(Running to the battlefield)

'He can handle this on his own. After all…he is a demon. His demon blood that runs through his veins wouldn't allow him to be defeated off that easily.

…But why…

Why do I get the feeling that something's not right?

Why do I get the knotting, twisting and turning feeling that's telling me that I shouldn't have let him leave?

Why did he give me…this?

Does it mean something? Is it a sign…of…farewell?

Or is it a sign…of…dependency?'

The fragment of the shikon jewel glistened in her hand. The shikon shard that Hiten had taken from her when she was kidnapped, when she was considered no more than a captive to the thunder brothers. Furiously Sakura wiped away her tears that rolled down her cheeks. What did the jewel mean?

'Sakura, I won't be back…I want you to take care of this for me.'

'Sakura, I'm sorry that I ever took it from you. So now I'm giving it back.'

'Keep it safe for me until I return. Okay?'

What did it mean? But then, what mattered now? She tried to swallow the lump in her throat that continuously tried to make its way back up again, to tear apart her fragile heart. The heart that was once so cold, that was never emotional…Hiten had warmed it. She felt so vulnerable to her own spirit now that she realized.

"Couldn't you have just listened to me?!" Sakura yelled out to the rocky cliffs and listened to them echo back. "You stupid bastard!"

Her senses went into a state of a temporary comatose. Breaking down into tears of worry and sorrow, Sakura held the leather pouch and the shikon shard in her hands, brought them up to her chest and cried. The warmth helped her calm down, but this…

It was just too much.

He could still feel the way that she had grabbed onto him. The way that she had clung to him so desperately, out of concern that he might not return. He had to say that he didn't want to leave, but he felt that he could never forgive himself if he made her vulnerable to any more scars or pain. Sakura, as she had said, had more than enough pain. He didn't want to add on more, but why was she so worried about him? It wasn't like he was never going to come back.

"Such foolish thoughts…" Hiten muttered under his breath as Kagome and Manten looked at him intensely. Manten twitched nervously while keeping a stern eye upon the young girl.

"An-chan?" Manten spoke up. "I still don't believe we should go to this battle. Something's nagging at me that it's not right."

"Manten…" Hiten sighed. "There are plenty more girls out there for your hair potion, don't worry. This wench isn't the only female around."

"I don't care about hair at the moment, I care about our well-being!"

"We are not going to lose against such an insignificant demon!" Hiten rasped with a hint of threatening. He then turned to Kagome. "This Inu Yasha fellow, he is a half breed…is he not?"

"But he is powerful, you know." Kagome gathered up her will to speak up to this monster of a demon. "He has slain many…"

"I don't give a rat's backside whether he killed one or one thousand demons, girl." He glared as he hovered in the air. "Exactly how many shards of the jewel does this hybrid possess?"

Kagome felt her spine freeze. Desperately wishing that Inu Yasha would be able to play along with her little mini-play/drama, she held up three fingers.

"Three?" Hiten abruptly stopped in the air. "He has only three, girl?" Hiten's eyes suddenly went a glowing luminous blue, and Manten shrunk back. Kagome quickly shook her head side to side violently.

"No, he…he has…three…three quarters of it!" She stammered as a drop of sweat ran down the side of her face. Manten eyed her suspiciously, but soon let the subject drop after deciding that the subject was too hardening.

"So…do you plan to mate Sakura again, an-chan?" Manten asked.

Bad question to ask him, he thought right after the words came tumbling out of his mouth. Indeed he was right; Hiten stopped again and pointed the Thunder pike to Manten's throat.

"What…the hell did you just say?" Hiten growled; Half out of anger that this strange girl would find out about his weak point, and the other half out of annoyance that Manten would dare to ask such a thing. Manten had been there when they had found out that she was pregnant, and that when the child died.

"I think you're hiding something, Manten." Hiten boomed. "Don't you weasel your way out on this one, because I'll force it out of you if I must."

"I'm sorry, an-chan!" Manten blurted out. "I knew that Namie was planning something, but I couldn't tell you because I thought you would be cross with me, and then I planned to tell you after the child died but I still couldn't!"

"……what?"

Sakura fell for what she counted as the eighth time. Or was it the seventh? She had lost track way back when, but despite all that she kept yelling at her muscles to run faster. Hiten had told her that he would be at the battlefield.

Not that he had told her in particular, just to Manten. But it wasn't her fault for having a good sense of hearing, was it?

Her bag was slung across her back. The sword, the moth-eaten top and the leather pouch with the shikon shard in it were her only possessions now. Even she didn't know what her moth-eaten top was going to be good for during a battle, but it had seemed like a great idea to her at the time. Now she wondered why. Her feet were already bleeding, the path that she had run left a wet trail of crimson blood. The colour of her beloved thunder demon's eyes.

She eyed the village as she made it over the rocky cliffs. Just walk past the village, cross the river and she'd get there in good time. Already she saw the dark clouds piling up over the battle arena, and figured that the fighting had already started. She knew that Hiten had a good chance of winning. After all, he could fly. And he had the demon blade Raigekijin.

…But you never knew.

Stepping into the village, Sakura desperately wished that the villagers wouldn't ask her about herself. Taking quick steps she made it near some houses, and of course; had the temptation tugging at her to rest awhile. She couldn't do that. After all, no one even seemed to be here at the moment. It seemed like an abnadoned town, and she doubted that anyone lived here.

But she had to move on.

One moment that she wasted could cost Hiten his limb. His well-being. Even his life, not to mention Manten.

Just as she was about to make her way across the other side of the village, an arrow whizzed by her cheek, giving her a tingling sensation that soon converted itself to unbearable pain.

"Stop, demon!"a youthful female voice rang out from behind her.

Sakura looked behind her shoulder and saw that it was a priestess, who still held onto her bow firmly. She eyed Sakura with great suspicion, herlong black locks hanging over her shoulders.She wore a red and white miko outfit, her hair ties up into a high ponytail.

"You must be a demon." She cried out. "Are you not?"

Sakura was taken aback by the priestess' demand. Her? A demon?

"I'm a human, justlike you!" Sakura yelled desperately, looking to the battlefield as if she expected a howl of pain or a thick flash of lightening or what not. "I'm not a…"

"Shut your mouth, demon, and give no excuses!" she yelled as she pulled out another arrow. "I can sense your demon aura so much, it disgusts me. You may have fooled many others. But don't even try to escape from me!"

What to do? This priestess, wether she seemed to be a mad person or not, was clearly thinking an absurd thought that she was a demon. She would have loved to tell the misunderstanding woman about her identity, but this wasn't the time. Figuring that she was at the wrong place at the wrong time, Sakura decided to tell the priestess later about herself so she wouldn't have doubts.

"I'm sorry, but I really need to get to someone fast right now!" Sakura yelled and dashed away from the priestess. "I'm sorry!"

"Stop! Stop, demon!" She heard the priestess cry out.

What was she talking about? She surely wasn't a demon! Couldn't she sense even that? Just then, an idea sprang to her head.

Unless…it was because…she was always around Hiten. Hiten was a demon…it must have been his demonic aura that brushed off her, or something of the sort. Maybe that was why the priestess was misunderstanding.

But of course, this was no time to stop and explain. Hiten was in great trouble or could be. Manten could already have been hurt, vulnerable to death.

Sakura looked round to see if the priestess was still chasing her or not. As soon as she turned, she felt a thud in her stomach followed by a series of unbearable pain.

More pain that she had ever felt in her life was working its way through her senses.

More blood that she had ever seen in her life was pouring out of her stomach.

'A dagger…' Sakura thought as she looked down at the source of her pain. 'Damn...it…damn it to the seven hells…'

"You will surely die, demon." The priestess said calmly, looking above her with an eyeful of pity. Sakura sniffed. She didn't want pity at the moment, but shecouldn't deny the fact that this priestess, in fact, was."I do not wish to end your life with a blow of my sword. Therefore…I will leave you to die a painful death."

Heh…me? Die?

I don't think so.

I have someone waiting for me, someone that might need my help.

I can't die now. Not this easily.

Just to think about the fact that I couldn't do anything for him…kills me even more.

I can't die without doing something for him.

I can't die…without seeing his face…just one more time…

Just…one…more…time…

I love climaxes, don't you? I wasn't going to tell you what happened, but since I was being such a (cough) meanie in the last chapter, I think I'll just say it...

Hopefully you guys are following the story, right? Sakura's trying to get to the battlefield on foot and she has to cross a village in order to get there. The priestess there thinks that she's a demon because of her 'demon aura' that brushed off her while she was with Hiten all the time. The priestess throws a dagger at her stomach, but then feels pity and says that she's going to (stupid biatch!) leave her there to die.

Ha...this makes the story so much shorter. But the only reason I put this thing up was because my cousin couldn't follow the storyline and said she was confused. Figuring that my cousin might not be the only one (since this chapter was so complex...for me, anyways...) confused, so heh...well?

Oh yeah. By the way,Sakura didn't take the dagger out.