Authoress' Notes: Well I'm back again…. By the way, I am finally happy with this part – It gave me absolute fits.

Basically this delay was from my awful class schedule, and a doubling of my work hours. Oh and that whole car accident thing, but I'm alright! At least so the doctor claims.

Thank you to everyone who has sent e-mails or reviews I really appreciate them.

I hope this chapter clears up some of the confusion… though you aren't gonna believe what happens next ^_~

*Smiles* T.A.

"My Grandfather fought against Naraku in his youth."

 – Miroku from "Hand of the Amorous Monk, Miroku"

Cost: Part 5

*Begin Flashback

            " I could use some help here!" The bald monk hollered to his friend as he blocked the demon's attack with his staff.

            The other monk was trying desperately to extricate himself from the body of his dead horse. "Working on it." He huffed, finally giving the body a good enough shove to move it.

            The demon roared in anger as the sutra still burned his leg and he lunged at the monk again. His pain was blinding him to reason or rhyme. His soul goal was strike down the human that had dared to injure him.

            The bald monk skillfully avoided the attack and slapped a sutra on the demon's back. "Moushin! Where the hell are you?!?"

            " Right here!" The younger monk struck the demon in the forehead, drawing its attention to him.

            The demon shook its head to regain its senses, and then leapt at the other human's throat. The dragon-like scales that covered the creature radiated a multitude of colors as they tried to find a suitable match to blend into the area and hide the immanent strike.

            What the demon had failed to notice was the other sutra that the bald monk had slapped on his back.

            Suddenly the demon balked in its progress and stumbled backwards. He roared fiercely and tried to fight the freezing affect that the sutra seemed to be having.

            " Born of ill-gotten blood I command you to change. To be only what are you are made to be. No longer a demon, but a tree. Now be born of earth, water and sun. In this form you will do no harm. And shall remain whatever you are carved into. You will never escape to harm another." The bald monk chanted as the sutra glowed in power.

            The demon could feel his body bending to the will of the sutra. His legs thrust downward, imbedding themselves in the earth as the rest of his form became covered in bark. The demon looked the bald monk in the eye and screamed with this last audible breath: " I will strike down your family. I will not allow your line to continue."

            Then the face of the demon disappeared beneath bark and there was nothing left but an old tree.

            The two monks collapsed beneath the tree.

            The bald monk turned to his friend, " See that wasn't so bad."

            " Yeah, I guess it wasn't really that hard." Moushin agreed.

            Black leaves dropped down from the trees higher branches and the two monks both slapped sutras on it and wrote furiously.

            After a moment of nervous laugher, Moushin looked at his friend. " So what exactly did you do to it? You told me you weren't strong enough to defeat it."

            " I'm not and I didn't defeat it." He admitted bitterly. " What I have done it is given the demon a new form and he can only do what the form lets him."

            " So why don't we just burn it down?"

            " Because we are monks and if we burn it, we release the demon." He sighed heavily. " Do you really want to go through all that again?"

            " No, not really." Moushin stood up. " It's gonna be a long walk back to Kyoto without horses."

            " I suppose." The other monk stood up and announced. " I need a drink."

            Moushin rolled his eyes and started down the path. " You always need drink. But I'll make you deal. If we find somewhere to get a drink, I'll not only join you, I'll pay."

            " Moushin, Moushin. The first thing you learn about being a monk is that you never pay for anything, you don't have to." He laughed out loud and rolled his staff in his hand.


For most of his existence he had moved unseen by the eyes of men. He took the souls of those who strayed into his woods, killing them quickly and quietly. It didn't take him long to realize his true potential and his real power. He could manipulate the mind of anyone; demon or human none could defeat him. Than it happened: that soon-to-be-cursed monk crossed his path. When monk couldn't defeat him, he did something worse: froze him in a form that couldn't cause any more harm. For more than fifty years he had stood as tree. He stood watching the heirs of the house that had cursed him, play and grow. For fifty years he had stood still planning his revenge, when an amazing thing happened… Suddenly a jewel shard was slammed into his wooden body and while he couldn't move, someone moved him. Naraku moved him.

He was carved into a tiny doll, and the jewel shard remained inside him. The sutra, a type of binding spell, would not allow the jewel shard to be removed and the only kind of person that could remove it was a priest, a monk, or a priestess. The plans for his revenge were at hand. Fate had allowed him the means to take his revenge and the opportunity to prove to his 'master' who the better demon was.

The monk's sutra might have held for fifty long years, but it was ill worded. The words bound him to only be what he was formed to be. As a demon puppet, he held all the power that Naraku had infused him with and the jewel shard had allowed him to break away. 

He looked down at the unconscious child in his arms. She was going to be the key to his freedom and the first die all in a single knife stroke.


" MICHI!!! TANAYA!!! Answer me!!" Miroku yelled as he jumped from Kirara's back and ran towards the temple.

Sango felt her heart clench at the sound of Miroku's cries. She slid off Kirara's back and surveyed the ground in front of her. After dropping to one knee she rubbed some dirt between her fingers, " It's damp. It must have rained here recently. Good."  She muttered absently to herself knowing that if it had rained, most of the older footprints would have been washed away leaving only the fresh ones.

Kirara transformed down and yawned, exhausted from the all night trip.

" I agree." Sango nodded and looked up at the high noon sun, before scooping the fire-cat up in her arms. As she walked towards the temple Sango noticed a small set of footprints but they didn't look normal. She knew they must have Tanaya's, but was she dragging her feet, running away, or was it something else. Sango bit her lips and aligned herself with the set of print and skipped forward on the balls of her feet.

" She was playing." Sango could see the child in her mind's eye as she followed the prints of skipping, jumping and spinning.

She made it to the temple steps when Miroku re-appeared looking ashen gray.

" Houshi-sama? Are they…?" Sango swallowed hard dreading to think of might have befallen the mother and child.

Kirara climbed from her arms and settled around her neck in the silence.

" They aren't here." He finally whispered miserably. " Everything's cold. No fire, in the pit only ash." He stumbled and leaned against the temple's beam and covered his hands with his face. " Damn it. I brought him down on her. If I hadn't…"

" Houshi-sama, you must not give up hope, yet." Sango pointed to the footprints. " They were headed north, back towards Kyoto."

" What?" Miroku lifted his head completely confused.

" Look." Sango offered him her hand and led him down the temple steps to Tanaya's footprints, and then pointed to the larger ones near them. " Those are Michi's prints, but I haven't seen any of Moushin's."

" He's in the mountains, with a friend." Miroku informed her.

" I see. Now look. Michi's footprints get deeper here because she was running." Sango followed the print, with the monk until they reached the edge of the temple's barrier. " She knelt here and picked up something. The dirt's disturbed. She ran into the woods."

" Let's go, if we hurry we can catch her." Miroku started forward.

Sango grabbed his left wrist. " Wait. We need to reserve our strength. We ran all night and exhausted we won't offer much aid to Michi and Tanaya."

Miroku glared down at her. " I am not waiting. Tanaya could die if we don't hurry. I don't care what happens to me."

" Houshi-sama." Sango touched the side of his face and turned it towards hers. " I know you're worried about Michi and Tanaya, but killing yourself will not help them. We must be smart about following this trail. I can track where they have been. You must keep calm."

" Could you?"

" Yes." Sango admitted looking into his eyes. " If you ride to save someone and you give your own life, than you forfeit the one you sought to rescue."

" How poetic." Miroku turned tried to turn away from her, but she raised her other hand to his face and held him still. " Sango, I can't lose her." The monk admitted desperately.

" I know." Sango hugged him. " Miroku, we will save them." She pulled away and pointed to the ground. " Michi's footprints continue into the woods, but Tanaya's disappear right here at the edge of the barrier. Her footprints here show that she was rocking on her heels."

" I didn't realize that you could track." Miroku leaned down to get a better look at the prints.

" It's easier to follow demons; they leave larger prints." Sango stepped over the barrier and Kirara let out a complaining sound. " Sorry, Kirara."

" You don't think it was a demon?" Miroku questioned.

" It might have been, but the prints are the exact size of man's and he mounted a horse."

" Damn it. Toshihiro. I knew he was up to something. He must have gained Michi's trust simply to get at Tanaya." He deduced and looked at Sango. " Didn't you mention that when we encountered Naraku at Michi's home that he went after Tanaya?"

" Yes. He sent a crow-demon after her. But, Houshi-sama, if it was Tanaya that he was after, then why hasn't he attacked here sooner?" Sango folded her arms over her chest.

" It probably took him that long to find the temple."

" No, we fought his worm-charmer here."

Miroku furrowed his eyebrows. Sango was right this didn't make any sense at all. If Naraku was after Tanaya then why not attack earlier? Why not in the winter, when the temple was the most vulnerable? And probably the most important question: why Tanaya?

" The tracks follow the same path." Sango informed him. " We should start following them.  Besides, Inuyasha and Kagome probably left at first light and will catch up to us soon."

" The jewel shard." Miroku suddenly realized.

Sango looked in the direction of the city. " I'd forgotten all about that."


" What you mean already left?!?" Inuyasha thundered at the geisha.

Amarante winced and covered her temples with her fingertips. " Not so loud." She sighed heavily before continuing, " Miroku came back from seeing Nori and left in a huff with Sango and the demon-cat shortly after."

" They didn't say anything?" Kagome questioned stuffing her things back into her pack. " That doesn't sound like them."

" Well he said something about going to see Michi. Something about Nori's younger brat having a vision or something." Amarante rubbed her eyelids.

" What kind of vision?" Kagome asked as she snapped her backpack closed.

The geisha sighed again. " I don't know; he didn't say."

" You're lying." Inuyasha growled folded his arms over his chest.

Amarante stood up a little straighter. " You have a lot nerve accusing me of such a thing."

" I ain't accusing you; I know you're lying." The hanyou narrowed his eyes. "Your family's got a nasty habit about not tellin' the truth."

" Inuyasha!" Kagome hollered at him, embarrassed at his outburst.

" Whatever the truth is, it doesn't concern you. This is a family matter and I guarantee that there are not any half-breeds in my family." Amarante glared at Inuyasha her tone and expression darkening. " I think that it is time for you to leave."

" Fine with me." Inuyasha turned on his heel and starting marching for the door as he called out, " Kagome, Shippou let's go."

Shippou appeared out of seemly nowhere and jumped into Kagome's arms. " Are we gonna go find the jewel shard?"

" Yeah, we are." Kagome answered a bit numbly out of shock due to Amarante's sudden change in demeanor. " It was a pleasure meeting you." Kagome bid the geisha, as she was still trying to be friendly.

The geisha didn't even spare her a glance as Kagome started out the door, than as if as an afterthought the older woman called out to her. " Be careful child, demon's are not good company."

Kagome smiled overly sweet as she replied. " Thank you, but I prefer their company to geishas. At least a demon is honest." Kagome put her feet in her shoes and stormed out the door, with her backpack on her back, Shippou in her arms and her nose in the air.

After closing the door behind her, she looked up at Inuyasha, who was staring off in the distance. " The jewel shard is over that way. We should find it before Naraku gets word of it."

" Yeah. Whatever." He started storming forward, as Kagome caught his hand in hers. He looked down at their linked hands confused at her motion, until she smiled broadly.

" I'm proud to walk with you." She told him.

A half-smile curved over the hanyou's lips. " Thanks, Kagome."

" Yeah. Whatever." She copied his normal phrase, though with a smile instead of a snort, and started dragging him along with her.


" I want the girl." The toothless trader stated to the trio when they asked about his jewel-shard.

" Eep!" Kagome jumped behind Inuyasha, before yelling a definitive. " No! I'm not for sale!"

Shippou jumped in front of Kagome defensively. " You can't have my Kagome!"

" A kitsune!" The trader's eyes lit up.

" You can have him." Inuyasha offered.

" Oh, no he can't." Kagome shoved Inuyasha out of the way and grabbed Shippou possessively. " Shippou is a part of our group."

" I like your robes." The trader leaned over trying to look up Kagome's skirt.

" You can have 'em." Inuyasha offered freely.

" No! This one the only uniform I have that doesn't have bloodstains on it!" Kagome argued again.

" Well we gotta give him something!" Inuyasha countered.

The old trader stood to his feet and moved towards Inuyasha, examining his chest. " What about the necklace?"

" Hell yes!! Take it off! You can have it!" Inuyasha hollered.

" Sit!" Kagome stated calmly and stepped over the grumbling hanyou. " I have something better in mind." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a cup of ramen.

" No! Anything but that!" Inuyasha cried out in protest as he pulled up his head.

" Hush or I'll say it again." Kagome rolled her eyes and poured the noodles into the boiling water near the trader. She quickly finished the preparation and offered a bowl to the trader. " Here try this."

The trader slurped up some of the noodles and grinned showing off his empty gums again. " Very good! Very good!"

" How about four of those packs for the jewel shard?" Kagome offered.

" Oh yes, very good. Very good." The trader handed Kagome the jewel shard as Shippou started fishing for the ramen.

" That's my ramen." Inuyasha grumbled, before looking at Shippou. " Hey, not those. I like those best." He demanded.

" How about these?" Shippou held up the next color he found.

" I like those too." Inuyasha sat up as the spell wore off and folded his arms over his chest.

Kagome sighed heavily, " Shippou, just grab four and give to the nice trader."

" Nice trader?" Inuyasha questioned.

" Just smile and go with it. We're getting a good deal here." Kagome mumbled back.

" Says you." Inuyasha huffed and muttered under his breath. " Giving away ramen, crazy."