was badly injured so I stayed behind to cover Kiyoshi while he went after Rin. I was able to keep Naraku at bay for some time, but he got me with one of his tentacles."

"Can I get you anything Shippo?"

"Find the others and let me know who's okay, I'll be fine laying out here for a little while longer."

Sutefanii nodded and ran inside the castle looking for the rest of her friends.

"Stop moving or else the bone wont set correctly."

"I'm sorry but I'm uncomfortable on the ground. Ouch! You could be a little more gentle ya know!"

"Give it a rest already I'm doing the best I can!"

Mine, Yasuo, and Kanaye watched their parents bicker in confusion.

"Why are they acting this way Mine?"

"I don't know Yasuo …"

"This is just how your parents like to remind each other how much they care for one another" answered Miroku.

"They're weird" Kanaye snipped and he folded his arms.

"There you go, all done, better?" Inuyasha helped Kagome to her feet so that he could get her to a chair and her arm in a sling.

"Yes, thank you Inuyasha." Kagome leaned against his waist and he stood there stroking her head.

"Yeah, they're weird" Yasuo turned to his brother in agreement.

Kagome looked at her children and then turned her face to look at Inuyasha's.

"Mine's got her first power, you're going to have to start training her."

"Really?" Inuyasha faced his daughter "What happened Mine?"

Mine's cheeks turned red but answered her father nonetheless.

"Mom was unconscious after Naraku hit her through the wall. Yasuo and I were trying to wake her up when we saw Rin running away from the other man attacking the castle. Kiyoshi caught him and they started to fight, but the stranger was too strong and knock him through one of the hallway walls."

"Miroku."

"I'm on it Inuyasha" the monk ran out into the hallway looking for Kiyoshi.

"Go on Mine."

"Well the stranger saw me and Yasuo got a really evil smile on his face. I told Yasuo to run next to mom and I decided to stand up to him. I figured I could get at least one hit in before he threw me through a wall or something."

Inuyasha grimaced at the though of anyone hurting his children and had to suppress the urge to break one of the chairs to control his temper.

Mine could see that her father was upset, but she continued with her story.

"I jumped to try and claw his face and as I pulled my arm back my claws began to grow and my whole hand turned light blue! When I released my arm the energy went straight to my fingers and five long blue spears flew out and hit the man in his head. He yelled in pain and looked at me and said 'nevermind I have more important things to do' and ran down the hallway. I wanted to go after him but I couldn't leave Yasuo and mom by themselves."

Inuyasha smiled and grabbed his daughter by the shoulders "I'm very proud of you Mine. And once we get everything settled we'll start training your new powers. Give it a name and everything."

Mine smiled "Thanks Daddy."

Kagome looked around and got very worried "Does anyone know what happened to Rin? Why was that man chasing her?"

"Because he's going to sacrifice her in three days unless we find her and kill him"

All eyes turned to Sesshoumaru standing in the corner holding the hair ribbon Rin wore at the party. Sutefanii was helping Miroku carry Kiyoshi into the room when they heard Sesshoumaru speak.