Hi everyone! Time for a good ol' update. I LOVED that anime movie adult swim aired with the girl that could control paper and stuff. Did anyone else here see it? I forgot the name already…ah, but I digress! As always, I don't own Inu, and here's the next part of the story:

As I moved closer and closer to the direction that Jaken's green light had pointed in, I began to realize that I wasn't heading towards the castle, but to the west of it. 'Intriguing.' I thought. 'What is over there?' But for right now, that question did not matter. All it meant was that Kagome was safe. And that was all I needed to know. The other details could come later. I glanced briefly at the sun—it was a red sliver in the hills.

Over the following terrain, the trees parted and revealed smoke from a distance. As I moved closer, I realized that the massive amount of smoke was just the tip leading down to the enormous flames of fire. Whatever had been burning, it was far too late for me to save.

I landed softly on the grass, a safe distance away in order to make quick observations. It was a village—or the remains of one. The burnt smell of wood, crops, and bodies reached my nose. I remembered who it was that I sought—had Naraku been the cause of this? Was it yet another attack on the humans so they would become even angrier and count this against our Emperor? If so, then his plot would probably succeed.

It was no sooner that I had thought about this when my opponent had emerged from the flames. This time, it was the real Naraku—in the flesh; no puppet in place of himself. His eyes were opened, scanning across the area in satisfaction to see what damage he had caused. Suddenly, Naraku turned his head, and his evil gaze met mine from above. He smirked—apparently my presence did not change any of his plans.

"Sesshoumaru. What a surprise it is to see you." Naraku mused. "A pleasant one, naturally. So you've found me at last."

I didn't answer him, leaving no time to waste. Although the flames were still high and dangerous, I leapt above the burning village to meet Naraku and attack him away from this place. He had anticipated this however, and moved to the side.

"You're too late." He murmured happily. Naraku landed gently down upon the highest top of a burning hut. "I have destroyed this village. As always, Sesshoumaru, you come a step behind me. All efforts now will be wasted."

I landed gracefully on a similar tip opposite to him. "Why?" I asked simply. "Why burn a village that has no value or interest for you?"

Naraku smiled. "You still don't see it yet, then? You disappoint me, Sesshoumaru. Above all, I would have thought that you would be the first to understand why…you are starting to have the insight of your hanyou brother."

I snarled at the insult and leapt once again over to him. This time my claws managed to connect with a fraction of his cheek, and blood spurted out. Naraku, in turn, reached for a concealed dagger and slashed the top of my shoulder. This encounter in the sky was over quickly, and we landed back upon where the other had stood moments ago. I turned to face him with a calm sort of anger, and gripped my shoulder tightly. The wound was not particularly serious, but it would slow me down considerably.

"One more human village that is destroyed will infuriate them even more. You have seen, Sesshoumaru, how incredibly stupid and easily tricked they can be. The destruction of their demon slayer village will only signal to them that the taiyoukai emperor is fighting back. War between the kingdoms is now inevitable."

"No." I answered quickly. "Kagome and my father do not want war. It will not happen as long as they are there to stop it, along with me."

He chuckled. "Oh, quite right, Sesshoumaru…quite right. Which leads me to the next phase of my plan…" Naraku looked off to the side and nodded happily. "Right on cue, as always. That wench is altogether far too predictable."

I froze instantly. The wind shifted slightly, and, despite the burning objects all around me, I could still feel her presence. A new, miko scent reached my nose, and this confirmed my own fears.

"Sesshoumaru!" An arrow was shot in the air, aimed at Naraku. I saw in the corner of my eye the magical aura trail that had always followed her weapon. As always, Kagome was an incredible shot, and would have pierced Naraku if not for the fact that, at the same exact moment, a piece of burning wood to the side had finally collapsed in front of the arrow. I held my suspicions, however, that Naraku had somehow influenced this piece of wood to fall. Regardless, he had remained unscathed from the shot.

I whirled around to face her. 'Kagome, why are you here? Get out of this area! Naraku is-"

"No…I won't!" She shouted back. "You're fighting him by yourself, Sesshoumaru! I'm here to help you!"

To the side, I could see Naraku's eyes glistening. "You see, Sesshoumaru? The humans are stupid, stubborn creatures. It's little wonder that your father once had a human mistress on the side…" His voice held a pause. "…Like father, like son. Oh, don't look so surprised." A growl began to form in the back of my throat, and my eyes began to grow red. "I've known about your secret love for the miko queen for quite some time now. She holds great value to you, does she not?"

I could not deny this obvious truth, for Kagome held more value to me than my own life. "Leave the Queen out of this." I snarled. "Your fight is with me."

"On the contrary." Naraku replied. "Queen Kagome and the power that she holds has great interest to me. I can't pass up a chance to take her life, now can I? And what better time than now to kill her right in front of you?"

A death threat to Kagome was more than enough for me. "I will slay you first. Enough talk, Naraku. I have long awaited for your death to come from my hand."

He smirked. "I thought that was my line." Suddenly, a horde of youkai shot out from his arm (the power of the Shikon no Tama half that he stole) and raced straight towards me. From below, I heard Kagome scream in fright for me.

"Your tricks won't work on me." I slashed the youkai away easily.

Too easily. I looked ahead of me—Naraku was no longer standing there. I had been tricked in an instant by a diversion with the youkai. From the corner of my eye, I saw Naraku leaping down to Kagome. A sharp blade's reflection of light was evident to me.

My whole body froze in complete fear for what was about to happen before leaping down after him. Both of us reached Kagome at the same time on the ground. At that exact moment, the remains of the village completely burst into flames, and the whole area was clouded with ash.

I did not know how long I was knocked out of conscious, but it could not have been for a very long period. Sometime after the village was completely burned down, my eyes opened slowly and I noticed the amount of burnt wood and ash around me. The first thing I felt was a sharp pain in my shoulder. The wound that Naraku had inflicted upon me had opened wider from a piece of fallen branch that had jabbed into me. I groaned, and reached over to pull it out.

"Kagome!" I sat up suddenly. Where was she!?

The smell of the village's remains had clouded my nose, and so I could not detect her scent. I leapt to my feet and began to search around. My fear was growing as each moment passed. And where was Naraku? He was nowhere to be seen, either. 'Remain calm.' I instructed strictly. 'Do not panic like your brother would.' But this voice of reason inside of my head was becoming smaller and smaller.

"I will not lose you again. I can't lose you again." I pulled away a large piece of wood from a pile to reveal an unconscious, beautiful face from underneath. "Kagome!" I peeled away the rest of the debris with mixed emotions of joy and fear. Was she hurt? How long had she been there? Had the debris blocked her delicate, human airway?

I lifted her gently off the ground and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. "Kagome?" I placed a hand on her neck to feel her comforting warmth.

Kagome's eyes lazily slid open. "Se…Sesshoumaru? What…happened?" She looked around for a moment in confusion. I strode over to safe patch of grass and set her down as carefully as I could. She smiled gently. "I'm glad to see you again."

"You should have stayed in your castle, where it's safe." I lectured with my back turned to her. "Naraku is not to be taken lightly. You should not have interfered with so dangerous of a situation." I had not intended to lecture her about this (and indeed, I would have taken her exact actions if she were the one battling Naraku instead). Even so, I had failed to protect Kagome, and now, I was filled with shame and anger over this.

Kagome hung her head low. "…I know. I'm sorry…I slipped away from the guards in order to visit Kaede privately, and I saw the flames on my way here…and then, I noticed you here, fighting Naraku with no other help, so…" She began to sniffle slightly. "I know I shouldn't have…you're right…"

I sighed. "When I saw you, I was worried. I knew that Naraku would take that opportunity to kill you if he could." I turned back to her and sat down. "…But I would have done the same thing that you did, Kagome." My expression was serious but understanding for her. I hoped that she understood how I felt.

"I still…shouldn't have…" Her eyes widened suddenly. "Sesshoumaru, you're bleeding!" She scrambled up. "That wound looks bad…all because of me!"

I tugged her back down gently so that she was now resting against my chest. "Don't worry. The pain has stopped substantially now. I'll be fine." I pressed two arms around her waist to hold her close. "I would risk a far greater amount of pain for you. Now that I see you're safe with me, the wound was well worth the cause."

I could feel her hot blush. Kagome stood up quickly to hide this. "C'mon Sesshoumaru—no more fooling around! We need to get that treated!"

I stood up with her and replied, "I thank you for your concern, Kagome, but I will be fine. The wound will heal quickly, I predict."

"But…but what if Naraku comes back while you're hurt like this? Let's return to my castle so-"

"-I cannot. They no longer tolerate youkai, and my arrival into the human castle would be disastrous…for both of us."

Her brow rose suspiciously. "Huh? What do you mean, Sesshoumaru?"

I stared at her. "Do you not know about your warriors who are attacking the youkai lands?" This would certainly explain a few things, and I wouldn't put it past the humans to become eager to start a fight with the youkai without mentioning it to their Queen.

"Nani!? They're doing what!?"

I heard a rustling within the bushes suddenly that interrupted our conversation. I pulled Kagome behind me without warning to her and peered keenly at the brush for whatever was coming.

"Lady Kagome! Lord Sesshoumaru!"

I recognized the voice and relaxed my guard. Apparently Kagome knew who it was as well, and so her face brightened considerably with the knowledge that it was a trustable friend, not a foe. From within the trees, the monk appeared.

"Miroku!" Kagome exclaimed. "What're you doing here? I thought you were in the castle!"

"I saw the flames from a distant hill." He bowed respectfully for the two of us. "There are several things I know wish to know. Most importantly, this was the Demon Slayer village, was it not? What happened here? I sense that the flames were not created on accident."

"You are correct with that hypothesis." I replied. "This village was destroyed by a youkai named Naraku."

His eyes widened. "You meant the same notorious Naraku that I have been hearing so many rumors about!?" We nodded. "Then that means he could still be lurking within our lands…" His face turned grave.

"He will no longer attack this place as long as I am here." I reassured him. "Naraku is most likely scheming up a new plan in some remote distance. For now, the human kingdom is safe from his attacks."

The monk nodded. "Very well then. And now to my second question…of all the places, what are you two doing here!?"

I saw Kagome's face turn crimson out of the corner of my eye. "I was…um, walking…down to Kaede's, you see. And I just sort of…saw…the smoke, and…um…." I could sense her slight discomfort from the fact that she did not want to say she alone at the time, with no guards to protect her.

"…I see." He replied. "And what about you, Lord Sesshoumaru?"

How could I possibly explain everything? I thought for a moment. Where would be best to begin? "To speak truthfully, my father sent me out to look for Naraku in order to slay him for all the evil deeds he has committed. My journey eventually led me here. Naraku and I fought for a short period, and then Kagome arrived." Kagome glanced at me for a moment. She knew that I was not explaining the entire story, but the monk did not seem to notice or mind.

"Very interesting." He walked in front of us for a distance. "Well, we will talk more later. For now, I must perform my duties as a monk and see to it that the dead souls of this village are given a safe passageway."

"I'll help." Kagome and I followed him into the charred remains that once were a village.

"Perhaps we'll find something in here." Kagome whispered to me. "A clue left by Naraku, maybe. Or who knows, a villager might have survived…"

"No." I replied back to her. "The hot flames have destroyed everything. Anyone hiding within the village would have suffocated."

"Oh." She answered simply, with a tone of sadness. After a long pause, she said, "Sesshoumaru, they're not…real…right?"

I turned to her, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, the people—the villagers—that died today. They're not real, right? This whole world doesn't exist; I mean, since we're not…from here…the real, living people are back home, right?"

"This is an alternative dimension, and nothing more." I answered. "All of our roles have been reassigned." I remembered something then. "Kagome, would you like to return home now? Say the word and I will take you back." Even though certain things would be left unfinished by me, that would not matter now.

"You…can do that?"

"Yes, if you would like. It would be little trouble. I was called here not only to win your heart back, but to also fix all that was made wrong by Naraku." My head sunk lower to my shoulders. "…And so far, I have been unsuccessful in this task."

"I see." I felt her hand slip suddenly into mine. It was shaking slightly—had the incident with Naraku really frighten her that much? "I understand."

Our time together this way was interrupted when the monk shouted suddenly to us, "Lady Kagome! Lord Sesshoumaru! Come quickly!"

"Stay behind me." I whispered to her quickly. She nodded, and we hastily arrived at where he was standing. It was the outskirts of the village, on the other side. The monk was bent over, examining something.

"Could it be…?" Kagome stepped forward a little. "What is it, Miroku?"

"It's…a woman!" He exclaimed. We peered down at the ground curiously. It was then that I had immediately recognized the woman knocked unconscious on the ground—it was the woman named Sango that Kagome was so fond of.

"Sango!" Kagome shrieked happily. "Thank goodness! I was so worried!"

Miroku peered up at her with confusion. "Sango? Do you know this woman, Lady Kagome? She appears to be from this village…"

Kagome blushed, and shrank back. "Oh, um…no, she doesn't know me…but I know her. This is Sango, all right."

Miroku nodded and turned back to the woman. "She must have been close to the flames, but wasn't actually inside the village at the time. She's only unconscious, but…" He bent over and scooped her off the ground. "It would be best if we travel back to my home so that she can be treated properly. Tending to the dead and the burned remains of the village can wait for now, especially if the youkai Naraku were to come back."

Kagome and I nodded in agreement, and so we started the journey to the monk's house. 'Perhaps the woman will be able to explain what happened.' I thought hopefully as we walked on.

Once inside the monk's hut, he set the woman gently down on a spare futon. Kagome immediately began to tend to the wound that Naraku had inflicted upon me. When I eased my robe off my chest upon her asking to bandage the area, I saw a blush pass her face with old, faint memories flickering. I began to suspect that the monk had a new realization of what our relationship with each other was when he would occasionally observe us, but he said nothing regarding it.

Eventually, he gathered some water from the nearby well. "This should work…I only hope that she won't be upset for me by this." He poured the water into a bowl, knelt next to the woman, and splashed her with it quickly.

The reaction was instantaneous. She sat up with complete surprise and immediately tackled the monk with her trained instincts as a demon slayer. He gave a loud groan, and they fell to the ground. She looked around quickly. "W-Who are you? Where am I!?"

"…I'll explain if you wouldn't mind getting off me." The disgruntled monk said from below. She gave some rushed apologies and quickly moved away. He brushed himself off and looked at her kindly. "…It's okay—I suppose we gave you quite a start." He motioned to Kagome and I. "Well, we saw you on the ground behind your village unconscious, so we took you back here. You appear to be the only survivor form your clan."

Her eyes widened. "W-What? Survivor? What do you mean!?"

Kagome sighed. "Really, Miroku! You could've at least broken the news a little…gentler than that…Sango, your village was destroyed…it was burned down by Naraku. We're sorry the whole thing happened."

"My…what!? But—my father! And brother! And all the other villagers!" Her face hardened in denial. "They can't be dead! I don't believe it—they were too strong for that!"

"It is the truth." I said quietly. "The scent of the villagers was gone—completely gone."

Tears began to form slightly in her eyes. "No…no! That's impossible!" The woman stood up suddenly. "Kirara! She was with me when we were out hunting! Where is she!?" She ran out of the hut in an instant. The monk cried after her and followed while we watched them leave.

Review Responses:

In True Meanings: Thanks! Glad you liked it.

Harmony8390: Yeah, me too. Heh. Well for now, I guess they're together, and that's pretty good, eh?

fluffys-sidesick: Well, thanks for being so patient! It's more than a lot of my reviewers can be…XD

Youkai no Yume: Yes, I'm afraid that it IS rather fun toying with them…hehehe.

AngelMiko69: Yeah, you think he'd learn by now! Well, we'll just have to wait and see what happens…

Dragen Eyez: Hmm, to tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure! XD Perhaps you could tell me, ne?

Hyo-Neko: Sorry, I'm moving things along! (Hopefully!) With any luck, this thing is picking up…

yuki kesuma: Heh, who doesn't? I'll be glad when Sess finally gets to kill him…

m1s7ress: Haha yeah I just picture Sess coming back all mad and stuff at Jaken because he went the wrong way…hehehe!

Blue Rhapsody3: Oh. Well, I'm glad that you're not confused anymore…

Hime no Heru: Perfect, eh? Well arigato! I never know how people are going to like my chapters, if you know the feeling…

Tsuki Yume: Hmm, I remember that in History class…well if you ask me, all guards are stupid in general when it comes to anime!

sweets427: Arigato! Hope you'll read this chappy too!

WhiteAngel-sama: Aww c'mon! Cliffys are the only way reviewers come back! (That's the way it's been happening anyways).

Row: Thanks! Glad to hear that you like everything so far.

unanomous: Hahaha! Well-thought out plot! I'm making this stuff up as I go along! XD

Arigato for all the reviews everyone. I can't believe that this year is already more than a quarter over (in terms of school). Next chappy…lemon? Maybe? Or maybe the one after that. Find out what happens! R&R! Arigato, ja ne!