I've gotta make this update fast, since I need to go somewhere later tonight. I'm glad to hear that several people enjoyed the last chapter, and hopefully this one won't be too bad either. Like I've been saying, Inu not mine, and here's the next chappy:

I picked Rin up carefully and brought her back to the others. This was not the exact same Rin that I had come to know, for she looked to be only five years old. She appeared to be scared of me at first, and was very hesitant to leave her dead parents, but after a few more seconds of conversation she began to realize that I was trustable and, for now, following me would be the only choice she had. When I reached the group, I noticed that Kagome immediately recognized her as well.

"Is that…Rin? Rin! What on earth happened!?" She rushed to her and pulled out some bandages from a container that she brought along. Rin didn't have any serious wounds—a few cuts and scratches—and it seemed to me that her parents had protected her the best they could until their death. I made a solemn promise to give them a proper burial later.

"L-Lady Kagome?" We could see that she was a little frightened at the idea of being in the presence of the Queen. Kagome gave a gentle smile while pouring a little water on the bandage.

"Don't worry, everything's going to be okay…you can live with me in the castle for now until the danger passes! Would you like that?" To the side she mumbled to us, "Poor girl, she must be very overwhelmed at the moment…Sango, would you mind taking Rin back to the castle with Kirara? She must need rest."

"Of course. Kirara?" The neko youkai at once leapt up in response eagerly.

"But…" She looked hesitantly back to the direction where her dead parents were.

"Both of her parents are dead." I murmured solemnly to the others so they would understand.

"Oh, I see." Kagome nodded. "I guess that explains some things. Well, Rin can't stay here…" Kagome turned back to Rin and looked at her face. "I know you've been through a lot. But if you turn back now and see your parents again, it will only make things worse. I promise, we'll do all that we can here. But we must move you away from here, to a safer place. We have lots of nice people in my castle who will help you rest and eat. Do you understand, Rin?"

After several seconds of hesitation, she nodded her small head. Sango led her over to Kirara, where they took off back to the castle.

"I bet something like that happened." Kagome whispered to me once they were gone. "How the real King and Queen adopted her, I mean. Everything's happening all over again, it seems…"

I agreed. "We must kill Naraku quickly, then. I don't imagine that we have much time left."

I was informed by Miroku that he would soon begin his duties as a monk, and afterwards the humans would need to be buried. For a handful of hours from that moment on, we dug graves for the dead while the others prayed and set down flowers. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kagome shed a tear once during this process, which made my determination to stop Naraku even stronger.

When the task was completed, it was a little earlier than the time for dinner. Kagome gave me a soft kiss on the cheek for her appreciation with the fact that I had helped the humans out, which I fully savored. Then, we began to depart, leaving her elite guards to watch over the area carefully.

Seconds before it happened, I noticed a faint, poisonous scent began to fill the air. An ominous, wispy cloud moved over the sun.

Kagome noticed my stop suddenly from walking. "…Something wrong, Sesshoumaru?"

"Stay close to me." I answered after a pause to be sure. "He's here."

The monk looked up into the sky. "…What is happening? Is it…him?"

Before I could respond, an enormous gust of wind suddenly blew towards us. From afar, I could see Kagura controlling it…and Naraku near her. The wind slammed against Kagome, and even I didn't have time to react. Her feet lifted off of the ground. She screamed. My body froze for a brief second before I lunged up and grasped her wrist tightly. "Se…Sesshoumaru!!" She held on fearfully.

While I gripped her tightly, I felt a powerful anger at myself. 'If my feelings had not weakened my precise skills in battle and ability to sense things, then I would have been able to prevent this surprise attack. I turned my head to the monk. "Stop the wind! Hurry!"

Naraku heard this. "So the all-powerful taiyoukai is relying on mere humans these days? And I was expecting it to not be nearby as simple…"

My eyes flared red. I wanted to attack him, to stop the wind, but I couldn't, for my wonderful Kagome would be taken from me…so I continued to hold on to her hand with all my might.

"Pathetic. Kagura, increase the wind—those two can't last much longer." Our eyes widened as we felt the current become steadily stronger. Nearby, the monk struck his staff into the ground in order to prevent himself from toppling over.

We heard Kagura snicker from where she was in the sky. "You were right, Naraku—we had nothing to worry about. I'm even sure that his father will be next when we are finished with those down there. Hard to believe that he almost actually defeated me…"

My eyes glowered. But I paid no attention to this, as my grip on Kagome was almost lost. She was slipping from me…more…more…

"Take this!" A shower of energy suddenly enveloped Kagura. Her pupils whitened, and the wind stopped almost immediately, allowing Kagome to fall back safely into my arms. We turned in amazement to see Inuyasha arriving from the sky with Kirara and Sango. She waved at us.

"There was a message from the youkai kingdom." Sango explained. "Your father wanted Inuyasha to come here, so while the three of you were burying the dead, I went with Kirara to pick him up. Looks like we came just in time, too…"

Inuyasha put his sword back in the sheath and leapt down. Once he saw me, he smirked with a newly swelled ego. "Couldn't handle things yourself, eh Sesshoumaru? Glad I came just at the right time?"

I looked away, but Kagome nudged me slightly. I sighed. "…Hai. Ar…" I hesitated, but she looked at me sternly. "…Arigato, Inuyasha."

He seemed to be taken aback by this and didn't know quite what to say, as it was unexpected for both of us. Kagome cleared her throat. "Well, now that both of you can fight, we can stop Naraku now…right?"

Inuyasha nodded. "It's time to stop him once and for all…this time, without our father's help."

"I presume you have already read the message I left for you?" Naraku asked from high above. "Even after being warned on several occasions, you still fall short of my expectations, Sesshoumaru. Where is the alert fighter that has so earned his reputation?"

I extended my claws outward. "You once took away the very person that had opened my eyes to see the world for what can be—gentle, peaceful…I learned that there are more things to life than simply striving to be the strongest warrior. Now, you have given me the opportunity to show my revenge and erase my guilt." I turned to the others. "Stay out of this fight…no one is to interfere." Kagome's ears perked up from this and she opened her mouth immediately for protest. But I shook my head to her and gave her a singular look that read, 'This is something that I alone must do. If anything else, see it as my way to ask for forgiveness.' Her eyes quivered, but she said nothing, and instead nodded slowly.

Inuyasha, however, was not as convinced. "Are you crazy!? Sesshoumaru, he already almost beat both of us—it'd be suicide to take him on by yourself!"

"He no longer has the jewel half, and therefore is no longer a threat. You have already slain the wind sorceress. I will finish the rest."

"You're insane, Sesshoumaru…" But my brother smiled. "But fine, if you really have to."

"…So sorry to interrupt this heart-warming conversation." Naraku said to us from above. "But I couldn't help but overhear all of it—so you have decided to face me alone, Sesshoumaru? So be it—your fate has been sealed. Waste no more time—with your death, and your father's soon after, I can control the entire kingdom, and soon the human's as well. Attack me…if you dare."

I stepped up away from the others. "The first move is mine, then. Come down here, you coward! Or, would it be better if I go up there?" I leapt up with a powerful burst of energy and posed my claws for a quick, hard slash. Just as I was about to attack however, I saw Naraku simply chuckle, moving not an inch to evade me. With a feeling of dread, I pivoted away, landing on a high tree branch.

"What's the matter, Sesshoumaru?" He tilted his head to me. "Afraid already?"

I stared back at him for a moment. Something was not right...but what? I continued to try and understand the situation, and then finally leapt up back to him again for a second time. Now, however, I gave him the impression that I was going to give him a direct uppercut, when instead I turned at the last second and slashed at him from behind.

My claws instantly met a red energy shield, and fell away. I understood immediately, but I was too slow to recover my defenses, leaving Naraku a short window to draw out a long knife and stab me four times on my upper shoulder and arm. I fell back from the shock of this new pain and heard Kagome scream from down below. I had just enough time to regain my concentration that I landed hard back down on the ground. Kagome rushed to me and peered down at the wounds to inspect damage. Her face was tight and scared.

"That's it, Sesshoumaru. No more. Please..."

I sat up and gripped my shoulder. "I'm fine. Get...back, Kagome...that was only the first round." It was obvious to anyone that she wasn't reassured by this, so I added, "Although it may not appear to be, these are wounds that nothing compared to what else I have endured. Remember, I am a taiyoukai." Her face cringed, and I knew she was thinking of how my arm was lost.

"But…he has a barrier…only Inuyasha can break that…" Kagome reminded me quickly.

"I know." I stood up and flexed my claws. "But he will not interfere. I was brought here to prevent things from happening. I intend to fulfill this, in return for allowing your memory to be regained."

"But Sesshoumaru, how will you be able to do this without the Tetsusaiga!?"

"A way will come to me in time. For now, I will continue to fight him until a weakness is shown. Remember, he won't be able to catch me off-guard so easily from now on, Kagome."

She gripped my arm tightly, holding me back. After a moment or two of heavy thinking, she finally said, "I trust you, Sesshoumaru. If this is the way it's all been planned out, then I guess I'll listen to your judgment." I nodded. "Then…let's finish him off so we can go home, okay?" She squeezed my hand and blushed slightly. I smiled without letting anyone else see, and then nodded again.

Without the jewel half, Naraku was significantly weaker. He had since landed down onto the ground, where we continued our combat. This was near the massive lake in the human land, and from a distance I could see Inuyasha itching to jump in and use his sword. But I knew that Kagome had conveyed me message to him, and he would honor it…for now. In the meantime, we continued to fight. I had the advantage of agility, evasiveness, and overall strength, but Naraku's defense with the barrier made it impossible for me to come very close. Eventually, he knew that I would tire from the attacks, and then he would make his move.

'If only there is some way to crush his barrier on my own…'

But I still did not see any, and so we continued to battle back and forth. Naraku unleashed a horde of youkai straight at me, which kept me busy hacking away at them long enough for another one of his attacks to come through. I tried to counter this move, but with the barrier there, it did no good. Gradually, I began to feel my strength be cut down. There was still plenty of power left within me, however, and I continued to protect myself the best I could while searching for a Naraku's weakness.

"…This is becoming boring." Naraku said to me inside of his barrier. "So perhaps I will allow you to create your own downfall by speeding this battle up even further." He suddenly unleashed another round of youkai. Instead of attacking me, they instead pushed me aside and went straight towards the party watching us. My heart raced with anger as I saw them swarm on top of Kagome and pull her to Naraku. He chuckled endlessly. "If you are the fearless taiyoukai that I have come to hear about, Sesshoumaru, then surely one human's death will leave you unaffected?"

"Get them away from me!" Kagome reached for one of her arrows and shot a few of them down. Meanwhile, Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku quickly ran after her, battling the youkai and killing them off. "Don't worry about me, Sesshoumaru!" She said to me from where she was. "Just keep focused on Naraku!"

An impossible task. "Leave her." I snarled at my enemy. "She will not be involved with this."

"Oh?" The youkai continued to force her closer to him. "Then let me offer you a proposal. I will open up my barrier in a moment—you are free to attack me. During this time, more youkai will come and attack her. Now, you may either choose to save a mere human, or finally have a chance to attack me. If you truly are the proud taiyoukai that your kingdom thinks of, then her death will not faze you." My blood began to flare up angrily. "And remember, if you choose not, then your only chance to kill me will be gone, and I will eventually defeat you. The decision is yours." Naraku began to open up a small hole in the barrier while unleashing hundreds of youkai from within.

"Hurry, Sesshoumaru!!" Kagome screamed to me. "Now's your chance—kill him while there's still time! You won't have another opportunity!"

"I can't!" I shouted back. "Quick—defend yourself from the attacks while I come over-"

"-Don't worry about me! Just take care of Naraku!!" My mind raced as I saw Naraku's barrier open wider while the youkai began to race straight down towards all that was valuable in my life.

Review Responses:

zeddy222: Okay, okay! lol. Glad to see you've enjoyed everything so far...

Wake-Robin: Hehe, yes, taming. And uh, Rin's not dead, I mean, she WAS crying and stuff...

yuki kesuma: Cool, yeah I wish I could watch them, the art looks very well-done.

butterflyrin: Arigato! Well yeah, it sure was kawaii enough, hehehe.

Tsuki Yume: Hahaha, I know, I know, I'm really making the ending fluffy...

BurningDawn15: Nani? Care to explain who this person is? XD Hmm, you know, my brother has that same name...

KawaiiDemons: Aw, you're making Vira blush. Glad to hear that I have gotten yet another person obsessed with it though!

Harmony8390: Uh huh, Rin's there, but she can't really join the group or anything, the poor girl...

Lady Yashodoa: Yeah I know Sess is OOC, but like you said, it's because of the fact that the King's personality is starting to affect him.

Alright, we're winding down here! What will Sesshy do!? I know! XD Hehehe. Two more chapters left! Next update: a surprise visit from someone we least expect. Uh…maybe for some people, anyways. Lol. And don't forget to view my other fic in progress! R&R! Arigato, ja ne!