Hey hey, this is bazooie, back in action after (and during) her evil cold.
It came suddenly, with all the stages. Erlack.
Here's a review response!
Meiko Kazuke-I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean a twisted Naraku or a twist in the plot between Naraku and Kagome besides the child? I don't think that you sounded weird (then again, maybe that's because I'm already weird.)
And now, without further ado, here's the fourth chappie in The Child Within!
DISCLAIMER 1: I do not own Inuyasha, blah blah blah, insert legal mumbo- jumbo here.
DISCLAIMER 2: I do not know what I am doing, so don't even bother to ask because I don't know. If you don't like it, you're not the only one. If you do, you are super-cool! Not that I have the right to judge who's super-cool or not...
**Special Note** Demon children age super-fast for their own good. Since infanthood is their most vulnerable stage, their biological clocks zoom past that stage and slow down once they reach the human equivalent of a 15-year-old. Every month equals one human year (i.e. 2 months go by, it's the equivalent of 2 years.) I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS IS ACCURATE, BUT IN THIS STORY IT IS. DO NOT GO AROUND REPEATING THIS AS IF IT WERE FACTUAL.
The Child Within-Chapter Four
It had been a long, hard eight months for Kagome (as well as the rest of the gang), who had given birth two months ago to a baby boy. She had learned most of the motherly ways, and thank goodness demon babes aged fast. Hers was the equivalent of a two-year-old. He did look a lot like his father; he had black, curly hair and blue eyes. However, he behaved more like his mother; Saru was kind, gentle, and unnecessarily stubborn.
"Saru, you need to take a nap, NOW," said Kagome, pointing to Kaede's hut with a stern look on her face. Her rambunctious child was paying more attention to a frog perching in the grass than he was to her. "SARU!"
"Yeah Mom, sure," little Saru said in his two-year-old accent (okay, I'm not inserting any accents. You can just imagine them.) "Just give me a second while I hunt the frog demon." He scooted a little forward on his knees, blue eyes intent on his prize. It ribbeted a warning, then hopped away. "Drat it all." Saru leaned back on his heels.
"Why do you keep imagining demons around? Just take a nap, PLEASE." Kagome brushed her hair out of her face. She had been asking Saru "politely" to take his nap for almost 15 minutes. She was losing her patience.
"Well, you, Inuyasha, Uncle Miroku and Aunt Sango fight demons all the time. I wanna fight too, but since you won't let me...this is the best I can do." He glanced at his mother quietly, then picked a blade of grass and studied it.
Kagome sighed, brown eyes flashing. "We only fight demons to get the jewel shards or protect the village. We don't just fight for the pleasure." She kneeled down to Saru's height. "Now let's go inside."
Saru faked not hearing her and studied his long talons. They always reminded him of his origin and his will to change. He didn't know what was wrong, but apparently being a demon was bad news for the villagers. He attracted them occasionally, when they had nothing better to do than attack people, since he was a half-demon just like Inuyasha. He wanted to be one or the other, but he hated the way none of the other kids would play with him since he was so different. Kagome had always told him that being different was okay because everybody's different, but why wasn't it okay for him?
"Mom, why does nobody want to play with me?" he said, still looking at his nails. He was so desperate for any playmate he was resorting to trees and small, slow animals.
Kagome was unsure of how she should answer. Because you're half-demon, son? Because of your lineage? "Um, they're usually busy, doing villager things and whatnot. Don't dwell on it too much, Saru." She tried to usher him inside (yet again), but he wouldn't budge.
"That's not it. They look at me funny. Why?"
"Saru, they're-they're just wary, because, um, they are isolated so often they don't understand anything that isn't absolutely clear." She thought she had made up a pretty good answer for skirting around the fact that her son was a half demon. Kagome still hadn't told him.
"Oh." Saru nodded blankly and glided into Kaede's hut like a ghost would. Kagome hugged herself and sighed. Poor Saru, she thought, no one wants to accept him. He's sort of like Inuyasha-
She smiled slowly. I'll get Inuyasha to be his playmate. Kagome began to search for the dog demon, ideas forming in her head about what he and Saru could talk about.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After he had slept, Saru had gone to sit in the clearing by the Bone Eater's Well. He was looking at some bugs hiding in the long grass when Inuyasha approached him. "Hey kid, heard you were looking for a sparring partner. I decided I'd take time off to give you a beating." He grinned and rested his palm on his hilt. "Ready to go?"
Saru looked up, a little shocked. "What? What are you talking about Inuyasha? I want a playmate, not a scarring partner."
"Not scarring, sparring. It means we'd fight with each other but we wouldn't get hurt since it would be teaching. How bout it?"
Saru shook his head. "I want a playmate, not a fight. I don't think you understand what I mean." He began to play with the bugs again.
Inuyasha looked thoughtful. "I know about it more than you think. I remember when I was a pup, and no one wanted to play with me either. The villagers even teased my ears." He stroked an ear with a long finger.
"Why didn't they want to play with you?" Saru listened intently now that he thought Inuyasha had the same problem. "Was it because you were different?"
"Yeah, I guess it was. They didn't like it that I was half demon, even though I couldn't change that. So I was really lonely too, until I met Kagome." He sighed, recollecting. He came back a few moments later, blinking. "Does that make sense?"
"I guess, but you're half demon. That doesn't explain my problem."
Inuyasha paused. "You're a half demon too, Saru. Didn't Kagome tell you?" She obviously hadn't from the blank look on Saru's face. He tried another approach. "Can't you tell at least? I mean, look at your hands."
Saru lifted his hand and twisted it to study it. "I always thought something wasn't normal with me that no one was telling me." He froze, realization dawning. "I'm a half demon? No, I can't be! I want to fight demons, and I can't if I am one!" Saru began to bawl desperately.
Inuyasha shook Saru. "Hey, don't you get it? I'm a half demon too, and I'm fighting demons! That makes us two of a kind!" He stopped shaking Saru once he stopped crying.
"You mean that I can still fight demons?" he asked with tear-filled eyes. It's amazing how much this kid wants to fight, thought Inuyasha. It must be Naraku's blood in him or something.
"Yes you can. Hey, I have an idea. How about I be your playmate?" He smiled. "We can form our own special club where we're the only 2 members. Want to know the club name?"
"What, what?" Saru was getting excited now, all tears abandoned.
"We're members of the exclusive half-demon club, or EHDC for short." He held out his hand. "What d'ya say?"
Saru grinned slowly and shook Inuyasha's hand. "Yeah! Now we can do secret club rituals and play and all sorts of stuff!" The child was bouncing around the grass with the energy of a hummingbird, naming all the things the two could do.
Inuyasha raced afterward. "Now we have to come up with a secret handshake..." he said as they raced off into the woods.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once the duo had come home in the late afternoon, they had been all secretive smiles. They kept looking at each other and grinning like fools. Kagome didn't like it one bit. "Inuyasha, what'd you two do?" she asked.
Saru and Inuyasha looked at each other slyly, smiling. Saru looked at his mother, all childhood innocence. "What do you mean what did we do? We didn't do anything, did we, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha adopted a look of shock and innocence. "Us, Kagome, doing anything BAD? Why, of course not. The very idea is almost offensive." The troublemakers looked at each other again and smiled knowingly.
Kagome huffed, but didn't say anything. She had lunch to take care of. Marching inside Kaede's hut, she looked at Miroku and Sango, cuddled together and happily watching the clouds go by. She still couldn't understand how Sango had said yes so readily when Miroku had proposed to her. Now they were always together. Shaking her head, Kagome walked into the darkness of the hut.
She would rather be outside, she decided. The air inside was stale and dank, not to mention it was oddly dark. Her neck hair was standing vertically and she was being cautious as she stepped inside. She could sense a presence somewhere, but who would it be? Probably just my imagination, she thought. There's no one-
"Hello, Kagome," a deep, sinister voice drawled. "It's been a little while since we were together, hasn't it?" A chuckle echoed from a silhouette in the corner of the room. "And to think how much our relationship has changed."
Kagome bristled and drew her face into a snarl. "Naraku, you bastard, stop hiding in the shadows!" He stepped into some semi-better light, allowing his baboon mask to become more prominent against his deep navy and purple robe (a/n: his normal fur was dirty, so this was the best disguise he could give.) "Why are you here?"
"I'm present for my flesh and blood. I think my own son should be able to see his father, don't you?"
"Not when his father's you." Kagome picked up a stick from the wall, filled it with her miko powers and quickly flung it at the baboon demon. He recoiled, and in the time it took him to recover she was out the door.
Kagome was running outside, looking for Saru and/or Inuyasha. "Saru! Inuyasha! Come quick, Naraku's inside the hut!" She continued to run around until she saw them coming at her.
"What are you saying?" asked Inuyasha, panting slightly. Saru was as well and he looked on curiously.
"Naraku's come for Sa-AAHH!!" she screamed as something like gelatin knocked her from behind onto the ground. Before it solidified she flipped onto her back and was stuck. Inuyasha yelped too as the gelatinous (a/n: what a fun word) substance stuck him onto a nearby tree. He struggled and fumed nearby but failed to escape its sticky grip. "Keep away from my son!" Kagome bellowed at the approaching, mismatched baboon cretin. He grinned in response and continued.
Saru had chosen now of all times to freeze up. He sat there like a deer in the headlights, watching this stranger approach and hearing his mother's protests and Inuyasha's fumings. He just stood there with a fearful, shocked face.
Naraku grabbed his offspring's arm, tugging him deeper into the forest. He chuckled evilly and smiled down at his son. "Come on, Saru," he cooed, voice rumbling "reassuringly".
Saru blinked, coming around a little. "Where are we going?" He was stumbling as Naraku pulled him along and had a dazed look on his face.
"Away, far, far away, where you won't see this motley group again." They had reached the edge of the woods, almost out of Kagome's sight. She kept screaming, but Saru didn't seem to hear her.
Suddenly Saru blinked rapidly and scowled. He sat down and began to bawl. "NO! I WANNA STAY HERE WITH MOMMA!" Screaming, he did not notice a burning white light flare out of his arm. But Naraku did. He yelped and recoiled, seething as his hand was smoking slightly.
"You little brat," he said, claws growing out. "You stupid little brat." He swung his hand across the boy's face, leaving a set of bloody openings on his nose and cheek. Saru screamed louder, flaring like a beacon. His light shot outward powerfully, catching Naraku full-on. Naraku began to dissolve slowly. He decided it was time to leave.
He sprinted away, baboon mask melded into his bleeding face. He was limping even as he ran as well as leaving a bloody trail. That little monster, he thought. He'll regret that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The dark, evil gelatin corroded instantly once Saru's light had reached it. As Naraku fled, Inuyasha landed on his feet and ran to Kagome. "Are you all right?" he asked the woman rubbing her head delicately.
"Yeah, I am." She looked up at Saru, shocked. "What happened?"
Inuyasha followed her gaze to Saru, who was sitting peacefully enough now. "I haven't a clue."
They approached him hesitantly. Once they were in front of him, Kagome crouched down. "Saru? Are you okay?"
He looked up, thin trickles of blood trailing down his cheek. "Yeah, Mom." He blinked a few times slowly. "What did I do?" His mother pulled him into a hug and he cried until he fell asleep, Inuyasha looking on protectively.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, that's that. Wasn't that odd? Saru has something weird going on with him! Yay his genetic heritage! Don't ask.
YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING WHY SANGO AND MIROKU DIDN'T COME RUNNING. Well, they had gone off to take a bath in the river (I'll let you fill in the blanks however you please.) They came back when they saw Saru's bright light, and once they had arrived everything was okay. Inuyasha and Kagome filled them in while she put Saru to bed, and they were surprised and mad they had missed on a chance to pummel the baboon. Although if a two-year-old could beat him...
Hey hey, thanks for reading! Please, please, please R & R before I cry!!! THANK YOU!!! DON'T ASK ME WHY I'D CRY, I ALWAYS SAY THAT!!!!
Here's a review response!
Meiko Kazuke-I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean a twisted Naraku or a twist in the plot between Naraku and Kagome besides the child? I don't think that you sounded weird (then again, maybe that's because I'm already weird.)
And now, without further ado, here's the fourth chappie in The Child Within!
DISCLAIMER 1: I do not own Inuyasha, blah blah blah, insert legal mumbo- jumbo here.
DISCLAIMER 2: I do not know what I am doing, so don't even bother to ask because I don't know. If you don't like it, you're not the only one. If you do, you are super-cool! Not that I have the right to judge who's super-cool or not...
**Special Note** Demon children age super-fast for their own good. Since infanthood is their most vulnerable stage, their biological clocks zoom past that stage and slow down once they reach the human equivalent of a 15-year-old. Every month equals one human year (i.e. 2 months go by, it's the equivalent of 2 years.) I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS IS ACCURATE, BUT IN THIS STORY IT IS. DO NOT GO AROUND REPEATING THIS AS IF IT WERE FACTUAL.
The Child Within-Chapter Four
It had been a long, hard eight months for Kagome (as well as the rest of the gang), who had given birth two months ago to a baby boy. She had learned most of the motherly ways, and thank goodness demon babes aged fast. Hers was the equivalent of a two-year-old. He did look a lot like his father; he had black, curly hair and blue eyes. However, he behaved more like his mother; Saru was kind, gentle, and unnecessarily stubborn.
"Saru, you need to take a nap, NOW," said Kagome, pointing to Kaede's hut with a stern look on her face. Her rambunctious child was paying more attention to a frog perching in the grass than he was to her. "SARU!"
"Yeah Mom, sure," little Saru said in his two-year-old accent (okay, I'm not inserting any accents. You can just imagine them.) "Just give me a second while I hunt the frog demon." He scooted a little forward on his knees, blue eyes intent on his prize. It ribbeted a warning, then hopped away. "Drat it all." Saru leaned back on his heels.
"Why do you keep imagining demons around? Just take a nap, PLEASE." Kagome brushed her hair out of her face. She had been asking Saru "politely" to take his nap for almost 15 minutes. She was losing her patience.
"Well, you, Inuyasha, Uncle Miroku and Aunt Sango fight demons all the time. I wanna fight too, but since you won't let me...this is the best I can do." He glanced at his mother quietly, then picked a blade of grass and studied it.
Kagome sighed, brown eyes flashing. "We only fight demons to get the jewel shards or protect the village. We don't just fight for the pleasure." She kneeled down to Saru's height. "Now let's go inside."
Saru faked not hearing her and studied his long talons. They always reminded him of his origin and his will to change. He didn't know what was wrong, but apparently being a demon was bad news for the villagers. He attracted them occasionally, when they had nothing better to do than attack people, since he was a half-demon just like Inuyasha. He wanted to be one or the other, but he hated the way none of the other kids would play with him since he was so different. Kagome had always told him that being different was okay because everybody's different, but why wasn't it okay for him?
"Mom, why does nobody want to play with me?" he said, still looking at his nails. He was so desperate for any playmate he was resorting to trees and small, slow animals.
Kagome was unsure of how she should answer. Because you're half-demon, son? Because of your lineage? "Um, they're usually busy, doing villager things and whatnot. Don't dwell on it too much, Saru." She tried to usher him inside (yet again), but he wouldn't budge.
"That's not it. They look at me funny. Why?"
"Saru, they're-they're just wary, because, um, they are isolated so often they don't understand anything that isn't absolutely clear." She thought she had made up a pretty good answer for skirting around the fact that her son was a half demon. Kagome still hadn't told him.
"Oh." Saru nodded blankly and glided into Kaede's hut like a ghost would. Kagome hugged herself and sighed. Poor Saru, she thought, no one wants to accept him. He's sort of like Inuyasha-
She smiled slowly. I'll get Inuyasha to be his playmate. Kagome began to search for the dog demon, ideas forming in her head about what he and Saru could talk about.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After he had slept, Saru had gone to sit in the clearing by the Bone Eater's Well. He was looking at some bugs hiding in the long grass when Inuyasha approached him. "Hey kid, heard you were looking for a sparring partner. I decided I'd take time off to give you a beating." He grinned and rested his palm on his hilt. "Ready to go?"
Saru looked up, a little shocked. "What? What are you talking about Inuyasha? I want a playmate, not a scarring partner."
"Not scarring, sparring. It means we'd fight with each other but we wouldn't get hurt since it would be teaching. How bout it?"
Saru shook his head. "I want a playmate, not a fight. I don't think you understand what I mean." He began to play with the bugs again.
Inuyasha looked thoughtful. "I know about it more than you think. I remember when I was a pup, and no one wanted to play with me either. The villagers even teased my ears." He stroked an ear with a long finger.
"Why didn't they want to play with you?" Saru listened intently now that he thought Inuyasha had the same problem. "Was it because you were different?"
"Yeah, I guess it was. They didn't like it that I was half demon, even though I couldn't change that. So I was really lonely too, until I met Kagome." He sighed, recollecting. He came back a few moments later, blinking. "Does that make sense?"
"I guess, but you're half demon. That doesn't explain my problem."
Inuyasha paused. "You're a half demon too, Saru. Didn't Kagome tell you?" She obviously hadn't from the blank look on Saru's face. He tried another approach. "Can't you tell at least? I mean, look at your hands."
Saru lifted his hand and twisted it to study it. "I always thought something wasn't normal with me that no one was telling me." He froze, realization dawning. "I'm a half demon? No, I can't be! I want to fight demons, and I can't if I am one!" Saru began to bawl desperately.
Inuyasha shook Saru. "Hey, don't you get it? I'm a half demon too, and I'm fighting demons! That makes us two of a kind!" He stopped shaking Saru once he stopped crying.
"You mean that I can still fight demons?" he asked with tear-filled eyes. It's amazing how much this kid wants to fight, thought Inuyasha. It must be Naraku's blood in him or something.
"Yes you can. Hey, I have an idea. How about I be your playmate?" He smiled. "We can form our own special club where we're the only 2 members. Want to know the club name?"
"What, what?" Saru was getting excited now, all tears abandoned.
"We're members of the exclusive half-demon club, or EHDC for short." He held out his hand. "What d'ya say?"
Saru grinned slowly and shook Inuyasha's hand. "Yeah! Now we can do secret club rituals and play and all sorts of stuff!" The child was bouncing around the grass with the energy of a hummingbird, naming all the things the two could do.
Inuyasha raced afterward. "Now we have to come up with a secret handshake..." he said as they raced off into the woods.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once the duo had come home in the late afternoon, they had been all secretive smiles. They kept looking at each other and grinning like fools. Kagome didn't like it one bit. "Inuyasha, what'd you two do?" she asked.
Saru and Inuyasha looked at each other slyly, smiling. Saru looked at his mother, all childhood innocence. "What do you mean what did we do? We didn't do anything, did we, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha adopted a look of shock and innocence. "Us, Kagome, doing anything BAD? Why, of course not. The very idea is almost offensive." The troublemakers looked at each other again and smiled knowingly.
Kagome huffed, but didn't say anything. She had lunch to take care of. Marching inside Kaede's hut, she looked at Miroku and Sango, cuddled together and happily watching the clouds go by. She still couldn't understand how Sango had said yes so readily when Miroku had proposed to her. Now they were always together. Shaking her head, Kagome walked into the darkness of the hut.
She would rather be outside, she decided. The air inside was stale and dank, not to mention it was oddly dark. Her neck hair was standing vertically and she was being cautious as she stepped inside. She could sense a presence somewhere, but who would it be? Probably just my imagination, she thought. There's no one-
"Hello, Kagome," a deep, sinister voice drawled. "It's been a little while since we were together, hasn't it?" A chuckle echoed from a silhouette in the corner of the room. "And to think how much our relationship has changed."
Kagome bristled and drew her face into a snarl. "Naraku, you bastard, stop hiding in the shadows!" He stepped into some semi-better light, allowing his baboon mask to become more prominent against his deep navy and purple robe (a/n: his normal fur was dirty, so this was the best disguise he could give.) "Why are you here?"
"I'm present for my flesh and blood. I think my own son should be able to see his father, don't you?"
"Not when his father's you." Kagome picked up a stick from the wall, filled it with her miko powers and quickly flung it at the baboon demon. He recoiled, and in the time it took him to recover she was out the door.
Kagome was running outside, looking for Saru and/or Inuyasha. "Saru! Inuyasha! Come quick, Naraku's inside the hut!" She continued to run around until she saw them coming at her.
"What are you saying?" asked Inuyasha, panting slightly. Saru was as well and he looked on curiously.
"Naraku's come for Sa-AAHH!!" she screamed as something like gelatin knocked her from behind onto the ground. Before it solidified she flipped onto her back and was stuck. Inuyasha yelped too as the gelatinous (a/n: what a fun word) substance stuck him onto a nearby tree. He struggled and fumed nearby but failed to escape its sticky grip. "Keep away from my son!" Kagome bellowed at the approaching, mismatched baboon cretin. He grinned in response and continued.
Saru had chosen now of all times to freeze up. He sat there like a deer in the headlights, watching this stranger approach and hearing his mother's protests and Inuyasha's fumings. He just stood there with a fearful, shocked face.
Naraku grabbed his offspring's arm, tugging him deeper into the forest. He chuckled evilly and smiled down at his son. "Come on, Saru," he cooed, voice rumbling "reassuringly".
Saru blinked, coming around a little. "Where are we going?" He was stumbling as Naraku pulled him along and had a dazed look on his face.
"Away, far, far away, where you won't see this motley group again." They had reached the edge of the woods, almost out of Kagome's sight. She kept screaming, but Saru didn't seem to hear her.
Suddenly Saru blinked rapidly and scowled. He sat down and began to bawl. "NO! I WANNA STAY HERE WITH MOMMA!" Screaming, he did not notice a burning white light flare out of his arm. But Naraku did. He yelped and recoiled, seething as his hand was smoking slightly.
"You little brat," he said, claws growing out. "You stupid little brat." He swung his hand across the boy's face, leaving a set of bloody openings on his nose and cheek. Saru screamed louder, flaring like a beacon. His light shot outward powerfully, catching Naraku full-on. Naraku began to dissolve slowly. He decided it was time to leave.
He sprinted away, baboon mask melded into his bleeding face. He was limping even as he ran as well as leaving a bloody trail. That little monster, he thought. He'll regret that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The dark, evil gelatin corroded instantly once Saru's light had reached it. As Naraku fled, Inuyasha landed on his feet and ran to Kagome. "Are you all right?" he asked the woman rubbing her head delicately.
"Yeah, I am." She looked up at Saru, shocked. "What happened?"
Inuyasha followed her gaze to Saru, who was sitting peacefully enough now. "I haven't a clue."
They approached him hesitantly. Once they were in front of him, Kagome crouched down. "Saru? Are you okay?"
He looked up, thin trickles of blood trailing down his cheek. "Yeah, Mom." He blinked a few times slowly. "What did I do?" His mother pulled him into a hug and he cried until he fell asleep, Inuyasha looking on protectively.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, that's that. Wasn't that odd? Saru has something weird going on with him! Yay his genetic heritage! Don't ask.
YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING WHY SANGO AND MIROKU DIDN'T COME RUNNING. Well, they had gone off to take a bath in the river (I'll let you fill in the blanks however you please.) They came back when they saw Saru's bright light, and once they had arrived everything was okay. Inuyasha and Kagome filled them in while she put Saru to bed, and they were surprised and mad they had missed on a chance to pummel the baboon. Although if a two-year-old could beat him...
Hey hey, thanks for reading! Please, please, please R & R before I cry!!! THANK YOU!!! DON'T ASK ME WHY I'D CRY, I ALWAYS SAY THAT!!!!