Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I do own Sakura, Suzuran, Hokiboshi, and Hakari.

Kiniro Sakura

Chapter Five: Itai Kako Part Two

~Last Time~

The last thing she remembered was Hakari and Suzuran smiling down at her before she fell into dreamland.

************************************************************************

~Still in Sakura's Flashback~

When Sakura awoke she was on a futon in a room that she did not recognize. She was startled as to why she was here at first but then the previous day's events came back.

"I guess Hakari and Suzuran brought me back here." She said quietly as she sighed. She slowly got up and walked to the door of the room. She poked her head out to see if anyone was there. No one was so she continued out the door and walked down one of the corridors. She was walking for a minute when she came upon a large door with a wolf paw on it. She shrugged and opened it. What she saw inside awed her. In the far corner there was a large bed instead of a futon. It was dark blue with wolves running across it. The walls were very similar but on the right wall a beautiful waterfall was painted on the wood. Something in the corner caught her eye and she walked towards it. Suddenly she felt someone poke her in the back and she jumped ten feet into the air. She turned around only to have a laughing Suzuran in her face.

"What are you doing in here? Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Suzuran asked once her breathing was back to normal. Sakura shrugged.

"I woke up and walked around for a bit before I came into this room. Is it yours? It's very pretty..." Sakura trailed off as she looked at her surroundings again. Suzuran smiled and nodded. She then grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her out the door. Sakura gave her new friend a questioning look. Suzuran just giggled.

"It's time for breakfast. Let's go eat!" She called as she ran down the hall with Sakura close behind her. When they reached the dining hall food was everywhere along with a few wolf demons. Sakura followed Suzuran to where Hakari sat. Hakari smiled at her daughter and the kitsune child. She patted two seats next to her and the two of them sat down and dug in to the food sat before them.

"Thank You for your hospitality." Sakura said to Hakari once she was finished eating. Hakari smiled.

"It was no problem. In fact, would you like to stay with us? Suzuran is very lonely and she only has my friends pup Kouga to play with." Hakari asked as she took a sip of water. Sakura smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Hakari and Sakura then turned to Suzuran.

"Hey mom, when do we get more food?" She asked. Hakari and Sakura sweatdropped.

"Um, you already had four servings. Aren't you full?" Sakura asked as Hakari started laughing. Suzuran looked at them funny before shrugging and going back to the food that was just sat before her.

"Don't worry Sakura. She has a big appetite though I don't know where she stores it." Hakari said as she stood up and held her hand out to Sakura.

"Let me show you around and then I can show you to your room." She said. Sakura nodded and followed her out of the room that still had a feasting Suzuran in it.

~End Flashback~

"Wait, you two know Kouga?" Kagome asked. Sakura looked up into the tree that still held Suzuran. She shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably not because..." Sakura stopped and a look of sadness came upon her face.

"Get back to the story already!" Inuyasha yelled which got him sat by Kagome. Sakura nodded.

"I grew up with Suzuran and learned the ways of the wolves. Hokiboshi eventually got better but when we let him free he came and stood by me. He's stayed with us ever since. Anyways, one day when Suzuran and I were out looking for some herbs, we caught the scent of fresh blood. Suzuran looked at me and I knew that we both had the same feeling that something bad was happening. As we got closer to the village we could hear screams coming from fellow wolves so we ran at out top speed. But by the time that we got there everyone was dead. Suzuran screamed for Hakari and ran to where she saw her body. Some movement caught my eye and I saw the same man that I had all those years ago. The baboon man, Naraku. Somehow I knew why he was there. I quickly ran over and grabbed Suzuran's hand and ran for the edge of the forest. She was very reluctant at leaving her mother at first but after I promised her that we would come back later she followed. When we were at the edge of the village I remembered Hokiboshi was still in the house. I called out for him as I ran back to the village. I saw him running out of the house and he was almost by me when Naraku attacked me. I fell to the ground and saw Hokiboshi attack him but he just sent some of those bugs after him. I quickly got up when I heard Hokiboshi land on the ground a few feet away, unmoving. I faced Naraku with a glare and howled. Then I charged at him. He was surprised but then he did something and I ended up on the ground again. I heard Suzuran howl as she attacked but the same thing happened. She cried out when she hit a rock and something inside me snapped. I jumped up and attacked Naraku. That's all I can remember. Suzuran can tell you the rest." Sakura said as Suzuran hopped down out of the tree.

"After I was hit I couldn't move my arms and legs but I turned my head to where I heard Sakura attack Naraku. She had hit him dead on. He had a huge gash across his chest and it was bleeding badly. Then he smirked and ran towards me. I screamed but not because of Naraku. It was Sakura. When she turned around her eyes were blood red and her fangs had lengthened. She howled but it sounded very close to a demonic scream. I saw Naraku turn around and I saw with satisfaction the look of utter terror pass across his face. He tried to run for it but Sakura was a step ahead of him. What I saw next amazed me. Sakura held her palms together and chanted something. A bright white light shot out of her hands and hit Naraku in the back. He fell but so did Sakura. That was all I saw before I blacked out. When I awoke it was the next day and everyone was still where they had fallen the night before. Death was still heavy in the air and it was so strong that I could hardly breathe. I walked over to where Sakura lay and found Hokiboshi curled up next to her. I briefly wondered how he managed to get over there but I quickly shrugged it off when I saw Sakura move. I bent down and helped her up. When I asked her what happened she said she couldn't remember a thing after she had first attacked Naraku. A little while later we were healed as best we could and Hokiboshi was resting. We buried our fellow friends and family. We stayed in the village for a while but the scent of death was way too much so we left. We traveled to different villages and stole food for us and Hokiboshi. We had a strong taste for blood back then so we killed villagers too. We once wiped out a whole village and it was pretty large. We became thieves but then we heard of the Shikon No Tama in the neighboring village of where we were staying. One night we snuck past the protector to steal it. But when Sakura neared it she suddenly stopped and stared at the Jewel with a look of amazement on her face. I was about to ask her what was wrong when the Jewel suddenly spoke. Here is what it said:

"Sakura, in the near future I will be put in danger by a hanyou named Naraku. He will betray the priestess who is guarding me and kill her. But it wouldn't really matter because she is not the real protector. You are Sakura. I was waiting for you to overcome your grief's before I contacted you. I was the one who called you to this village. You are the only one who can make me work."

Then I heard the Jewel talk to me.

"Suzuran, I am sure that you just heard what I said to Lady Sakura. You are her guardian along with the last of the snow white foxes, Hokiboshi. You will protect her and make sure Naraku does not kill her."

Then there was this bright flash and we were back in the forest. But we understood what we had to do so we stayed around the village. When the priestess Kikyo sealed a hanyou to the God Tree and killed herself we knew it was time to step in. But before we could we heard that the Jewel had been burned along with Kikyo's body. So we gave up. Years later we heard that the reincarnation of Kikyo was in Sengoku Jidi so we went to check it out. We were almost in the village but then we heard that the Shikon Jewel has been broken into a million pieces. So we left. Again. A few months later we started searching for the reincarnation of Kikyo. That's how we found you guys. Now we have to stay here and protect Kagome and the Jewel." Suzuran finished. Everyone was staring at Sakura and Suzuran with either a look of pity, shock, confusion, or anger on his or her face. The one with the angry look was Inuyasha.

"You two are wrong. Kikyo is the rightful owner of the Shikon No Tama." Inuyasha said angrily as he jumped into a tree. Sakura sighed when she saw Kagome's hurt look. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Suzuran walk over to the tree Inuyasha was in and punched it. Inuyasha went flying out of the tree and landed a few feet away from Miroku. They waited to see if he would get up and start cursing at Suzuran but it never came. Shippo walked over to him and looked him in the face.

"Uh guys, he's unconscious." Shippo announced as he sat back down by Kagome to try and comfort her. Sakura put a hand on Kagome's shoulder.

"Don't worry Kagome. He'll come around. Besides, you can kill Kikyo for good once your powers come to their full." Sakura said as she went and laid against a tree. Kagome nodded and got into her sleeping bag. Everyone else did the same. Though no one else had a sleeping bag. Suzuran and Hokiboshi went and sat down near Sakura. Everyone soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

************************************************************************

Wow! That was a long chapter. I didn't think I could write that long.^_^ Next chapter Inu wakes up and gets his revenge on Suzuran. Or at least tries. Kagura also shows up to kill Sakura. Pretty much a fighting chapter. A little bit of humor too. Please review! Animechick8

Japanese Vocabulary

Itai-Pain; painful

Kako- Past

Kitsune- Fox demon; plain fox

Futon- Japanese Bed type thing