KYAAAA!!! ::rolls over:: STEL! THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!!

Sorry everyone. I just had to get that over with. Since I only GOT two reviews last chapter... ::shakes angry fist:: I'm... ::takes deep breath:: Not going to reply to my reviewers. I'm sorry Stelmaria and Tokichic, but I do thank you two more than usual for not bailing out on reviews u.u Reviews are what I write by people, the more people that review, the more/better writing you get! I have more motivation that way. Note how it took me so long to get this chapter up ;

In short, review. I'm a review whore. ;

On with the chapter...

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The group was stopped along a stream, resting after a short battle with a demon. Inu-Yasha looked over to Kenshin, who'd actually done a pretty good job fighting with them, but still he hadn't turned his blade, so the demon had never ceased it's attacks on them. The inu hanyou was thankful though—Kenshin had protected Kagome when he himself hadn't been able to. 'I guess I should thank him... and...' inwardly he snorted; apologizing wasn't suited at all to a stubborn demon like him. Really, he wished that the rurouni would take the blame and apologize, even though it hadn't been his fault.

"You did a great job fighting back there rurouni. I'm impressed," Himura turned to him and smiled, but Inu-Yasha could see it was pretty much faked.

"That being, Naraku," he started to speak but stopped. Inu-Yasha verbally pushed him along, wanting to hear something from the point of view of someone that had been controlled by Naraku. "It must be admitted that he is the most evil being this one has ever seen, ever had the ill-fated luck to cross paths with."

"You see now?"

Violet eyes examined Inu-Yasha, and the inu hanyou found now that his gaze was deeper, much more discerning than it had been before. Now, more than when they were fighting, it scared him; now that he had his mind back, Inu-Yasha knew that this rurouni was a true warrior. "This one doesn't know what he was to see."

The demon's glare sharpened. "That Naraku should die. He should die for killing and controlling and creating wars in this world," Himura nodded slightly, closing his eyes and pondering.

"Human and demon... they are just a different race. Is that not true?" Inu-Yasha nodded, unable to see where the other was going with this. "Then why do they feel the need to fight?"

"Feh," the hanyou snorted, knowing the answer to this all too well. "Demons hate the humans for destroying the forests and cluttering the seas, humans hate that which they fear; that's where the war starts."

Once again, the rurouni nodded placidly. "And then... how is one such as yourself born?"

The shock from the question showed visibly in the change of the hanyou's expression. "I..." he sat down, his ears flattening against his head. "How do you expect me to know?" he spat. "No one—human nor demon would ever give me the time of day to explain it."

"Kagome and your friends?"

"No one who understands!" the hanyou shot back, ears flattening against his skull in anger now. Not at the rurouni, no, this anger was directed to those who'd shunned him all his life, including Kikyou, the one he'd loved.

"Fine, fine. This one understands your discomfort. He was just, however, trying to make a point," Inu-Yasha nodded, knowing that no one could ever understand him, and that he had to accept that. "Fighting doesn't bring forth peace. This one cannot kill ever again—that promise was made for a reason. This one truly wants what's best for the world. Peace and protection for all who deserve it, and all who don't."

Inu-Yasha scoffed. "So basically what you're telling me is that you still don't believe Naraku should be killed, even after experiencing what he does?"

"That is exactly what this one is implying. He can only apologize for this, and hope that one day perhaps you'll see that peace is what should be treasured above all."

The hanyou sighed. It had been worth a try to get him to see what Naraku really was, but it would have to come with time. "I see where you stand, but you just don't get it," he got up abruptly and nodded. "You did a good job today, and... by the way, sorry about before. It'd be good if," he paused, looking over his shoulder at Sango, Miroku, Kagome and Shippo, all talking and enjoying themselves more than they should be able to. "If the others didn't know about what really happened. I'm not all that happy with myself, and trust me, I regret it."

Himura watched as the hanyou walked back over to the others. "You are forgiven," came the reply, and a smile tugged at the demon's mouth, his sensitive ears picking up the answer perfectly. He mumbled his thanks, knowing the rurouni couldn't hear him, but that he'd understand whether it was said or not.

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"Pity that such a great ally was lost, isn't it Kagura?" Naraku sat on the floor of his current mirage castle fiddling with a golem he'd need for his next try at the rest of the Shikon Jewel shards that lay with the Inu-Yasha cohort. "So easy to control him as if I was a general from his past."

"Not to mention that the power of the shard caused him to go insane. Such brilliance," Kagura smirked, but inside she growled vehemently. If she didn't have to stick to Naraku's plans, and if she could just work on her own... those fools would be dead right now and Naraku could get on with his search. "Why though, Lord, do you choose to keep them alive? Out of the many times they could have been killed."

The addressed fiend looked up with no sign of emotion on his face, for as far as he was concerned, once a demon showed emotion, they were defeatable. "Dear Kagura..." he shook his head. "Such naïveté does not become you. You know that they will grow stronger than you, and then the shards that you cannot obtain will be obtained for me. Those fools don't use the shards, so of course, when it comes down to the end, we will finish them. All of us."

The wind puppeteer glared, nodding. 'We are just distractions, though, aren't we Lord?' she wanted to snap back. 'You don't care for our being here! All you care about is that you survive and that we will surely die. I will escape you then though... then you will see my prowess at its fullest, when I don't have to listen to you.' "Of course, Lord. How could I have missed that?" she crooned instead, rising from her place and walking through the shoji into the hall. "I'm sure your next plan will be 'brilliant' also," she scoffed sarcastically to the empty hallway once she was out of Naraku's hearing range. "They always seem to be."

Naraku scowled. The enmity that Kagura felt was obvious to him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before his foolish incarnation rose up against him, but she'd never get the chance. It seemed to be much better to create monsters without minds... not like that Kagura. 'That woman has a mind of her own... and that will be her downfall,' he smirked. He knew what Kagura thought. It was not as if he could read her mind, but he indeed could feel the anger inside that he knew was directed at himself. No matter though. He was sending Kagura on this next mission with Kana, and if she returned a failure, he would simply dispose of her.

Naraku sat, the golem completed in his hands. Tying a string to the neck of the golem, he smirked. It would be a simple matter to find another human that would serve him well. With Kana and her soul mirror already at the only dojo in the next town Inu-tachi was stopping at, it would be a simple matter of supervision while the group was slaughtered. The jewel was nearing completion, and he was starting to lose patience with his minions. If he didn't get the jewel soon... there was no telling what he'd do.

"Kagura," he called with just a slightly raised voice from a form of him that now roamed the hall. "You shall get your wish. Get in position around the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu Kenjutsu Dojo. I have a feeling that is where the group will be spending the night," Kagura nodded without question as the figure before her disappeared to the said location. 'Perhaps he is not such a fool...' she mused, before summoning a cloud and flying to the town that wasn't more than ten miles away.

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Authors Note: The story at the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu Kenjutsu Dojo has been changed. Yahiko and Sanosuke are already there. Sorry for change it, but without Kenshin there, Yahiko's past had to be changed, because I'm not going to repeat the whole first volume of the manga. And same goes for Sanosuke. To see a back story/history for the two (Sano and Yahiko) go to the end of the story. Thanks for reading.

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"C'mon ugly, let's get going!!"

"I thought I told you not to call me that!" Karou screamed, looking at the small boy that stood before her – Yahiko. He'd been bothering her all morning for since the previous night, this boy was her student. "We'll start when I say to, I've got chores to do."

"Come on Karou, the boy just wants to learn."

"And YOU," the girl turned and pointed an accusing finger at the one who'd saved her dojo. "Freeloader! I see you 'selling' fights on the street one day and recognize you, and now you've been living here and not doing a damned thing!" he shrugged, chewing on the bones of a fish he ate earlier.

Yahiko picked up a shinai and whacked Karou over the head. "Let's go!" Soon the boy found himself tied up in a corner as Karou left the room to get her shopping list. "Hey! Ugly! No fair!!!" he wailed, fighting the makeshift binds. By the time her got himself out, she'd already went down to the village to get some food.

The child fumed, picking his shinai up once more and whacking Sano this time. "I thought you were on my side! You let her go?!"

Once again Sanosuke just shrugged. "If I don't let her go I don't get to eat. I'm not going to go down to some inn and pay for a meal, and leaving without paying could get me in trouble," Yahiko sighed at this retort. This guy really was a freeloader, as bad as they could get.

Giving up, Yahiko replaced his practice sword on the wall and headed outside. He never made it though. A heavy 'thud' was heard as Yahiko hit the ground, and by the time Sano got to him, it was far too late. A glimpse of all white was all that was seen before the fight merchant found himself completely dead to the world. Kana simply stared at both the bodies, then to the setting sun. "Three..." she muttered. It seemed that one of her targets was missing...

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R&R!!

Japanese Terms:

shinai – I think that's how it's spelled. It's simply a practice sword. A sword used for training.

Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu Kenjutsu Dojo – Karou Kamiya's Dojo. I'll probably drop the "Kasshin-Ryu" at times, because that's a really long name.

Dojo – Like a training school for the arts of war/battle. Martial arts sometimes, but in this case Kenjutsu, or sword arts.

Starting a new string of plot, and I think the story's starting to draw to a close. Oh dear. I'm not quite sure to do with the jewel. There's still a piece or two out there, but basically if Naraku doesn't fail (which is VERY unlikely) then he'll have almost all of it. O.o but if inu gets it, I have to end the story completely. u.u Oh well. As promised, here are the two (however brief) histories of Sano and Yahiko-chan.

Sano:

Formally (?) a fight merchant, Sanosuke came to the town in search of someone who claimed to be the legendary Hitokiri Battousai (ref, the first vol. Of Rurouni Kenshin). Unfortunately for him, the person was just an imposter, and they were promptly sent to jail for the murders of three citizens. Karou went to thank him before he left, and invited him to stay for helping defend her family's name. ((This was Kenshin's doing in the manga, for those who don't know. I just thought it worked.. okay?))

? We still aren't sure if he's still buying fights even though he inhabits the Dojo now.

Yahiko:

Karou found Yahiko working in the back of one of her friend's restaurants only a few days before he moved into the Dojo as a student. The manager of the restaurant doesn't know how he got to where he is, but he is determined to fight just as well as any samurai. The only thing Karou has learned of him is that he is very determined and wishes to be like his father—who was a samurai as well.