A/N: Hey, I'm glad y'all are so taken with this one...and Yuffie...no potassium. You'll see what happens...I could just tell you at school tomorrow, but I think I'm going to be evil!

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Manipulation

Chapter Six

"Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed in desperation. "Kagome! Where are you?" he called. He stopped in his tracks, his hand speeding for his sword. In front of him stood Sesshoumaru. "Get out of my way!" he demanded.

"Inuyasha, you know I couldn't do that...even if I do want to..." Sesshoumaru whispered.

Inuyasha stared at his brother. "What did you say? What has happened to Kagome?" he asked, a look of worry spreading across his face.

Sesshoumaru sighed. "I suggest, little brother, that you beat me quickly. I fear the girl may bleed to death in a short time if you do not..."

"Beat you quickly? Bleed to death? You're lying!" he growled.

"Why would I lie to you?" asked Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha pulled his sword, shaking his head. "Beat you quickly..." he whispered. "Sesshoumaru, what are you talking about?" He watched, and his brother only nodded.

Sesshoumaru was doing a very good job 'losing' when Naraku showed up on the scene. "What are you doing, Sesshoumaru? You should easily be able to dispose of Inuyasha!"

Sesshoumaru did not reply. He was too busy flying across the room. He stood. He had begun to breathe heavy. Although he was trying to lose, he still had to make it look good, and it was depleting his energy. He took a deep breath. "Aren't you going to finish this, Inuyasha?" he taunted.

Naraku laughed. "Stupid, aren't you? You honestly think that will work...letting him win?" he chuckled, disappeared, and returned with a screaming Rin in his arms in five seconds flat.

Sesshoumaru's face fell. "Rin..." he whispered.

'Uh-oh...' Inuyasha thought. 'This could be bad...'

"Put her down!" Sesshoumaru screamed in rage. "She's just a little girl!"

"No." Naraku smirked his reply. "After all, she doesn't mean anything to me." Rin squirmed in his grasp, and he tightened it. She yelped in pain. "You can choose, Sesshoumaru. Who will it be?"

Sesshoumaru looked back to where Inuyasha stood. He had put his sword away, and nodding to his brother, he ran as fast as he could. Sesshoumaru turned back to Naraku. "Put her down. Kagura will handle Inuyasha when the time comes." He said calmly.

Disgusted, Naraku threw the little girl down onto the ground, and again, she cried out in pain. Sesshoumaru glared hatefully at Naraku and carefully picked the little girl up. She smiled weakly at him. "Master Sesshoumaru! You aren't going to hurt Rin, are you?"

He smiled at her. "No, Rin. I would never do that. There's something I need you to do. I'm going to show you how to get out of this place, and I want you to run as fast as you can and find Kikyou...tell her where we are. Do you understand? Run, and don't stop running until you're far, far away..."

Rin nodded.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had finally found the room he was looking for. He flung open the door, and all the color drained from his face. On the floor in the center of the room was Kagome, lying in a large pool of her own blood. There was so much of it that the scent nearly overwhelmed him. "Kagome..." he whispered.

"She's still alive Inuyasha. Just barely..." Inuyasha wheeled around to face Kagura.

"You did this?" His face reddened as his anger rose to new heights.

Kagura nodded. "I did this..."

"Hold still..." growled Inuyasha, pulling out his sword. "It'll make killing you a lot quicker..."

"You don't have time to worry about me, Inuyasha. Your concern lies with the girl, does it not? Save her. Get out of this castle. Get far away before he..." Kagura stopped. Sesshoumaru had just come into the room. "Sesshoumaru..." she whispered.

"Damn..." groaned Inuyasha. "I'm not in the mood for any two on one right now..."

Sesshoumaru walked right past him, pulling out his sword when he got to where Kagome was laying in the middle of the floor. He knelt down.

"What are you doing?" demanded Inuyasha. "Get the hell away from her!" He rushed forward, but Kagura held him back. "Get off me!" he demanded of her.

"Calm yourself. Your brother is trying to help her..." Kagura explained. "And once he has, you need to get far away, lest you risk Naraku..." she gasped. Naraku was already there, watching them.

He smiled at her. "You seem so surprised, my dear. Did you think that stupid potion would keep me out of your head? I've known what you've been planning since you made your plans! Don't you see? You can't lock me out! No matter what you do, I will always know...."

Kagura winced as if his words had caused her physical pain. She was staring at him, mesmerized. Sesshoumaru stood up, and took several steps forward. "Kagura? Are you all right?"

"That's so cute. Do you actually care for this heartless wench?" Naraku coughed.

Inuyasha, noticing the focus was temporarily off of him, slowly made his way over to Kagome and picked her up. Around her neck still hung the jewel shards. What the hell? I would have thought he'd have taken these already! Inuyasha glanced curiously at Naraku. Why didn't he take them if he had the chance?

"Naraku...let her go." Sesshoumaru was saying as Inuyasha began to listen in. "She's done what you asked her to do...now free her..."

This won't end well, thought Inuyasha, his expression changing to a look of wonder. He took several more steps back, until he kicked a pebble. Naraku noticed him.

"Don't even think about it, Inuyasha!" he screamed, rushing towards the unprepared hanyou. Inuyasha shut his eyes tight, fully expecting to be sliced into two pieces. A few seconds later, he found that he was able to open them, and his mouth hung open at the sight in front of him.

Sesshoumaru's sword was drawn, blocking Naraku's from hitting its target. The two of them were standing only a few feet away from him. He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, and deciding it would be wise, carefully set Kagome back down.

Naraku blinked in surprise. "You dare to challenge me? You can't do that! I'll kill you!" he threatened.

"I believe I just did..." growled Sesshoumaru. The moment he drew his sword against Naraku, he'd felt as if his head would implode, but he also found that he was able to ignore the spurts of pain. His cause was so much more important than Naraku and his orders.

Inuyasha drew his sword, and took several steps forward. "Sesshoumaru...be careful," he warned. In the back of his mind, he remembered the poison. He too, would have to be careful...

"Inuyasha!" He recognized the voice. It was Kikyou. He turned to see an arrow flying at him. It hit him in his arm, and he yelped in pain.

"What'd you do that for?" he screamed. "Can't you see I have enough problems?"

She took several steps forward. "You never were much for common sense," she smiled. "The miko's arrow...it purifies the poison in your system..."

Inuyasha thought for a moment. True. Kagome had stabbed herself with one of her miko's arrows while under the influence of Naraku's poison, but after the incident, she hadn't done anything else like that, except....

"What about the voices? Kagome could hear him...inside her head..."

"That wasn't the poison, Inuyasha. Kagome has very strong spiritual powers. It's no wonder that she would hear those things. It was a way for her to warn herself of what might happen..." Kikyou explained.

Inuyasha nodded, and groaned as he pulled the arrow from his arm. "Makes sense...but you could've hit the other arm," he snarled, tossing his sword into his left hand.

Kikyou gasped as Sesshoumaru practically flew over her head and hit a nearby wall. He fell and did not move. Kikyou aimed her bow and shot several arrows Naraku's way. He fell, and was still for a moment.

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"This is getting on my nerves!" growled Sango. "I want to help! Kagome could be dead, and all we can do is sit here and twiddle our stupid thumbs!" She wrenched Miroku's staff from his hands, and threw it at the barrier, nearly screaming when it went through.

"What did you do that for?" demanded Miroku, but his eyes widened as he watched the staff fly through the barrier. "Oh..."

"Well, come on!" screamed Sango. "What're we waiting for?"

Shippo nodded. "We're going to go save Kagome!" he cheered, hiding behind Sango's leg.

Sango knelt down, smiling at the little kitsune. "Shippo, I'm going to give you another important job, okay?"

Shippo nodded. "What is it?"

"You need to find Kagome's family and show them how to get out of the castle while Miroku and I look for Inuyasha and Kagome. When you've found them, take them back to the well and wait for us there, okay?"

He nodded again. "I can do it!" With that, he ran off.

Miroku glared at Sango. "Why can't I go rescue Kagome's family?" he demanded.

"You chicken!" Sango accused him.

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Naraku stood. "You think that will bring me down? I will not die so easily, priestess!" he hissed.

"No one was expecting you would..." smirked Inuyasha. "You may be dumb, but we all know you're strong...."

Behind Inuyasha and Kikyou, Sesshoumaru had regained consciousness, and had redrawn his sword. "Where is she?" he whispered when he reached Inuyasha and Kikyou.

Inuyasha blinked. "You talking about Kagome?" he whispered.

"Kagura. Where is she?"

Inuyasha discreetly motioned above them. Kagura was floating on her feather at least a hundred feet above their heads. Naraku hadn't paid any attention to her presence so far.

Sesshoumaru nodded. He stared at Naraku. For some reason, Naraku was not trying to kill him. His head no longer felt like it would split in two. Why was Naraku ignoring his and Kagura's opposition? He was looking at something...but what? Sesshoumaru gasped, and wheeled around.

"Kagome!" he whispered. "Inuyasha! Kagome is standing up!"

Inuyasha paled. "Kagome! Be careful!"

One of Naraku's tentacles shot out from under him, pushing past Inuyasha and Kikyou. It was headed straight for Kagome. It wrapped itself around her neck. Inuyasha sliced at it, but the pieces only reattached themselves and resumed their strangulation.

"Stop it!" Inuyasha screamed, his sword growing red with his anger. Kagome had stopped struggling. Kikyou sent out another one of her arrows. The blow severed the tentacle, and the end wrapped around Kagome's throat disintegrated.

Inuyasha relaxed somewhat. Kikyou smiled, re-aiming her bow directly at Naraku's head. Sesshoumaru had turned his attention towards Kagome. She was still breathing, but unconscious. He frowned, and knelt down beside her.

Kikyou released her arrow.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango screamed, and she and Miroku came into view.

"Wake up, Kagome..." whispered Sesshoumaru. "Inuyasha will need you in order to win this fight..."

"Wind tunnel!" yelled Miroku as he braced himself and removed the prayer beads from around his hand. Naraku was slowly inching towards him, as well as half the building, when out came his poisonous insects. "Damn..." groaned Miroku, pulling back his hand and falling weakly to his knees.

"Were you poisoned?" asked Sango.

He shook his head.

"Come on, Kagome..." groaned Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru! Watch out!" screamed Kagura. The tentacle that was about to grab him was sliced in half by Kagura's falling sword, but grew back quickly. She was on the ground within seconds.

Kagome blinked, and nearly screamed. Sesshoumaru was standing over her and Kagura was standing between her and Naraku. What happened? What's going on? She looked questioningly to Sesshoumaru, who only nodded, although she had no clue what that meant. She sat up, but it caused her great pain. She closed her eyes to make the room stop spinning, and then watched the horrible scene unfold in front of her.

"Thanks..." Sesshoumaru smiled at her.

"No proble..." Kagura smiled, but before she could finish, she let out a small cry, looking down at her stomach. One of Naraku's tentacles had pierced through. He withdrew it slowly, and she fell to her knees.

Kagome screamed, drawing Inuyasha's attention. He turned around, and his face paled. "Sesshoumaru...is she going to be all right?" he whispered.

Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha as if he wanted to rip his head from his shoulders. "Naraku, I swear, if she dies..." he threatened.

"I don't see what you have to complain about," Naraku smirked. "After all, she did get her freedom, didn't she? Isn't that what you wanted?" he laughed.

Sesshoumaru looked at Kagura. If he ignored the gaping hole in her stomach, she almost looked like she was sleeping. He kissed her gently on the forehead and stood up, a deadly fire glowing in his eyes. "It wasn't supposed to be like that you heartless son-of-a..." he began, pulling out his sword.

Kagome finally found that she could stand, and she shakily joined Inuyasha where he stood. He held his sword down at his sides, staring at his brother as if he didn't recognize him at all. "Did he just...?" he whispered.

Kagome nodded and turned away as Sesshoumaru began to charge at Naraku. She looked down, noticing the jewel shards still dangling around her neck. "Inuyasha, why didn't he...?" she began, but it was Kikyou, not Inuyasha that answered her.

"Don't think he hasn't tried," she smirked. "You forget what you are. You, Kagome, are so pure that Naraku can't physically take those shards from you. In order for him to gain them, you would have to be dead..." Kikyou paused. "I suggest that you take your leave as soon as you can, while Sesshoumaru is still distracting him. If you remain here for too long, he will certainly try to kill you again."

Kagome glanced at Sango and Miroku, then to her left where Inuyasha stood. "What do you want to do, Inuyasha? Are you going to stay and help Sesshoumaru?" she asked quietly.

He nodded decisively.

"Then I guess I'm staying. I want to help..." Kagome smiled, placing a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "What do you say we take him out together?"

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A/N: I know, I kind of killed the ending on that, but hey, I can't win them all I guess. Besides, TMO (the moving people) are coming to my house in a couple days, so I've been a bit preoccupied. Anyway, you know the drill....press the button...

Down there...

Almost....

That's it...