A/N:  Chapter four is up and ready! Hope you all had a happy X-mas ^_^ Also if u guys didn't get to read your x-mas present fic, go and read it! Its call The Perfect Present. This chapter also has a little action in it, but not much. For all you Sango lovers, you're going to hate me for doing this but I had to. Also read the A/n at the bottom. Very Important! I know u want the story so ill shut up for now.

Shout outs:  I would like to thank Tiger of the Wind1 for letting me use 2 of her characters from her own stories aka Rubi-Yue and Kitsu. Also would like to thank all of u for R&Ring ^_^

DISCLAIMER: *U_U*  do I really have to say it?

""-talking

''-thinking

~-scene change

------------------------------------------------------------Chapters Music

 Beginning w/ battle –  "Faint" from "Linkin Park"- got hooked on it from another story that used it ^_^

Kagome's walk–  "Toki wo Koeru"

Kagome's escape–  "Valley of Mist" from ".Hack//Sign ost 1" – this one I just added b/c I like the mood it sets sorta like "strength of soul" aka "Rei Chikara" in the default chapter" ^_~

Kaeda-baba-chan's hut–  "Aika"

End w/ Inu-Yasha-  "Miko Kikyo"

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'Kuso. Why won't this youkai die already?'

She had led the creature away from the village; that way it couldn't do that much damage. They were in a clearing on a path. It would have been a pretty sight had the battle not been going on. The mountains were in the horizon, there blue-green color matching the bright blue sky perfectly. A few shrubs and bushes could be seen in front of them. There where a few white clouds here and there in the sky. A few light and dark colored trees scattered around the dirt road and close near the village. Unfortunately this was no time for sight seeing.

She had already cut off most of its legs, yet it kept regenerating them like it was not a problem. She leapt to the side, dodging the youkai's deadly tail once again. She landed in front of it, a look of determination in her brown eyes. Her long black hair was up in its high ponytail, mask in place on her face--hiding everything underneath her eyes. Her taijiya ishou was covered in soot and dried blood; some of it her own, most the youkai's. She waited for the perfect chance to strike. She moved her hand back—holding her giant weapon, positioning for the attack.

'Now!' "Hiraikotsu"

She threw it with all her strength. The weapon cut through the air and towards its target, closing in. It cut through six of its legs severing them useless. On its return trip it took down six more. The youkai roared up, sounding in pain-- a horrible sound. It looked down at the taijiya with hatred in its white eyes. It dived down at her, all the while growing back its twelve legs she had cut. Catching her weapon gracefully, she leapt up. The youkai was expecting this. It turned around and using its tail; knocked her in the side before she could maneuver out of the way. She fell to the ground in a heap on her back, hiraikotsu sliding out of her grasp. She was starting to bleed freely from the wound she had acquired from the attack--the blood soaking up in her ishou.  Rolling onto her stomach and ignoring the pain she felt, she reached for her weapon, trying to grab it so she could at least use it to shield herself. The youkai charged at her, wanting to finish her off. It stood on its six hind legs preparing to dive and devour her. She looked at it, a speck of fear sparking into her eyes. She desperately reached for her weapon. The youkai dived, nearly upon her.

"Kaze no Kizu"

A blinding white light headed for the youkai, splitting its head off of its body—disintegrating it in the process. Its body stopped its progress on the taijiya and fell in a lifeless heap to the ground, creating a cloud of dust that rose and blocked her view. When it settled back onto the ground, she rolled on her back and looked up to see a red object drop from the sky. Landing quietly on his feet, he lifted his Tetsusaiga with one hand on his shoulder, staring at the dead centipede youkai. A fearsome fire cat soon came into view, a purple clad monk and a kitsune riding on its back. It flew towards the taijiya, landing near to her gracefully. The monk jumped off of it, staff jingling as he did so. He ran up to her and kneeled beside her. Looking at her, he assessed her wounds. It was worse than he had thought. The fire cat walked over to her. It detransformed in a brilliant display of fire, going into its tiny cat form. She walked over to her and nuzzled her neck, hoping to comfort her in her pain. She looked over to it, smiling a small smile, though it hurt her painfully.

"Hey Kirara"

The fire cat meowed in response, big, red eyes looking at her. She winced as she turned her head around to look at the monk. His eyes held worry for her. It was actually quite sweet.

"Sango-chan, you shouldn't be moving in your condition. It will only make it worse."

She smiled inwardly.

'He is worried about me. Maybe he isn't always his lecherous self all the time. Then again, I am wounded.' "I'll be fine Houshi-sama"

The kitsune-- having jumped off Kirara after the monk, ran over to the figure looking over the youkai. Jumping up on the shoulder not occupied by Tetsusaiga, he looked at it too.

"Do you see a Shikon shard Inuyasha?"

He lifted his sword from its resting place. Swing it once in his hand, it detransformed in a white light into its smaller, nicked form. He sheathed it back into its scabbard. Crossing his arms across his chest he continued to stare at it, not answering the kit.

Getting annoyed at being ignored, he tapped him on the head.

"Inuyasha….anybody home?"

"Oi brat…quit it."

He flung the kit off his shoulder onto the ground, head first. He had other things on his mind at the moment. Walking over to the taijiya and monk, he looked down at them.

"How's her wounds monk?"

The person in general looked up at him. The hanyou seemed more distracted than usual, more edgy in his opinion.

"She will be down for a week at the least. Her wounds are cut very deep; that combined with the amount of blood loss means we won't be leaving for awhile."

"Kuso"

He looked back over to the youkai. Shippo had long ago gotten up and was searching for a shard. If he found one, it will be the first one in ten days and ten days since Kagome had gone missing. Something was very wrong. Usually they had all type of youkai attacking them for the shards, especially Naraku. Yet the bastard hadn't even shone his face or even tried to kill them at this point.

'What the hell is going on around here?'

He narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows drawing together in thought. He knew something was up. It was never this quite around them, never.

'Just what are you planning Naraku.'

~

She sat on her legs on her futon. It had been way to boring around here. This onna-shujin had brought her here for a reason and she still didn't know why. She stretched her arms over her head, getting the kinks out of them.

'I really shouldn't complain I guess. I mean I get anything I want just by asking, but this is not like all the adventures I use to go on with them.'

She sighed.

She'd noticed right when she had gotten up that morning that she had been changed into a yukata. It was a pretty light blue color and matched her hair perfectly. It had little light green leaves on the bottom and that went around the obi—which was a dark blue in contrast to the yukata. She could move around in it but not as freely as her uniform, which she would have liked right now.

'I guess I can go exploring again, even though I've been every place there is around here--and maybe just maybe this time…..'

Standing up she stumbled a bit. She had been in her room since yesterday evening, think of ways to get out of the shrine. Her care taker Kitsu was especially sweet and kind toward her but she needed to see her family and friends again, else she go crazy. Slipping on her shoes,

'Thank kami they left these here.'

she walked towards the doors that led towards other parts of the shrine. Turning the white knobs she slid out of her room as quietly as possible. It always confused her that no matter how quite and sneaky she was, she always was caught by someone when she tried to escape. The thing that really got her though was no matter where she looked, she never saw any youkai around; other than Kitsu; and yet when called upon they suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Sure she saw a youkai or two run around doing other things but where were the rest? She walked through the corridors down to a door she new was at the end. She was always in awe at what she looked at on the walls as she walked. It seemed that every time she did this the scene would change. Today she was walking through a dark meadow. The sky was sprinkled with stars a far as she could see—all glowing blue, purple, and white. There were pink clouds on the edges of it—a sharp contrast to the sky; that continued to move as she walked. There were two streaks from shooting stars that went towards the cloud that was in front of her, that gave off a blue tint. On the ground was dark, evergreen grass that rose in hills every once in awhile. She was captivated by the shear beauty of it all.

a/n: I got this off of a picture someone drew though sadly I don't know who since I couldn't see the name at the end of the pic.

She finally reached the door she was looking for. Stepping outside she was greeted by the bright sun. Shading her eyes she walked out onto the stone walkway. She continued to walk the path till she got to a tree. It reminded her so much of The Goshin Boku. She stopped at it and sat down--back leaning against it and knees tucked close to her chest, arms resting on top of them. This was the back of the shrine; a brilliant garden. It was also the best place to see the sunset. She didn't know how many times she had tried escape from back here. From what she could tell, if she could just get past the stupid watchmen, she could go on foot around to the front and toward the village. Then she could get someone to take her back to territory she was familiar with. Sighing she decided she would try again. Getting up from under the shade of the tree, she walked over to the railing along the garden. Peering over it, she saw the ground was level at some point but to get there you had walk or slide on a small patch of slanted land. Looking up from her task, she turned her head this way and that looking for anyone.

'No one, what a surprise'

Holding the railing with both her hands she jumped over the side. Now standing with her back towards the rail and her hands holding her up for dear life she turned around. She bent down to the ground and placed both her knees on it.  Carefully taking one of her hands off, she placed it on the ground in front of them; then doing the same with the other.

'So far so good'

As careful as she could be while looking back over her shoulder; she crawled backwards to the level ground, praying all the while that she wouldn't slip and fall. When she reached it, she let out the breath she had been holding. Getting up and dusting herself off, she looked at the woods.

'I have to somehow get from these to the ones that led towards the front. Then I'll think of something from there.'

She took to the woods; navigating this way and that through the thick foliage, turning to look over her shoulder to make extremely sure no one was following her.  She saw some light at the end of the woods.

'Perfect the front of the shrine.'

Looking around she calculated how she was going to get through all this.

'Lets see... the butterfly demon has to be near; I can sense the youkai aura. There is foliage I can sneak into but I'd be in the open for a couple of seconds. That would risk getting caught. I can wait till I actually see the demon then make a break for it, but I bet it would smell my scent-- so I have to wait till it leaves; but then that would give the ones in the shrine more time to find me since I know they know I escaped by now. What is it that Inuyasha always told me……ahh...if you're down wind from a youkai then it won't find your scent. Thank you Inuyasha. Now the wind is blowing against me so if it flies overhead in the next few minutes and stays in front of me, I can reach the bushes and trees!'

Satisfied with her plan she waited for the youkai. Just as planned Rubi-Yue flew over her hiding spot on her normal rounds. As she flew over her, Kagome made a sprinted for the bushes. Safely hidden from view, she looked around once more to make sure she hadn't been spotted. Happy that she hadn't she crawled over to the safety of the woods. Getting up, she fast walked her way along the route the dirt path was.

'Nearly there'

Suddenly she felt a tingle go up her spine. A youkai was near. She continued walking while looking around for the presence. It was nowhere. She continued looking, this time behind her—that's when she bumped into it.

"Ow….. hey"

 Landing on her rear, she rubbed her back while looking up. There in front of her was the youkai she had felt.

~

Sango blinked opened her eyes. She had been placed on a futon in the middle of Kaeda-baba-chan's hut--a little ways from the fire pit. Her wound had been cleaned and bandaged. She had a cloth on top of her head to keep her cool, a blanket to cover her up. Kirara was beside her head-curled up in sleep.

'How did I get here? Last I remember is Houshi beside me checking my wounds'

"Ahh…fair Sango…you have finally awakened."

She turned her head to the side. There was Miroku on the other side of the fire, looking at her. She felt self-conscious with him staring at her so she turned her head—a small blush on her face. That's when she saw Shippo in front of her Hiraikotsu also looking at her.

"Are you feeling better yet Sango?"

She was a little better than when she was at the battlefield, though her side hurt and she had a major headache.

"Yes Shippo, I'm feeling much better but how did I get here. We were on the battlefield last I remember."

"We had Kirara carry you back. You were too injured to walk and we didn't want to make you feel anymore pain by carrying you ourselves."

"Oh" She looked around the hut. "Where is Inu-Yasha?"

This time it was Miroku's turn to answer.

"He went out to Goshin Boku. He has been there a lot thinking about all that has happened. This has got me thinking also."

"About?"

"About Naraku and Kagome. I think that maybe Naraku may have her and is plotting to use her against us. It has been ten days since her disappearance and Naraku hasn't even tried to kill us or try to take the shards that we do have in our possession. If we do not find Kagome-sama soon, I fear for the worst."

She went back to staring at the ceiling. She really missed Kagome to. She was like her adopted sister. They always told each other most everything; something's though were made to be kept secret to yourself. After the first day Inu-Yasha had told them about there fight, they had started there search yet she was nowhere to be found. Which reminded her. She turned her head to look at Miroku.

"Houshi-sama, why'd you take Kirara?"

He looked up from the fire and back at her. He had been thinking the exact same thing as Sango had-- just in a different version.

"I took Kirara so that we could get to the village faster. There was a rumor that in a village west of here, there was a strange girl who looked like Kikyo. Well of course Inu-Yasha wanted to go see if it was true, and Shippo wasn't going to stay here if he could go see Kagome-sama. So we all went to check it out. You, my fair Sango, were still asleep from the demon you slain yesterday for a village in the east. We, well I, decided you still needed sleep and so we left you here since we would be back soon. As you can see, it wasn't Kagome-sama and it was just a girl who had the same height and the same hair color as her from a different village."

'Well that explains waking up to nobody here.' "Arigatou Houshi-sama"

"Douitashimashite"

With that everyone went back there separate thoughts on what happened to Kagome. Not far away Inu-Yasha was in The Goshin Boku's branches having the worst time coming to terms with Kagome's disappearance. He looked up into the leaves-the sun casting their shadows on his face.

'I promise Kagome, I will find you.'

~TBC

New Words

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 Ishou – outfit

 Taijiya – demon exterminator

Youkai- demon

Onna-shujin- mistress or master (I think)

Yukata- sorta like a summer kimono

Arigatou- thank you

Douitashimashite- you are welcome

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A/N: the rest of my author note. In the next chapter I will be answering some of the reviews to those who have questions on LD and just to answer all of you back. This was not as long as I would have liked it to be but I need to get the A/N out to all of you. As you saw at the top I had written you guys a x-mas present called The Perfect Present. Go and R&R it plez. The reason is b/c I've already had two people want me to continue it. If enough people review and want the same…I'll consider it. That one was for the contest I entered and I was just something on a whim. But if you guys like it so much…I will give it some thought. I need you all to go to my name and read my bio by today or tomorrow. I have the progress on how my story(s) are coming along. Also for all you Kikyo haters, I hate to tell you…I don't loath her so much as to hatred, that is why I'm doing a one-shot on her. I probably won't get reviews for it, but it's for a friend who did this great picture of her. That's all for now. The rest of what I want to say is on my bio. Ciao till Chapter 5    ~_^