Chapter?: Sometimes You Can't Rescue Everyone…

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Tsuyu stood high in a tree limb, baring no heed to the large distance between herself and the ground.

She watched as the girl, Kagome, and her mate came closer. She had only stayed to make sure they arrived in time…just to make sure the demon exterminator and the houshi were rescued..after all, her job had been taken care of now, and there was no need for *them* to die…

Finally, after, what to her, seemed like a really long time, the girl arrived, followed almost immediately by her mate.

Tsuyu weakened the barrier around the two trapped inside..just enough so that the male hanyou would be able to penetrate it with his sword..Just enough so that it would look like she *had* meant for the two inside to die…so that they might not discover her true reasons…not that it mattered much..

She just would rather them believe it to be a random act of hatred..whether than a well thought out and important plan..something that she *had* to do..for reasons beyond her control..

After weakening her barrier just a little more, just in case, she was gone almost as if she had never been there in the first place…leaving only a single raven black feather to slowly waft to the ground.

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Kagome ran. She ran in a way that she had never thought would be possible for her..and yet she didn't even notice it. She didn't really notice anything..just a vague sensation of falling as she jumped through the well, and then the steady rhythm of her own feet as she ran.

She had no idea where she was going. All she knew was that something was wrong. Miroku and Sango were in…danger? Trouble?…something not good…So instead of even stopping to consider just what she was doing, she let the same thing that had told her something was wrong guide her to her friends.

She paid it no mind as the trees and bristles struck her and cut her in her mad dash to her friends, it wasn't like the scrapes and scratches would matter much anyway, her hanyou healing would take care of them. She barely acknowledged the large rocks and occasional trees she was jumping over..All she knew was that she needed to hurry.

And suddenly her feet stopped. Her legs ceased to move, and her mind once again came back into full working order…what she saw..almost made her wish that it hadn't..
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Shippo peeked out of Kagome's kimono, finally, the girl had stopped running, it had been all he could do to not fall out to his death..Alright…maybe not to his death..but it still wouldn't have been too fun..

Looking at the scene before him, Shippo shuddered as tears welled up in his eyes…he didn't want to see *that*, trembling miserably, he curled back up into Kagome's kimono..maybe..when he came out again everything would be alright..

*****

Inuyasha ran after Kagome. For someone who had only recently required her abilities as a hanyou, she was sure as hell running fast enough. In fact, he himself could barely catch up with her..granted, she had had a bit of a head start..but still…she sure was moving on..

He dodged a low branch with not near as much ease as his mate had, barely missing it. Compared to the way Kagome was moving, he looked pretty clumsy.

But finally, Kagome stopped, so suddenly, that he almost went crashing into her, he was barely able to stop himself in time. Why had she stopped?! Had they reached their destination? And..just as suddenly as he asked himself those questions..they were answered almost immediately..

"Shit."

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Kagome stared thought the murky barrier, she could just barely see through it, but it was enough to know just what she was looking at. Sango and Miroku. Both of them laying motionless on the ground.

And then Inuyasha was behind her, about to ask what was wrong, and then figuring it out for himself..And of course, then going on to voice his own opinion of the entire situation..which, remarkably, summed up her feelings at the moment as a whole.

"Shit"

Right..shit indeed.

"Inuyasha..You don't think they're…", Kagome's voice trailed off as she stared again at her friends..they certainly didn't seem very lively.

"Well If their not dead yet they soon will be! We better stop wasting time!", and then Inuyasha stepped in front of Kagome, withdrawing tetusaiga. Already the sword was glowing red.

"KAZE NO KIZU!", with a violent slash the sword cut right through the barrier, immediately dissolving it.

Kagome ran over to her two friends and dropped to her knees.

"Sango-chan!? Miroku?". Neither stirred and Kagome was starting to fear the worst. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes already.

"They aren't dead baka! Use your nose! Does it smell like death to you? Don't you remember what I taught you? And if you aren't even going to use your nose, at LEAST use your ears! You can hear their heart beating for Kami's sakes!", Inuyasha approached his two unconscious friends and Kagome. Though his words had sounded almost cruel, there was an almost unmistakable look of concern and maybe even fear on his face..

Shippo took a sniff of the air to confirm Inuyasha's statements..to reassure himself..Nope..no death..but there was that other scent there..and not a very pleasant one at that..he decided it wasn't safe to leave his comfort zone quite yet..it would be much easier to just stay where he was, where the unpleasant scent was masked by the comforting and reassuring scent of strawberry's..Kagome.

Kagome sniffed the air, and was quite relieved to find that the death smell was not present…well..not exactly present…but there was some other smell …a very foreign smell that she didn't understand..and, judging by the way Inuyasha kept sniffing the air, he had noticed it too..

"What..what happened to them Inuyasha..what's that smell?"

Inuyasha chose to ignore her last question, "the barrier obviously blocked their air..they passed out is all.."..But if they had only passed out..then why could he smell the slight tinge of bruising and a little bit of blood in the air..

Kagome recognized the blood smell, and even the one that smelled like pain..but there was another one as well…still that one that she didn't understand.

Inuyasha went over to Miroku, seeing if the smell was originating from him, finding that it didn't he slapped the monk hard across the face, evidently in an attempt to wake him up. The monk began to stir, and Inuyasha, no longer interested, approached the demon exterminator. Yep, that was definitely where the smell had been coming from…and now, he really wished it had came from Miroku.

He rolled Sango over onto her back, the smell only got stronger. Nope, no cuts on her face..no *visible* wounds anywhere..He brought his head down closer to her, sniffing all over her body.

"INUYASHA WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?", Kagome stared at her mate, who, looked like he had taken a sudden interest in Sango.

"Feh, I smell blood and pain, but I don't see nothing, so rather than slash up her Demon Exterminator suit I'm gonna just smell for it, is that Okay with you?!", He took a break from his sniffing to glare at Kagome, who appeared a little embarrassed.

Kagome turned to Miroku and began shaking his shoulders, she was growing increasingly worried about Sango, and maybe the monk could explain what had happened.

"ermm…Sango..I just love the way you-"

Kagome groaned inwardly as she slapped a hand over the monks mouth, there was no way she wanted to hear the end to that sentence…already she had conjured up to many mental images for her liking.

"Snap out of it Miroku! What happened?"

Inuyasha sniffed lower until finally he found where the smell was coming from. Sango's stomach. Sango's PREGNANT stomach...This really wasn't good.

He could smell a lot of pain coming from her..way too much to come from just being deprived of air..He wanted to wake her, but he wasn't about to slap her like he had Miroku.

He gathered the limp girl in his arms as genteelly as he could, not wanting to do anymore damage than had already been done.

"Kagome..you take care of the letch, get him to wake up and tell you what happened..I've gotta go get Sango to Kaede as fast as I can..", He waited on her nod of approval before dashing off in the direction of Kaede's hut.

Kagome was seriously worried now..it wasn't like Inuyasha to act so..gentle..caring..something was seriously wrong.

"WAKE UP YOU STUPID MONK!", she was almost terrified by how much she sounded like Inuyasha…was that why Inuyasha was harsh? Just because he was worried?

"I need to know what happened!!"

Miroku slowly opened his eyes. "Gechur and offma mouf an en ile esplane"

"Eh?!", Kagome glanced down at her hand, which was still on Miroku's mouth. "Oh..sorry.."

Miroku shot a glare at her as he slowly sat up..looking for Sango..the last thing he remembered was hearing that sickening thud..and then Sango screaming..and then..then he had..passed out? Where was Sango. He began to panic...she WAS alright..wasn't she?

"Where's Sango?!", He was now on his feet and searching the surrounding area, looking in bushes, glancing up in trees..

"Inuyasha took her to Kaede..I think she got hurt really bad in whatever happened…"

"Is she alright?! What about the baby!? Is it alright!?"

Kagome grimaced as she remembered the way Inuyasha had stopped at Sango's stomach…the way he had sniffed there and then got that look on his face…and then ran off to Kaede's…It was all she could do to keep her composure for Miroku's sake.

"I…I don't know…Miroku…what happened here?"

Miroku glanced at Kagome, his eyes full of sorrow and his face pained..a single tear slid down his cheek. And then he was gone, running off, trying to catch up with Inuyasha…with Sango..with his baby…assuming it still existed..

Kagome watched him go..knowing that she could catch up with him oh so easily..but choosing not too..If something had happened to Inuyasha..she would do the same.

She took another wiff of the surrounding air, not at all surprised to find that the smell she had smelled earlier..that smell that was so much like death..but not quite..was gone…

Suddenly, she felt something squirming in her Kimono.

"Eh?", she glanced down at her Kimono where the movement was coming from..this was..unusual..

And then out popped Shippo's head, a clearly worried expression on his childlike face.

In all her haste she had forgotten the little kitsune. She patted his head comfortingly..

"Kagome…? Is Sango and her baby gonna be alright?"

Kagome looked away from him.."I..don't know Shippo.."

Shippo nodded his head sadly and returned to his little den in Kagome's Kimono.

Clutching the little bulge in the upper half of her Kimono, Kagome walked slowly in the direction of Kaede's hut. Trying her best not to let her composure crumble..she had to be strong for once..for everyone else..She walked on, her expression completely devoid of all emotion..thoroughly dreading what news the rest of the day would bring.

*******A/N******

Gomen for the lack of an update in 7 days..sorry…really I am..But..for one thing, I was out of town, and another, Fanfiction was out of order for a while..but I'm back..with another cliffhangery thing…and a pretty short chapter..

Oh, and fan fiction has been giving me problems with my spacing (namely getting rid of it entirely) so if this problem occurse on this chapter..um..sorry about that too…

Okie, I know some of you were upset about the lack of Inuyasha/Kagome..But the next few chapters are gonna be primarily Sango/Miroku…sorry..

~And A LOT of you were upset about the baby die thing…I haven't said yet that its going to die..there..might be a way to save it…~

I'm sorry but I've had to edit my favorite reviewer list, it was getting WAY to big..so now only a select few will be on.

Favorite Reviewers: Vold, Lyndz, Sorensen, Bunny, Kaylana, Angry Shadow, Robgirl, Lady Night, Armargo Scribe, Tsukinoko, and Dark Pheonix2003 *sends them all them all Sesshy Maru's line of beauty products..*..hmm..I'll let that go to the imagination...

I know..I probably forgot some really important people..gomen..

Vold: Thanks so much for all your reviews, I really aprreciate it, and thinks for the concern..The lack of update was mainly due to being out of town..in hell..which..is also known as being with my father..and I was …computer less *screams in terror*..and then..I went through a day or two of doubting my abilities as a writer..and considering dropping writing all together..but I'm back..Thanks.a lot…And since your so great, you're the first in line in my list of favorite reviewers.

Bunny: See! I updated! *feels special*

Dark Pheonx: I really apreciate you reviewing almost every chapter! Oh and congratulations on being my 500th reviewer! *sends bouqeut of…tiger lillys as a prize*

CrazyInuLover: I didn't know the name had already been used in the series..I didn't come up with it..Kaylana did *points at Kaylana*

Oh, and someone..I forgot who…said the seshy story line is draggin on awhile..yeah I know..but..well..I had to have kagura free for a while..cuz..well..she plays an important part soon…
And I am aware of the lack of a sesshy update..sorry,…lets just assume he's still wandering around looking for kagura..

I PROMISE the next chapter should be out sooner!
Untill then, REVIEW!!

REVEIW OR I SHALL EAT YOUR SOULS!
That girl,
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