S-S: One hundred reviews! YEAH! YAY! WHOOHOO!

Uh... Still don't own InuYasha though. Damn.

There was nothing to be done.

Things in life happened, and there was no way to turn back time and try to fix things. The only way out was forward. Suki felt that it was time to realize this. She could cry all she wanted to, but it wouldn't make Chimaki better, and making Chimaki better was the only thing that Suki really had to do and was the only thing that still tied her to her life. Naraku was gone. He had gone to find Ichida and Kagome, and Suki knew why, or at least a part of her could guess why, but that wasn't important because all it meant to Suki was that Naraku was gone and would stay gone for a long while.

That was good. She needed all the time that she could get- or more accurately perhaps, he needed all the time that he could get.

The doctor was the best in all of Japan, or so they said. Suki had taken great pains to get in contact with him so quickly, perhaps her most notable attempt had been breaking into his house less than an hour ago and threatening to kill him unless he did exactly what she said. But she didn't care about how 'wrong' that was or whatever, if she had wanted a lecture on morality then she would have gone somewhere else. Her way got things done quickly. She had time and she had a hurt sister, therefore she needed a doctor.

Out of all of the few choices she had – being a doctor not the most popular profession in the demonic world – this was a very good doctor to pick. The thin old man, currently hunched over Chimaki's unconscious form, was a walking surgical theater with his x-ray eyes. Because he could see through skin and bone with ease, he was an extremely talented surgeon, and even more fortunately for Suki, not extremely talented at fighting. Hence, easier to threaten and abduct. There was still the faint smell of blood in the room from the operation, and although he had assured her that Chimaki was completely under from drugs and couldn't feel a thing and he was almost finished anyways, Suki was still worried.

"Are you almost done?" she barked, watching cautiously over his shoulder, keeping a very close eye on the shiny and sharp scalpel that he held in his hands.

The doctor – she hadn't bothered to learn a name – twitched as she spoke, "Y-Yes, I just remove the venom, then I need to stitch up the incision and… well then you just need to wait for her to wake up," he replied nervously, his hand reaching into a medical bag to fetch a needle.

Chimaki was lying the bed, her hands pinned to her sides and an IV hooked up to her arm, supplying her blood with a steady flow of some cocktail of medical narcotics and sedatives. Her eyes didn't flicker beneath her eyelids as they would if she were asleep, she was still, completely still and still worried Suki. But Suki's eyes were fixed entirely on the small cut on her sister's stomach. The doctor had said that Chimaki's blood flow had been stopped and that she would gain no serious or lasting injuries from the procedure. But still, it was difficult not to flinch as he pried skin and red flesh open, fishing around in her gut, searching for something tiny and hardly visible.

"Your eyes had better be pin-point accurate in that little x-ray feature of theirs. If you end up breaking that venom sac and killing her, then-" Suki warned, her body shaking.

"Don't worry," he said, "I've almost got the sac out, just- Ah!" his grip firm on the tweezers, he pulled something out of Chimaki's stomach. Something small, red, and covered in blood. Oh, Suki thought vaguely. All that red must be Chimaki's blood. The doctor placed the small object on a clear plastic tray and dropped the tweezers back into his bag.

Suki glanced at the small red thing on the tray before turning her eyes back to her sister, "Is that it?" she asked, "Is that the poison?"

He nodded, beginning to thread a blue plastic thread through a thin metal needle, "That's all of it," he confirmed, carefully stitching up Chimaki's side. He tied off the thread and stepped back, wiping his sweat covered forehead. "There was something strange about her though," he said, perplexed, "There's something sealed inside her, a powerful compression spell, like nothing I've ever seen before."

That damn bastard. It was the sword, how could it not be. Because Naraku just couldn't let Suki fix her sister all the way, he just had to come along right before things could get better and make Chimaki worse again. "Don't mind it. It's nothing," Suki ordered shortly. She didn't want this doctor prying, it would make cleaning up the mess worse than it already would be, "Are you finished?"

"Yes, just give her plenty of rest and don't expect her to wake up for at least a day later. Because she's a demon, the medication should wear off faster than it would on a human, but it should still be enough to keep her under for a while longer," he explained, "And make sure that the cut doesn't get infected, so keep it clean and sterilize it with alcohol." He unhooked the IV and started to pack up his medical bag.

Suki bowed to him, "Thank you."

And she was thankful. Truly and surely she was thankful. Without this stranger's help, she would still be tied to Naraku by the iron thread of her sister's imprisonment. And now, the two of them were free. Thank you Kagome, even if that plan of theirs hadn't worked or had worked, it still had created this little pocket of opportunity when Suki knew that Naraku's concentration would be focused completely on Kagome, and not looking or even noticing what Suki was doing. And she was going to make use of every second.

Crude as it may have been, abducting the surgeon had been the first thing on her list. Now all that there was left to do was clean up, help Chimaki to the car, and run, never looking back, never returning, never letting Naraku get another foothold of influence on either of them, ever again.

"Now are you going to let me go?"

Speaking of clean up… Suki turned to the doctor, her hand already beginning to burn.

Sorry. Just the way it is.

"Well well," Naraku said calmly, observing Tsubaki through thin eyes, wondering what could possibly be going through her head at this moment. He had believed her to be loyal to Suki – a stupid but regrettably powerful girl who was probably sobbing her eyes out over her precious sister who was little more than asleep while her living vassal fought and put their life on the line. Was it perhaps possible, that the Higure had sent the Yozeme to his aid?

No, that thought was foolish. He held no delusions of loyalty from her, there was no doubt that she would only be too happy to see him dead. So then, was the Yozeme acting on her own? Yes, that did seem like the mostly likely of all the possibilities, but why would she arrive to assist him? It didn't make sense.

Tsubaki sunk into a bow, "My apologies for being so late, Naraku-sama. I had intended to arrive here earlier, but I had to find where the Kyoushin had gone beforehand." Her voice was sincere, and there was naught but the cold he expected to hear from her, no hints of deception or lies.

"And why are you here?" he asked, his tone icy, "Did the Higure girl send you? She should know that I do not require her assistance."

Tsubaki raised her head, looking him in the eyes with an honesty that Naraku had not expected, "I came of my own free will. When Ichida informed me of her betrayal, she asked also that I find and kill you. I did not."

What was this? The Kyoushin had planned to take him out even after she left? Or was this all a carefully fabricated lie? And yet, it did not seem so. These three demons worked together with the pretense of friendship, nothing more than a slightly more valued form of comrades, and yet Naraku knew that deep down, while he knew that Suki's weakness was her sister, her also knew that the other two were not attached to the sick child. Of course, a ninja like the Yozeme girl would have no such delusions of this 'bond' that they spoke of. But both were weaker by far than the Higure girl, and they must know this. Had the Yozeme simply been waiting for the right time to break away, when the Higure girl had been too distracted by the other betray to properly retaliate?

"Why did you turn down such a promising business deal?" Naraku inquired snidely. He held all the cards here, no matter what she might think. And it was going to be him who discovered exactly what she was thinking, even if she thought she could keep her thoughts closed. No one held secrets from Naraku. He practically owned secrets.

"Because I don't want anything to do with those three anymore," Tsubaki replied, mildly surprising him once again, "Ichida made her choice recently, and Suki made hers long ago. I am perfectly willing to betray them and help you. For a price of course."

Now things were beginning to make sense. There was something that she desired. Of course there was a cost, that was how her people worked. Ninja were hired to do dirty jobs so long as they got paid. Why had he thought that it would be any different with this child? Now the only question that was left was the simple matter of her asking price. "I see. You had a deal in already mind when you decided that it would be a good time to turn on your companions."

"Yes," Tsubaki confirmed, "My price is simple. The shards of the Fuyoheki. When this is over and done, I want to keep mine. Up until the time when you decide that you no longer need my help, I will work for you. So long as I get that shard."

Naraku let his eyes glaze over her while he thought. "And why would you desire the Fuyoheki?" he inquired.

Tsubaki replied simply, "As a weapon. In my profession, I do require the element of surprise, and unfortunately, some targets are extremely talented at sensing demonic auras or scents. There would be nothing more uniquely useful to me than an object which could rid me of those two hindrances."

He had to admit, he had not thought of using the Fuyoheki for any purpose besides hiding. Perhaps it was good to get new ideas, even if they did come from the mouth of the enemy. "And that would be the only thing that you ask me for?" he went over, smoothing out the details of this most promising deal.

She nodded, "That, and I don't want to be constantly at your beck and call after this is over. I will go my own way, and will make you a different offer at a different time if the situation calls for it. I just want the Fuyoheki."

"You've planned this perfectly, haven't you?" Naraku asked, as if mocking her, "The deal, your timing, even your dramatic appearance – you've been meaning to make a break for a while now, no? And let me guess, the little stint that the Kyoushin provided was the perfect opportunity for you to make your leave without that Higure following after you. Aren't you clever." That had been neither a question, nor a comment, "All right then. We have a deal."

Tsubaki bowed again, and then held out her hand, "We have a deal."

Naraku slowly touched the palm of her hand, as if to shake on it. He smirked, "Now, I won't have you running off on me like your friend."

That was who he was. He learned from his mistakes. And that old crocodile demon in the outback and left him with more than just that powerful sword, no there had been one other ability that Naraku had sought as a prize. He grasped Tsubaki's hand tightly and yanked her up to face him straight on, staring into her eyes.

Hypnosis.

Her shocked eyes flickered and blanked out until they were dull of life. What a perfect ability.

Naraku let her go, "Don't worry. I'll fulfill my part of the deal. Call this collateral."

But it didn't really make any difference, those words. Tsubaki wasn't conscious enough to hear or understand anything but orders.

"It's horrible timing, I know. But I didn't know until just a few days ago, and it's only been three and a half months, way before this whole mess with Naraku, so it's not like I've been avoiding telling you, really," Kagura twisted her gold wedding band around her finger, a particular nervous habit that she had had for far too long but she could never seem to drop. She just kept twisting her ring round and round as she talked. "I'm not sure, is it a good thing or… a bad thing... or just something…?" she asked, her voice more twitchy than normal. She knew that her voice sounded off, but there was simply nothing that she could or would do to correct it, and just let the twitchy nervous tone slide because she was too focused on other and more important matters.

"A good thing, Kagura. Of course this is a good thing," Sesshomaru replied, his voice reassuring.

Kagura sighed and smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder and allowing herself these precious moments of relaxation and contentment. Times like these reminded her why she had gotten married in the first place. After Naraku had been vanished, Kagura had drifted, seeing the world from the view of one who wasn't attached to it and didn't care about the people in it. It took her a long time to realize that her desired freedom hadn't been the life of a wanderer, and that realization had occurred at around the same time that she happened to run into Sesshomaru. He kept her grounded, focused, not drifting, and how could she not love him?

BANG!

The front door was slammed open furiously and then slammed back shut as three people staggered inside.

InuYasha looked furious, about ready to kill someone right then and there with his bare hands if he had to. Leaning against him was a shocked Kagome, the girl shaken and disoriented. Then there was the third person, a girl with messy orange hair and green eyes, her hands covered in red and orange fur with sharp claws. That must be Kyoushin Ichida, the girl who worked with the Higure.

Kagura caught sight of the vicious slash on Ichida's face and hurried to the freezer to grab an ice pack. What the hell had happened? Kagome explained that plan of hers and it had sounded simple, yes a little room for complications, but they looked as though Naraku himself had shown up, InuYasha especially. She pressed the cold pack into Ichida's hands, who gave her a faint and half-hearted smile before pressing the ice welcomingly against her face.

"What happened?" Sesshomaru demanded, calm as usual, but there was stress in there as well, stress and even a little bit of fear.

InuYasha glared at the floor and helped Kagome sit down on a nearby chair before he said anything, "It was Naraku," he hissed, "The damn bastard showed up!" The waves of anger rolled off of him in tangible sheets of hate, making Ichida shudder and flinch away. "Kagome has the jewel, and he's… he's going after it again.

Oh no. Naraku. He was back.

The nightmare had returned.

Kagura's worst nightmare, the one that would lock her in the worst sort of fear, not the kind where she screamed before she woke up, but the kind that froze her as she slept on. Naraku was definitely back, and he was after the jewel. The jewel. Which happened to be right across the room from Kagura, and she knew that Naraku would have absolutely no qualms with killing her as well before moving on. He might even go a bit out of his way to kill her. She doubted that Naraku was exactly pleased about her betraying him.

It just couldn't be possible, he just couldn't be back. "No…" she gasped, stumbling backwards away from InuYasha as if distancing herself from the truth might make it any less real. "Naraku can't be… back…"

InuYasha seethed, "It's real alright. He's back, and he's going to keep coming after the jewel, just like what that bastard did before-" he glanced up at Kagura and even he knew that the fear on her face wasn't normal, "Kagura? What's up?" he looked from his brother and back to her, as if trying to see the answer on their faces.

Naraku was back. He just couldn't be, not now, not off all the times to return, he just had to return now, because "I'm pregnant."