Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of InuYasha.

Strange Interlude

Chapter 16

We take a quick break now from the drama unfolding at the Naraku household and rewind just a little bit in time and space, back to Sesshomaru's cave. It had been two days since the disappearance of (the currently in jeopardy) Jennifer, and Sesshomaru was only just now returning. He had decided to give the poor human two days to clean the place. He felt pity towards the poor wretch.

No, it couldn't have been pity. Sesshomaru merely knew that as a lower life form it would take the girl at least twice as long to actually complete half of what he asked. A creature that wears out that quickly is at least deserving of that.

So now Sesshomaru returned to the cave, finding two things absolutely astonishing. One: That the walls, ceiling, and ground, dank and brown when he last he saw them, now were as bright and as white as marble.

He walked forward to inspect the wall as Jaken tended to Ah-Un. "A complete change in substance," he muttered to himself, "surely this was not done by hand."

He placed his large hand on the transformed stone and closed his painted eyes. The marble ran at least a meter deep. Whoever had done this had some impressive abilities. But the only one with access to the cave was the girl they kept in the fifth room. Which brought Sesshomaru to his second discovery.

There was an eerie quietness in the cave. The girl was no longer there. Sesshomaru scowled and mentally reprimanded himself. He was a fool to have not noticed it earlier. Upon his return, she should have made herself known by coming out of the small fifth room, or if she was sleeping, Sesshomaru should've been able to hear her quiet breathing. But he heard nothing coming from her room or any other area of the cave. Where could she have gone?

It was then that Jaken hobbled into the cave. "That irritating beast!" he complained. "Ah nearly bit my hand off. And that Un is no better! When I was grooming his left hind leg, he stomped on my foot! Maybe we should consider getting him fixed..."

These oftentimes-hilarious antics of a tortured Jaken were completely ignored by the great demon lord. Instead he stared intently at the marbleized wall in front of him, contemplating his former question.

{That girl...where could she have gone? I can find not even a trace of her scent in this cave.}

Jaken then noticed his master seemingly in a staring contest with the wall. He inquired of him, "Sire, is something the matter?"

Then, actually catching sight of the marbleized cave walls and stalactites, he let out a gasp, "Remarkable! When last we were here were not these walls a disgusting dull brown? Who could have done such a thing?"

"Jaken," Sesshomaru spoke, ignoring his vassal's question, "have you noticed a certain scent in the air?"

Jaken laid his staff against the wall and folded his arms into his sleeves. He inhaled deeply, reveling in the cool stench of the night air. He then seemed quite perplexed, for he could find no scent out of place.

He answered his prince, "Why, no milord. I smell nothing."

"What did you say, Jaken?" asked Sesshomaru, more intensely than before.

"N-Nothing, milord," whimpered Jaken, fearful of his master's impending judgment.

Sesshomaru turned to look at the quivering toad, slowly taking his hand from the marble wall, "Tell me, Jaken, who is it that lives here in this place, and whose stink you no longer can smell?"

Jaken replied timidly, "T-the girl?"

Sesshomaru said nothing, so Jaken sniffed the air to confirm his master's leading questions. Sure enough, he could not smell the annoying stench of the human they had kept.

"Where is the wench, I wonder?" he asked, "Has she run away again?"

He took the chance to pop a joke, "Good riddance, I say. How fortunate of us, that we are rid of her. I wonder...was the task given to her too great that she took to her death off the cliff? Ha! How rich!"

But Sesshomaru did not laugh. He ignored the toad demon's comment, and instead walked slowly and deliberately out of the concealed cave. Deliberately because he dreaded the answer he might find out there on the mountainside.

Sesshomaru thought on the manner in which he shielded his fortress, and ruled out the possibility of her disappearance as the work of another demon. Long before she had arrived the hologram preventing all unwanted eyes from seeing the cave and its adjacent plateau was placed. There was no way another soul could see through and penetrate the barrier.

If she had run away, he would not worry because she would be easy enough to find. But it was Jaken's joke that got to him. If she had jumped or perhaps fallen off the cliff, she would surely have died. And if that were the case...it would be all over.

Sesshomaru came to the end of the plateau and a rush of wind washed over him. How easy it would have been for the weak human to fall, but he wondered if the girl really was so stupid as to stand this close to the edge.

He kneeled at the plateau's edge to peer down the cliff searching for anything, any clue, to allude to the girl's fate. The wind again rose up, rushing against the side of the mountain before reaching Sesshomaru's nose. His eyes widened as a previously unnoticed stench overwhelmed his senses. He felt stupid for not noticing it before.

Playing to mitigate his doubts, Sesshomaru reached out with his only hand to rub at the immediate cliffside below him. Lifting that hand to the front of his face, he peered at the dusty, red-brown substance that now coated his fingertips. One sniff confirmed what had feared. The peculiar substance was dried human blood.

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"Girl, come!" ordered the 'starving' Naraku. He was sitting in front of several empty dinner trays, anxiously awaiting his second course.

In came the girl he had called. Decked out in a common child's work clothing and carrying a tray of redfish with a side of steamed sour celery, was a small girl no more than eight years of age. The tiny figure moved rigidly into the room. Her shoulder-length, brown hair bounced almost mechanically against her stiff and upright head. Her face was emotionless and still, her half-closed eyes nothing more than hollow brown orbs.

She kneeled before the hungry lord and laid down the tray. She then stood and turned to leave.

"Deng3 yi2 xia4," he called to her, "Wait, dear child. Come and eat with me." He pulled out a kneeling mat and beckoned her to sit.

The girl immediately obeyed and went to kneel by the tray of food she had just set out. But she did not eat. It was all a formality anyway. He wasn't really about to share his food with her. But...he wasn't so heartless as to not leave some scraps for her afterward. She could eat when he was done.

Mindless as the girl was, she knew her master's offer for what it was and did not reach for the extra set of chopsticks. She merely knelt beside him and stared at an insignificant point on the floor.

Naraku ate and, in the midst of de-boning his second fish, looked up at the girl. It had only been three days and she had already aged this much. Every hour, every minute, she was growing up right before his eyes. But she was not really 'growing up'. It was the age reversal spell wearing off. The spell's effect was slowly wearing off, making it look like she was 'growing'. At this rate, she would soon reach sexual maturity and then...

The idea filled him with great sensual pleasure. This was turning out quite nicely for him. He didn't have to do any work. The spell was undoing itself at a slow but steady pace, and because the girl no longer had a soul, she obeyed his every command, even the most trivial.

Naraku finished his plate and laid down his chopsticks, "Now girl, you may take the tray and leave."

The girl nodded, stood, and headed out of the room. The demon Naraku eyed her eagerly as she exited, possibly dreaming of the days to come.

It was then, when the mindless cog left the room, that a sharp buzzing noise could be heard outside the window. Naraku looked over his shoulder at the shaded windows. With a smirk and a wave of his hand, the shutters flew open, and a giant bee-like insect flew into the room.

Its buzzing echoed through the rooms and halls of Naraku's wing of the castle. The mindless girl was walking through the hall and heard the noise. But she did not a thing and continued soullessly into the room next to his.

Naraku listened intently to the hell insect's tale. It had been on fieldwork in search of jewel shards. Even though Naraku had his 'Prophecy', he didn't mind the extra power he got from the shards. With every shard he got, his stamina and magic increased, allowing him new abilities. Should he complete the Shikon jewel, he would become invincible. And when the girl gave him a son, he would rule the world, without anyone able to stop him.

So this bug had just returned from a village that had several jewel shards.

"Then why do you not have them?" asked Naraku.

The insect fluttered.

"Guarded? Surely your swarm could take care of a few humans."

The insect hovered over Naraku's left shoulder.

"The famed village of demon-slayers...If so, then I am surprised you even made it in there. That place is where no demon should ever be." Naraku told him. Then he asked, "How many shards?"

The bug flew higher.

"Only two, then? Well, it would be a lot of work to get them, but at least then they would be well earned."

It went higher still, and then settled down to Naraku's eye level.

"Yes, the tribe of demon killers has made a lot of enemies. These demons by themselves can do nothing against the whole tribe of slayers. But if they were all to coincidentally attack the village at the same time...surely then they could be overcome."

The hell insect buzzed madly.

"Right..." he agreed. " If those demons were not strong enough to beat the slayers before, there would be no guarantee that they would pull together and defeat an entire village."

It settled down.

"In that case a diversion and a scapegoat will be needed."

There was a sudden knock at the door and a voice that called, "Kagawaki? Son?"

Naraku looked fiercely at the door and growled, "That fool is not supposed to come down here!" He turned to hiss at the bug, "Be gone!"

It immediately fled out the window, and Naraku begrudgingly laid himself down on the futon and pretended to sleep. The door opened and in walked the elder lord of the castle. Unaware of his son's possession by the demon Naraku, the lord approached the bedside of Kagawaki's body. The lord gazed upon his son's pallid face and wondered when the boy would recover from his sickness. The lord wondered if a horrible demon had inflicted him because he had been sick for so long. He was unaware of how right he was.

Naraku, constantly needing to take on a new body every time his old one wore out, found the young lord Kagawaki several months ago riding horseback toward the castle. Naraku knew of the young prince Kagawaki, his fame and riches. He knew that with a body like Kagawaki's he could use the castle as his base of operations for his future plans. Naraku dared not pass up an opportunity of taking Kagawaki's youthful and physically attractive body for his own uses, so he took possession of the prince. And to prevent the wearing out his fine new body, Naraku would often have to leave it and possess some other form temporarily. This left Kagawaki alive, but almost completely drained of life and without memory of his possession. Thus his chronic 'illness'.

This was Kagawaki's situation now. Now that Naraku had fled, Kagawaki lay unconscious on the mat, breathing heavily.

"My poor, sickly boy..." said the consoling father. "The demon that haunts you must be closer than ever. If only there was some way to rid you of the demon. That way you could attend court again."

{Ah, now there in lies opportunity,} thought Naraku, floating bodiless above them.

With that, the formless spirit repossessed Kagawaki's body. The boy let out a gasp and the father's worried brow became even more furrowed.

"Son! Son!" he called.

"Father! I...ah! It hurts!" gasped the pale-faced prince.

The lord was astonished, "My boy! You wake from your fever? Please do not try anything too brash, son! Rest and regain your strength."

Naraku smiled inwardly. How humans are so easily fooled!

"Father! The demon...it hurts!" he shouted, straining to sit up on his elbows.

"Oh son, conserve your energy! Lie down and rest!"

"No. I must...say something," the boy responded.

"Son, what is it?" the lord asked, helping his son into a sitting position.

Naraku chuckled and with a sudden show of force, reached out and clutched the man's throat. The man cried out in pain as a strange aura ran up Naraku's arm and into the old man. He screamed as a new darkness overtook him and a strange spider-shaped scar appeared on his back, burning through his clothes.

The jewel shards that Naraku had collected so far had allowed him to conjure up some of his spirit and break it off, and forcing that bit of soul into the man, he created a lower incarnation of himself. But this new demon was only a parasite—a shadow spider living off of the lord's lifeblood, and thus controlling his movements.

Naraku removed his hand, and the new demon howled with appreciation of its new body. But looking up at its life giver filled him with a sudden hatred. He looked upon Naraku with malice and spite. He thought of all the years he has been locked away and buried within Naraku's being, only now released back to the Earth. That foul would-be demon. He would pay for his cruelty.

"Don't even try it," the parent demon spoke. He opened his hand to reveal a small, pulsating lump of flesh. "In my hand, I hold your heart. Attack me and you will die."

The fanged demon/human hybrid sneered, then quieted.

Naraku spoke again, "As Kagawaki's father you will send soldiers to collect the strongest warriors from the village of demon slayers. Have the soldiers tell them that a horrid demon plagues the lord's land and son every night, and should the demon be disposed of, a handsome reward will be given. When they come I will have set a fake demon to distract them, and you can have your fun with the humans after that."

"And what exactly makes you think I'll do this for you?" asked the demon, mocking the lord's airy tone.

"Should you do this." replied Naraku, "I will return you your heart."

The spider that inhabited the human lord smiled. What a lovely little trade. All he would have to do was spend a few days impersonating this man, followed by a bloody human massacre in exchange for his freedom. Seemed easy enough for him. When the incarnation accepted Naraku's deal, he did not realize his master's true intentions. Naraku would not so easily relinquish new flesh. No matter. The fool would find out soon enough.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door to the room. Naraku eyed the incarnation viciously, and laid back down, pretending to sleep. The possessed man answered the knock, "Yes, what is it?"

A random vassal peeked his head in, "Sir, I hate to disturb you, but you're needed in the front hall."

The shadow demon turned his head and his puppet followed, "Fine. I'll be right there." He stared at Naraku's pale and sweaty face, and observed that he wasn't acting. The man demon really was ill. He smiled. {Perfect,} he thought. {When he returns my heart to me, I will kill him.}

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A/N: We'll cut to the chase. This chapter's Random Shoutout goes to:

Crow T R0bot!

The decision was based on a combination of helpful comments and questions, plus he had an advertisement request! So be prepared for an entire Author's Note devoted to Crow T's review!

Well, Crow T. pointed out that you don't have to capitalize the Y in InuYasha. So I ask, why don't you? Are you really only supposed to capitalize the name if you're talking about the show? Or are you not supposed to capitalize it at all? I have the InuYasha PSOne game and the title is capitalized, but the name inside the booklet isn't. I've also seen the name capitalized in magazines and such. If I'm really not supposed to capitalize the Y then I'll stop, but otherwise I'll keep 'em like I have 'em. My computer's set to change all Inuyasha to InuYasha anyway, so it would be a bother to change...But please tell me because I'd hate to be wrong.

Yes, Jennifer in the story is based off of myself. I think it's about time I told you all the origin of this story, which I will divulge to you now. Strange Interlude started out as a dream. One night, approximately two years ago, I had a dream about falling down a well and waking up in a dark, windy forest. Discovering a strange statue, Sesshomaru came out of it and took me to a cave. I really don't remember the rest of the dream, but I felt compelled to turn it into a story, and thus there is Strange Interlude.

And if you've ever wondered...the title Strange Interlude comes from a play written by Eugene O'Neil, so that title doesn't really belong to me either...But if you haven't read Eugene O'Neil, you should, especially "Long Day's Journey into Night". It's hella tight.

About that line you (Crow T) mentioned...

"Ah, you see. This is why so many of hanyou blood were born. Because every demon of prominent birth or otherwise went out and fucked every human wench they could find, all in hopes that she'd be the "special one" and should she be impregnated, pass on their genes to the prophesized ruler of the world."

I agree it doesn't really sound Naraku-ish. I had trouble writing as Naraku, but when I wrote that line, I just didn't feel like messing with it. You gotta admit though. Despite its non-Naraku sound, it's a very cool line. Thanks for pointing it out! Maybe someday when I go back and revise some of the iffy chapters, that'll be one of the ones I fix.

And about the gene-thing. Even though "genes" and "DNA" haven't been discovered, pretty much everyone could tell and understand that a child is a product of their father and mother. Characteristics such as hair color, freckles, height, and abilities (i.e. whistling) from either parent have be noticed to be passed on to offspring. This is what I meant by "genes". Not actual genetic code, but characteristics and such. Every demon from Inutaisho's time knows that the Prophecy foretells that the son of the girl will inherit the planet, so these demons rushed about impregnating humans for the reason that, if she was the one told of in the Prophecy, they could boast to other demons, "Look, the King of the World is my son.

Next question: Will we see Kenji again? YES!! In fact, he's a major part of Chapter 20 or 21. Glad you haven't forgotten about him. He's important to know. If some of you readers are like, "Huh? Who's Kenji?" Go back and re-read Chapters 2-5.

Thank you for offering some boy names. Got any good girl names? Thanks again.

NOW:

EVERYONE GO READ Crow T R0bot's FANFIC "Final Fantasy 13" (actually title in roman numerals). If you have played any Final Fantasy game, you'll like this story. It combines a whole bunch stuff you've come to love from the FF series and has some really cool characters. Again if you love Final Fantasy, check this story out. It's called "Final Fantasy 13" and is written by Crow T R0bot, the winner of last chapter's

RANDOM SHOUTOUT!

Want to get an entire Author's Note dedicated to you? It's simple! Click that button and review now!