Thanks for the reviews, I agree it was a cliff hanger! Omg it's finally the weekend! Seriously this week has gone by so slowly! And my bus breaking down today didn't really help either -.- So tireddd. Also BlondeGurl9 is writing a new story which is much better than her first one, in my opinion. It's called "Jaken's Modern Life" and she would really appreciate the views and possibly even reviews? So go an take a look at that. Anyway, on with my story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime or manga.


Chapter Eleven

Naraku was shocked, how had this human infant wandered into his miasma unharmed? How had she managed this? His barrier should have kept all mortals out but here she was standing before him. As his confusion continued to grow, he glanced at the dog ears growing from her head and vaguely understood how she had entered his poison - she was half demon. And not just any half demon. In fact her bouncy lilac hair and her wide marigold tinted brown eyes, she almost looked like... No. It couldn't be her, could it? No, that was not possible. This child was too young to be her. But then why did she resemble her so?

Hanyuu lowered her head in shame, like all the others even this demon was repulsed by her cross species inheritance. Was she truly that insignificant that there wasn't anyone or anything out there that accepted her?

"You," Naraku addressed her rather suddenly, "tell me your name." Though he did not expect the name to be the same of her who she resembled so greatly, he still wanted to know just who she was and why she looked so similar to her.

She trembled slightly at his question, not quite sure what to do. She may have grown incredibly fast but she had yet to develop speech. She opened her mouth to answer him, but no words came out causing him to narrow his eyes and rub his chin as he pondered.

"Are you incapable of speech?" he asked in suspicion, as she shook her head shyly. She did not feel safe here with this demon and she wanted to leave as soon as possible, but how was she to escape without him noticing her?

He remained silent, lost in his thoughts and trying to take in just how alike she looked to that girl from his past. She was like a younger identical copy.

She shifted her gaze up towards him and cocked her head to the side like a bird, though she could not talk to people, she had a gift for knowing whatever they were feeling and she was finding it rather hard to resist comforting him. This man surely had bad intentions and she was sure that what he was planning to do to her would not be good, but she could also see pain hidden away in the back of his red eyes when he looked at her. Something had to have happened to him in his past that had a negative effect on the way he was now, she wondered what could have happened to him that made his gaze so... lost.

Naraku was deep in his thoughts as he felt the the familiar little girl's small hand cup his cheek suddenly, causing him to look down at her in confusion. True, she could not talk, but there was one way she could communicate with him and she only hoped that he would not retaliate to her touch. "Why are you sad?" came a young sounding voice that seemed to have come from the little girl, even though her mouth had not moved.

Because of the way she was gazing intently at him, he thought it was safe to say that it was definitely her voice he had heard. But that voice... just like her, it seemed so familiar and he felt as if he had heard it a thousand times before. It was exactly like hers from all those years ago. He raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Did you... say something just then?" he asked hesitantly.

The voice sounded again as her expression was filled with pity and sadness, "I asked you why you were sad. You look like you're hurting on the inside."

"Stop!" he shouted, pushing her small hand away from his face forcefully, "What are you trying to do?! Befriend me so I'll think twice about sparing your life?!" All the facts were starting to add up and Naraku began to doubt that this was simply a coincidence. This half demon child and her just too alike for it to be a one of thing. Their appearances, their bright eyes and their telepathic way of communicating. Just who exactly WAS this little girl? What made her think that she could mess with his mind and memories like that, and touch him without his permission? She would pay for her mistakes.

Hanyuu took a small step away from him, rather hurt at his sudden reaction to her touch. She had only tried to help him he had retaliated like that, he must have been really hurt over something in the past. What could have happened to him to twist him so? Although he intimidated her greatly and caused fear to stir in the pit of her stomach, she couldn't help but feel sorry for this demon man. He obviously lacked trust in other people and had done his fair share of bad deeds too, but Jirou had taught her that everyone deserved a second chance, and maybe nobody had given Naraku one before.

He took a bit stride towards her and grabbed her by the front of her kimono only to hold her up above him and shift his grip to around her small neck, which he squeezed. She squinted her eyes shut and struggled in discomfort as she tried to release herself from his grasp, making pathetic attempts of trying to remove his large hand with her smaller ones. His grip tightened, causing her to cough and splutter before opening her eyes again and meeting his angered gaze. She stopped resisting and held onto on his large hand gently. She continued to stare down at him with her familiar, sad eyes - it was as if they were filled with pity for him and contained an element of her fearless attitude towards him. Like that pair he had seen in the past that had looked right through his malicious walls and seen the weak human man he was underneath... and that pair of eyes had accepted that -accepted him. He ignored those distant memories and strangled the child that so resembled her even more than before.

"You don't have to do this." she choked with her telepathic way of communication as she let out a small cough. Naraku looked at her pleading face stained with tears of discomfort and sadness and felt his stomach flip slightly, something it had not done other than when he was with her all those years ago. "I'm sorry if I hurt you by asking you that. It isn't any of my business what happened to you to make you so sad." she whispered as a small portion of blood began to run from her mouth due to Naraku's powerful grip on her neck.

The minute the blood escaped her lips, Naraku let go of her instantly, causing her to fall to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. What had just happened?! Why had he let go of her?! Just because she looked so much like that girl from all those years ago, he was reduced to nothing and released her without even thinking! No, he could not think those thoughts again, he had buried those memories away with Onigumo's human heart.

Hanyuu regained the oxygen she had lost and rose to her feet quickly, she looked at him in pure terror as she backed away slowly. Naraku could see that she was going to make a run for it but was too late as she bolted back down the narrow passageway from which she had came. "Stop!" he blurted out as he reached out his arm and grabbed nothing but air. Great. He had scared her off before he could get any answers from her. Now he would never know why she looked so familiar.

Finally exiting the cave and leaping out into the forest, she ran faster than she ever had before because her life depended on it after all. The other children's remarks and constant bullying was NOTHING compared to this man's actions. He had tried to kill her and she had been lucky to get out of there. But since she was not out of the woods yet and he could still chase after her even with his winds, she continued to run and had no intention of stopping until she reached the human village where Grandpa Jirou would be waiting for her.

Naraku chased after her but stopped at the entrance of the cave and clutched the wounds that had been inflicted by Kikyo that had just re-opened and stood staring ahead in a daze. He had let the little half demon get away so easily, how could he have?! He had learned nothing from her and she was such an enigma! He needed to know who she was and why she was so alike to her.

Hanyuu increased her speed and wiped the blood from her lower lip, she really didn't want the man following her! He was incredibly frightening! Her neck still hurt from his overreaction to her concern, she was only trying to be understanding! Geez people these days were so touchy! Luckily, she arrived back at the village in a matter of minutes, without the demon man following her.

She had never run as quickly as that before in her life... and it felt good. The way that the wind felt on her face, the refreshing smell of the shrubbery entering her nose and the feel of the clean air as she had rode the spring breeze - it made her feel alive.

Returning her thoughts to the man from before, she wondered if his injuries would be okay: both physical and mental. He had obviously suffered some sort of traumatic experience that had scarred him and made him evil and distorted. She wondered just what kind of things he could have gone through to make him so spiteful, something important had definitely taken place. And what would push him to using such violent methods to sort things out? She shook her head and tried to forget him, he was in the past now and she would probably never see him again. Thank goodness! She might just live a little longer if she avoided and forgot all about him! Even though deep down she knew she would never be able to forget his expression that had been so filled with loneliness.

She walked to the hut furthest away from all the others, knocked quietly and entered, this was her home. Inside, sat on the floor against a wooden table snoring was Jirou Higurashi - her adoptive grandpa. Sighing inwardly at his sleepy tendencies, she shook his shoulders gently, she also poked his cheeks lightly and crawled onto his lap.

He awoke with a jump and exclaimed, "Why you silly demons! Come at me! Where are you, where are you?!" He paused as he realized it was only Hanyuu and he laughed heartily, "Oh hello there, Hanyuu. Forgive me, I must have dozed off!"

Hanyuu smiled warmly, Jirou was her only friend and she cared about him deeply, even though it had not been long since they first met. It could not have been longer than a month since he had ever so kindly taken her in and cared for her. She took his hand and squeezed it, wanting to communicate with him via telepathy. "Grandpa?" she asked curiously, "I was wondering.. why did you give me the name: Hanyuu?"

"You mean you don't remember?" he asked as she shook her head slowly, he scratched his head and rubbed his beard, "My memory is worse than yours, yet even I remember it well."

"Tell me!"

He coughed in an attempt to clear his voice before he began his story, "Twas the day after I found you alone in the forest. You were unconscious but I managed to save you and raise you myself. But choosing you a name was rather difficult indeed! I was stuck between Rei and Ayu, I just couldn't decide which was better! But then, YOU gave me a name!"

Hanyuu cocked her head to the side in her bird-like manor, as if she was asking him how she had done so.

"You were seated beside a slab of ink that I was using to write a letter, when you suddenly dipped your finger into it. At first I thought you were going to eat it out of curiosity like most young children would have done, so I was rather alarmed and began to panic! But then you pressed your ink covered finger into the floor and begun to write. When you were finished, the floor read 'Hanyuu'. So that's what I called you." he finished.

Hanyuu was fascinated, she had done something as amazing as that as a very young baby? Wow. But that answer didn't explain where she was from, who gave her the name 'Hanyuu' or who she even was! She would also often wonder what her real parents were like, or if she ever knew them in the first place! She wondered if she took after them, or if she had their appearance's, or if she had their personalities.

Being a half demon in the world today was tough work and growing up as a hybrid was hard, the road ahead would be rough and rocky, but Hanyuu swore that she would always try her best! So she left to catch fish in the nearby river with Jirou for their supper.

Later that night, Hanyuu fell asleep dreaming of her parents and what they were like. The man from before was also in her dreams, and him and her parents were fighting a huge battle over a small defiled looking jewel that supposedly granted wishes.


Sorry it's short again but I am literally too tired to write anymore! I think I fell asleep at least 3 times whilst writing this! I'll see if I have time to do the next chapter tomorrow because I have absolutely PILES of homework all due in for next Monday! :O So I'll be pretty busy but I will try my best to upload as soon as I can. Please leave a review if you enjoyed, thank you for reading ~Happy