Hello! I'm in a good mood today. Somehow. Has anyone ever watched Gunslinger Girl? T'was awesome…

Box Queen: Really? Yay! Someone would let me kill dear Inu! Though he's not always a buffoon… Just a lot of the time. I've never actually gotten threatened really…not like "post the next chapter or I'll kill everyone you know!". Of course, if I did, it'd be a little freaky…o.o

Miko-Day-dreamer-3173-: I like the name! It's just long…and I'm lazy. I'm glad that Kagome doesn't seem ooc… I swear, I'm paranoid about that…

o.o scary….

Child of the Ashes: I'm glad you liked it! Along with it being a filler chapter…sort of, I actually gave a point of view to someone different than Kagome, Inuyasha, or Naraku. I like filler episodes too, but I don't think I've really seen them much in fanfiction stories…or if I have I can't remember…

Disclaimer: …I'm running out of witty ways to say Inuyasha doesn't belong to me….


It was the first time in weeks she was actually able to get some time alone…Sango followed her to the hot springs, Inuyasha followed her whenever she went to the well to see its progress in being rebuilt, Shippo always went with her went she searched for herbs in the forest… And Miroku was constantly trying to help her with her miko powers. As much as she loved them all, trying to spend equal time with all of them was tiring…

But she had managed to finally slip away long enough to breathe in the fresh, crisp air, and lean against a thick old tree without the feeling of eyes watching her.

It was refreshing…to simply have some time alone to herself.

And so, as her friends began to relax as the appearances of Naraku came less and less, she was able to slip away more easily each time, and take five or ten minutes to simply rest in the cool shade of the trees.

She knew it was dangerous to slip away from the safety of her friends, if only to experience a few minutes of freedom, but she couldn't help it. And Naraku hadn't shown up for a long time now, and she was able to easily destroy any other demons that may appear…

But, of course, she knew it was only a matter of time until either Naraku showed up and her friends were once again on high alert…or her friends realized that she was vanishing for steadily growing amounts of time.

So she wasn't altogether surprised when one of those two happened…though it was, preferably, the easier one to deal with.

When that dark haired jerk reached for her, her name sprouting on his lips in a greeting, in a flash of pure miko power…or possibly just anger, his arm simply vanished in a burst of brilliant purple flames, earning her only a glimpse of an armless Naraku before the appendage simply grew back in the place of the quickly severed one.

"Aren't you happy to see me, Kagome?"

A step back and a strung arrow pointed directly at his heart should have given him an answer…though she decided to enlighten him anyway.

"Stay away from me…"

Okay…that wasn't quite what she wanted to say…though it did seem to work just as well. And by that, she meant that it had gotten him to pause for a grand total of three seconds before he continued walking towards her.

"The well is being rebuilt, and Inuyasha was fine. Holding a grudge is rather useless, isn't it Kagome?"

With a wicked sense of satisfaction, she watched him just barely avoid the arrow shot at almost point blank range, the stream of purification energy left behind just barely scorching his sleeve.

"You threatened Inuyasha's life…and no one will ever be safe with you around. You're going to die Naraku, even if it takes my life as well."


She was bluffing. He knew she was bluffing. There was no way dear little Kagome could actually kill the very thing that kept her here. Without him, their little group of friends wouldn't exist, Kikyou would be with Inuyasha, and she would be thrown back into that little well of hers.

So, with a smug smirk, he paused long enough to spread his arms out until he was simply a target, eyes daring her to shoot him. Except…he realized too late that Kagome possibly didn't realize that he was the only thing standing between her, and returning to her old, boring life. The one without Inuyasha, or her real friends, or the Feudal Era.

This time, he wasn't able to dodge the arrow she shot at him…at least not completely. It wasn't just his arm that was destroyed…it was the entire right half of his body. And that could be healed in a matter of moments of course, but the problem was, Kagome wasn't going to give him a matter of moments.

With a speed that rivaled Kikyou's, an arrow was on the string and stretched backwards, pausing only long enough to pull it all the way back until even without the miko power it would definitely hurt.

Only a few moments until his body healed enough for him to be able to dodge any attack of hers…and only half a second until she would loose the arrow and destroy him.

In a swift blur of motion he attacked, a movement so fast he doubted that Kagome even realized she had been attacked until she tried to loose her deadly arrow…and her bow fell apart, sliced into four equal pieces.

"W-what happened!"

Naraku flexed his newly made arm, testing it to make sure all the muscles and bones were properly working. And it's strength…

He had underestimated the assumedly sweet Kagome. That wouldn't happen again…ever. And he would make sure of that.

"Weapons are a nuisance. You shouldn't need them. Besides, I didn't come here to fight, I came here to… warn you, Kagome."

All her courage, and heroic words seemed to vanish on the wind, along with the sliced pieces of her bow. He was right…again…she shouldn't need weapons to focus her miko powers…but she did. And without a weapon…she couldn't really kill him, now could she?

Taking her silence as a cue to continue, or simply continuing with or without her approval, his words rushed out with false warmth and worry, just the right amount of traces of concern laced among them.

"Your friends will turn against you Kagome…Be sure to watch them carefully."

She simply glared in return, biting down fiercely on her tongue to stop the angry words from slipping out. Her friends weren't the ones who had slaughtered millions of people! Her friends didn't toy with innocent lives like puppet masters! Her friends were the ones trying to protect her, and the only one she should be wary of was the man in front of her.

"I trust my friends more than I trust you at least!"

…dang…one of them slipped out…

Though that didn't seem to bother him much either way. He didn't even bother to answer her! He simply looked smugly at her, turned, and began walking away. Walking! That jerk didn't even need to walk! He could just vanish at will. He was doing it purposely to annoy her!

And it really was annoying her…in fact, everything about the once hanyou annoyed her…even when she purified half of his body, only moments later he had the nerve to turn his back on her!

"…I will kill you Naraku! No matter what it takes, I'm not going to stop until you're dead!"

He paused, a slow, wicked smile curving his lips. This was the smile that Kagura had come to fear above all else, but it was more than just that…because now, he had the advantage.

"…Of course you will Kagome."

The tone in his voice…she stepped forwards, yanking an arrow out of the quiver on her back, despite not having a bow. She fully intended to stab him to death at this moment and would have too…if it hadn't been for the scream.


It was a piercing scream, one that echoed from neither her lungs, and definitely not from Naraku. And it wasn't the fact that it sent chills down her spine to listen to it, or the fact that it seemed to come from the village. No…what scared her was…she knew that scream, and she'd never, ever heard the owner sound that much in pain.

"Inu…yasha?"


Hmm…It seems…short. But, it also seems like it's time to finally upload another chapter. Honestly, at this rate it's gonna be 32 Chapters long before I finally end it… And why did I only get three reviews? Aw well…better than nothing.