Threads of Love

I do not own Inuyasha.

So far...

Inuyasha has kicked Sango out of the group and refuses to have anything to do with her. But Miroku doesn't want that. He goes after her in an attempt to gain her back! However, Sesshoumaru shows up and beats him within an inch of his life. The jealous emotion he shows backs up his earlier possessive threats. But will Miroku really give up?

Again, what of Naraku?

10

XxX

Naraku. The hanyou had managed to evade them. He pushed them away from his hiding spot using armies of youkai. The new moon was gone and Sango detested that. Her mahogany eyes roamed across the blood-stained earth. Kirara mewed in an attempt to sooth her distressed and angry mistress. The taiji-ya was going through terrible mood swings. Especially since she was alone. Days had gone by. Just a little more than two weeks had passed since Inuyasha had banished her. That had been the night of the new moon, no less. How foolish.

"Come on, Kirara. Even if it isn't the night of the new moon, the least we can do is try to locate Naraku." They had hardly paid any attention to Naraku throughout the entire ordeal. "I think he's hiding somewhere around here. A couple of miles away, maybe." The thing that pissed her off most was that she didn't fit in her taiji-ya uniform anymore. Evidence... Her stomach had swollen quite a bit since she'd seen her friends.

It looked like the youkai came from this general direction... How we're supposed to find him, I don't know. And what of Kagura and the other incarnations? That child like Hakudoushi... I doubt if he left it just anywhere.

Naraku was a bastard for hiding. He was such a coward.

"Come out and fight, you asshole!" She screamed, pure anger influencing that particular mood swing. Kirara moved on ahead, already picking her way through the edge of the thick foliage of the woods. The taiji-ya followed. She wanted nothing more than to dissect the asshole that had murdered her brother and her family.

Hours later, she was still trudging through trees and bushes. Only, she was hot, sweaty, tired, and irritable. Kirara led her mistress to a small stream and sat down. Sango sighed. How she wished that she could find Inuyasha and punch the living daylights out of him. The odd part of her search for Naraku was that it seemed like no one was even searching for him. Sango sat down and took off her sandals before soaking her feet in the cool stream. Then she took one of her cloths from her bag and soaked it before wiping off her face and neck.

"Thirsty, Kirara?" She pulled out a bowl and filled it before setting it in front of her neko. "A drink sounds pretty good..."

They camped out that night in the same spot. Sango was having a terrible time sleeping. It was warm and humid. She loosened the front of her kimono. It didn't bother her much since she still wore her wraps. Sweat glistened on her skin. Suddenly, she sat up and went to the stream, drenching herself in cold water. She went right to sleep.

XxX

The woods were dense and hard to walk through. Sango was having a terrible time picking her way through the small spaces and bushes, some of which had thorns. She managed to keep up with Kirara, which was a plus. By the time noon swung around, the taiji-ya was exhausted. Hot and sweaty once again, she was forced to sit on the ground. Kirara would have transformed if there had been enough room. After a few minutes, she grudgingly got back to her feet and they continued walking. Soon, their wooded surroundings yielded to a vast field. Scorched grasses and dead trees obstructed Sango's vision. Kirara transformed and allowed her mistress on her back before taking to the skies.

"Naraku had to have been here..." There was a rather large area where the grass didn't grow. "Large enough for one of those phantom castles... Let's go down, Kirara. I have a feeling..." Sango jumped off of her neko's back as soon as they landed. She walked around, testing the air. "This is definitely the miasma..."

Naraku was here. He must have moved as soon as he was back at his height of power.

However, after that change he had undergone, she wasn't sure how powerless he really was in his weakened state. Sure, Inuyasha was stripped of his youki as well as his appearance but...was that the case with Naraku?

"Kirara?" She didn't think that she'd find anything unless the cocky bastard left a trail. But he never did. "Come on. We should go to a village close to here and see if they can tell us anything."

Hours later, Sango was once again frustrated and let down. Asking around the village had done nothing but get her aggravated. She was just about to give up when a memory surfaced. A nasty memory. The thought of it made her ill so she retired to bed.

No matter how tired I am...I can never get to sleep...

It was a good thing she was so restless because she suddenly sensed youki. It seemed oddly familiar... She got up and tightened her obi before grabbing all of her weapons and her gas mask. Her hair was tied up rather messily but she didn't care, since she got out there in time. The youkai was a grotesque monster. That was the only way to describe it. It didn't look tough as nails. It's youki wasn't that powerful. It wasn't anything spectacular but it challenged her. It could have once been part of Naraku but she couldn't be sure. Sango looked down at the body, chest heaving. The reality of her situation was terrible, harder to face than she cared to admit.

"Kirara." The neko looked up at her solemn mistress, tilting her head to the side. "Let's leave." Sango wanted to cry. She wanted to but she wouldn't allow herself. As much as she wanted to continue her journey, she knew it wouldn't be long before she was unable to travel. Kirara transformed, lowering herself so that the pregnant taiji-ya could get on with ease.

XxX

Inuyasha had kicked her out. He had really done it. She betrayed him. Twice. At first, he had felt a foreign feeling welling up inside of him. Guilt, was it? He hadn't felt guilt since he thought Kikyou's death was his fault. The feeling receded quickly enough to not be a problem.

"Inuyasha..." All the other two had been talking about was her. When Kagome's voice reached his ears, Inuyasha almost cringed. Since the hanyou didn't possess a conscience, it seemed like the miko was willing to take up the position. All she did was harp at him. He was beginning to hear her when she wasn't talking. "I'm really worried. I can't take this anymore." He was about ready to lose it. Okay, about was kind of an understatement.

"Look, I don't give a flyin' fuck about what the hell happens to her. It was her decision to be with my asshole brother. Let her go to him for help. Let him deal with her problems." The insensitive hanyou was immediately 'sat.'

"What kind of language is that? Don't you even feel sorry for throwing a pregnant girl out? The pregnant girl that is carrying your niece or nephew? Oh, how about the girl that was loyal enough to follow you wherever you went? What about her? Wait, what about Naraku? Isn't he still out there?" Her tone was angry and condescending. Her eyes were narrowed. She was going the whole nine yards. "I never thought that you could be such an insensitive jerk!" Miroku and Shippou had remained silent through every single one of their bouts.

"Stupid bitch! Shut up, already!" Inuyasha growled threateningly. "How many times do we have to fight about this? I'm getting fucking sick of your mouth!" The hanyou was then too angry to spit out insults or even obscenities. Shocking. Their fight only stopped them from speaking for an entire day. The houshi was quite sick of their bickering. He only wished that his stubborn idiot of a friend would realize his mistake and take Sango back, if she would even return. He missed her. It had been weeks since he had seen her last. Truth be told, he was worried sick. The knowledge that nothing other than solid proof of her well-being would resolve that feeling drove him mad.

Sango...

XxX

Sango felt wave after wave of depression slowly engulf her in a sea of misery. All she wanted to do was cry. In fact, she was shocked at how easy it was to cry. Three or four months along and she was a wreck, the result of mood swings and sometimes even nausea. She longed to be held, to have someone hold her close and comfort her. But no! There was absolutely no one that could ease her pain.

"And I can't even blame Inuyasha!" She yelled in frustration, startling Kirara from her slumber. "All I can do is wish that he's happier without me around; that his decision is making him happier." A tear rolled down her face but she angrily wiped it away, cursing herself for being so weak. "I don't even have anyone to yell at. Is it so much to ask that I have someone to scream my lungs out at?" Inuyasha had been a good verbal sparring partner. Hell, she was even desperate enough to settle for Sesshoumaru if he would show his face so that she could scream at him. Her neko curled back up, satisfied that there were not any youkai around to attack them. Sango did the same and tried to fall asleep but found that her mind was working overtime. So, sleep eluded her.

It wouldn't have been so bad if sleep had come during the next few nights. Alas, she was out of luck with sleep so she opted for the other solution. Sitting up and cursing everything. Gradually her moods became worse, sporting a rather eventful time with villagers. The pregnant taiji-ya was at the end of her rope.

"Kirara, this is getting sickening. We should just go home. Forget Naraku for now. I can't find him anywhere, no matter how hard I look. This is so damn frustrating!" Sango said to her neko as they left a village. "He will not come out of hiding and my stomach isn't getting any smaller. Damn that bastard of a Daiyoukai. Trust him to leave me when I'm having problems that he doesn't want to deal with." Kirara rumbled her response as they flew above the trees. It was harder than she could ever imagine. A few hours more of travel brought Sango and Kirara to a halt. Sango sensed Inuyasha and the others. Tears stung at her eyes as she commanded her neko to move in a different direction. However, she also sensed a partial aura of Naraku closing in on the group. She made a decision. With a swift command, the taiji-ya told the neko to go to the source of youki.

The youkai...there were at least ten of them, searching for something. The taiji-ya landed on her feet as her neko landed beside her. Hiraikotsu was out and her wakizashi was at her hip.

"Come if you want blood." Their glowing red eyes and glinting fangs gave away their deepest desires. "I want answers but I doubt you are smart enough to give them to me..." She ran at them, swinging her weapon out, watching as it split two youkai in half before coming back around and taking one more head off. Seven more; their beady, glowing eyes narrowed, focused their attention on her.

"Blood." One of them brandished his long, sharp talons as he swiped them at her. "Give me your blood, girl." She side-stepped him and used her large bone boomerang as a blade, swinging it out and taking the arm off of her opponent. Kirara let out a ferocious roar, attacking two of the youkai that were daring enough to try and attack from behind.

Inuyasha and the others sensed the youkai. The hanyou knew the youki surrounding them. It had been the one they were searching for. He could barely sense it but he thought he detected a pulse of a stressing youkai. A familiar stressing pulse. They quickened their pace, arriving to see a valiant battle.

"What the fuck!?" Inuyasha's eyes were on the woman that was blocking the youkai's path to him and his group. She barely batted an eyelash as she pushed her wakizashi in a burst of strength, taking advantage of her opponent's lapse of attention. She ran her crimson-stained blade through the last of the youkai before a soft frown graced her features. The taiji-ya cleaned the blade by swinging it and watching as the blood ran off the edge.

"Sango!" Kagome was about to rush to her friend when Inuyasha put his hand out. Turning to the group, Sango regarded them with an empty gaze. "W-What..."

"My battle is now over. Allow me a moment to gather my things before I take leave." The hanyou watched her, looking at the ten bodies that littered the ground.

"How can you still fight?" Miroku asked softly, eying her stomach with concern. A small drop of blood left the corner of her mouth as she continued to gather her bag and weapons. "Sango-"

"I have no choice. I must continue to fight until I defeat Naraku. If I cannot fight then what use am I to myself? What kind of guardian am I to my child? How else would I survive?" Her voice was cold, hinting toward truth.

"What about Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked quietly, her eyes bright with tears. Had the Daiyoukai even checked on her?

"What about him?" Obviously, nothing had changed. "He is probably off doing something more important. I haven't seen him since he dropped me off at a village after Houshi-sama..." She trailed off, looking away. "Anyway, I have lingered enough." She stood tall and settled her hand on her stomach. Inuyasha frowned, looking away from her. Kagome fought down a sob as she ran forward, embracing her friend tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Sango! I wish there was something that I could do..." Sango was frozen in shock for a brief moment before she dropped her things and returned the caring gesture. The taiji-ya attempted to settle the miko's emotions with comforting words.

"There is nothing you can do, Kagome-chan. All I can tell you is to keep up your guard. Naraku's moved since the last attack and he's covered his tracks again." She pulled away, keeping the younger girl at arm's length. "Be careful, okay? Promise me that you'll be careful." Kagome looked down.

"As long as you promise the same..."

"Sango, you say Naraku has moved? Then what was this attack all about?" Miroku watched her with a small frown. She wouldn't look at him. "Was it a diversion? Perhaps to keep us going in this particular direction?"

"I don't have any answers. All I know is that he moved...probably right after his recovery." The taiji-ya let go of her friend's shoulders.

"How long will you continue to travel like this? You can't possibly do it for much longer." Kagome was hesitant to take her eyes off of her, almost afraid she would disappear. "You should find a place to stay." Sango's eyes darkened.

"I will continue to travel until I give birth. I have no one to stay with me so I may as well just continue on my way. Besides, Sesshoumaru told me himself that youkai babies are stronger than humans." She said quietly. "I will be fine. Nothing will hinder my victory over Naraku to protect others from his violence and to avenge those that he has killed." Her eyes went to her things. "I should be on my way." Kirara understood her tone and walked closer so that her mistress could climb on. The taiji-ya gathered her things and looked towards Inuyasha. "Even though I am no longer a friend in your eyes, I will continue to watch over you and make sure that you do not come to harm." With those last words, she gave Kirara the command and they were off.

XxX

Kagome watched the fire, sniffling as she attempted to stop her tears. Sango was still watching over them, even though she was no longer wanted by Inuyasha. The miko thought that the taiji-ya's actions showed true strength and courage and selflessness. It made her wish that she could still share those girl talks with her. That she could still ask for advice from the woman she thought of as an older sister.

"Kagome." Miroku sat down next to her and set his hand on her shoulder. She shot him a dirty look. After all, wasn't it all his fault? Sango never would've been with Sesshoumaru if Miroku had been man enough to stop his womanizing. Not to mention that she wasn't up to being groped. He removed his hand with a sigh. Everything on him had healed with the exception of his broken arm. He still had a few weeks to go. "I understand what you are going through... I, myself, have gone through the same thing. Inuyasha will not seem to forgive her, even if she is still willing to put her life in danger for him, to protect him."

"I know. I still just can't believe how selfless and caring she is. How are we going to get her back? I've tried making him guilty, I've tried getting mad at him for it...nothing works!" She wanted to sit the hanyou a couple hundred times. Maybe pain would-

"I am not certain but I doubt if he will take back what he said. Obviously, he meant it. She had broken his trust in her, even though it wasn't her fault. Inuyasha is not a saint. He doesn't have to forgive her. He doesn't have to understand." Kagome looked over, a frown creasing her features.

"Sounds like you've done just that. Did you forgive Sango because you're a houshi? Or did you forgive her because you love her?" For once, the houshi didn't have an immediate answer to give. He did love Sango. But was he such an all-forgiving man? No, he wasn't. He would never forgive Naraku for what he did. So he must have really loved her to forgive her. After all, it wasn't like she loved Sesshoumaru.

"I love her." He whispered. Kagome's frown only deepened. It was worse than she thought. "I want her back."

Inuyasha stormed through the woods, seething.

That wretched bitch! How dare she say something like that to me? Acing all selfless and shit! She's got a whole lot of nerve. That stupid-

He continued sulking throughout the entire night, doing nothing but running her words through his head. It pissed him off. She was acting like such a good friend when she had betrayed him twice, maybe even more than that. Miroku and Kagome had been nothing but annoying and Shippou had been unbearable. He hadn't even been able to say anything to the taiji-ya. If he had opened his mouth, he would have started bawling and wailing. Inuyasha had been nothing short of inhuman. His attitude was getting Kagome pissed off enough to actually consider going home for about a month or two. Miroku wanted to go off on his own and search for Sango. It seemed that the houshi had completely forgotten about the Kazaana. Their group was falling apart at the seams and they could only watch as it unraveled before their very eyes.

XxX

Sango went back to her village. It only took her a couple of days and, by then, she was bound and determined to make Inuyasha see that she did not betray him.

"Well, Kirara, we can take a break for a little bit and then try again." The taiji-ya smiled slightly as they landed inside the gates. It actually felt good to be back in her village. After paying her respects, she got settled in and went to sleep.

Waking up to the sound of the gate opening was not very pleasant to her. Especially when she was disoriented from sleeping for so long. Her body didn't want to move but she was forced to get up. She felt so dizzy as she attempted to walk to the door of her house. Practically falling outside, she steadied herself in preparation to fight the intruder. However, when she set her eyes on him, fight became an understatement. She wanted to murder the intruder.

"What are you doing here?" Her mind was completely awake and her body was suddenly rigid, as though she had just gotten into a stream of cold water. "What do you want now?"

"Do not command me, taiji-ya." Sesshoumaru glared at her, his eyes narrowed. "What are you up to, traveling everywhere?" He walked over to her, pulling on her obi and opening the front of her kimono. She had a cut across the front of her left shoulder, right above her breast. "Battling in your condition... Endangering your life as well as the life of your child."

"Don't you even start with me, Sesshoumaru. If you had been around, none of that would have ever happened. My search for Naraku wouldn't be half as complicated as going on nothing!" His amber eyes narrowed at her.

"You are searching for Naraku? You cannot defeat him in your condition! Are you mad?" He gripped her arm and pulled her closer, nearly snarling at her.

"No, I am completely sane. You are the one that's mad! Getting me pregnant before Naraku was killed! What a monumentally stupid mistake that was!" He wanted to hit her. But there was a code for mates. He couldn't strike her. Not even if he wanted to. Which he did. However, she didn't know that, did she?

"You are impossibly irritating." The Daiyoukai bared his fangs, glaring at the taiji-ya with cold, murderous eyes. "If you do not watch your mouth, you will suffer some very nasty consequences." His threat didn't even seen to faze her. In fact, it only seemed to fuel her fire even more. She glared at him with as much force as she could.

"Go ahead. Do your worst, Sesshoumaru! Show me what the hell it is you can possibly do to me to make this worse." He stared at her, expressionless. "As far as it looks, I can't get much lower than I am now!"

"Quiet, taiji-ya." He really wanted to strike her. Willing to give himself a compliment, he realized how well he was doing restraining himself.

"I'm not finished, you arrogant-"

"You are coming with me." Sango stopped. Her wrath-filled words froze in her throat and nearly choked her. With wide eyes, she stared at him in pure shock. "I will not stand for your reckless actions. You will accompany me until the birth of the child."

"But-"

"I am after Naraku, as well. However, I am not making it known. If I was, he would become paranoid and escape my grasp." His voice was low, as though he were sharing a secret. "We may find him and we may not. Do not get your hopes up or you may become disappointed." She reached forward, wanting to draw him closer.

"Sesshoumaru..." He was rigid in her embrace. After all, with the way the taiji-ya was acting, how could he be sure what she would do next? "This is one of the least selfish things you've done for me. You marked me as your mate to save me and succeeded in getting your brother to throw me out... Since then, you have done nothing." The taiji-ya let go of him, staring up into his eyes. "But I can't go with you. I need to find Naraku on my own and defeat him as such."

"You are going with me, taiji-ya. End of story."

"I will not be confined to your side until this child is born!" He snarled and grabbed hold of her shoulders. "You will do nothing but control my every move. I don't want that!"

"Taiji-ya-"

"No!" She almost screamed when he shoved her back into the wall. He had his fangs bared and set against her throat. "Sesshoumaru-" His glare made her close her mouth.

"You will go with me. It is for the safety of the child." Already she could feel her child begin to panic. She had no choice but to ease off on the fighting. Her eyes went to the floor just before her body went limp against him.

"All right. I will go with you." Her soft voice was tight and cold, as though she didn't even want to say those words. A smirk formed on his lips as he released her and allowed her to gather her things. Kirara sat near the wall, her watchful eyes shifting between her mistress and her mistress's mate. As long as Sango was safe, she would be happy. The taiji-ya took only a few minutes to pack. As she walked toward the gate, where Sesshoumaru waited for her, she reflected that perhaps the bad decision would have been to not go with him. She only hoped that the thought was the right one.

XxX

Well, that's all for 10. I am rather proud of this chapter. Quite a bit has happened which will lead to much more excitement and maybe even a little romance to those hopeless romantics.

Keep an eye out for 11 but, until then, you can review this chapter and let me know what you thought!

-Angel