Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha or related characters they belong to the respective owners. OC's are mine.

Chapter Thirty Six:

After the Attack Inuyasha's group…

The female Inuyokai watched her brother leave with Sesshomaru then turned to the humans, "Sango…you'll brace Inuyasha on my back, Kirara can carry the rest of you."

Miroku frowned, "Excuse me my lady, but wouldn't it be more appropriate for me to carry Inuyasha?"

The female Inuyokai sneered, "Of course monk, though I've never heard of a monk who could fly."

Miroku frowned, "Fly?"

Sango shook her head as she explained, "The Lord of the West has nine siblings. She is the youngest…yet she's still very ancient and very wise. She like all her kind has the ability to take on her true Inuyokai form. Ordering me to brace Inuyasha on her back is firstly because she would never trust a monk or miko enough to allow them…secondly Inu aren't designed to be ridden. Without someone holding him he'll fall off."

The female nodded at the exterminator then transformed. She waited as Sango jumped onto her back then as Inuyasha was carefully lifted up. The Inuyokai took to the sky, and was aware of the cat yokai fallowing closely behind with her cargo. As they approached the village Kirara pushed ahead, so her passengers could warn Kaede of the coming Inuyokai.

An hour later after Inuyasha had been made comfortable and his bandages changed, the female Inuyokai left the hut to speak with his companions, "The old miko will sit with him for now…she is well skilled in the healing arts."

Kagome turned to the hut, "Will he be okay?"

The female Inuyokai nodded, "My nephew has always been a resilient pup…though I've not seen him this badly wounded in many years…not since that time…"

The humans and Kitsune noticed the Inuyokai trial of. She soon walked to the edge of the forest, which Sango explained as her desire to not remain within a human settlement for long. Kagome entered the hut to find Kaede tending the fire, and Inuyasha lying on a sleeping mat at the back of the hut. Kirara sat in her small form protectively next to the hanyo.

Kagome smiled to the cat yokai, "Aren't you a good little protector?"

Kirara mewed then rubbed against Kagome's leg. Kagome looked over her shoulder when she heard Kaede give a humorless chuckle, "I'm surprised child…never have I known anyone to so readily befriend yokai. First you somehow tamed Inuyasha, then you've got a child Kitsune and a cat yokai following you around. You may be my sister's reincarnation…but you are definitely not she…and truthfully I believe that is a good think. Perhaps with your new allies you will succeed at your quest."

Kagome smiled, "Kaede…where I come from I've never seen a yokai in fact they're believed to only be myths and legends. Stories our grandparents tell us to scare us as little children...What do you think happened to them all?"

Kaede huffed, "Then apparently all the good stories have been lost to the ages in your time…that or the yokai have made people forget. You must know child humans are conceited to believe the yokai need us to exist. They existed in these lands long before our ancestors came to these shores…and no doubt they still exist in your time. You must know that yokai are extremely crafty…no doubt they've learned to hide in plain sight. Also, if you are from the future…the Inuyokai will have recognized your scent the moment you were born. They have most likely order all yokai who knew you in this era to not speak with you…otherwise it could have unforeseen consequences."

Kagome sat next to Inuyasha's sleeping form, and Kirara climbed in her lap, settled down, and began to pur as Kagome petted between her ears.

As the sun began to set Sango, Shippo and Miroku entered the hut and sat around the fire. Miroku spoke up after several minutes of silence, "So what is the story between Inuyasha and this Lord Sesshomaru…I wouldn't think even yokai would stoop so low as attacking their own brother."

Sango bowed her head sadly, "Actually, since Inuyasha is only half yokai…he's lucky he's half Inuyokai. The way their tribe is made up, even half breeds are considered pack. At least the three I know of are."

Miroku frowned, "There are three hanyo?"

Sango nodded, "Well…three living ones I know of. There were two more but they died a very long time ago…I only know of them because they were distant relatives to my family." Sango decided to leave out the bit that they were also her previous incarnation's children, "The ones I know best are Inuyasha and his sister Airi…I met Airi when I was pretty young. Actually she saved me and my little brother when we fell in a river near our village." Sango frowned as she thought of the other, "I believe the other is Inuyasha's cousin…and if I remember right she's the daughter to the Inuyokai who brought us back here…I think her name is Moko, but I might be wrong. Supposedly she lives in a manor with her mate and grandfather…and rarely comes down from there except to report to her uncle, Inuyasha's father."

Kagome nodded, "I met Airi and Moko just after I arrived here…"

Sango grinned, "Airi told me when she delivered my orders."

Kagome frowned, "Why'd she deliver your orders?"

Sango bowed her head again, "First Teacher…we try not to cross paths too often anymore. He's a yokai, so it's natural for him to lose interest in teaching any single student pretty quickly. I think my little brother started training with him, just after all the other exterminators were sent out to track down jewel shards."

Kagome was surprised by that, "How are they going to search for shards? Can they see them?"

Sango shook her head, "No, but any yokai with a shard is going to be rampaging around…and any humans with them will be magnets for lesser and average yokai…most daiyokai aren't even going to bother with the jewel shards."

Miroku became thoughtful, "Why are the exterminators so focused on gathering shards…and I find it kind of ironic that exterminators take their orders from yokai."

Sango huffed, "We don't serve yokai all the time…it just tradition. Without First Teacher, there would be no exterminators…we would have died out right after the creation of the Jewel of Four Souls."

Miroku looked confused, "What does this First Teacher, the Jewel of Four Souls, and your village; have to do with each other?"

Sango closed her eyes and centered herself, to prevent losing her temper, "First Teacher wasn't always called that…long ago he was actually a yokai feared across the lands for his ruthlessness. There was a miko in my village named Midoriko…as the legend goes she found him wounded after some grand battle and nursed him back to health. In return for saving his life he swore a life debt to her."

Kagome shivered, and they all turned as they heard a new voice, "It was not a great battle…" Inuyasha's aunt stood in the doorway, she turned to Kagome, "…Sango's people have never heard the full story. Only what has been passed down from those days."

The female Inuyokai moved over to Inuyasha and began checking his wounds, "Please continue Sango…whatever you know after that is more than I know."

Sango swallowed then continued, "Anyways…Midoriko brought him to our village. They left often to deal with troublesome yokai, and from what our histories say they actually cared for one another as more or less favored comrades. Yet, something happened and there is a large blank in our histories around the time Midoriko created the Jewel, and our village's population dropped to about thirty people."

Miroku shook his head, "Something caused a massive loss in life…must have been some catastrophe."

Sango nodded, "Anyway after that First Teacher guided the surviving villagers…and bolstered our numbers."

Kagome frowned confused, "Bolstered? How?"

Sango bowed her head, "By abducting children and bringing them back to the village."

Miroku and Kagome were shocked, Kaede just shrugged, and Shippo was confused, "Why would he do that?"

Sango huffed, "Thirty people, most of who were just children, wouldn't last long during a fight with strong yokai. I know it was a horrible practice…and it died out a long time ago, but back then it was a necessity. There were of course rules…he enforced them after some of the exterminators began bringing in new kids. The first was the children had to be either orphans or unwanted. Also the child had to come willingly. Finale, no child was even offered the chance to come, unless he'd examined that they were worthy."

Kaede chuckled from the fire, "There is an old story my sister used to tell the children of the village. The story went that if a young child wanders into the forest on the night of the full moon…they would do well to avoid the stranger with silver white hair that will lead them away."

Miroku nodded, "I remember hearing stories like that from my guardian…though he said it was some horrible monstrosity."

The female Inuyokai huffed from the other side of the room, "Such a very detestable description of my dear brother…you may wish to warn this guardian of yours that he should not spread such rumors of beings much older and wiser than himself. Including if said beings could crush him like a bug."

Miroku bowed his head nervously, "Of course my lady…no doubt my mentor was taught a version of the story that had been very twisted over the many, many years."

This line of conversation ended when Kagome dropped something on the floor and covered her mouth. The female Inuyokai frowned as Shippo scampered over and picked up the leather bound miniature book, "What's this Kagome?"

The Inuyokai easily took the strange item from the Kitsune and examined the page. It had the name of the current month, a large number and the rest of the page was divided by lines that were labeled by numbers that ran from one to twelve then repeated. At the top of the page was a small circle that was shaded black. The Inuyokai flipped a few pages forward and back noting how the shading of the circle changed.

The Inuyokai affixed the young miko with a hard gaze, "Does this circle mean what I think it does?"

Kagome nodded, "Before I went back to my world the last time, I figured out the exact year that we're in now. I went on the internet…that's like a huge archive of information…and figured out what the moon cycle was for this year. That date book is a few years old, but it's the closest one for matching the right days for the lunar cycle."

Sango frowned, "What's wrong?"

The Inuyokai turned to Sango, "Go look at the moon…estimate how many days till the new moon."

Sango left and Kagome took back the date book. Kagome flipped back three pages, "This is today…we should have five days till then, but will he be fully healed by then."

The female Inuyokai bowed her head, "My sister is a master healer, but depending on how long it takes for her to reach this place…Inuyasha is also not healing as quickly as he should, most likely due to Sesshomaru's poison."

As Sango entered Miroku spoke up, "Why are you so worried about the new moon?"

Shippo bonked him on the head, "You idiot!"

Kagome frowned, "Calm down Shippo, they don't know."

Kaede bowed her head as she explained, "Hanyos are both human and yokai, but once every month they lose all their yokai powers and are rendered human. During the year Inuyasha spent in this village before Kikyo sealed him he would hide within this hut on those nights." Kaede turned to the door, "Unbeknownst to either him or Kikyo, Lord Sesshomaru would place a barrier around this hut after they'd both fallen asleep. I doubt the young lord knew I had observed, but I'd always found it intriguing that Inuyasha was always nervous when he caught his brother's scent…yet his brother was protecting him during his weakest time."

Miroku to a thoughtful expression and rubbed his chin, "So the new moon is Inuyasha's human night…perhaps we should take a page from Lord Sesshomaru's book and set up protective wards around the hut…just in case anything hostile tries to take advantage."

Kaede frowned, "I doubt Lord Sesshomaru will attempt to attack again…after what our Lady here said in regards to the parasite that had afflicted him, I doubt he'll be desiring another attempt now that it is gone."

Miroku shook his head, "It is not Lord Sesshomaru I'm concerned with…now that I've learned that Inuyasha is indeed the hanyo from the stories...I'm sure Naraku will make his presence known."

Kaede narrowed her eyes, "And who is this Naraku…I've never heard of any such being."

Kagome relayed the story of Naraku, and how he was responsible for what happened between Inuyasha and Kikyo all those years earlier. After she finished all the humans in the hut noticed an ominous feeling rising from within the hut, they turned to see the female Inuyokai's aura was visible with rage, "This Naraku will suffer for his crimes."

Kaede turned to the young monk, "Does this Naraku have any identifying marks?"

Miroku nodded, "From my grandfather's notes I learned that he had a spider shaped burn scar on his back. Besides that he seems to be able to assume any form he wishes."

Kaede frowned, "No…it's not possible is it?"

Kagome turned to the elder miko, "Did you think of something?"

Kaede nodded, "I believe I know the identity of this Naraku…shortly after Inuyasha and the Jewel arrived in this village my sister and I discovered a badly burned man. We tended to him for some time, and I noticed he'd become infatuated with my sister. I had forgotten about the man during the time immediately after my sister's death, but when I went back to check on him, I found he was gone. Where he'd been laying was a spider shaped scorch mark on the cave floor."

Miroku nodded, "That may be him…what was this man's name?"

Kaede thought back for a minute then nodded to herself, "His name was Onigumo…and it wasn't until after he vanished that I learned he was once a member of a ruthless band of bandits that terrorized this region."

"Feh…" Inuyasha winced as he began waking up, "…Ahhhh"

The female Inuyokai moved quickly to restrain Inuyasha, "Pup! Stop moving or you'll just open your wounds again!"

"Eh…what hap…Sesshomaru…gah!" Inyasha began fighting against his aunt. Which was pretty much futile considering her power outclassed even Sesshomaru's own.

Kagome moved and placed a hand on the hanyo's chest, "Inuyasha! Please stop…your hurt, and if you don't stop you'll just aggravate your injuries."

Miroku stood up, "Should I get a restraint sutra?"

Sango shook her head, "That would be bad…if you restrain his yokai half, it may stop his healing."

Shippo winced as the scent of iron hit his nostrils, "He's bleeding again!"

The female Inuyokai growled, "I know kit…Sango grab some of your knockout powder and used it on him, a very small dose."

Sango nodded then grabbed the pouch from her gear and sprinkled some of the powder into Inuyasha's nose. After several minutes he calmed down and returned to sleeping. They then went about changing bandages and burning the old ones to destroy the scent of blood.

Two days later…

The female Inuyokai waited outside the hut as she watched her elder sister appear in the form of a ball of yokai light. The elder sister smiled sadly to the younger, "How is the pup?"

The younger sister bowed, "We've been forced to keep him drugged with exterminator sleeping powder…not an ideal treatment, but he keeps reopening his wounds if we don't."

The elder sister nodded, "Inuyasha has always been a difficult patient. When he is awake what amount of pain is he in?"

The younger shook her head, "There have only been three times he's been awake, and each was not pleasant. Any movement, and I'm surprised eldest brother hasn't shown up."

The elder frowned sadly, "Eldest brother will be here soon…he couldn't get away immediately, but after we heard the screams two nights ago. I encountered third brother in route to the palace, he had left Sesshomaru somewhere to rest, and was going to take Coyote to him."

The younger nodded, "How angry is eldest brother?"

"The entirety of the palace mountain trembled with his rage…it was a true testament to brother's power." The elder sister then moved to enter the hut, "Sister…do not fear punishment…but fear for our nephew. In three nights he will be human…if he's not healed enough by then?"

The question was left hanging as the elder sister entered the hut. The younger bowed her head then turned to watch the western skies, expecting the massive form of her brother to soon appear.

Inside the hut the elder sister smiled as she watched Kagome helping the hanyo to drink. She made her presence known then walked over and knelt next to the hanyo, "Well, let's see what the damage is this time?"

She pulled back the blankets to reveal Inuyasha's bandaged torso, then used her claws to cut away the bandages. She nodded to herself as she examined the wound, "Good…necrosis has not set in…that's the biggest threat after having been exposed to Sesshomaru's personal poison."

Kagome frowned, "How are you going to heal him?"

The the female Inuyokai smiled grimly, "By waking his yokai powers…" She looked down at her nephew, "…it is something only three members of our family can do…Inuyasha's father The Lord of the West, my other older brother, and myself."

Kagome looked curiously at the Inuyokai, "Why?"

Once more the female took on a grim expression, "Because we three share the same mother as well as the same father…it would be better if one of my brothers were to do this as he'd heal faster, but if I do it the likely hood of him going berserk is greatly reduced."

Kagome frowned, "What will you be doing?"

The female exposed her wrist, "I will give my blood to Inuyasha…within my blood is a small amount of my yokai power, that power will transfer to Inuyasha and be absorbed by his own. That will grant him a boost to his own powers."

Kagome thought about the other seven older Inuyokai, "Why can't your other siblings do this?"

The Inuyokai smirked, "A Inuyokai's power is a combination of their parents' power. Even though Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are brothers, there power is completely different due to them having different mothers. Even if Lady Izayoi were an Inuyokai, their powers would have been different, and incompatible for this procedure. Since Inuyasha only had one yokai parent his powers are the same as my brother's, only weaker due to being only half, but that half is still the same as the three of us who shared the same parents."

Kagome nodded her understanding and watched as the Inuyokai healer cut a shallow gash in her arm and allowed blood to trickle into the wound. She then applied fresh bandages. Kagome watched as Inuyasha's appearance changed slightly. Inuyokai marks appeared on his face, his fangs and claws became more pronounced, and his hair seemed to lengthen. She looked up worriedly to the healer, "Is this normal?"

The healer nodded, "It's a sign that his power is awakening…" She forced one of Inuyasha's eyes opened then nodded at the golden color was still dominate over the red that was barely noticeable, "…good the balance has not been upset too greatly." She recovered him with the blankets. She then pulled a small container from her waist and uncorked it near Inuyasha's nose. A pinkish mist exited from the container and was quickly inhaled by the hanyo.

"What was that?" Kagome asked worriedly.

The healer corked the container, "One of my younger sister's poisons has the ability to cause the person who breathes it to remain asleep for long periods of time. That amount he smelt should keep him out for at least six hours."

Far away in a dark miasma chocked castle Kagura entered a room to find her master Naraku sitting in quiet repose. She bowed to the abomination, "Master Naraku…our spies informed us that your plan failed…the parasite was discovered, and some Inuyokai interfered before it could kill the hanyo."

Naraku glared at here, "Kagura…my plans never fail. As long as they are fighting amongst themselves, the stupid mutts will never have a chance. Now, what is the situation on gathering more shards?"

Kagura scoffed, "We've only been able to get seven more in the last few days…our spies on the other hand informed me the exterminators have gathered over fifty shards…maybe more."

Naraku stood up, "I think it's time we dealt with these annoying humans…let's go."

End Chapter Thirty Six

A/N: Sorry for not posting for awhile, been a little tired, and family stuff been needed doing…enjoy.