Under the Pale Autumn Moon

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Inuyasha clutched Kagome tightly, her small frame pressed against his, "Kagome..."

Kagome patted Inuyasha's back, "I'm here."

"Kagome I'm so sorry for not believing you, can you ever forgive me?" Inuyasha whispered, he hated being wrong, but he only wanted Kagome to know that he cared, that he loved her.

To Inuyasha's dismay, Kagome pulled away with a smirk on her face, her eyes dark and stormy, not their usual cheerful blue self. She began to snicker evilly and she turned away from him, so that her back was to him.

"I don't know what you're doing here Inuyasha, but if it were to ask for forgiveness, then you should turn right back around," she snickered, her voice stone cold.

"What?" Inuyasha asked shocked as he stared at the girl before him.

Kagome turned back to him, blue eyes meeting his golden ones, moist with emotions. "Inuyasha, did you really believe that I cared for you?"

Inuyasha paled and something danced along his insides, "Of course."

Kagome laughed again, "Then you are as ignorant as I believed."

Inuyasha's eyes widened and he backed up a step, Kagome shook a finger at him, "Oh no, I'm not letting you leave now, Inu-Chan."

Inuyasha stared in shock as the girl before him began to glow, a dark flame-like aura surrounded her as she walked towards him, her shoes echoing along the silent courtyard, "I'm sorry to say, Inu, but my heart belongs to Naraku, always has always will, you were a nice break for me to gain your trust, but now, it's time to say goodbye."

Inuyasha gulped as he grew into a defensive position, "Oh, are you going to fight me, Inuyasha, the woman you love?" Kagome laughed and shook her head.

Inuyasha's eyes widened with realization, he couldn't hurt her, not Kagome.

Meanwhile, in the shack, a figure twitched from her position as she sat up, rubbing her neck absently she peered around the hut, her black hair cascading down her back, "Where'd Naraku go?"

Yawning she got up and went to the wall, where a crude window was established, peering out she glanced at some movement about one hundred yards away. Her eyes widened, "Inuyasha," she whispered.

And sure enough, Inuyasha was hugging someone. Hugging them close, her heart splashed down into her stomach as she felt a wrenching feeling deep within her as tears came to her eyes, she reached for the door handle, but was pushed back by a coursing pan shooting from her finger tips to the rest of her body: a seal.

She grasped her hand in pain and let out a whimper at the tenderness of the skin, red from the burn the seal had given her. She blew on the hand softly, the calm air relaxing the skin some-what, it would have been better if there was some cold water to cool the burn down. She glanced back at the door, it was rare to find a seal that could hold in a Miko, usually they were used to hold in youkai or anything without a pure heart, and Kagome was pretty sure she had a semi-pure heart.

She glanced back out the window and watched Inuyasha talk to the figure...her eyes widened, "M-me?"

Sure enough, Inuyasha had been hugging a Kagome-look-alike, but she was certain that she was the real Kagome, but who could that be?

Kikyo?

No, she could tell by the hair and the body shape-it wasn't Kikyo; it was her, or at least someone who was damn good at looking like someone else.

She paused-she didn't know any shape shifters, they were as rare as the Miko seals. But the way the figure looked exactly like her, it had to be a shape shifter, but who? Who could be a shape shifter?

She watched as the Kagome turned towards her, grinning widely, looking straight at her. Kagome gulped, she knew that smile. It was Naraku.

Naraku was a shape shifter. She clutched her eyes shut and felt her anger boil over.

"That bastard," she rasped out, her voice hoarse and dry.

"Yes he really can be can't he?" Kagome whirled around to discover that she wasn't alone in the shack, and her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"What now, hanyou?" Kagome spit out in disgust as she clenched her fists, causing the dark aura to rise around her. Inuyasha stood up straight, his hands at his sides and his head bowed, "Oh, can't come to fight with me, eh? That just shows how weak you really are."

"Kagome." Kagome paused in her footing. Inuyasha looked up, pain and sorrow dancing across his golden orbs, "I don't know what I did to drive you to do such a thing, but I love you! Why can't you forgive me?"

Kagome stood shocked as Inuyasha dove forwards and hugged her furiously, "Let me go, Inuyasha, let me go!"

Inuyasha didn't let go and didn't notice when Kagome pulled out a knife from her sleeve, "Let go of me, hanyou."

Inuyasha felt a shock of pain run through him as a blade protruded out of his chest, gasping as his blood rushed down his stomach he looked up at Kagome one last time, "Kagome...why?"

"What...what?" Kagome stood shocked, "How can you still be alive?"

The figure smirked, "Little Kagome, you still underestimate me?"

Kagome paled, "How? I saw you die! How can you still be alive? Kikyo stabbed you!"

Kouga smirked from his sitting position, "Always underestimating, my love."

Kagome glared, "I don't love you anymore, you betrayed me! You kissed my best friend!"

Kouga shrugged, "It was so long ago, can't we just forgive and forget?"

"No, Kouga," Kagome said flatly, no longer adding the -Kun, "It's too late for that now, you betrayed me, my best friend betrayed me, and so I have no reason to love you, I can't love you."

Kouga laughed, "You're an odd one, baby."

"You can't be alive," Kagome said flatly, "I don't want to love a corpse."

Kouga shook his head, "You forget that us wolf demons are immortal."

"What?"

"Baby, that simple little stab in the back isn't going to kill me, you, a highly defined Miko should know that, especially when a youkai was your lover."

Kagome huffed, "I hate you."

"Nah, you really love me, don't you?"

"I hate you!" Kagome reached for the door handle and it shocked her again with a jolt of electricity, "Open this god damn door Kouga."

"Nah, I like being alone with you, in a shack, away from screaming distance."

Kagome glared, "I can kill you with one jolt, bastard."

"Tsk, Tsk, my love, you shouldn't treat me as such, wouldn't want to know how you treat an enemy," Kouga jumped off his perch and leaned over, kissing her deeply on the lips, "Oh how I've missed this."

Kagome's anger boiled over and in an instant of white light, Kouga was on the other side of the shack, having blown the wall out with his body. Kagome blinked in surprise, "Wow, I'm stronger than I thought!"

She ran out towards her love and the man who was seriously pissing him off.

Naraku turned softly to watch the real Kagome running towards him, he smirked in his Kagome form. Yes, betrayal was his favorite thing to do, especially to a girl like Kagome, whose loved one's were so easy to manipulate.

"Kagome what a pleasant surprise, I see you got out of my Miko blockade and Kouga."

Kagome glared at Naraku and but her hands on her hips, "Naraku, you never told me you were a shape shifter."

"Was there a reason?" Naraku smirked and morphed slowly into the figure of the little boy who worked at the manor, Shippou it was, he looked up at Kagome with cold dead eyes, "I can morph into anyone I see fit," he said in Shippou's cute little voice.

Morphing again he turned into Sango, "Anyone I please."

He then turned into Miroku, "I only have to say the name in my head and I will change into that person." Then he turned into some of the maids in the manor.

Kagome glared, "You tricked me."

"Really, you are a genius sometimes, Kagome dear." Naraku said sarcastically as he smirked dangerously at her, "Now my dear, I think you should stop worrying about me, and start worrying about yourself."

"I have to save Inuyasha!"

"Oh?" Naraku chuckled and Kagome suddenly became uneasy, "Do you think he'll accept it? After all, it was you who stabbed him in the back."

Kagome's eyes widened as she looked around Naraku for the first time to see Inuyasha soaking in his own pool of blood, his eyes blank and unblinking. Kagome gasped loudly as she ran over to him, tears running down her cheeks.

Naraku smirked, "I said worry about yourself." He lifted his clawed fingers and snapped loudly. Kagome stopped in her tracks.

Naraku smirked, "Good it's working."

Kagome stood, her eyes dark and blank, like Inuyasha's. Sweat rolled down her face as her neck started to throb painfully. Her hands clenched and unclenched as her breathing became labored.

Naraku raised an eyebrow, "Kouga."

Kouga stepped forward, his eyes much like Kagome's, their blue depths glazed over and unblinking, "Yes my lord?"

Naraku smirked, "Bring my Kagome here to the castle gates, it is time to open it to receive the Shikon no tama."

Kouga nodded emotionlessly as he walked briskly over to Kagome, who in turn held her hand out to him, sweat rolled down her back and her eyes glazed over.

The two started to walk away towards the gates, "Soon the Shikon will be mine," Naraku smirked to himself.

He was about to follow his two minions under his control when Inuyasha pulsed. Naraku paused and looked at him, "What the fuck?"

Inuyasha pulsed again, and again, and again. Naraku backed away a step as he felt a sudden surge run through him, "How can he still be alive?" he rasped out, "He should be dead! I stabbed him in the heart! His power...it's raising, fuck..."

Naraku backed up against a wall and he started to sweat dramatically, "He can't be...changing?"

Inuyasha pulsed again and he sat up, his head bowed and his claws digging into the stone, causing the cobblestone pathway to crack and split apart as if it were clay. Naraku cringed as he heard a snarl come from the hanyou.

Razor sharp claws rose up and touched the wound to his heart gingerly; blood hurled itself onto his hand. Inuyasha smirked and licked his hand clean of the blood. Naraku stared in disgust.

The hanyou smirked again at his now clean hand. He stood up completely and stared shamelessly at Naraku, his hideous smirk able to outwit Naraku's any day. A purple stripe ran up both his cheeks and his eyes were a blood red.

The blood red eyes narrowed with glee as he stared directly at Naraku, smelling the youkai blood surging through his blood, though Naraku was known for mind control, he wasn't the strongest person in the world, he gulped as Inuyasha started to walk towards him, no mercy shinning through his face.

Inuyasha raised a razor claw and smirked again, "This ought to be fun, promise that you won't disappoint me?" he whispered, his voice dripping in venom and dangerously calm.

Inuyasha raised a claw and suddenly lunged forward in the blink of an eye, his claw out stretched towards Naraku's stupid little head, unfortunately for Inuyasha, he missed and proceeded to collapse the wall into little fragments of pebbles.

Naraku paled as he dodged the attack and rolled over to the side of Inuyasha, catching his breath and trying to calm his pounding heart, "How did you become a full demon?"

Inuyasha snickered, "Does it matter, bastard, I am what I am and that's all that I am? Enough talk, time to die."

Naraku dodged another attack and fluently lifted his foot to kick the hanyou in the face, but Inuyasha was ready and dodged it easily, but not missing his chance to nearly cut the leg off with his bladed claws.

Naraku hated to admit it, but he needed some serious help, snapping his fingers, three figures suddenly appeared. One was a small child looking person, who was completely white except for her dark eyes, another wore feathers in her hair and held a fan, and the other was Kouga.

Naraku smirked, "Hanyou, prepare to die, Kagura, use your wind powers to kill this poor excuse for a youkai."

The woman with the fan, Kagura, nodded slowly as she raised her fan, moving it in a circular motion, preparing for an attack, but, she didn't notice when Inuyasha launched forward with incredible speed and punched the poor woman in the face, and another in her stomach, causing her to spit up blood as she was hurled back into the remains of the wall.

Kanna raised her mirror and stared at the hanyou, waiting for him to use some attack on her so her mirror could launch it back at him. Inuyasha ran forward and kicked the tiny albino child in the ribs, causing her to fly into her anesthetized sister.

Naraku cringed as he watched his detachments both defeated in less then five minutes, usually they put up a better fight, he noted to himself to remember that he should feed the detachments more, give them some calcium. He nodded to Kouga who stepped forward, his hands lifted and in a defensive position.

Inuyasha let out a loud scream as he launched himself onto the wolf youkai, the two began to punch the other as they fought it out, Naraku smirked, there was no way that the hanyou could beat a full-blooded wolf youkai.

Naraku turned just in time to see an arrow come flying by his face. He turned sharply to see that Kagome, released from her hypnotic spell was staring back at him, bow raised, Naraku cursed himself for not locking his weapon holder near the gates of the castle, he wondered vaguely why he even put the weapon holder there.

"Ah, Kagome dear, what on Earth are you doing?" Naraku tried to sound like he had every thing under control, when in reality he felt like he should go and punch the remains of the wall the hanyou had screwed up, that stupid hanyou was ruining his plans.

Kagome looked past Naraku and stared at the fighting Inuyasha and Kouga, she returned her stone hard gaze to Naraku, "What did you do to him?"

Naraku raised an eyebrow, "Kouga is only under a mind control, like you," Naraku snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. Kagome kept her gaze narrowed at Naraku and her bow steady, "What the hell?"

Kagome narrowed her eyes until they were slits, "I don't mean Kouga, I meant Inuyasha!"

Naraku chuckled and shrugged, "Sorry baby, but I don't know what happened to your precious hanyou-" he was cut off when another arrow came whizzing by him.

"Wrong answer," Naraku tried to snap again but Kagome placed another arrow on the bow string and pulled it back until the string became taut, her eyes focused only on Naraku, though she would glance at Inuyasha now and then, "Prepare to die, scum bag."

Naraku smirked, "I wouldn't do that."

Kagome lowered her bow slightly, "Why?"

Naraku's mind raced, he had to find a good reason why he can't be killed, he smirked as an idea came to mind, "Kill me and Inuyasha's killed too."

Kagome's mouth flopped open, "You're lying."

"Am I?" Naraku relaxed considerably since he wasn't standing next to the mindless drone and the mindless killing machine.

Kagome gulped loudly as she tried to decide if she should take the chance of killing her beloved.

Naraku saw her discomfort, "Dear Kagome, drop your weapons now."

Kagome lowered her head shamefully as she dropped the bow and it clattered to the ground. Inuyasha paused at the sound as he looked up at Kagome, who paled at the blood lustful look in his eyes.

Inuyasha smirked and took a step towards Kagome. "Mate," he whispered.

Kouga took this chance with Inuyasha off guard and dug his claws into his already bleeding wound, blood poured every where and Inuyasha collapsed, he rasped out for breath and tried to scream, but only a soft cough escaped his bloodied lips.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed as her hanyou lover fell to his knees and closed his eyes slowly with one longing glance at Kagome before he fell into darkness.

Kagome screamed out his name again and ran towards him, but Naraku blocked her way, "Now, now Kagome dearest, it is time."

"Leave me alone!" Kagome screamed and punched Naraku in his already broken nose, causing him to keel over in pain, Kagome made a run for Inuyasha, but Naraku's icy cold hair gripped her ankle, causing her to lose her balance, "Inuyasha..."

"Fool, Inuyasha is dead," Naraku laughed at Kagome's misfortune and his good luck, "Now it's time to get the Shikon no tama."

Kagome's half-lidded eyes floated to Inuyasha, his lifeless body lying in even more of his blood, he was either dead or dying, and she could do nothing to save him, nothing to save the one she loved.

Naraku chuckled again, "Now you have nothing left to live for, Kouga is mine, and Inuyasha is dead, so why not work for me, it's the least you can do, since I had to go to all the trouble of finding Kikyo so many years ago."

Kagome's eyes widened, "What?"

Naraku didn't answer her and continued walking leaving Kagome to wonder why or what he was talking about. 'What is he talking about?'

Kagome closed her eyes miserably as she was dragged for the second time that day towards the castle, which now had a strange aura, no doubt the Shikon no Tama.