Disclaimer: I do not own any Anime, and that includes Inuyasha.

Inuyasha covered his nose with one arm as he came closer to the strange smell he had noticed earlier. The odor was strong, and as he mentioned to Kagome, potentially poisonous. In fact, his sense of smell was deadened by the scent, probably a temporary effect of the poison. 'Ah well,' he thought to himself. His vision, however, was perfectly fine. The village was in mangled disarray. Dead bodies lay unattended to the ground and a fire had torched the houses to their very foundations. 'A youkai attack?' He wondered to himself.

He crouched on the tree branch, seeing if there were any signs of movement. He doubted anyone would be alive, since if the youkai didn't kill him, the poison surely did. His nose was muffed up right now, so he couldn't even check to see if anyone had managed to escape. 'Not that I care of course; I'm just curious.' He reassured himself. Still, he thought that this village had been near the place he first saw Kagome. He shook his head and began to run back to where he left all those humans, not noticing the dark figure that approached the village after he had turned.

He made it back in good time, running easily through the trees. His sense of smell was slowly returning, something he was grateful for, since loosing his smell was like humans loosing their sight. He relied heavily on it. Inuyasha bounded to the clearing, where the two human people Kagome got to join were standing, looking very concerned about something. But, where was Kagome?

"Hey!" He shouted getting their attention. "Where's my slave?" He felt this unusual feeling of worry, which he just shoved aside. Youkai didn't worry about slaves.

"She ran off shortly after you did, saying something about villages." Miroku informed. "We would have gone after her, but if we did, then you probably would have assumed we were kidnapping her, so we thought it would be best to wait for you."

"Which way?" He immediately asked, watching with dread as Miroku pointed back behind him, the way he had just went. 'Kagome, was that really you village?' He wondered. "Stay here!" He ordered. "I'll bring that idiot back." He ran back, this time his fear for Kagome greatly increasing. 'Why couldn't she just listen to what I said? I would have been right back.' He thought quietly. 'But then again, that wouldn't be Kagome.'

"He really does look worried about her." Sango said softly to Miroku. "That isn't something you find in many masters. Maybe we could trust them."

"Trusting a youkai--a hanyou…" Miroku shrugged. "We've seen stranger things happen."

"Should we follow him?" Sango questioned, taking a step forward.

"I don't think that he would be so worried unless there is something dangerous out there, and he mentioned that he smelled poison." Miroku said thoughtfully. "It would probably be in our best interest to remain here." Sango reluctantly nodded.

Kagome pushed away the branches of all too familiar trees and found herself staring in the bleak reality of her village. 'No!' She screamed inside. Her once beautiful home was destroyed. Bodies of people she had grown up with covered the ground. She now had no where to return to…'Souta!' She rushed forward, choking slightly at the fetid smell. "Souta!" She called, running through her crumbled city. "Souta!" She stumbled to where their house use to be. She pushed back a few boards. She didn't know what would be worst--finding him dead or not finding him at all.

Kagome sagged to the ground, feeling a little faint. "No, I have to keep looking." She told herself. For some reason, her body was refusing to respond. "Keep looking." She whispered. "Souta." Kagome felt her eyes begin to close.

"What's this? You are alive…" Kagome managed to look up and saw a strange man wearing a baboon outfit. She felt a dark energy radiate from him. Dark and evil…

"My brother…" She struggle to get out. Maybe this person knew where her brother was.

"Your brother is likely dead. And you will be too." He eyes narrowed. "There is something strange about you…where is the Shikon no Tama?"

The Shikon?' Kagome thought to herself, but was unable to speak. 'Shikon?' Her thoughts drifted to what he had just told her. 'Dead…my brother…dead…' She felt her tears begin to run down her face. '…dead…just like I am going to be.'

"The poison has taken affect." She heard him say as he walked off. "I killed your village…and didn't get what I wanted." Kagome could hardly hear him now…the poison was making her so sleepy…so sleepy…

Inuyasha felt his heart beat quickly as he neared that cursed village. His smell was once again taken from him. 'Damn. I'll have to rely on my eyes.' He ran through the broken streets, searching through the never-ending rubble. "Kagome!" He yelled. There was no reply. That scared him even more. 'Stupid humans could never survive in this poison.' He thought frantically to himself. He jumped up on the only building that remained standing and looked around. "Kagome…there you are." He saw her lying on the ground, eyes firmly closed. He rushed to her side and picked her up carefully, not liking the fact that she felt so cold next to him. So lifeless.

He ran from the village back to the clean air of the forest. "Kagome?" He whispered softly, trying to get her awake. She remained motionless. He reached out and quickly checked her pulse. 'Good she is a live…but now what?' He didn't know anyone who could help with poison…wait. That guy--Miroku, he had a staff like a Buddha priest. Maybe he knew how to heal this. Inuyasha tightened his grip around Kagome and ran back to where the boomerang girl and Miroku were waiting. "You!" He said, pointing to Miroku. "You're a priest, right?"

"I am a monk." He said.

"Then heal Kagome." Inuyasha hissed threateningly as he placed Kagome gently on the ground.

Miroku just stared at him for a moment, started by Inuyasha's sudden outburst. Then he knelt down beside Kagome and checked her pulse, just as Inuyasha had done. He lifted his staff above her and said muttered a few low words. Out of Kagome's mouth poured black smoke, smoke that wrapped around Miroku's staff and disappeared. Miroku opened his eyes. "The poison is gone from her, but it had settle in her lungs, and to put it in understandable terms, in a way drowned her." He swung his staff slowly around, making sure that Sango and Inuyasha remained a certain distance away. "I am afraid I will have to perform mouth to mouth." He said seriously.

"Mouth…to…mouth…" Sango and Inuyasha both asked, unconvinced. "You just want to kiss her." Sango accused. Miroku smiled.

"I think I 'd rather kiss Sango." He said.

"You just can't resist hitting on girls." Sango replied, but she didn't look as upset as what would normally be expected. Inuyasha jumped in front Miroku.

"Are you sure she needs mouth to mouth?" He demanded.

"Why, yes." He said seriously. "I will just go and…" Sango hit him over the head with her boomerang. "I really am serious!" He cried.

"Then let Inuyasha do it." She told him.

"M-ME!" Inuyasha stuttered, not prepared for that request.

"Yes." Miroku smiled. "You kiss--eh…perform mouth to mouth on poor Kagome."

"I told YOU to heal her!" Inuyasha protested.

"Do you want her to live or die?" Miroku asked. "The time wasted in arguing makes her death more assured."

"What? Why didn't you say that before we started arguing!?" Inuyasha cried.

"I thought you knew."

"But-but…" Inuyasha began to protest again, but after the looks he received from both Sango and Miroku, he gave in. "Fine then." He muttered. Inuyasha knelt down beside Kagome. 'Oh, crap, what have I gotten myself into?' He thought frantically to himself. He looked at Kagome and took in a deep breath. 'This is to save Kagome.' He told himself. 'Its not like I am actually KISSING her, just helping her to breathe.' Keeping that thought securely in his mind, he leaned over…

"Just get it over with." Miroku reached over and shoved Inuyasha's head the rest of the way down. "See how much fun that was…" He smiled cheerily as Sango glared at him.

"Mouth to mouth. Not kissing." She said firmly.

"Call it what you like." Miroku said calmly.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was having a very unique experience. He had never kissed anybody before, other than his mother when he was very, very little, but this was very different. 'Not kissing.' He reminded himself and used one hand to pinch Kagome's nose shut while he blew in oxygen to her lungs. 'Not kissing.' He thought again. Still, her lips were surprisingly soft…

Kagome suddenly began to move and turned over to her side, coughing frantically. Inuyasha immediately jumped at least fifteen feet away and put on his normal uncaring face. "So, you're still alive? Bah." He said.

Kagome sat up and glared at him. "Of course I am still alive…" She trailed off as her memories of what had happened rushed back to her. "My village." She said softly. "My friends. My brother. They are all gone." A few tears ran down the side of her face.

"Hey--" Inuyasha began, startled by her sudden display of emotion. "Don't cry." He said firmly. 'I hate seeing people cry.' He thought to himself, approaching Kagome. "I order you not to--"

"That guy!" Kagome cut him off, suddenly standing up. She swayed on her feet and fell against Inuyasha. "Sorry." She stood back up, keeping one hand on Inuyasha's shoulder to steady herself. "A guy was at my village." She said, her eyes narrowing and her tone becoming more and more angry. "He said he destroyed my village." Sango and Miroku, who had been silent until now, looked at one another in surprise.

"What did he look like?" Miroku demanded.

"Was he asking for anything?" Sango pressed.

"He wore a baboon outfit and asked for the Shikon no Tama." Kagome said evenly.

"Naraku." Miroku and Sango both said at the same time.

"That is the name of the bastard that killed my brother?" Kagome said angrily. "I want to make him pay."

"We all want to make him pay." Sango said, in a tone that copied Kagome's own. "He destroyed my village as well." Her eyes grew clouded with anger. "A long time ago, a sorceress grew tired of the offsets of good and evil and decided to create a stone that would give the user tremendous powers. It was meant to be given to the side of good, to help them forever banish the evil from this land. She put both her heart and soul into the shard and created the Shikon no Tama." Sango spoke softly. "Unfortunately, good does not possess the will to kill or a desire for power, so they never did use the Shikon's power to kill off the evil. With something so strong, it was only natural that those with evil hearts to want the Shikon for themselves. One man by the name of Naraku stole the Shikon no Tama from the people the sorceress had given it to, and used it to expand his power and combine himself with hundreds of youkai. Destruction rained the land and death was now common place."

Miroku stepped in. "The creator of the Shikon no Tama still lived inside the shard and managed to free it from Naraku's grasp. The sorceress regretted her actions in creating such a weapon, so she split it up into four parts so no one that had succumbed to evil will ever get the tremendous power of the shard. Each piece had a certain aspect to it. One is the Courage, and it was given to the ancestors of Sango's village in the east. Another is Friendship and it was sent to dragon youkai in the north. The other is Wisdom and it was given to a race know as the Maja's in the west. The last was the Love. It was given to a powerful Miko in a small settlement to the south. It was believed that now the land would be safe." He shook his head softly. "Unfortunately, it never is that simple."

"There are those who will forever be in search of the shards. Those like Naraku." Sango spat out the name like a curse. "Even though the separation of the Shikon has weakened him, he still searches. For some reason, he never tries to get the quarters on his own, just sends out his minions to do his dirty work, that bastard. My villagers were known as youkai exterminators and were strong protectors of the shard. A few others and me were drawn away from the village, sent on a wild goose chase by Naraku. We were the strongest, and without us, the village was destroyed. My brother...he stayed behind. He was never a fighter, so he stayed behind." Sango shuddered as she recalled bad memories. "When we returned, youkai had burned the village to the ground…and my brother, Kohaku…was found dead on the altar where the Shikon had laid. He had sacrificed himself to save it, using his last breath to shatter the dreadful piece so no singe youkai could get its power. That is what these shards are." She looked at the bag on her side. "They are the results of my brothers heroic actions. And then, the few that were with me were ambushed as we were trying to bury the dead. The youkai had waited for us, knowing we'd return…and Naraku had given them something that hid all traces of them from us. We never knew they were there."

"That's terrible." Kagome breathed.

"I swore then that I'd destroy the Shikon no Tama. Nothing that causes this much pain deserved to remain on this world. I will also kill Naraku." She said. "Unfortunately, the only way to destroy the Shikon is if it is whole again. That is why I am collecting the pieces. I met Miroku, and he has been helping me on my mission."

Miroku smiled. "Actually, I am the selfish one. I joined so I could destroy Naraku, and since Naraku is trying to collect the pieces as well, I figure one of these days we will meet. He cursed my family." He said, raising up a rosary covered hand. "Members of my family are now born with an air rip that will eventually swallow them up. If I kill Naraku, then I save my family. But, Sango, has convinced me of her cause." He said, placing a hand on her butt. She sighed and backhanded him on the face.


"Pervert." She stomped a ways off. Kagome had listened to all of this with great interest, realizing her suffering was not alone. Inuyasha, of course, had found some of this a trifle boring, his ears only perking up when Sango mentioned the locations of the pieces of Shikon.

"We will help you." Kagome told her. "Right Inuyasha?"

"Bah." He said and walked off. Kagome's balance was gone and she started to fall again, but Inuyasha quickly spun around and caught her. "Forgot that you were so weak." He muttered. He sniffed her. "You may want to take a bath. Poison traces are still on you."

"There is a hot springs near here." Sango told her. "I noticed it while we were following you."

"Really?" Kagome asked happily. Sango reached out and put Kagome's arm around her, helping her to walk. Inuyasha released his slave a little reluctantly to the boomerang lady, even though he mentally yelled at himself that he didn't care where she went. He watched as Sango and Kagome limped off to the hot springs.

Miroku sat on the ground, also keeping one eye on the leaving girls. "You certainly are nice to her." He said after a minute.

"What? Nice to Kagome! Feh!" Inuyasha cried. "She is just some stupid slave." He sat next to him, arms crossed.

"So you've said. If she is some stupid slave, then why do you keep saving her? Most youkai's could care less if they live or die." Miroku smiled.

"Shut up." Inuyasha said tightly. 'Yes, why do I keep saving her?' He inwardly questioned.

Kagome sank into the warm water and breathed a sigh of happiness. "The water is so nice!" She exclaimed. Sango also slipped in, smiling at her words.

"Hot springs are nice, aren't they?" Sango said, then began to absently collect rocks by the side.

"Um…what are you doing?" Kagome questioned.

"Oh, Miroku is going to attempt to spy on us later on." She said firmly. Kagome looked started, then recalled Miroku's personality and nodded in agreement.

"Is he difficult to get along with?" Kagome questioned. "He seems kind of…" She trailed off.

"A pervert? Yes, he is. Ever since I met him he was like that. His opening phrase for all the beautiful women he meets is 'Will you bear my child?'" Sango looked thoughtful. "He got worst once I told him of my problems."

"What! Was he trying to take advantage of you?" Kagome demanded. Sango looked up in surprise, as though realizing what her words impression was.

"No! Far from it! He knows that I'd never let him." She said. "He is a pervert and a playboy, but he is really nice and smart. He saw how unhappy I got whenever I talked about my village and my mission, and would hit on me as a way to distract me of my problems. It's hard to remain too serious or fall too far in grief while he is around. Of course, you better never tell him that I told you that." She said quickly. "It would seem like I was getting attached to him." Kagome laughed, then paused.

"…Um…this is off subject, but how did I get back? I mean, the last thing I remembered was the poison and being sleepy. Then, I suddenly was awake and back in the clearing." She questioned.

"Oh, Inuyasha brought you back." Sango told her. "He seemed really worried about you and got Miroku to heal you. Of course, then Miroku tried to do mouth to mouth on you, but I wouldn't let him." She told her, as though in reassurance.

"Mouth to mouth?" Kagome asked. "I needed mouth to mouth?"

"Yes. The poison had settled in your lungs and stopped your breathing." Sango told her.

"Then who--"

"Inuyasha." Sango replied, already guessing the question.

"Eh!? He did?" Kagome was amazed, as well as embarrassed. She placed her hand on her lips. "He saved me…Inuyasha…" She wondered out loud. For some odd reason, she felt her face go a shade too dark. 'Why am I blushing?' She chided herself. 'It's just Inuyasha…'

Inuyasha watched, as Miroku seemed to be counting to himself. "Ten…nine…eight…"

"What the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha demanded.

"Seven…six…I am just counting down…five…four…" Miroku said calmly.

"Why?"

"Three…two…one…Okay." He stood up. "By now, the girls would be in the hot springs." He began to walk in the same direction that the two girls had gone early, though he was being careful not to make a sound.

"Heh?! You are going to go spy on them?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief, running over in front of Miroku.

"Of course." He said, bemused that Inuyasha hadn't realized it before. "Sango will be disappointed if I don't make the attempt." He spoke solemnly, and continued on his way.

Inuyasha followed. "She wants you to spy on her?" Inuyasha's tone held a lot of doubt. Sango had not seemed like the type who would want that.

"In her own way, yes. She will throw a rock at me before I get to see much, and then spend the rest of the night ignoring me or glaring at me from a distance." He said honestly. "Either that or she will viscously attack me with her boomerang."

"Then why are you going?!" Inuyasha cried. "It sounds like she is hinting for you not to spy on her, moron!"

"Would you like to join me?" Miroku offered.

"Why would I join you, stupid?" Inuyasha scorned. "I don't care much for Sango attacking me."

"Well, I thought that you would want to go for Kagome, not Sango." Miroku said.

"What!" Inuyasha cried. "She is my slave, you idiot monk!" Miroku signaled him to be quiet. "Huh?" He asked, but in a quieter tone.

"We're here." He said. Inuyasha listened, and sure enough her heard feminine voices on the other side of the bush.

"You tricked me!" He accused. "I didn't want to come!"

"Then why did you follow me?" Miroku asked, and proceeded to search for a peek hole through the bushes. "Wait…" He said softly.

"Eh?" Inuyasha wondered, and suddenly noticed that neither of the girls were talking.

"PERVERTS!!" Came a sudden screech and both Miroku and Inuyasha were bombarded with rocks. Two girls peered at them over the bush. "Hentai." Sango said clearly.

"Lechers." Kagome finished. They both were back in their clothes and fire flared in their eyes. Miroku and Inuyasha both stepped back out of shock of the girls sudden rage, but then the monk relaxed a bit and put one hand behind his head and laughed.

"I guess we got here too late." He said, earning a few more rocks thrown his way.

"Stop bringing me into this!" Inuyasha shouted. "I didn't even mean to come here! This is all you fault, damn monk!" Kagome was still glaring at him, but no longer looked angry. 'I hope she doesn't think I am like Miroku.' He thought worriedly. 'Not that I care what she thinks.' He corrected to himself.

Sango sighed her annoyance. "Either way, lets go." She said. "We have delayed looking for the shards long enough."

"To where?" Miroku questioned.

"I think we should go west." Sango told him after a moment.

"Hey, you said one was located in the south." Kagome said. "Why don't we start there?"

"Well, even though the shards started in one place, that doesn't meant they are still there." Sango told her. "The shards naturally want to end up getting back together, so they exchange hands many times, to try to meet that goal. I just happen to know for certain that the Wisdom still remains in the west. After the Miko died in the south, the Love that she held vanished."

"And we also have to look for the tinier pieces as well, right?" Kagome asked. Sango nodded.

"It's getting late." Miroku looked at the darkening sky. "We should make camp for the night." He and Sango went forward, walking back to the clearing they had been in before. Inuyasha, followed, and was about to run ahead, since following just wasn't him, when Kagome's voice stopped him.

"Inuyasha." She began. "Thank you for saving my life earlier."

"Huh?" It took Inuyasha a moment to realize what she was talking about. Memories of what had happened before rushed back to him. He felt an uncommon blush take over his face. "Well if my only slave died, I'd look pretty stupid, wouldn't I?" He muttered.

Her eyes grew sad. "Still, I would have died in my village…and then no one would be left to remember them…or get revenge for them…"

"Hey…" Inuyasha said. "Look, if you die, then I will get revenge for them, okay?" He hated to see anyone cry and tears were definitely forming in the beautiful pits of Kagome's eyes. 'Shit! Beautiful pits? What the hell is that?' He silently cursed.

Kagome looked startled for a moment, then smiled at his weak attempts of comfort. "Thank you, Inuyasha."

*********

So, what did you think? ^_^ I appreciate all the reviews people have posted! I'll try to get the next chapter out soon!

Please review!!!

*Merry Christmas!*