"It's nothing. Just leave it. Ow!" Inu-Yasha cried out restlessly as Sango treated his wounds.

"Stay still. You have to recover first to be useful for looking for Kagome," Sango rebuked. In the seriousness of the situation, Miroku wasn't even taking advantage of the opportunities to allow his hands to wonder. He sighed. As he looked the other way, he suddenly gasped.

"What?" Sango and Inu-Yasha said in unison, looking his way.

"K-Kagome!" Miroku stuttered. However, neither was still listening to him. Both had saw Kagome's figure approaching them in the distance. Inu-Yasha stood up and Sango didn't bother to stop him, or to tell him to put his shirt on. (***blush***) He raced forward to Kagome, stopping short a few yards from her. He wondered at her clothing. She was dressed in a kimono, like Sango's clothing, and her normal weird clothing were no where in sight.

Kagome didn't even notice. Her eyes looked at the ground in front of her but never really seeing anything. The shock of Naraku's actions still flared in her mind. A soft voice reached her ears.

"Kagome?" Inu-Yasha asked, scared by her haunted look.

"In-Inu-Yasha?" her voice shook. He wondered what could possibly have caused this dramatic change in his Kagome. No longer bright happy and optimistic, she seemed broken…beaten.

"What happened? Did…Did Naraku hurt you?" Inu-Yasha asked. Kagome turned away.

"P-Please…Don't ask me any questions," Kagome bit her lips.

"What did he do to you? Tell me! I'll make him pay if he hurt you," Inu-Yasha said in a low voice.

"J-Just leave me alone, please!" Kagome cried, tears streaming out of her eyes.

"Kag…ome." He sighed. "Well, whatever it was, I'm just sorry that I wasn't there to protect you." He pulled her close into an embrace. Sango and Miroku blushed at this scene before them, that is, until Miroku's lecherous hand wondered.

"Hentai!" Sango cried, hitting Miroku on the head with the first-aid box Kagome brought. Kagome smiled faintly though her eyes stayed sad.

***

"What's wrong with Kagome? She seems so out of it ever since she returned," Sango asked Inu-Yasha quietly.

"I don't know. She asked me to not question her about Naraku."

"The poor girl's in shock. But, I wonder what happened to do that. Kagome's been captured loads of times before, but never ended up like this," the monk pondered. Shippo sighed.

"What if she never returns back to normal?"

"Well, there is a way to test whether she's normal, midget."

"What, Inu-Yasha? Would you do it, PLEASE?" He sighed. Walking over to her, Inu-Yasha pondered their previous conversation.

"Uh. Kagome?" he shook her a little to catch her attention. She started.

"Oh. Inu-Yasha, it's you." Kagome faked calmness but he saw through it.

"Who'd you think it was?"

"Uh…what were you saying?"

"Do you need to go back to your time? You mentioned another one of those tests, uh…last time." Kagome's fake calm disappeared. She was clutching herself in terror. Biting her hand to try to keep calm. Inu-Yasha was startled by this behavior and so was the rest of the group.

"K-Kagome?"

"No. No. Please, don't make me go back. No. My tests can wait. The-The sh-shards are more important. What if N-…" She couldn't go on from here. Deep down, she was terrorized by even his name. Softly, she sobbed again, reliving the short time she spent in his castle.

"It's-It's OK. Kagome, I won't force you back!" Inu-Yasha was clearly alarmed. Just WHAT had happened to cause Kagome this make terror? She's never been terrified of Naraku before? He couldn't help glance at the sky, hoping to find his answer there.

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OK. No more FORCED reviews. If you don't want to review, you don't have to. Though, it would be VERY nice if you do. ***HINT HINT HINT*** PLEASE REVIEW

But I will put up the next chapter when I'm done, even if you people don't review.

Anyway. I will be putting up a Sailor Moon fanfiction. My other one was taken off. So, if any SM fans here can check back in a week or so, maybe less, for a SM fanfic.