A Dragon's Fang, a Human's Heart

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

A human with the power of a demon. To many such an idea sounds ludicrous, does it not? Well he's here to prove them wrong. He will journey across time with the love of his life on his journey as he fights for friendship, for honor, for life, and above all, for love. Rewrite of the Rise of a Warrior: Inuyasha.

28. The Faceless Man

(The Faceless Man)

"When the ten Fangs of Ryuhogo reunite after thousands of years, the Dragon Guardian shall at last fulfill his destiny and rid this world of the Jewel that has caused so much suffering, and begin a new era for all."

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A typical day in the Modern Era, or it would've been if not for the fact that there was a big exam taking place.

Kagome breathed a heavy sigh as she stumbled her way out of the classroom and promptly let herself slump against a nearby wall "That was… exhausting."

"So how did it go?"

Kagome glanced up to see Tatsu crouching down in front her looking sympathetic "It was long and I think my brain melted a little bit."

"But?"

"But I understood it, I actually knew the answer to most of the questions. I doubt I got an A, but I think I at least passed."

"Sounds promising to me."

"Tell me about it, I've really gotta thank Ayumi for those notes. They were a godsend. So how did you do?"

"About the usual, high B or low A if I had to guess. Anyway as much as I'd like to go over a test as mind-numbing as that one, I've got some notes of my own I need to check out." he held up a notebook in his hand.

"More notes from my little brother?"

"Yep, the kid was pretty thrilled when I told him the new Fang gave me fire powers, if still a little bit salty since I told him I couldn't use the stuff he found for teleporting. But this stuff is gonna be awesome, I'm gonna head out and try it somewhere outside the city, so I'll tell you how it goes later. See ya Kags." and so he took off down the hall and out of sight.

'Leave it to him to blaze through one thing and move right onto another, but he's so relaxed and calm about it. Even after all these years, he hasn't changed a bit.'

"So how did it go?" this was when Eri and Yuka made their way out of the room "Do you think you did okay?"

"In all honesty, I think I could've done a lot worse. What about you two?"

"The less said about it, the better." Eri and Yuka both hung their heads.

"Hey you guys, wait up!" this was when Ayumi rushed out of the room with her bag in hand and gave the three of them her typical bright smile "So how about it, was that math test in there a snap or what?" she was met with dark looks from both Eri and Yuka "What?"

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Meanwhile, with the main protagonist…

Tatsu stood in the middle of a grassy clearing, feeling the wind passing through him "You don't have to keep the mysterious act, not when our secrets are out in the open Raidou."

Sure enough, Raidou emerged from within the trees, clad in his typical Guardian kimono, but lacking the usual helmet to obscur his face "I'm pretty sure there's an old saying for that, old habits die hard."

"That's the one. But in any case I think we both knew this was coming, and now it's time for the two of us to face off."

"You're right about one thing, I definitely knew this was coming. In all honesty, I'm actually surprised you didn't try and fight me sooner."

"Don't think I never thought about it before. You and I have both grown a lot stronger since we first met, but now that we're one Fang away from each having all five of them, I think it's about time for us to test this power out on each other. You and me, one on one, one set of Fangs going against another. We're doing this, right here and right now."

"Hence why we chose to do this outside of the city, so that nobody gets caught in the crossfire and we won't risk any property damage or anyone getting caught in the crossfire. So are you ready to get started?"

"As if you had to ask." letting the demonic energy surge around his body, Tatsu suddenly blitzed out of view.

'He's moving so fast, even without the Dragon Warp.' Raidou managed to block Tatsu's initial strike, which resulted in the two of them trading even blows, sending shockwaves across the clearing they were in, before the two of them broke away from each other "Looks like you're even more skilled than I was expecting you to be."

"And you're able to keep up with me so easily, Fangs or no Fangs. In all honest, I shouldn't be surprised by something like that."

"You're still holding back a lot of your power, you have four Fangs worth of elemental powers to put on display."

"This isn't about showboating, it's about training and gauging each other's strength levels, now let's move onto the next round." Tatsu promtpyl covered his body in iron dragon scales.

"Agreed." there was a pause for a few seconds, and then Raidou suddenly found his own body covered in metallic dragon scales "So?"

"You read those notes I gave you on the elemental powers didn't you?"

"They had some interesting ideas if nothing else, and now I'm about to see if they actually work in battle, so let's get started." then the battle began again as the two of them started running across the battlefield and clashing with each other, fists against fists, the two of them about keeping pace with each other with relative ease.

Tatsu leapt over a kick and aimed one of his own at Raidou's head.

Raidou ducked underneath the attack and spun around to deal Tatsu a kick straight to the face, but he received an iron-enhanced fist to the jaw at the same time, the force of the collision sending both of them skidding back a fair distance, and then he leapt onto the branches of one of the trees nearest to him "You didn't think I was gonna make this easy did you?"

"I would've been insulted if you did. Fire Dragon ROAR!" Tatsu breathed out a large stream of flames "Iron Spear Storm!" in addition to the stream of flames, he held out one hand and promptly unleashed a barrage of iron spears from his fingertips.

Raidou continued leaping across the various brances throughout the trees, dodging every iron spear and the stream of flames as he did so, and once he saw Tatsu blitz in front of him and channel some flames into his left hand, he leapt into the air towards him, coating his own hand with flames to clash against Tatsu, though the collision caused his right arm to suddenly start bleeding profusely 'He wasn't going to release that energy, he was just channeling it into fist in order to increase the power of his attack!'

"Don't let yourself get distracted in a fight!" Tatsu quickly dealt Raidou a sharp kick to the side, the force sending him hurtling down into a large boulder below them and crashing straight through it as a result.

Raidou was able to rebound just as he hit the ground and dodge the next barrage of iron spears and physical attacks that came from Tatsu, and then when he was able to find an opening he grabbed Tatsu by the wrist and hurled him a short distance away, and just as Tatsu managed to stop himself, Raidou dealt him a fierce kick to the face that sent him tumbling backwards a fair distance.

Tatsu managed to stop himself after a moment and wiped the blood from his lip 'He's about as tough as I expected him to be. It's times like this I wonder how the hell my gi and my glasses never get wrecked no matter how much I do. Oh well, I probably shouldn't let myself get overly distracted over thoughts like that. Welp, time to make the counterattack. Blazing Inferno!" he then launched himself forward and unleashed a blast of flames from one hand.

"Iron Gauntlet!" Raidou let out a roar as another coat of iron scales covered one of his arms and he stuck out a fist to meet the burst of flames head on, the force proving to be enough to cancel it out, but it also resulted in an explosion that sent both of them hurtling backwards, along with sporting some light burns across their dominant arms.

Tatsu took a moment to pull himself back to his feet and wipe away some of the exceess blood from his face, with Raidou doing the same "I always did have high expectations for when we went at it, and you're sure as hell not disappointing."

"The same can be said for you. I had my doubts about your level of skill, but after seeing all that you've been able to do since I met you, I can see that I underestimated you pretty heavily. Do you want to keep going?"

"I think that's enough for now, I've got other stuff to take care of. I still have to pack my stuff for starters."

"Are you going back over there tomorrow?"

"Yep, the jewel shards and Naraku aren't gonna hunt themselves, and chances are Inuyasha is gonna throw a fit if we take too long for his liking. It wouldn't be the first time. So moving onto less annoying conversation topics, how are things going with you?"

"We have four of the five Fangs, I thought we established that already."

"Not that, I meant with Ayumi. How are things going with her?"

"There's nothing to tell about that."

"Uh huh."

"Don't talk like that, I can't stand that sort of thing. Anyway there's nothing to tell about what's going on between me and Ayumi, unless you count the fact that I'm about 95% sure her dad wants me mounted on his wall like a trophy."

"I've met the guy, he does that. Anyway you said she knows that you're Guardian, so that has to be a big point in her favor."

"...Are we really doing this right now?"

"Yep."

"Fuck." Raidou breathed a sigh "Okay I'll admit, I have found that there is something fairly interesting about her, if nothing else. She's fairly attractive, she's kind and gentle to pretty much everyone she meets, she seems to make the best any situation no matter how bad it might be, she always seems to make the world a little bit brighter when she's around, even if it does turn out to be only temporary. Not to mention she knows that I'm Guardian, she knows that there are things I'm not telling her, and yet she refuses to force the issue."

"Like I said, a big point in her favor. And?"

"And that's all you're getting out of me. If you want me to delve any further into this, then at least have the courage to tell Higurashi how you feel."

"...That's a dick move."

"But a fair one."

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Meanwhile, with the girl side…

At the same time, Kagome and her group of friends had relocated to the nearby WacDonald's, AKA the McDonald's of that universe that couldn't be named as such because of Copyright, or some other reason that doesn't apply to fanfiction. Anyway, they were there and drowning out the day's events with burgers 'Well at least I didn't flunk this one.'

The somewhat melancholy mood was cut short when Ayumi broke the silence "So Kagome you have to tell us, how are things going with you know who these days?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean, how are things going with Tatsu?"

"...Oh great, you had to go there didn't you?" Kagome let out a groan as her face turned a deep shade of red "I should've seen that coming."

"Yeah you should've, so give us some details." Eri and Yuka didn't even hesitate to start prying into the topic "So what about it, have you made a move on him at all?"

"Of course not, I only tried anything remotely close to that once and blew it. I got nervous and totally panicked my way out of it."

"So what then, you mean you and him are just friends?" asked Ayumi.

"Part of me wants to say it's mainly platonic. I think."

"Oh for crying out loud." Yuka let out a sigh "Listen Kagome, let me give offer you a little piece of advice."

"What's that?"

"Do yourself a favor and go after someone else."

"What?!"

"Yeah I know the whole thing about childhood friends hooking up is sweet and all, but it's been done to death and freaking out over this isn't gonna do you any good."

"What's that supposed to mean? It's not like Tatsu is a nightmare or anything, he's one of the best guys around. He's strong, smart, kind, caring, sweet, gentle, and thank god he's not the kind of guy to get jealous."

"You know that's something I've wondered about." Eri cut in "How exactly does he feel about the whole thing with Hojo?"

"First of all, there's no thing with Hojo. I don't like him like that, plain and simple. Second of all, I'm pretty sure Tatsu just thinks he's annoying."

"So he's not jealous."

"Of course not, truth be told the only guy I can think of that he really could be jealous of would probably be Koga."

"Koga?!" that caused Eri and Yuka to bolt upright, and Ayumi's head to snap up.

"Okay look, there's nothing between me and Koga. He's a friend, nothing more than that."

"If that's the case then why would Tatsu be so jealous?"

"Well…" Kagome found herself blushing again at this "The first time we met Koga, he got into a fist fight with Tatsu, and then a few days later Koga pretty much screamed at the top of his lungs that he's in love with me, in front of all of his friends."

"Wait what?" Eri's jaw literally dropped when she heard this "So then that means you're a two timer?!"

"No, Tatsu and I aren't even together for crying out loud! I don't have any sort of feelings like that for Koga, I'm totally indifferent towards him."

"This is definitely one hell of a shocker though, I had no idea that you were so popular with the men outside of school Kagome."

"I'm not that popular, Koga likes me but I don't like him like that, end of story."

"But he told you that he loves you. That sounds so amazing, I wish somebody would tell me that they're in love with me like that." Eri let out a sigh as she started swooning over a fantasy of the whole idea.

"Yeah I know what you mean, but it can get kind of overwhelming."

"But it's still so amazing." Ayumi then started swooning over her own fantasy revolving around this concept "You sure are lucky Kagome."

"It is a nice feeling knowing that someone loves you, heck there's even this one guy that asked me to have his children a little while ago." this earned a few horrified gasps.

"Who the hell said that?" asked Eri "Was it Koga or Tatsu, I swear if he turns out to be some kind of secret sex trafficker-"

"Where the heck are you getting this stuff from? It wasn't either of those two, and Tatsu is not a perv or a sex trafficker or anything like that!""

"So then who would-" Ayumi cut herself short as realization dawned on her, and so she decided to play along "Oh you mean Miroku don't you?"

"Yep that's him, he's older than me by a few years but I'm pretty sure that he's head over heels in love with someone else. Tatsu actually has a bet going on it."

"I'm… not sure how to feel about that."

"I wasn't sure either at first, but it's not that big of a deal. Miroku goes around saying that to pretty much every young woman."

"You were serious about that? You mean he's a playboy?"

"I said it doesn't mean anything, it's nothing to get so worked up about."

"So you've got maybe three or four guys pining after you." Yuka pointed out "Where the heck do you keep meeting these new guys anyway? I mean Tatsu is one thing, him just being him isn't really anything new, and this Koga dude sounds pretty pushy. Then there's Hojo, the poor guy doesn't even stand a chance. Looks like you definitely like to go for the strong type in a guy, don't you Kagome?"

"It's not that, you've got it all wrong."

"I just know that you're gonna have some serious guy problems, not to mention there's the risk of an unhappy marriage."

"Come on you guys, you're being ridiculous."

"You know you never really answered my question." Ayumi pointed out "How are things going with Tatsu these days?"

"Yeah, I mean I haven't tried to do anything since the dance, and I think all of us know how that turned out. But aside from that, things have been going pretty okay with him."

"Well you know how you feel about him, and as long as you don't have doubts about it then that's all that matters." Ayumi gripped her hands reassuringly and gave a bright smile filled with encouragement.

'She's really supportive of this. Thank god, I need at least one of them on my side during this or I feel like I'm gonna go insane.'

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Nightfall came, and things had settled down for the night in the Kamikaze residence. That is to say, things had settled down until…

"Oh fuck yes!" Arashi threw his phone to the side (nearly hitting Raidou in the face with it in the process) and bolted to his feet with an idiotic grin plastered across his face "Now that's how we do it in my neck of the woods!"

"And what exactly do you do that way, he asks knowing that there's a fair chance he'll regret opening his mouth." Raidou asked dryly.

"They just posted the grades we got on the exams, yours truly just got a 98, the highest score in the entire freaking class!"

"...Wait, seriously?"

"Yep, time to dance like an idiot like something out of a 70's chick flick!" and so he promptly bolted out the door.

"Huh. Wel that's unexpected I mean I always thought you were…"

"You thought he was kind of an idiot?" this was when Tatsu made his way into the room with a bag slung over his shoulder.

"You said it, not me."

"To be fair, being street smart and being book smart are two fairly different things. Plus it helps to study with my super genius of an older brother."

"Speaking of Kazuma, that's something I've been wondering about. How exactly does he feel about you travelling back in time through a magic well with your future girlfriend, fighting for your life on a daily basis and missing months of school?"

"Oh. That." Tatsu breathed a sigh as he sat down on the couch "Yeah I've gotta admit, at first he wasn't exactly thrilled about the entire prospect. I mean going missing for three days was bad enough to him as it was, but going back in time over and over again to look for the shards of the jewel, fighting demons and putting myself at risk…"

"It sounds like he didn't want you to go through with it."

"To put it bluntly, he didn't. He said so himself."

"But?"

"But he also said that the gifts we were given, these Fangs I wear and Kagome with her spiritual powers, we were given them for a reason. We were the only ones who could and should decide when and how we were going to use them, and he had no right to try and stop us. If I had to guess, I'd say that's the reason why Kagome's family doesn't try and stop her either. Hell her grandpa even taught her how to use her powers to heal people."

"Huh. Sounds like he's one hell of a good brother."

"Yeah, brother being the operative word though. After we lost both our parents, he more or less had to become my dad. He and I are more or less inseparable, but… part of me still misses when we could both just screw around together without a care in the world."

"...I never really had the chance to screw around. For as long as I can remember, it's always been training or focusing on the Fangs. The dance was the first time I can remember just having a night where I didn't have to worry about any of that."

"Yeah, and we all know how that turned out. But some good did come out of it, you did a little bit of bonding with Ayumi and Kagome and I binged both Ant Man movies."

"Who played him?"

"Paul Rudd, aka the guy who's 52 but looks like he's 28, which is totally unfair. But in any case, I've still got some packing to do for when we leave."

"Hey you two." this was when Moya poked her head out of the kitchen "I just wanted to give you a heads up, dinner will be ready in about 5 minutes."

"Thanks for the heads up Moya, we'll be there."

"Just making sure." and so she made her way back into the kitchen.

"I'll tell you now, being able to get my hands on some of Moya's home cooking is probably the thing I miss most about this world."

"When exactly are you going back again?" asked Raidou.

"Well since the test is over with and we got the second Fang, not to mention most of the drama with you has been settled for the time being, I figured Kagome and I could get a good night's sleep and then head out in the morning. Until then, I say we take tonight to enjoy ourselves a little bit. Knowing Kagome, right now she's probably just enjoying some of her mom's cooking and a hot bath.

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the past…

The night was calm, and the stars were shining brightly throughout the skies above as the group settled down and made camp for the night.

"Well this is boring." Shippo found himself grumbling as he nibbled on a piece of fish "It's so boring and lonely when we don't have Tatsu and Kagome with us."

"Quit whining about that, it's not that different." Inuyasha grumbled without looking up.

"Don't lie to us, you've been brooding and moody since they left. Tatsu always tells me about how much you like hanging out with his friends, it's totally obvious that you miss them more than any of us." Shippo was met with a blow to the head "Ow, what the heck did you do that for you jerk?!"

"For running your mouth more than you should you little bastard."

"Anyway…" Sango was quick to intervene before a fight could break out between the two of them "Did Tatsu or Kagome say when they'd be back?"

"Let's see, he said 1, 2, 3, I think tomorrow."

"Wait what?!" Shippo bolted upright with glee "They're gonna be back tomorrow? Then we've gotta head back to the village and see them when they get back!"

"Yeah yeah, don't piss yourself over it."

"You seem more melancholy than usual." Miroku noted from where he was munching on his own fish "Care to share?"

"No." and yet he did anyway "We haven't found anything on Naraku or any of the jewel shards in days, it's pissing me off."

"Profanity aside, we all share the sentiment. Tatsu's Ki sensing abilities are impressive, but when faced with someone like Naraku they can't be of much aid, and without Kagome's ability to sense the jewel shards, we haven't been able to find any new leads on them."

"No sign of Naraku either, I can't even catch a whiff of his scent anywhere and it's pissing me the hell off."

"The only thing we can do for the time being is make sure that we're prepared for the moment when we do confront him. That's what Tatsu is doing after all, claiming another one of his Fangs to make himself more powerful."

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At the same time, Naraku had taken the opportunity to expunge another reincarnation from his system and subsequently drop it into a ravine, leaving it to its fate, as well as anyone who was unfortunate and/or stupid enough to come across it. To that end, a group of bandits fell into this category since the incarnation (or rather, the piece of Naraku's flesh it would hatch from) had landed not far away from where they were camping, and they decided to kill it because it was ugly, only for the to hatch and for the incarnation (which was faceless) to slaughter all of them in its confusion and anger.

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Morning came, and the sun was still rising.

"I'm sure of it, there's no doubt about it." Inuyasha led the rest of the group along a path through the forest at full speed, snarling as he did so "There's no way I'd be able to mistake the filthy stench that Naraku gives off."

"Is it just him, or are there others too?" asked Sango.

"It reeks all over of Naraku, him and the smell of fresh human blood." this was when the group finally came across the sight of the massacre, the corpses of the bandits all scattered throughout the scene face-down "And now we know where it came from, a bunch of bandits."

"Do you think they're all dead?" asked Shippo.

"There's way too much blood, there's no way any of them could've survived whatever the hell happened." Inuyasha reached down to check on one of the corpses, only to recoil at the sight before him "What the hell?"

"What's the matter?" asked Miroku.

"Come and take a look at this, his face has been carved right off."

"What?" Miroku checked over the corpse he was observing, and then he immediatley stated praying for him "So has this one, and many of the surrounding ones as well."

"Every last one of these bandits had their face hacked off."

"Th-This is creepy." Shippo promptly hid his face in Sango's shoulder, not wanting to see what they had found "Let's get out of here."

"The bastard's gonna pay for this."

"I've never seen anything like this." Sango clutched Shippo to her chest to try and prevent him from looking at the gruesome sight "And you're sure that Naraku is behind this?"

"I already told you that his filthy stench is all over the place."

"But why would he go so far as to steal their faces?"

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Meanwhile, with the face snatcher…

At the same time, the incarnation sat by the edge of a river going through the various faces he had stolen from the bandits, and then he went on to do the same to a monk named Muso that was passing by, killing him and stealing his face, which prompted his apprentice to run away screaming in terror.

The incarnation then went on to kill another traveller that was passing by and steal his weapon and horse, and he then set out to kill people and villagers and gather as much loot as his heart desired, which turned out to be a lot.

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the future…

"Alright, that's the last of it." Tatsu pulled himself to his feet and slung his backpack over his shoulder, then glanced back at Kazuma and Moya "So everything is settled, I'd better head over to the shrine and meet up with Kagome. I've got a lot of work ahead of me."

"Believe me, we know." Moya pulled Tatsu into a gentle hug "Just promise you'll be careful when you go back over there."

"I promise to be about as careful over there as I usually am."

"...Yeah, that's about what I'd expect from you." Kazuma breathed a sigh as he caught Tatsu in a quick hug "Just do what needs to be done and promise you'll come back safely."

"Don't I always?" and so with a quick wave, Tatsu made his way out the door.

'Yeah, you always do, but I can only worry about you.' Kazuma then glanced over and took notice of Moya gripping his hand reassuringly, and he gave a small sad smile "I know. It's not easy watching someone you care about charge off into danger like that. The idea of him going out to do just that every day, it's not easy. Part of me wants to just grab him and pull him back in and stop him from doing this stuff altogether. But he was given these gifts he has, and he has to decide for himself when and how to use them. It wouldn't be right for me to try and stop him, not now.'

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the past…

'I just don't get it…' the nameless incarnation found himself looking through the stolen loot he had acquired, his mind racing 'I have money, wealthy, all of these treasures in my grasp, but it's not enough. I want more, I want more of something, but I don't knoe what it is.' it was then that he glanced over the edge of a nearby cliff and saw a certain village lying below, and he felt something triggered within his mind 'Maybe that village will be the next one. That village… it's strange, but these memories… Well I'll sort that out later.' so he mounted the back of his horse and started racing down towards the village at full speed, only to screech to a halt when he saw a red and white blur appear in front of him "Explain yourself, who are you?"

"Someone who wants to cram my sword down your throat." Inuyasha let out a snarl as he prepared to draw Tessaiga "But before anything else, where the hell is Naraku? Start talking before I follow through."

"Naraku?"

"Don't play stupid with me, you're another one of that bastard's incarnations. You reek of his stench and of human blood."

"Tell me, do you know anything about me at all? Could you tell me who I am or where I came from?"

"Shut the fuck up you son of a-"

"Inuyasha hold on a second." this was when Sango and Miroku came rushing up to him "I think he's the one responsible for all those people being killed, not Naraku."

"I figured that much, I can smell the human blood on him. One thing is for certain, he sure as hell has the same stench as Naraku."

"Then tell us this." Miroku stepped forward to confront the incarnation "Are you the one that was responsible for killing those bandits and stealing their faces?"

"Oh that hideous lot?" the incarnation gave a shrug "Yes that was me, but all of them were so ugly that I couldn't use any of them. But this one is beautiful."

"You stole that face too didn't you?" Inuyasha let out a snarl.

"Yes, I wanted to have a handsome face. I also wanted money and women, I wanted all of it to myself, and I stole everything but it's not enough. There's something missing. Tell me, what is it that I'm craving here?"

'This bastard doesn't even know who he is, seriously? He's different the other incarnations that I've seen until now, but he's still definitely one sadistic fucker, and that's enough for me to know he came from Naraku. That and his rotten stench. You're the one who attacked that village and made everything go up in flames."

"Yes I did, I thought that if I slaughtered some of the people I came across, then it might help to restore some of the memories I had lost. It didn't work, but I did have myself a good time while I did it."

"Who the hell are you?"

"It's like I told you before, I have no idea who I am. Oh wait I know, why don't all of you go ahead and call me Muso? Yes call me Muso, that will do quite nicely. It's the name of the young monk that was kind enough to give me the face that you see now."

"Don't fucking joke with me, you slaughtered the bastard and ripped his face off so you could wear it for yourself!" Inuyasha's glare hardened furiously.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I don't like it."

"Yeah well, the feelings mutual asshole."

"You know what, I really don't like the look of your face dog man. Tell me something, have the two of us ever met before?"

"The hell if I know, but one thing is for sure, this conversation is going nowhere fast. All I know is that there's someone that smells exactly like Naraku, and he's going around slaughtering anyone he can get his hands on like they're fucking animals. As far as I'm concerned, that's more than enough reason for me to rip your fucking head off!"

"Just come and try it!"

"As if you had to ask!" to that end, Inuyasha drew Tessaiga from its sheath as he pounced forward and brought down the blade, cleaving one of Muso's arms off in one stroke and knocking him to the ground, revealing part of his torso "Got him."

"Not yet, but take a look." Sango gestured to the stump where Muso's arm used to be.

"What, you mean no blood?"

"Not just that, take a look. It looks like his body is made of clay or something." it was then that they noticed a horde of Saimyosho descend onto the scene and fly over to Muso, in which they merged with his body from where his arm used to be, generating a new one "And apparently he can do that."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me, he can absorb the poison insects into his body?"

"Which means that their poison is a part of his body now." Miroku noted grimly "I won't be able to use my Wind Tunnel against him without getting poisoned."

"You don't need to, one blow from the Wind Scar is all I need to rip him to shreds."

"I have to say, I'm more amazing than I thought I was." Muso took a moment to marvel at his new right arm made from the Saimyosho, and then he turned back to Inuyasha and the others "So tell me, what's in that village over there?"

"What the hell are you going on about?"

"I can feel that village calling out to me, so I think that if I slaughter those villagers then maybe next time I'll remember something."

"Not on your fucking life!" Inuyasha promptly charged towards Muso in a rage.

Muso took the opportunity to halt Inuyasha's attack by forming his new arm into a series of vines to fend off him and the others "Yes very nice, I think this is going to do just fine."

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango leapt into the air to avoid being struck by Muso's vines and promptly hurled Hiraikotsu towards him, only for it to be batted away 'Dammit, looks like he has more enhanced strength than I expected. Whatever happens from here on out, we're going to have to be really careful.'

"You're wasting your time, you don't have what it takes to defeat me."

"Just come and fucking prove it bastard!" Inuyasha pounced at Muso and tried to land another attack on him, only to end up getting pierced through numerous points in his body and get sent tumbling back in a heap, causing him to cough up some blood 'Fuck… I imagined that going diferently.' it was then that a few scents caught his attention "Oh yeah sure, they have to show up after I get stabbed in the fucking throat."

Sure enough, it was at this moment that Tatsu and Kagome could be seen in the distance, making their way towards them "Hey guys, sorry we're late, but if it helps to calm the savage beast that is a certain dog man when he's hangry, we got snacks and I got some new skills I've been dying to show all of you."

"So more people to slaughter then? Good, perhaps they might restore my memory." Muso gave a wicked smirk, but then he froze when his gaze locked onto Kagome and certain images began flashing through his mind 'That image… What was that I saw just now? That woman, just who is she?'

'So they're in a fight, not much else is new… But Inuyasha being sprawled out on the ground covered in blood, and this guy having vines coming from his hands… Kagome stay back, I've got a bad feeling about this guy." Tatsu motioned for Kagome to get back as he covered his body in iron dragon scales, and then with his enhanced speed he blitzed in front of Muso and used one of his swords to cut Muso's new arm off, sending him staggering backwards "So what do I need to know about this guy?"

"He's another one of Naraku's incarnations." Miroku told him "He's responsible for slaughtering dozens of people already, and he carved off a number of their faces, but he claims to not have any memory of being tied to Naraku."

"So to put it in simple terms, he's one of Naraku's offspring. Good, that means I don't have to hold back against him. Plus it means I can test out a few new skills I've been working on for the past few days."

"That woman… who is she? I feel as if I know her from somewhere…" Muso paused, then his gaze snapped towards Kagome as the realization dawned on him "I remember now, I know who that woman is."

"Yeah yeah I know, she's the kind of girl that's probably gonna have a harem chasing after her like something out of Ranma ½, but if you really are working for Naraku then that's not gonna matter to you much longer."

"Get out of my way you wretch, I must have that woman!" with surprising speed, Muso quickly blitzed past Tatsu and generated a new series of vines that he used to grab Kagome before she was able to react "I can see it within my mind, it feels so clear to me now."

'Who the hell is this guy, what does he want with Kagome?'

"I understand now, this woman is the thing that I've been missing, and at last I finally have her within my grasp!" it was then that he felt a tapping on his shoulder and turned around to find the source of it, only to be met with an iron-enhanced roundhouse kick to the face that forced him to release his hold on Kagome and sent him hurtling backwards a short distance.

As it turns out, that was Tatsu who sent him flying, and then caught Kagome once she was free from his grip "If I don't put up with that kind of crap from Naraku, I'm sure as hell not gonna put up with it from one of Naraku's lackeys. Kagome stay back, the rest of you too. I'll take care of this bastard on my own."

"How dare you interfere, this woman is what I've been missing!" Muso let out a snarl, just as another horde of Saimyosho appeared and merged with him to replace the arm that Tatsu had cut off with his sword "That's the last time any of you are going to interfere." he sent a series of vines hurtling forward.

"Don't count on it." Tatsu didn't even bat an eye as he cut through the vines with ease "Now what the hell do you want with Kagome?"

"Kagome? You're mistaken, that woman belongs to me."

"And again I say, don't count on it." he sent a series of vines hurtling towards Kagome, only for them to suddenly be severed from him, and then go up in flames "What?!"

"Yep." Tatsu blitzed into the air above him, both hands coated in flames "The flames of my right hand, combined with the flames of my left. Put both of them together, and this is what you're gonna get. Eat your heart out Fairy Tail! Fire Dragon BRILLIANT FLAME!" he brought down a large ball of flames towards Muso, engulfing him in an instant.

"Remember this woman, you belong to me! Never forget that you're mine!" that was the last thing Muso got to say before he was engulfed in a fiery explosion.

"Not in this lifetime, or any other lifetime so long as I have a say in it. You okay Kags?"

"Not so much hurt as a little bit put out." Kagome told him "It's one thing to be compared to someone else, it's another for some creep to claim me like I'm property."

"Like I said, not in this lifetime. But for now, what the hell was that guy's deal?"

"We don't know much about him." Sango told him "He calls himself Muso, apparently he's another one of Naraku's incarnations, the spider mark on his back proves that, but he claims to have no memory of Naraku or allegiance to him."

"I don't know what's gonna happen from here, but we can't let down our guard."

"Yeah, I thought something." Kagome muttered "Even as strong as you are with four Fangs, he went down way too easily."

"Kagome, everyone!" this was when Kaede made her way towards the group.

"Oh hi Kaede, glad to see you're okay."

"You as well child, but what was all that commotion about?"

"You're too late to do anything you old hag." Inuyasha grumbled.

"What do you mean, what happened?"

"...Nothing, just forget about it. It's all over now."

"I hope you're right about that." Tatsu glanced back at the aftemath of the explosion "I hope it, but hoping for something and believing it are two very different things."

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Meanwhile, with other forces…

At the same time, Kikyo was in the middle of treating various wounded men, when she ended up coming across the apprentice of Muso (the monk that had his face stolen), who told her about the demon with a spider-shaped burn mark on its back, so she decided to investigate.

Of course, Naraku was watching this through Kanna's mirror from his place in his castle, and so he decided to release Kagura (she had been kept chained up in the basement of the castle ever since the incident with Koga on the night of the new moon), and told her to go to Inuyasha's group and tell them where Muso was headed.

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Meanwhile, with the incarnation in question…

Despite having been blown to bits by Tatsu's attack, Muso was able to regenerate his body, though it did take some time 'Damn that wretch, how dare he do this to me. And then there was that other man, Inuyasha… Who is he? Inuyasha… I think I know him from somewhere, but where I wonder. Who am I?' and so he slowly wandered off.

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Meanwhile, with the main group…

"...and that's about it." by this point, Sango and the others had finished explaining to Tatsu and the others all of the details behind the current ordeal with Muso.

"Sounds like we missed one hell of a party." Tatsu noted dryly.

"That's one way to describe it, but whatever the story behind Muso is, he's as dangerous and sadistic as Naraku is."

"Not to mention he's after Kagome, and that's enough reason for us to play his as carefully as we can. Kagome it's pretty clear that you're the one he's after, for now it might be for the best if you just head back and-" he was cut off by Kagome holding out a hand to him "Um… what the hell are you doing?"

"I already know what you're gonna say Tatsu, so don't bother." Kagome told him, her tone flat but firm "You want me to go home, sit on my butt and do nothing while you and the others go out and risk your lives trying to figure out what's going on, right?"

"I never said that, but to be fair it's pretty clear you're the one this guy is after."

"It doesn't matter. You want me to go back to our time because you know this is gonna be big and dangerous, like pretty much everything has been for us for almost six months now, am I right about that?"

"Kagome, it's… You remember what happened to you at the temple don't you? I can't risk that sort of thing happening again." he bowed his head slightly, only for his gaze to suddenly snap forward as he felt Kagome gently caressing his cheek.

"I know it's gonna be dangerous, but that's what you've been training me for, so that I can handle myself in any sort of dangerous situaton we might come across. I know you don't want me to be in danger, but I'm asking you to please, have some faith in me."

"Kagome…" Tatsu breathed a sigh, and then he took her into his arms, earning an "eep" as her face turned red "If that's what you really want, then I promise I'll protect you with every fiber of my being."

"Thank you."

"If I may." this was when Kaede stepped forward "I know not who this Muso is child, but he did try to capture you for himself, correct?"

"Yeah that's right, but then Tatsu saved me and pretty much blew up Muso with a gigantic ball of fire. Still though, I still feel uneasy."

"I can imagine so, this is Naraku we speak of."

"And that's not even the only reason." Tatsu pointed out "I've seen it plenty of times before, it's never as easy as that."

"Naraku is devious as ever, and I have an uneasy feeling about this. I have something I wish to go and check on."

"You gonna need any help with this?"

"Perhaps…"

"Then Kagome and I will go with you."

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Meanwhile, with a certain undead priestess…

At the same time, Naraku had taken it upon himself to go and confront Kikyo, supposedly to test out his new power now that Onigumo's heart was no longer part of him. However, when he had moved to attack her, his arm suddenly began acting strangely, which prompted him to take his leave from the scene. This had made him realize that his connection with Onigumo had yet to be completely severed.

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Meanwhile, with Muso…

'Yes, this is more like it.' having killed a random warrior he came across and taken his armor and weapon, Muso found himself wandering until he came across a certain cave, his mind racing with his confusion 'I don't understand, what is it about this place? There's something about it that seems so familiar… What is it about that cavern up ahead…' and so with some caution, he slowly made his way inside the cave and laid down inside 'I've been to this place once before, I'm certain of it… I remember now. There was someone with me when I lay here, she was sitting right here.' and then an image of a certain someone flashed through his mind 'That's her, but who is she? It was the woman that I desired! This is the place, it was here that I… There's no longer any sort of doubt in my mind. It was that woman, the one that I desired… Even if it meant I would have to sell my soul to demons!'

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Meanwhile, with the rest of the group…

At the same time, Inuyasha and the rest of the group were trying to retrace Muso's steps in order to find a way to Naraku's castle, only to end up running into Kagura instead, and she told them that Muso was headed towards the cave where Onigumo lay 50 years before. When she was questioned about Inuyasha's secret (how he turned human on the night of the new moon), she claimed to not know anything about it, and then she took her leave. After this encounter was done with, both parties were still heavily confused about the situation, as well as Muso's intentions and the connection he shared with Naraku.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with the others…

"It be not much further you two." by this point, Kaede was leading both Tatsu and Kagome in the direction of the cave of Onigumo "The cave rests up ahead."

"So it's not much further then." Tatsu continued following at the back of the group, his mind drifting as he did so 'It's kind of weird to think about Onigumo's cave again. I mean I've never actually seen it before myself, but the last time it was brought up was when Kaede helped us figure out Naraku's origins, and that was after my fight with Sesshomaru. I got hurt pretty bad back then, but Kagome was able to bring me back to full strength after she learned the Healing Hand from her grandpa. It's like I've been saying, she's what makes me strong. But I don't have time to dwell on that right now, we've gotta figure out what Muso's deal is, and if Kaede has a lead on that, we can't afford to waste any time.'

"Here we are you two." Kaede stopped in front of the cave.

'And here we are.'

"So this is the cave Onigumo stayed in." Kagome muttered quietly, but then she froze as the realization suddenly dawned on her "This is the place."

"What's that Kags?"

"It was right here, this is where all of it began. This is where Naraku was born… this was where all of it started."

"Yeah I know what you mean, this is my first time seeing it too. In all honesty, when I first heard about this place, I wasn't sure what to expect."

"KIKYO!" this was when Muso suddenly burst out of the entrance of the cave, screaming the name of Kikyo at the top of his lungs.

"...Well whatever I expected, it sure as hell wasn't that."

"I finally remember what it was that pained me, it was Kikyo that I had been longing for all this time." to that end, Muso summoned a series of vines and sent them hurtling forward, forcing those present to scatter.

"You might be longing for Kikyo, but I know what I'm longing to do." Tatsu summoned some flames in one hand "And it's burn this bastard to a crisp."

"No Tatsu, stay back." Kaede quickly recovered and prepared to fire a Sacred Arrow "I know of this demon, I had encountered him many years ago, but his name was not Muso then. Why would he dare to show himself around here after so much time has passed?" and then she fired the arrow forward.

"Stay out of my way old maid." Muso simply batted the arrow aside with one hand "I've come here seeking that woman, the women that is identical to Kikyo."

"I knew it, so you really are the fugitive Onigumo."

"I told you to get out of my way!" and so he summoned a series of vines and sent them hurtling towards Kaede.

"Leave her alone!" Kagome quickly rushed over to Kaede's side and used her Seishin Rozu to cut through the vines he summoned "If I'm really the one you want, then you don't have any sort of reason to go after them. But let me tell you now, I'm not gonna give up without a fight, and I'm not gonna let you hurt any of my friends!" she was forced to evade another swipe from his vines.

"Who are you woman, tell me who you are and why you look just like Kikyo!"

"Okay people keep saying that, but I honestly don't see it."

"You won't get me by surprise again you wretch!" Muso's head quickly snapped to the side and he launched another series of vines, only to find no one there "What?"

"You missed again." and then Tatsu dealt Muso a roundhouse kick to the face, once again sending him hurtling to the ground at high speed "Roadhouse. I think. I'm not entirely sure if I'm using that one right."

"I know what it is you're referencing, and I can confirm that you're using it wrong."

'Thanks for the input, I guess I'll have to look that one up when I get home. So bottom line, not roadhouse then."

"None of us understand what the fuck you're saying." this was when Inuyasha and the others showed up on the scene.

"Isn't that typical of you Inuyasha, you're always interfering and always appearing where and when you're not wanted." Muso let out a scoff.

"What the fuck did you say?"

"You heard me, you filthy half-breed. At last my memories have returned to me. I used to be a bandit long ago, when Kikyo and I stayed here in this very cave."

"What the hell are you talking about, what does Kikyo have to do with this?"

"A lot apparently." Tatsu told him "If what Kaede says is true, then Muso is pretty much the same person as Onigumo."

"You mean that bastard that fed his soul to demons and became Naraku in the first place?"

"That would be the one."

"Honestly, the two of you flatter me so." Muso gave a wicked smirk.

"I get most of this, what I'm not understanding is where the whole thing about you stealing faces comes into this."

"I had once been gravely injured to the point where I could not even move, and even my face had been burned off, and since I was without a face I needed a new one."

'Cruel and sadistic, but I see the logic behind it, at least on some level. Does that mean that the heart of Onigumo broke free from Naraku?'

"I've come to remember everything, including how Kikyo died back then."

"Don't fucking talk like you're innocent, you're the one that killed her in the first place!"

"That's ridiculous, why do you think I went so far as to feed my very soul to the demons that I had summoned? I wanted to have possession of the Shikon Jewel and a healthy body that could move on its own, so that I would be able to steal Kikyo away and leave this cave. But when I did claim a new body for myself, nothing had gone as I had hoped. The first thing I did when I left the cave was cut down the very woman for whom I had soul my body and soul."

'Even after Naraku was formed, Onigumo was still conscious inside of him.' Kagome looked on with sadness in her eyes as she listened to Muso's story 'But still, based on the story that I was told, Naraku had been created from the fusion of hundreds of demons, and all of them had one thing in common: They wanted Kikyo dead.'

"Kikyo took it upon herself to follow that half-demon Inuyasha, and she followed him straight into her very demise. Kikyo perished that day, and the Shikon Jewel was burned along with her corpse. At that very same time, someone purged me into a deep dark place from which I was unable to escape."

"That was more than likely Naraku's doing." Tatsu frowned in thought 'But why cast this one out now of all times?'

"I don't know exactly how many years I lay dormant for, but I finally awoke I had been hurled back into the outside world once again."

"Which raises the question then. Why come back out now of all times?"

"As I said, I don't know anything about that, only that I awoke in the outside world."

"So you're not acting on orders from Naraku then?"

"Don't speak to me like I'm some common slave, I take orders from no one. I slaugter everyone that I hate, and then burn them to the ground. Now then Inuyasha, you shall be the first of those to die. I don't see any reason why you should still be alive anyway, Kikyo is dead after all." this was when a series of spikes began protruding from Muso's body.

"Like you've got any room to talk." Inuyasha let out a snarl "What the hell are you doing coming back to life like this?"

"I'm going to kill you first, and then I'll deal with that woman. I'll be sure to kill her nice and slow."

"I'd like to see you try bastard, just wait until I shove my sword up your-"

"Down boy." this was when Tatsu stepped forward and threw his swords off to the side, his eyes blazing with determination and resolve "This one is mine."

"Not on your fucking life, I owe a lot to this bastard."

"Save your feud for Naraku, as far as I'm concerned this guy jumped high up on my shit list the moment he set his sights on Kagome. He wants her blood, I want his."

"...If you get this one, then I get Naraku."

"Deal." Tatsu motioned for Inuyasha and everyone else to get back, and then he glanced up to see a hord of Saimyosho 'So he's watching us. Fine, let him watch as I prove to him that he's not the only one getting stronger. I don't know why Naraku let you out, but you crossed the line when you threatened Kagome." he promptly covered his body in iron dragon scales "I hope you're ready for this, because I'm done playing nice."

"Go ahead and do your worst!" Muso sent a series of vines hurtling forward, sweeping Tatsu off his feet and hoisting him into the air.

'I guess I shouldn't be surprised, he's got the ability to regenerate himself, which might make things tougher when it comes to actually destroying him. But at the same time, it does raise a certain question. Is Naraku trying to protect Muso? He wouldn't have sent his poison insects here to keep an eye on things unless he was interested, and it keeps Miroku from using his Wind Tunnel on this guy, even if his body is partly made up of the poison insects.'

"It seems that your strange powers are useless against me, how very unfortunate for you." it was then that Muso sent a barrage of tendrils hurtling towards Tatsu, now coming from both of his arms, forcing him to go on the evasive.

"Your first mistake is underestimating me. Even if I can't hit you with a close range attack, I've still got plenty of tricks up my sleeve."

"Like what?"

"Like this! Fire Dragon ROAR!" Tatsu blitzed in front of Muso and unleashed a powerful stream of flames from his mouth, engulfing Muso in the powerful explosion that followed. This gave Tatsu a few seconds to catch his breath, though his mind was still racing 'There's no way that would be enough to take him down, not with his ability to regenerate.' this point was proven to be true when a large tendrill suddenly burst out of the ground in the direction of Inuyasha and the others 'Shit!'

"I've got it! Hiraikotsu!" Sango quickly unleashed her Hiraikotsu and cut down the tail before it could hit any of them.

'That was a close one, thanks for the save Sango.'

"You're wasting your time, your efforts are futile." Muso pulled himself back to his feet, his armor having been burned to ashes by Tatsu's attack, and he summoned another series of tendrils that hurtled forward.

"Dragon BURST!" Tatsu extended one arm and unleashed a blue-colored blast of demonic energy that engulfed Muso in another powerful explosion 'His regeneration powers are nothing to scoff at, but maybe this way I can try and find some kind of weakness in it that we can use to take him down. On one hand, maybe there's a limit to the number of times he can regenerate himself. On the other hand, if I'm wrong about that then I should probably just get Kagome to hit him with her spiritual powers.'

"It's like I keep saying you fool, you're wasting your time." Muso regenerated once more, now taking on the form of a scorpion "I already told you that it's impossible to destroy me."

"Well nobody ever accused me of giving up too soon."

"Fair enough. But in any case, it seems that I'm getting accustomed to this new body that I've found myself in, and that means your death is inevitable." Muso promptly sent one of his new claws hurtling forward.

"Let me guess, distract me with your claws and then use that extending tail of yours to try and get me from behind?" Tatsu leapt into the air to avoid the claw, only to see the tail coming at him from behind 'Just like I thought?'

"Tatus hold on, I've got your back!" Kagome promptly locked and loaded an arrow.

"No worries, I've got this one. Fire Dragon… IRON FIST!" Tatsu coated his fist with flames and slammed it directly into Muso's tail, incinerating a large part of it with his flames "You can't say I didn't warn you."

"I've had enough of wasting my time with you, this time I'm going to rip you to shreds, and then I'm going to do the same to that woman." Muso sent a series of tendrils hurtling towards him from both arms.

"I'd like to see you try it you cocky bastard. Salamander's Breath!" Tatsu stuck out both hands and unleashed a large stream of flames, engulfing Muso in the fiery explosion that followed, which subsequently scattered his body parts all over the place 'And he's gonna pull himself back together in 5… 4… 3… 2…'

"Tatsu wait, take a look over there." Miroku gestured to where Muso's flesh was gathering towards the part of his back that housed the spider mark, and it subsequently started regenerating from there.

"So the regeneration starts from there, you thinking what I'm thinking monk?"

"Naraku is essentially a fusion of numerous demons that were bonded into a single form by the bandit Onigumo, so if Muso was created from Naraku's flesh, then perhaps several other demons were released along with Muso when he was expelled from Naraku's body."

"Huh. I was gonna say that that might be a weak spot on his body that I could aim for to try and do some actual lasting damage to him."

"You're wasting your time." Muso finished his regeneration process and returned to his new scorpion form "I told you before that you would never be able to destroy me."

"You're not doing much better in that regard." Tatsu leapt out of the way of Muo's newly regenerated scorpion tail and dodged the incoming series of tendrils, though a few of them came close to piercing his torso, and one of them was able to smack him across the face and send him crashing to the ground. After this, the tail moved in to finish him, forcing him to brace himself for it, when…

"Tatsu get down!" this was when Kagome suddenly rushed in and used her sword to cut through the tail with a burst of spiritual energy, and then she promptly helped Tatsu to his feet "Are you okay?"

"I've had worse."

"Yeah I know, but you've used so much energy fighting him today that I didn't think it was worth the risk."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that idea." Tatsu breathed a sigh as he wiped some of the blood from his face "Truth be told, a little bit of backup probably wouldn't hurt. I guess I've gotta do a better job at pacing myself when it comes to this stuff."

"I'll say, I can't remember the last time where we ended up in a fight and I didn't have to use my powers to heal you. You need to be more careful."

"Duly noted, but that's the thing about getting your ass kicked. It gives you the chance to learn from your mistakes.

"You won't get the chance to." Muso gave another wicked smirk "Just take a look at your pathetic self, you're so weak that you need the help of that wench to save you."

"Like you've got any room to talk, you've barely one one blow me, and I've blown you to hell at least three times. The only problem is, how many times do I have to do it? Like Kagome said, I doubt I can keep this up for too much longer.'

"I think I know what we have to do." Kagome glanced over at him "Do you have enough energy to use another big fire blast?"

"I've got enough for at least a few, why? You got a plan?"

"It's about what you and Miroku were talking about, with the spider mark on his back."

"Say no more Kags, I think I get the idea. Fire Dragon ROAR!" Tatsu breathed out a large stream of flames, engulfing Muso in an explosion and blowing him to bits, leaving him to begin the regeneration process "Okay gonna tell you now, I've got maybe three or four of those left in me right now, so I don't think any of us should keep going on like this."

"Good thing we don't have to, just take look." Kagome pointed over at Muso "When I heard you and Miroku talking about it before, I realized you were right. When he starts regenerating, it always stars at that spider mark on his back."

"The part that made all of us realize that Naraku was born from Onigumo, so it's more or less a kind of focal point for his regeneration."

"And if I had to guess, then that's probably where his heart is too. So the bottom line is, if I want to bring him down fast then I should try to aim for his weakspot."

"You're wasting your time, Tatsu was it?" Muso let out a scoff "You're already out of breath, but I'm just getting started."

"That's where you're wrong, this battle is about to come to a close."

"I've had enough of your prattling, now die!" Muso pounced towards them at full speed.

"The flames of my right hand, combined with the flames of my left. Put both of them together, and this is what you're gonna get. Eat your heart out Fairy Tail! Fire Dragon BRILLIANT FLAME!" he brought down a large ball of flames towards Muso,sending it hurtling towards him at full speed, when…

"Dance of Blades!" this was when Kagura descended onto the scene and unleashed a single wind blade, hitting the fireball with it right before it hit Muso and detonated, and then she fled from the scene.

"Shit, she had to come in and ruin it." Tatsu let out a low growl as he watched Kagura retreat from the scene, and then he promptly fell forward slightly.

"Hold on, I've got you." Kagome quickly caught him and helped him to get down one knee as she formed as she began the process of healing any wounds he may have "It's not over just yet is it?"

"Is it ever that simple? Kagura used one of her wind blades to divert the fireball so that it wouldn't be able to strike Muso's heart."

"But?"

"But at the same time, it does prove that Muso's heart is important to Naraku, otherwise they wouldn't be so desperate to protect it."

"They're not trying to hide that from us either." Kagome glanced over to see a horde of Saimyosho grab Muso's heart and take it from the scene, the scattered remains of Muso's flesh following after it as a result.

"There's no way in hell I'm letting them get away." Tatsu bolted to his feet and prepared to go after them, only to end up stumbling forward and Kagome having to catch him before he fell to the ground "Dammit… of all the times for my strength to give out…"

"You pushed yourself too hard, stop and rest for a little while. I'll stay by your side and make sure you get yuour strength back."

"We can't let him get away though."

"He's not gonna, I'm going after him." and so Inuyasha promptly took off after the Saimyosho without hesitation.

"Dammit, if he's going then I've got the strength to-" Tatsu was cut off by Kagome yanking him back to the ground "Or not."

"You don't have to worry about that Tatsu, I'll go with him. Miroku, Kirara, stay here and look after them just to be safe." and so Sango promptly took off after Inuyasha.

'Dammit, I hate having to be forced onto the sidelines like this. Just be careful you guys.'

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Kagome muttered "Whatever the story with Muso is, I think it's pretty obvious he's more than just another one of Naraku's incarnations."

"Yeah we figured that much out, he's got the heart of Onigumo with him too."

"But still, don't you think it's kind of strange?"

"You mean the fact that Naraku cast him out like that after keeping him locked away inside of him for half a century? Actually, I think I might have a theory about that. Awhile back I had overheard Inuyasha talking with Kikyo, and she told him that Naraku wouldn't be able to kill her because he still had Onigumo's heart, and he loved Kikyo. Naraku probably thought that if he got rid of the heart, he'd be able to bring down Kikyo. He sees her as his biggest threat, so I guess it does make sense."

"I guess, but he's still using Kagura and those poison insects to protect Muso. If he cast Muso out like that…"

"Then why go through so much trouble to protect him in the first place?"

"Naraku never cared so much to protect his other incarnations before, so what makes Muso so different from the rest of them?"

"Maybe it's because Naraku still needs him, but why?"

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Nightfall came, and the moon was shining brightly throughout the skies above.

'I imagined that confrontation going differently.' Muso sat by the edge of a river, cleaning himself up and reflecting on the events his battle with Tatsu 'Damn that human wretch, I was so close to killing him and then I would've easily done the same to Inuyasha. Where am I anyway, what is this place?' it was then that a rustling from the bushes got his attention "Who's there, get over here and show yourself!"

"Very well." and so the figure emerged from the darkness, none other than Naraku himself, calm and collected and smirking maliciosuly as he always did "So here you are Onigumo, or shall I call you Muso instead? Imagine the two of us meeting each other like this, face to face."

"You… I know you. Are you the one known as Naraku?"

"I am. Tell me, did you enjoy experiencing the outside world after being trapped within me for the past 50 years?"

"50 years, is that what you said?"

"It's come to an end now Muso, I demand that you return to me."

"You expect me to return to your filthy body, after just regained my own freedom? You must be joking."

"Believe me, the thought of having you once again be part of me repulses me as well, but the fact is that I had released you from within me too early, and that is why I'll be needing to you come back into me now."

"Too early? You expect me to believe something like that after keeping me locked away inside your filthy body for 50 years!"

"Come now, it couldn't have seemed but a second to you."

"Don't try to act ignorant with me, I remember everything about what happened now! You were the one responsible for killing Kikyo 50 years ago!"

"Perhaps I did, but in your twisted greed, you summoned the demons right to your side, and those very same demons that devoured your flesh all had one goal in mind: They wished to bring about the death of Kikyo."

"It was your desire, not theirs!"

"I was not the one to blame for that, I am Naraku and you should know that by now."

"I've heard enough of your lies! The only thing I desired was to make Kikyo my woman, but because of you… Dammit!"

"So it seems you were unaware that Kikyo has been resurrected, and she even looks exactly the same as she did before."

"She… You mean she's back?"

"Yes she is, although she's not exactly the same as she was before."

"Kikyo… is alive?"

"You want to see her don't you?"

"Where is she, tell me where Kikyo is!"

"I'm afraid that is one wish I cannot grant. The time has come for you to return and become part of me once again." he summoned a series of tentacles from his back and sent them hurtling forward.

"Not a chance in hell!" Muso avoided the tentacles with ease and didn't waste any time in taking off running as fast as he could "I finally got my freedom back after all this time, there's no way I'll ever return to you! I'll make Kikyo my woman for sure this time!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Naraku suddenly blitzed in front and attempted to grab him with one of his tendrils.

"Persistent bastard!" Muso summined his newfound scorpion arms and batted Naraku's tendrils away with ease "I already told you I have no intention of returning to you, now leave me alone before I cut you down!"

"That's not an option for me, not this time." Naraku weaved his way around Muso's barrage of attacks with ease.

'So Muso is trying to escape from Naraku, but why?' at the same time, Kagura was watching the skirmish take place from afar 'Is he really planning to defy Naraku? I see… so Naraku doesn't have control over Muso's life, and that's the difference between him and me.'

"I've had enough of your fruitless resistance." Naraku continued chasing after Muso, and in one swift movement he summoned some tendrils that pierced Muso in the back and pinned him to the trunk of a tree "Now the time has come for you to return to my body."

"What the hell are you doing Naraku?" this was when Inuyasha and Sango finally arrived on the scene.

"I was wondering when you and the others were going to show yourselves Inuyasha."

"If you show your face then we're going be there to end you." Sango spat out "Why go to all this trouble though, it's not like you could have any real use for Onigumo's human heart. You don't need him, that's why you dug him out of your flesh and cast him out like this. Why go to the effort of trying to take him back now?"

"It's really quite simple Sango, I had thought that Muso might be able to kill all of you, but based on what I had seen of his battle with Tatsu earlier, it seems that I was mistaken, so I'll be taking him back into me. It's as simple as that, nothing more."

"There's nothing that simple with you Naraku, you wouldn't bother to take a piece of yourself back into you like that unless you had an important reason for it. There was something really important that got mixed in and released with Muso, wasn't there? If that wasn't the case, then you wouldn't be so desperate to try and take back his heart after you wnet to the trouble of trying to get rid of it."

"Oh my, as clever as always aren't you Sango? I shouldn't be surprised, you're more likely to actually stop and think than the likes of Inuyasha over there. Which raises the question, what do all of you plan to do now?"

"I can rip Muso apart whenever the hell I want." Inuyasha didn't waste a single second as he drew Tessaiga from its sheath "Which means you're at the top of my to-do list." and so he charged into the fray at full speed without waiting for Sango or giving her the chance to take any action of her own.

"I rest my case." Naraku didn't waste a second as he went on the evasive, dodging and blocking every strike of the Tessaiga with ease.

Sango drew Hiraikotsu off her back and was about to join Inuyasha in his assault, only to stop when she saw Muso attempting to make his escape from the scene 'He's trying to run away instead of helping Naraku. Whatever his reasons or intentions are, there's no way I'm letting him escape. Inuyasha stay here and deal with Naraku, I'm going after Muso!" and so she promptly took off after him without waiting for a reply 'Muso was created from Naraku just like the rest of his incarnations, like Kagura or Kanna. The two of them do whatever Naraku wants them to do, but Muso doesn't want anything to do with him.'

"...No." Muso suddenly stopped running, then turned around to face Sango as a confident smirk started spreading across his face.

"What are you doing?"

"Move out of my way woman, I don't have time for the likes of you." Muso suddenly took off back in the direction he came, blitzing past Sango's attempt to strike him down with Hiraikotsu as he did so.

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Meanwhile, with the battle of the half-demons…

"Die, die, DIE MOTHER FUCKER!" Inuyasha continued going after Naraku in his relentless assault with the Tessaiga, ripping through one tendrill after another, only to be forced to retreat when Naraku unleashed a wave of his miasma 'Okay, I imagined that going differently. It doesn't matter, my Wind Scar can dissipate the miasma no problem. You know what I think Naraku, I bet having to release Muso from you made you a lot weaker than you used to be. Am I right or am I right?"

"...Let's find out." Naraku sent a series of tendrils hurtling forward.

"You're not gonna live long enough to find out! Wind SCAR!" Inuyasha batted away the tendrils and unleashed a full power Wind Scar as he brought down the Tessaiga.

"Hiraikotsu!" this was when Sango arrived back on the scene and hurled Hiraikotsu forward towards Naraku at the same time.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Naraku simply leapt out of the way of both the Wind Scar and the Hiraikotsu with ease "You would be wise to not presume you could understand me, for the two of you are nothing." it was at this moment that a tendrill suddenly pierced him through the chest from behind.

'What the hell?!'

As it turns out, that tendril came from Muso as he used it to attack Naraku from behind and pierce him straight through the chest "Now this certainly feels good."

'Did he… Did he actually just kill Naraku?'

"Don't look so surprised you fool, you didn't think I was going to just let you get away with it did you?"

"You say that as if I'm supposed to be surprised." Naraku gave his typical calm smirk as he suddenly started absorbing Muso into himself.

'What the hell, he's absorbing my arm!'

"I do have to thank you Muso, you saved me the trouble of having to get my hands on you, but I do need you to come back into me now."

"Not on your life you bastard!" Muso tried to pull himself free, only to end up being pulled further into Naraku's body "No this can't be, I can't move my body! Let me go, release me at once you wretch!"

'He's absorbing Muso back into himself.' Kagura watched the whole scene taking place from where she was hidden nearby 'I wonder, is that going to be the fate that I suffer, if I should make the choice to defy him as well?'

"Stop it, stop it! Let me see Kikyo, I have to see Kikyo once again! KIKYO!" those proved to be the last words that Muso uttered before he was completely reabsorbed into Naraku's body, never to be seen again.

"Such bitterness and such festering greed." Naraku let out a chuckle as he listened to Muso and his screams of agony "You waste your words Muso, for Kikyo is exactly the same as you, for the both of you are made of nothing more than clay and dirt. Her soul is nothing more than a mere phantom of the past."

"I'm guessing that's the last we're going to see of him." Sango muttered.

"For the time being at least. You see, I require Onigumo as a link for my own body. Your initial conjecture was indeed accurate Sango, though I expect no less from you."

"Then tell us this Naraku. You took Muso back into, and the heart of Onigumo by extension, so does that mean that you're a half-demon?"

"Why would you bother to ask such a thing?"

"It wasn't that long ago that the barrier around your castle weakened, to the point where all of us, not to mention Koga, were able to get close to you. A lot closer than I know you would've liked to get. You would never let that happen if you had a choice in the matter."

"...I see what this is about Sango, so you wish to know if even I have a period of weakness, do you not? You wish to see that I am indeed like all half-demons, like Inuyasha over there."

"I know that you were growing weaker back then Naraku, all of us do."

"So you do, but exactly when that occurs is the deepest secret that every half-demon carries with them. Quite the burden to bear, is it not? So then Inuyasha, why don't we hear about you. Do you share this trait with so many other half-demons, and lose your powers and hide in fear of your enemies during such times?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you anything bastard." Inuyasha let out an outright snarl, but then he shared a quick glance with Sango 'The way he's talking, it's like Kagura never told him about what happened on the night of the new moon.'

"The answer is yes by the way."

"Wait what?" Sango's head snapped up.

"It's as you had surmised, I have periods when I cannot defend myself. However, the time in which that happens is one I choose myself, of my own free will."

"What? But that's impossible, there's no way a half-demon should be able to do that. It's always been beyond their ability to control."

"For most of them yes, but I am not like most. Inuyasha is vastly different from me, because he was born of a human woman and a demon. I'm sure that Kagura back there would agree." he glanced over at where Kagura was hiding behind one of the trees, only to see her take off on top of her giant feather "During the times of my weakness, I take it upon myself to experiment. If I find something strong, then I take it and make it even stronger, and I cast out the weak and become even more powerful. I am a half-demon right now, there is no mistaking a fact such as this. But unlike certain other half-demons, I don't lose my powers and cower in fear."

'So he can reconstruct his own body whenever he wants?'

"I'm sure you could talk about yourself for days on end, but I've got something a hell of a lot better on my mind. You ready to do this Sango?"

"As if you had to ask." so the two of them brandished their weapons and promptly charged towards Naraku at full speed, only to find their attacks being brushed off without even being able to touch him "Dammit, he has a barrier?"

"Not like that's gonna stop me! Wind SCAR!" Inuyasha promptly brought down the Tessaiga and unleashed a fully powered Wind Scar, but when the smoke cleared, it didn't have any effect on the barrier "Fuck!"

'Not even the Wind Scar worked, was Naraku's barrier always this powerful? No, it wasn't always like this.'

"It's as I said before, I only continue to grow in power." on that note, Naraku unleashed a whirlwind of miasma that engulfed him and took to the skies, and he disappeared from the scene within seconds.

"Dammit, he got away."

"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Inuyasha promptly brought down a few nearby trees in order to vent out some of the frustration he was feeling.

"I know the feeling. It looks like Naraku wasn't kidding about his powers. You turn into a normal human on the night of the new moon, but he's different from you. If he really does have the ability to reconstruct his body to make himself more powerful, then I think we might have a serious problem on our hands."

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Meanwhile, with a certain undead priestess…

At the same time, Kikyo was once again in the middle of treating wounded men with her remedies and herbs, when she noticed Naraku passing by in his cloud of miasma. However, she just brushed this off and went back to treating wounded soldiers. All the while though, she was left to ponder whether or not she missed Inuyasha.

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Meanwhile, back with the barrier…

"You've gotta be kidding me." Kagome's head snapped up as she listened to Sango explain what had happened with Naraku "So now his barrier can repel the Wind Scar like it's nothing?"

"In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have believed such a thing either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." Sango told him "But there's no doubt about it, Naraku is definitely more powerful than he was before, and he's continuing to get stronger. On top of that he is a half-demon like we thought, but unlike Inuyasha, he doesn't lose his powers at any specific point in time. He says that he can choose his moment of weakness whenever he wants to."

"Which means what exactly?" Tatsu glanced up at her "You're saying that we can't have any definite idea of when he's gonna be vulnerable?"

"That appears to be the case. I thought we might be able to defeat him if we had any idea of when he would be powerless."

"Yeah, and look how that turned out. Sounds like a hell of a time to be out of commision. But it's not a lost cause just yet, at least now we can confirm for a fact that he does have a moment of weakness."

"It's more than that. If he's that strong, then we have to get stronger than he is, it's really that simple." Kagome pulled herself to her feet, her eyes blazing with determination "Even if he making himself stronger, we can do the same. And we have to, for all our sakes."

"Kags… are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I just… I need to get some fresh air. I'll be back in a few minutes." and she made her way out of the hut.

Tatsu glanced back at the others, then made his way out of the hut and found Kagome sitting on a nearby log, apparently brooding to herself "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just… I needed to think a little bit." Kagome let out a sigh as she glanced up at the stars shining above the night sky, smiling slightly as she did so "It's gorgeous isn't it? You can never see them this clearly back in our time."

"Actually there are a few places you can get this kind of view back home, not as clearly but it comes pretty close."

"I didn't know you dabble in astronomy."

"I don't, but Raidou does. He showed me a few spots on top of some skyscrapers."

"He's into astronomy?"

"More like he's into gazing up at the stars and thinking about destiny and the like. Speaking of which, are you sure you're okay?"

"I just needed to clear my head and do a little bit of thinking. I've been working so hard lately, between training with you, searching for the jewel shards with everyone else, and really just everything I have going on in my life… but it's not enough. I need to do better. What I need is to be better."

"You mind clarifying on that?"

"And I think I know where to start."

"You've got a plan Kags?"

"I've got something in mind, but in order for it to work, we're gonna have to head back home again. I know we just got back, but if this is gonna work then I'll have to. I need to learn how to better control my spiritual powers, maybe even find a way to break through Naraku's barrier on my own. I need to talk to my grandpa back home, and have him take me under his wing and train me in my spiritual powers. In being a real priestess."

A/N:

Now we see the gruesome debut of Naraku's heart in the form of Muso, when he goes on a rampage trying to find what he's missing. Then he ends up setting his sights on Kagome thinking she's Kikyo, and you can pretty much guess where that's gonna go. However, when Naraku shows up to absorb Muso back into himself, he reveals that even the power that Tatsu and Inuyasha possess isn't enough to break through his barrier.

In this chapter, we got to see just how powerful Tatsu is now that he has four Fangs in his possession, with a single attack being able to surpass the Wind Scar with relative ease. It's not enough though, as he and the others soon realize, to break through Naraku's barrier, and they all have to grow stronger in one way or another to overcome this obstacle, which will lead into what happens next chapter.