CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

x.

For a moment, there was silence. Kagome's eyes were squeezed tightly shut... but she slowly forced herself to open them. And she gasped.

Apparently Inuyasha wasn't as unconscious as they had thought he was. His hand had caught the sword blade in mid-air, and he was half-lying, half-crouching, glaring up at Naku with a snarl on his face. "Nice try," he growled.

Naku looked surprised for a moment. Then he smirked. "Not dead yet, huh?"

Blood was trickling down Inuyasha's wrist. "Not dead enough... that I can't take care of a rat like you," he growled. His eyes darted over to Kagome. "Especially... if you don't GET OFF HER!"

With a shout of rage, he smashed the bloodstained blade aside, and drove Naku a few steps back. Kagome scrabbled away, almost shaking. Inuyasha was more than a match for Naku normally -- but he was horribly injured. He had stumbled as he got up, and even now he was slower than he usually was. What was even worse, Naku knew it.

"Inuyasha, watch out!" she cried.

He didn't seem to hear her. He was crouched near Naku, with his claws cracking ominously. "I could tell there something rotten right from the start," he growled. "You smell like a human."

He sprang toward Naku, slashing at the older man's neck. Naku leaped back with a slight smile.

"You look like one..."

Naku started to leap away -- only to see too late that Inuyasha had been feinting. Inuyasha's fist slammed into Naku's jaw, slamming the older man into the ground. Inuyasha stood still, with his shaking fist held out in front of him. "And... now I wanna know what the hell you really are!" he snarled.

Naku slowly crept up, with a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. He wiped it away with his sleeve. "Haven't you figured it out yet, you fool?" he said, smiling slightly. "If you haven't, then you're even stupider than I thought you were."

Inuyasha growled softly, but didn't take the bait. Then Naku sprang forward, a dagger seeming to magically appear in his hand. Inuyasha grabbed that wrist -- and doubled over with a raw howl as Naku punched him in the stomach.

"Stop it!" Kagome cried, throwing herself on Naku's back and trying to wrestle him away from Inuyasha. Naku twisted around, trying to grab her and throw her off, releasing his hold on Inuyasha. The half demon stumbled back, clutching at his stomach. Then Naku grabbed Kagome and threw her roughly to the ground. "Stay out of this, girl," he snapped.

But Kagome had given Inuyasha a few minutes to recover. He rushed toward Naku, slamming him against a tree trunk. "Who -- the hell -- are you?!" he snarled.

Naku slipped aside like a wraith, and Inuyasha's reflexes were too slow to catch him. He grabbed the half-demon boy's wrists and held him back. Blood was seeping from Inuyasha's wounded hand, and Kagome could see him shaking as he fought to keep Naku from getting any closer.

"I... am like YOU," Naku said.

It was too soft to be heard, almost, but for a moment it was all Inuyasha could hear. He stumbled back a few steps, then took another swipe with his claws. But Naku was already racing away, with a devilish smile on his cold face. "We'll continue this another time," he announced. "Right now I don't feel like fighting three at once, even if you are bleeding like a gutted dog."

"Get back here, damn you!" Inuyasha started to go after Naku, but a dagger spun out of the underbrush, and dodging it made him stumble. When he got to his feet, the assassin was already gone, and even his sensitive ears couldn't hear any retreating footsteps.

"D-dammit," he whispered, crumpling to his knees.

He felt Kagome kneel beside him, trying to rebandage his torn abdomen. He was starting to feel dizzy -- not only had he lost a lot of blood, but fighting with such wounds had taken its toll. Now that the hot rush of rage and battle was gone, he just felt something he hated... weakness. He leaned heavily on Kagome, and let her help him sit down.

He had a lot of thinking to do. And he would have time to do it as he healed.

TO BE CONTINUED