Chapter 4

Naiomi walked out of her quarters and out into the castle courtyard. She walked out toward a shed and stopped in front of the door. Sesshomaru stood by the door. "what's this surprise, Sesshomaru?" Naiomi said eagerly. Sesshomaru opened the door to the shed to reveal a long serpent-like youkai. It was white with a baby blue fire mane and tail. Naiomi stood there in awe. She ran up to it and nuzzled it's muzzle. "her name's Izuru. She's yours," Sesshomaru said with a very small, barely visible smile on his face.

"she's beautiful…" Naiomi said as she petted Izuru, "where did you find her?" "She belonged to a maiden in an old nearby village. When the maiden died, the family gave Izuru to me," he said. He felt relaxed around her. He liked her. Not romantic but as a friend. She was the first person he could talk to person-to-person and not lord-to-servant or lord-to-lord.

Naiomi smiled at Sesshomaru, "arigatou Sesshomaru. I love her already." "she'll be able to protect you, too. In case you haven't learned to fight yet," he added. Naiomi sat on Izuru's back, "I'd like to see the area. I've been in the castle my whole time here." Sesshomaru nodded, "do not be gone too long." Naiomi agreed, "I won't. I just want to check out the surrounding villages." And with that Izuru flew off with Naiomi on her back.

When they arrived at the closest village Naiomi jumped off of Izuru. "the villages are bigger than I studied about…" Naiomi said. Then someone grabbed her hand. She turned to meet face-to-face with a houshi. "hello lovely maiden," he said, "it is an honor to meet a maiden of wondrous beauty such as yourself. Would you do me the honor of bearing my ch-" The houshi fell to the ground.

Naiomi looked at the person who hit him. It was a taiji-ya. She had a large hiraikotsu that she swung over her shoulder. "hentai houshi!" she said. Naiomi blinked, "Konichiwa. May I help you?" the taiji-ya faced her, "arigatou kami-sama I saved you before that lecherous houshi got to you." Naiomi looked at Izuru then back at he taiji-ya, "what do you mean?" "best the little you knew," the taiji-ya said, "I'm Sango." "Naiomi Itsura," Naiomi introduced. "Naiomi!?" a girl said.

Naiomi looked behind Sango, "Kasumi!?" A red-haired hanyou ran up to her, "what are you doing here?" "I came here a month ago. what happened to you?" Naiomi said noticing Kasumi's black dog ears, "those ears…ARE THEY REAL!?" She grabbed Kasumi's ears, "they're so kawaii!" She then noticed another hanyou. Except he had white hair. "Sesshomaru?" Naiomi said, "did you fallow me?" The hanyou blinked, "WHA-!? I'M NOT SESSHOMARU!"

Naiomi gasped, "gomen! Gomen! It's just that you look so much like Sesshomaru…your ears…" She grabbed his white dog ears, "they're just like Kasumi's! SO KAWAII!!!!!" the hanyou pushed her away, "STOP THAT BIRI!!!!" Kasumi walked up to Naiomi, "that's Inuyasha. And that houshi is Miroku." Naiomi walked over to Izuru, "this is Izuru. I just got her today." "from who?" Sango asked. "Sesshomaru," Naiomi said. The four group members froze. Naiomi blinked, "nani?" "MY BROTHER SESSHOMARU!?!?!THAT BASTARD!?" Inuyasha yelled.

Naiomi glared at Inuyasha, "he's my friend! He's not a bastard!" "how do you know Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked. "he saved me from a youkai when I first got here. and I'm staying at his place. And--KASUMI!!!!!!" Kasumi blinked, "nani?" Naiomi grabbed Kasumi's face and examined the cross-shaped scar on her left cheek, "what happened?" "I got in a fight…" Kasumi said. "AGAIN!?!?!" Naiomi said, "I can't take my eyes off of you for a second! Who was it this time!?" Inuyasha rose his hand, "that would be me. I cut her when we first met. I thought she was an enemy."

Naiomi sighed exasperatingly, "oh this is great! Not this! Kasumi I told you about fights. If you want to pick a fight-" "fight with someone you know you can win against," Kasumi finished for her, "you told me a thousand times!" "and you NEVER listen!" Naiomi stated. Kasumi gave her a cold stare, "of course I don't! besides, I can win against anyone!" Naiomi glared at her friend, "you overconfident little-" Izuru nuzzled Naiomi's shoulder, telling her it was time to leave.

Naiomi blinked then turned to the group, "it was nice to meet you all. But I must take my leave. And I'll see you later." She jumped on Izuru's back as she took of back to the sky. Kasumi watched as her friends walked off in front of her. "Kasumi! Let's go!" Sango said. Kasumi turned and fallowed her friends.

Higurashi Shrine(the shrine that Kaede lives near)....

Naiomi jumped off of Izuru's back and walked up the steps of the shrine. 'this was…the maiden's shrine…I remember…the shrine that she lived in two hundred years ago and the place where her original form laid until the grave was disrupted five hundred years before then.'

Izuru fallowed her mistress close behind. Then the ice dragon froze and sniffed the air. She then rushed ahead of Naiomi. Naiomi blinked, "Izuru?" She fallowed Izuru until they came to a uprooted grave. 'this must be the maiden's original form's burial place…who dug it up?' Naiomi thought.

Just then a small mew could be heard behind the gravestone. Naiomi looked behind it and saw a black and white nekomata. It looked up at her and mewed. Naiomi picked it up smiled, "you're a kawaii chibi thing. What's your name?" The nekomata looked at her with big eyes, asking her to think of a name.

Naiomi thought, "how about…hm…" Then it jumped down and transformed into a large kaze-nekomata. Naiomi then noticed the mark on it's forehead. It looked like a wind blade, "how about…Sora?" The nekomata transformed back into it's original form and mewed, telling her she liked the name.

Izuru whimpered and started to back away from the grave. Naiomi looked toward the shrine. A person emerged from the shrine. She had long black hair that went to her back and small circles on her forehead and she wore ancient armor. Naiomi froze at the sight of her, "w-who are you?" The onna walked up to Naiomi, "I am…Midoriko…" She looked at Sora, "Sora no Neko…" "Sora no Neko?" Naiomi repeated as she looked at Sora, "is that your name?"

(A/N: Sora no Neko means 'Cat of the Sky' if any of you wanted to know )

Sora jumped into Midoriko's arms and mewed. "Is she yours?" Naiomi asked. Midoriko nodded. Then two other nekomatas appeared from the shrine. One was a amamizu-nekomata and the other was a chikyuu-nekomata. "This is Ensui and Chi," Midoriko said, "The nekomata of elements…Sora of sky…Ensui of water…Chi of earth…and…Kirara of fire…"

Naiomi Stood up, "may I ask, this uprooted grave? Who lied here?" Midoriko's eyes narrowed, "a powerful miko with the power to cleanse the evil from the Shikon no Tama. But when she failed to do so…a girl from five hundred years in the future came and purified it and destroyed the evil that seeked it."

Naiomi looked at the grave, "there's a story from where I come from that a maiden who fell in love with a hanyou purified a special jewel that you speak of. She wished for eternal life for her friends and her love. Do we speak of the same miko?" Midoriko nodded, "hai. We do." Then she glanced up at the sun, "I must go."

Naiomi turned to Midoriko, "why?" Midoriko nuzzled Sora's fur, "take care of Sora for me. She'll be of help to you." Then Midoriko whispered to Sora, "watch over this girl…she has special powers that need to be awakened…help her find them…" Sora mewed and jumped from Midoriko's arms. Ensui and Chi jumped on Midoriko's shoulders as she left back into the shrine.

Naiomi ran and opened the shrine door, "MATTE! Midoriko! Midor--" She looked around the shrine to see nothing but a softly burning fire. "was…was she real?"

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I know I haven't updated in like..........FOREVER! And I'm EXTREMELY sorry! Withparental problems, school (including mid-terms), after school activites, and the pure fact i'm as a lazy fat-cat as Garfield, I can only say sorry to make up for how long I haven't updated. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!! oh yeah, chapter 5 will be done soon, too!