Disclaimer - I don't own Inu-Yasha and co.


Chapter Two - Kagome

It wasn't her time yet...

She could dimly feel pain still, pain from the body that lay crumpled on the ground as poisonous vapors ate away at its flesh. Pain from the dissolving body that wore her face, grimaced with pain. She hadn't taken the warnings seriously, even when the enigmatic youkai named Naraku returned with threats against her life she refused to acknowledge the threat.

He wanted the jewel she carried, the jewel she had sworn to protect no matter the cost. This strange youkai who had such a dark aura wanted the Shikon no Tama for unknown reasons. Reasons Kagome could easily guess from the dark promises that always lurked in Naraku's eyes, promises of what he would do to not only her, but the world if he got his hands on Shikon no Tama.

She was young for a bearer, young for the heavy responsibility of guarding the jewel of four souls. Spending her teenage years traveling from town to town, helping those she could with the powers the jewel granted her. Powers she had sworn to use for good, to purify an item drenched in blood and evil.

The jewel had been evil, of this Kagome held no doubt. When the priests dissolved the jewel into her very being she felt the strange shadowy presence take hold in the back of her mind. A presence that whispered of past deeds that made her nights sleepless. Yet Kagome pressed on, refusing the darker calls of the Shikon jewel, forcing purity into it without mercy.

She had been so close to fulfilling her duty, close to completing her task towards the jewel. The dark presence had faded to almost nothing, the powers of the jewel flowed smoothly at her call. She had almost banished the shadow from Shikon no Tama when Naraku appeared.

She sensed him as he approached her camp, a dark oily aura that filled the air with nauseous fumes. The firelight cast warped shadows into the forest beyond, bringing memories of ghost stories to mind as the stars shrouded themselves behind the gathering clouds.

Repressing the shudder of fear that yearned to ripple through her Kagome managed to smile warmly at her visitor, offering him a seat by her fire and a meal as if he was nothing more then another human. She could feel his strange unblinking eyes on her as she chattered to him of rumors and village news, keeping the silence between them to a minimum.

Yet his patience made her attempts fruitless, as her words winded down into the occasionally question the stranger struck. His voice oozed over her like a polluted breeze, making her quake with fear despite her resolve to show nothing. He calmly introduced himself as Naraku, noting the fear in her expression with obvious pleasure. Naraku like making her fear him, he liked watching her hands tremble as she nervously clasped and unclasped them in her lap.

He like watching the slow beginning of panic writhe in her eyes.

He quietly demanded the Shikon no Tama, his demeanor making it clear he brooked no argument.

Naraku didn't expect the ribbon of steel in Kagome's voice as she politely refused his request, her eyes betrayed nothing as she stared into the abyss of his gaze. He didn't expect her equally polite departure as she gathered her things and slipped into the forest depths with barely a sound, the bushes swallowing her slender form as she vanished among the silent trees.

Yet no matter how far she traveled Naraku was there. She never felt him follow her, it was as if he knew her destination and awaited her arrival with a bored air tinged with malice. His demands for the jewel were constant, his messengers tailed her steps as she continued her travels despite him.

Then came the final day, the moment he threatened her life for Shikon no Tama.

Kagome had sworn vows, she allowed the sect of priests and priestesses that harbored the Shikon no Tama to place it into her body, she had been the protecter and bearer of the Shikon no Tama for years. Yet Kagome had never expected to truly face her vows like this, vows that bound her to the Shikon no Tama until she passed it on to another.

When Naraku's poisonous fumes wrapped around her slender body she felt only fear. Fear and a strange regret. Kagome was young yet, still a teenager physically the burden of her responsibility made her appear older. As her skin began peeling from her bones the memory of her vow ceremony wavered in her vision, bringing a resolve she never knew she held.

The final moments of her death were mercifully short, Kagome watched as Naraku thoroughly searched her corpse for the Shikon no Tama. She took pleasure in his enraged screams when he found nothing. The evil youkai had never truly understood the responsibility of the bearer to Shikon no Tama, he never grasped the ties that bound the bearer to the jewel.

As Kagome's spirit departed her body she carried the jewel with her still, as she had sworn the jewel was tied to her soul. Until she placed it into her replacement's hand Kagome herself was the Shikon no Tama.

The strange months that followed left the spirit battered, Kagome had little control over her new form and spent much of her time learning how to move again. When she began her travels anew Kagome came to a slow realization about humanity in general, they were too easily corrupted. Wherever she turned, no matter where she searched, she couldn't find someone fit to bear the Shikon no Tama.

As she began her weary travels towards her homeland she met someone new. Kneeling over a freshly dug grave was a regally dressed inu-youkai, an older male who seemed utterly desolate as he wept over the unmarked grave. KAgome slipped closer, unsure of the situation, unable to understand why there was need for such a secret burial.

The old youkai could see her, when he straightened from the ground his eyes connected with hers. A puzzled frown flickered over his stoic expression as he took in the bedraggled spirit before him, a mere slip of a girl who glowed with strange power, power he had never seen before despite his advanced years. Power that pierced the veil between the living and the dead.

His kindly demeanor dragged Kagome's story from her lips, her plight as she sought to find a bearer for the Shikon no Tama so she could move on. Her despair as she found humans who were too weak to withstand the strength of mind and soul it took to carry the Shikon no Tama within your soul. The old youkai listened with a distant expression, his mind mulling over the sad tale of the spirit beside him.

Who killed you child? he asked serenely, noting the rage that flickered in her tear-washed gray eyes.

A strange youkai named Naraku.

The inu-youkai froze at the name, the briefest flash of memory tugging at him, nagging him... The name left a strange hollowness in his heart, an empty abyss that threatened to swallow him whole. Shrugging off the strange shadow that passed over his thoughts the old youkai withdrew the sword at his side, placing it across his knees as he met Kagome's inquiring gaze.

I can offer you an alternate solution, he began calmly, toying with the plain sheath in his lap. If you allow me to seal your spirit into this sword it will grant you the time and the body you need to finish your task. noting the frown that crossed Kagome's features the old youkai smiled gently, his eyes were kind as he withdrew the sword from its sheathe.

I will die soon, and my youngest son will suffer greater peril then his fate allowed if he does not claim his birthright. Yet I fear he lacks direction. the youkai's eyes closed at the thought of his brash younger son all alone.

I believe it would be a fair enough trade, you help my son find his place in life as he is, and he will help you find a proper bearer for the Shikon no Tama. the youkai smiled warmly, he saw the spirit considering his proposal, her eyes cloudy with mixed emotions as her fingers absentmindedly drummed against her knee.

I agree. she pronounced abruptly, I will give your son, the sword's future bearer, my aid as the protector of Shikon no Tama, and he will aid me in my final task. she nodded firmly, pushing aside her lingering doubts.

Rising to her feet she faced the old youkai proudly, her arms crossed as she waited for him to tie her to the sword. As she watched the youkai draw the sword from its sheath a gasp escaped her lips, as the blade emerged it grew, elongating into a large fang that oozed inu-youkai power.

What is it? Kagome questioned, stunned at the display. The sword gleamed before her as the youkai caressed the blade's edge.

This is Tetsusaiga, the steel cleaving fang. I created it from my own body as a birthright for my son. the youkai was calm as he urged Kagome to place her hands on the blade, watching as the young girl's spirit was slowly drawn into the sword that was once his own fang.

I will hide you and Tetsusaiga in a safe place until my son comes to claim you. the youkai began, You will know him easily enough, he's a temperamental hanyou. he saw startled gray eyes fly up to meet his as the last of Kagome's soul slid into the the blade he held.

Swinging the sword experimentally the old youkai sighed, gazing at the grave of his beloved second wife, his younger son's mother. He could sense his death approaching, the chill he experienced after hearing Naraku's name told him it would not be peaceful. His sons would not have it easy. Shivering as the night air crept in with the evening fog the old youkai sheathed his fang for the last time, using a small tendril of power to seal it within himself.

When the time came Inu-Yasha would have need of Tetsusaiga and Kagome. Smiling in grim satisfaction the old youkai made his way towards his castle, where his young son wept for his mother still. A now familiar chill wormed its way up his spine, sending shivers through his frame despite how tightly his tail was wrapped around him.

Naraku would be coming for them soon.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yes I will have all the characters in here eventually, no Kikyo will not be an evil embittered spirit bent on exacting revenge on her kind of ex-boyfriend.

I hope you guys like this and I appreciated the people who reviewed the first really short chapter (I was just tossing a small idea out there to see what people thought, I didn't know the response would be so positive!!) I'll make more detailed thankyous in the next chapter.

Thank you for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter better, once I'm done outlining the AU better I'll probably start doing longer chapters.