I do not own Inuyasha

It was a dark night in both senses. Many things had happened that none would forget- betrayal, death, and resurrection. And also because, fittingly, it was the night of the new moon. Light wasn't abundant in the woods, at best only a dim glimmer. It suited the situation.

Naraku was musing even though he was on the run from Inuyasha. He had the time to- after all, the idiotic half-demon doesn't notice the new moon, he thought. Why not take advantage of it? He was badly wounded, without assistance he would die soon.

And he won't get assistance…. Naraku quickly spun around, and found Inuyasha already staggering. His wounds were too great. Blood flowed like a river from the gashes on his body.

Naraku found himself smirking. Soon it would all be over. Inuyasha would be gone, and no one could stop him from getting the Shikon jewel. Not Inuyasha, and not his bickering family.

He advanced slowly, relishing the moment when Inuyasha fell to his knees before him. He was so pitiful- if he had emotions, he might've spared him.

But Naraku had left his emotions behind with his humanity

Inuyasha looked up, his now human eyes filed with anger. Blood was dripping from his mouth, covering his neck. His back was arched like an old man's. Obviously it was causing him great pain. Perfect.

"You bastard…" he growled.

"I don't think you are in the position to insult me, Inuyasha" he responded. He shot his hand forward, grabbing Inuyasha by the temples so his hand covered the majority of his head. His grip was like a vice, unforgiving.

Inuyasha lifted his hands and tried to get Naraku off him, but it wasn't going to work. He was too weak- way too weak.

Naraku's grip tightened, his fingers like drills on the sides of the hanyou's head. The lack of resistance almost surprised Naraku. He was expecting at least a little of the Hanyou's cockiness to remain. Killing him like this, when he wasn't in his prime, wasn't the way warriors worked.

But Naraku wasn't a warrior. He was a manipulator- a controller. It wasn't like him to get this close to his target. He could get hurt…

Why am I worrying? It's the end, anyway. Naraku closed his eyes, tightening his grip without a second thought. It would all end tonight, if he had to die to make sure of it.

Inuyasha's skull couldn't take much more pressure. If Naraku tightened his grip anymore, his head would burst. It wasn't a comforting thought in the least, dying like a dog. He couldn't die now, not when he had so many other things he wanted to do.

He hadn't showed Sesshoumaru he wasn't just a silly half-breed, he hadn't chased Koga away. Most importantly, He hadn't told Kagome how he felt. He never got the chance and never would get it.

He let out one final scream

"What was that?" Asked Totosai. Kagome gasped.

"That sounded like Inuyasha!!" she exclaimed. Sesshoumaru nodded.

Akaiinu realized what he had forgotten. Naraku was still running, and Inuyasha had gone after him. Quickly he jerked his head up, looking for the moon. It wasn't in sight.

" It's a new moon!" he added, Standing, "Inuyasha won't last long…. We've got to help him"

Kagome was white with Paleness. Her mouth was agape, her eyes misty with unshed tears. Inuyasha never screamed. Never…. He had to be dying. Dying or dead, or missing a limb…. She couldn't bear to think of the possibilities. She felt her knees. Please don't let him be dead….

Kuroinu brushed herself off and stood. " I sliced him in the abdomen, from the right hipbone all the way to right beneath the heart. It's deep. He won't live long…" She looked up at Sesshoumaru, then Akai. Finally she cast a glance back at Kagome, the hardest hitby the scream. "I guess it's time to start redeeming myself. Are you coming, Fluffy?"

The use of a pet name didn't lighten anyone's mood except her own. It helped to know she could still say it without feeling childish. Sesshoumaru turned slowly, His gaze meeting Kuroinu's.

"I have already saved two lives tonight. Why should I help him?" He said, his tone calm but the slight smirk playing upon his lips giving him away. Kagome turned, furious.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!? HE'S YOUR BROHTER AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HELP HIM?!" she shouted. Her voice was cracked, hoarse. Sesshoumaru didn't pay any mind- he just turned and walked into the forest.

Kuroinu smiled. And I thought I was the only sicko. At least I'm not letting Inuyasha die…. Akaiinu gave her a warning glance, as if he knew what she was thinking. She shrugged.
"Hey, it's true" she said. Akaiinu rubbed his temples.

"We need to move. Now" Kuroinu didn't need to be told twice. Without a second thought, she raced off into the forest.

"Don't Worry. Naraku will pay for this, I swear on my Father's grave," He said, walking closer to Kagome.

"I don't care about Naraku, Save Inuyasha!"

It only took a few seconds for Kuroinu to locate Naraku's scent. It was so intertwined with blood the two were almost indistinguishable. As soon as she made sure no one was around, she inhaled it deeply, letting the scent wash over her.

She realized it might be the last time she smelled it. I have to avoid killing Naraku…. I won't do it if I can help it…

She found the scent closer to her left and turned that way. She didn't need to look far, as Inuyasha's bright red Haori was easily visible amongst the green of the forest. She could see him on his knees before Naraku, his head covered by Naraku's hand. Even from this distance, she could tell what Naraku intended to do- after all, and she was a murderer herself and thus an expert on methods of death. He intended to crush Inuyasha's head barehanded.

The same method I'd use in his place…

Quickly she steeled herself. This wasn't a time for playing. Inuyasha was going to die and she had to save him. O joy… she thought. Without giving it too much thought, she stepped out of the forest and in front of Naraku. He didn't turn.

"Naraku, I know you can see me," She said, attempting her usual tone. It wasn't easy- death does that to a person. Naraku turned his head slightly, but didn't remove his hand form Inuyasha's head.

" Kuroinu." Simply- nothing other than her name, but it sent a small shiver that she tried to hide up her spine. "I thought your brother would be the one here"

Kuroinu shook her head, advancing. "Well, he's not." She cast a glance at the pure sorrow on Inuyasha's face. " You know why I came"

He turned back to Inuyasha. "You wish to save him? After all that effort you put into trying to kill him?"

She crouched by Inuyasha, and placed her hand on the wound, administering pressure to slow the bleeding.
" Yes. I want to save my brother. I'd prefer to do it without having to harm you, but the way things are going…."

"I won't let him go"

Kuroinu smiled "and that's the thing. I don't want you to let him go…."

Naraku once more turned his head. She had piqued his interest. "What do you mean?"

"If you hand Inuyasha here over to my brothers, then you can do whatever you want to me"

All was silent. The wind even seemed to pause, listening to the proposal. "Choose your answer Naraku." She said firmly. "My brother and that human, Kagome will be here any moment."

He was still silent.

"DAMN IT NARAKU!" she roared. "Just answer me please." She pleaded to him. She trembled slightly, though she didn't quite know why. She closed her eyes her tightly, trying to control her reluctant body. Can't you see I want to be with you?

There was a loud 'oomph' and she snapped her eyes open. To her surprise, she found Inuyasha lying on the hard cold forest ground. Blood spilled out of his body like a there was a never-ending supply.

She stared at his human body until she saw much movement where Naraku was. She turned to him and nearly let out a gasp when she saw he was right next to her. Both of their crimson eyes met one another's. "Naraku-"

She was soon interrupted once the youkai took her in his embrace, giving her a gentle yet passionate kiss. Kuroinu's heart started to beat faster. That was so unexpected!

He finally parted his lips from hers and instead placed them near her ear. "I'll let Inuyasha go. And I promise that I'll come get you soon. Just wait for me." He kissed her cheek and slowly started to walk backwards, a smirk plated on his face. "Kagura." He called.

"NARAKU WAIT!" but it was too late. A strong gust of wind blew, causing Kuroinu to hold her ground. She looked up in the sky and saw Kagura's large feather. On it was the wind demon herself, looking at the Kuroinu with much disgust. Kuroinu tried to get a glimpse of Naraku, but he was too high up.

"Kuro!" She turned around to see Akaiinu approaching with Kagome on his back. "Kuro, what happened?" He asked in shock once his eyes caught sight of Inuyasha badly bruised body on the ground.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out and tried to jump off the dog demon's back. Luckily Akaiinu stopped before she did so. Kagome scrambled towards Inuyasha side and gently touched his soft human black hair, which was now covered with blood. "Inuyasha?" she whispered to him. He didn't respond. "Inuyasha?" she said again, this time a bit louder. "Inuyasha, Please answer me!" She called to him. Kneeling, she rolled him over and put him in her lap, so that the top of his body was in her embrace as the bottom lay on the ground. She dug her face into his hair despite the dirt and blood. There she sobbed, never wanting to let go of him. The two twins didn't say anything. Even Kuroinu kept her mouth closed, realizing this isn't the right time for a little joke or a laugh.

"Ka-go-me…" Kagome didn't lift her head up at first, but then soon realized whose voice that was. "Inuyasha?" She looked at his face and almost started crying again, not of despair but of pure joy.

Inuyasha opened his eyes, revealing two sleepy chocolate brown eyes. "Hey." He said weakly. "I found you,"

"Inuyasha, don't talk. You need to save your energy." She told him. He seemed and closed his eyes slowly but then opened them and looked towards his right to find Kuroinu and Akaiinu standing there.

"What are they doing here?" Although his voice was weak, you could still hear the anger in it.

"Don't worry about it. They're the good guys now." Akaiinu walked over and knelt down. Kagome reluctantly let go of Inuyasha so that Akaiinu was able to haul him onto his back.

"I'm still gonna get my rematch, red." He told him. Akaiinu only smiled. " If you believe you can beat me, then sure. I'll give you another shot. Though I doubt you can defeat me."

"Shuddup, you-" Everything fell silent. "Inuyasha?" he called. Akaiinu looked into the corner of his eye to see what happened to his younger brother. He grinned. The hanyou fell asleep right the middle of his sentence.

A few more weeks past and Kagome, Totosai, Akaiinu, Kuroinu and Inuyasha were still in the village. Luckily, not too many houses were burnt down and there weren't many major injuries.

"How are you doing, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked him kneeling next to the bed he was in.

"I'm fine. You ask me that everyday." He replied in annoyance.

"Well excuse me for caring, Inuyasha." She snapped at him.

Akaiinu stood outside, a little grin appeared upon his face, listening to the two bicker. He suddenly brought his attention towards the forest. He smelt three humans and five demons heading this way. One of the demons scent was very familiar. "Sesshoumaru?" he said to himself.

Seconds later, a tall demon with silver hair appeared. Beside him was a large brown demon with two heads being pulled by a short toad-like demon. A little girl rode on the back of this demon. A flare in the sky soon caught the eyes of Akaiinu and he looked up. There he saw a cat-like demon carrying two humans and a small demon.

Akaiinu stood there, waiting for them to reach him. "Sesshoumaru, you came back?" He asked in surprise, once they reached him.

"Does this surprise you?" He asked flatly.

"Well-"

"I don't not like to go back on any promises in which I make, Akaiinu. As much as I greatly despise that woman, I am a lord and I must uphold our agreement. " He walked past Akaiinu without sparing another glance, his servants quickly following after him.

Next came Sango, Miroku, Shippou and Kilala. Before Akaiinu could say anything, he heard Kagome's voice from behind. "Hey you guys!" she called and ran over to them.

"How's Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru said that he was in trouble but he did stay long enough to know what happened." Sango said.

"Yeah, we're all really worried!" Shippou exclaimed.

Kagome smiled. "It's okay. He's fine. In fact he was the one who smelt you coming."

All three of them sighed. "Well that good. I thought-" Sango looked past Kagome and saw Akaiinu standing there. "Uh…Kagome, who's that?" Miroku asked. Kagome turned to see whom they were talking about. "Oh that's Akaiinu. He's Inuyasha's other brother and he'll be traveling with us."

"What!" they all exclaimed.

" Isn't that the one who took the Tetsusaiga?" "Inuyasha has another brother?" " How many siblings does Inuyasha have?"

Kagome covered her ears. "Not so many questions at one time!" They all became silent.

"But, Kagome, how did you persuade Inuyasha to allow him to come?" Miroku asked.

Kagome smiled. "Well it's a long story, but mostly all I had to do was threaten him. Worked like a charm."

"Jaken, Rin. You stay here." He ordered.

"Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru." The two said in unison.

The Western Lord walked into the hut to find a young girl lying in a bed, with Kaede by her side. The girl sat up to show the face of Xiara. "Uh…Lord Sesshoumaru?" she asked.

"Leave us alone." He said referring to Kaede. She looked surprise at the order and turned towards Xiara. She nodded letting the old woman know it was all right. Kaede got up and left the hut.

"What brings you back here, Lord Sesshoumaru?" she asked once Kaede left.

"I came to see how you were doing. My sister was the cause of your injures. It seemed only fitting to come here."

"Oh, I forgot about her." She said sadly. "She's the one who killed my brother." Talking to herself more than to the demon Lord.

He gave a little sigh. "I also came for favor." He knelt down beside her and looked straight into her eyes, making her a bit nervous. "I want to ask if you would be interested in coming to my castle."

"Wha-" she asked in surprise. "Me? You want me to come to your castle?"

"Do you not want to?"

"YES! I do want to go!" she said suddenly and excitedly. "B-but why?"

"It would seem that you are becoming a Miko. That would be a great factor for my castle. Besides," Xiara's heart skipped a beat. Is he going to say what I think he's going to say? "I believe Rin needs a role model, one that's human at least." She exhaled loudly, not even knowing she was holding her breath. Well that was disappointing… "What? Who's Rin?"

"She is an orphan human girl that I took in." he replied.

"Oh. That was the girl you were talking about. That day before you left?"

"Yes, it was."

"Oh, I thought maybe-"

"I was mated to her?" HE said suggestively. Xiara stayed silent. "Don't be foolish. I would never mate to a human such as her." He continued.

"Oh, I-" she was interrupted by Sesshoumaru when he placed his lips on hers. Oh my GOD! She thought to herself. He parted from the kiss. "You on the other hand, I can deal with." He finished.

Xiara had a dazed expression on her face. Finally, she snapped out of it and gave a huge smile. "Sesshoumaru,"

He got up and turned around. "I'll come back for you once you have healed." He said and then left without another glance or even a goodbye.

Sesshoumaru and me? Mated? Is this a dream? If so, please don't let me wake up.

- - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Kuroinu?" the demoness turned around to meet the eyes of her twin. "I heard you're leaving today." He continued.

"Yeah. Sesshoumaru wants to leave right away. Any minute now I'll be going. What about you guys? When are you leaving?"

He walked closer to her. "Once Inuyasha heals we'll be leaving. Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. It's not like we're going to never see each other again. I'll come and visit sooner or later."

"That's not what I meant, Kuro and you know it." He replied firmly. "I'm talking about Naraku. HE got away from us, and I'm starting to believe that you let him." Kuroinu looked away from him.

"Naraku is nothing but trouble. He doesn't love anyone but himself Kuro and I even doubt that. Please promise me that you won't go looking for him." The demoness stood silently. Akaiinu gently placed his hands on both sides of her cheek, forcing her to look at him. "Promise me, Kuro." He said softly.

"I-I'll try." She said finally. He smiled at her weakly and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Don't get into too many fights okay, Kuro."

Akaiinu I want to not love him, but I can't help it. I felt as though I was missing part of me my whole life. Once I got to know Naraku, it felt as thought I became whole. I'll try to not go after him, but I can't make any promises. Please don't get angry if I screw it up like always.

The End

For now….

wow. finally done, after all those chapters. it feels like a weights been lifted off my shoulders bu somehow i wish it was still there. Read and review, as always, and keep your eyes out.... we might make a sequel