Gomen, gomen. I know I was evil with the last chappie. I promise to make it up to you all. But things must get worse before they get better. (ex: last chappie). And they will get better. I also want to update for you guys a lot more often now that I am out of summer school. Now that that is out of the way, on with the story.

Oh yeah, I don't own InuYasha. Damn!

Chapter Seis (six)

As the image of a broken InuYasha faded from the mirror of the void, a frighteningly familiar wicked cackle filled the small room. Kanna backed away to reveal Naraku in the shadows, his blood red eyes aglow with malice. Walking toward his prisoner, he smiled with maliciousness at the pain he had caused the miko and the hanyou. Now the only sound that could be heard was the cry of sorrow coming from the one bound to the wall. Taking her chin within his grasp, he wiped away her tears.

"My dear Kagome, why do you cry over such petty things? He only used you anyway."

"What the hell are you smoking Naraku. Didn't you.....didn't you hear what he said, what.....what he did? HE KILLED KIKYO!" she began to sob again. Her body convulsed with grief. She couldn't believe he had done that, or that he said what she had waited for her whole life. But he had said it to a puppet. A puppet that had her face, her scent, her smile, but it was still a puppet. It was created by Naraku with samples of her hair, clothes and lots of spit. Something she did constantly at him. The one in the illusion was a prototype that Naraku had created the minute he had Kagome in his clutches. The illusion was designed to distract the hanyou from noticing his presence. The exterminator and monk were easy enough to fool with a replacement and concealment spell, but InuYasha could smell him. He needed something more elaborate to fool him. And it had worked. Switching out the real miko for his puppet had worked flawlessly. No one could tell that the change had occurred, not even Kikyo. Now the rest of his plan could be put into motion. He would use the miko to detect the rest of the Shikon no Tama. And there would be no resistance for what he had planned.

It had been two days since he lost Kagome, and InuYasha still sat inside old Kaede's hut. He didn't feel the need or want to go on without her, he just laid there, his eyes almost crusted shut with tears. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep, he just lay there trying to see Kagome one last time. The way she smiled just for him, he couldn't believe that she was gone, she couldn't be gone. Why did fate have to deal him such a blow? Why did they love to toy with his life so? He could see her smiling at him on the ceiling of the small hut, but he couldn't reach out and touch her. And that's all he wanted. To touch her. His thoughts were interrupted by an intrusion of light from outside. Someone was holding back the bamboo door flap, he could only make out the silhouette so his nose went to work. His eyes went wide in shock when that sweet and irresistible scent hit him like a slap in the face. Kagome? He got up to investigate but the figure was no longer at the door. He followed the scent outside towards the forest, seeing a flash of that infamous green and white. Making a mad dash for the forest he nearly trampled Miroku in a flurry of scurried footsteps.

"InuYasha watch where you going, will ya? Where you off to in such a hurry anyway?"

"I saw her, I saw Kagome. She's......she's alive I knew it."

Miroku placed a comforting hand on InuYasha's shoulder. Mad with grief, InuYasha must have been seeing illusions of his lost love. He had never seen the hanyou so thrown off balance, so dazed he couldn't tell what was real from what was fantasy. Guess he hasn't come to terms with it yet. Poor guy.

"Come on InuYasha lets get you something to eat. You haven't eaten in a couple of days, that's probably why your hallucinating."

"I am NOT hallucinating! I know what I saw, I know what I smelled. It was KAGOME!" he barked back. In his mind she was still alive, he had just seen her and no one could convince him otherwise. He saw that lovely green skirt, and cute sailor top just before Miroku got in the way. And now Miroku was leading him away from her, away from his one true meaning in life. He could not allow this to happen. Slapping Miroku's hand off his shoulder, InuYasha made a break for the forest. Sango came out just in time to see the commotion and ran after InuYasha with Miroku already in hot pursuit.

"InuYasha! Stop! Whatever you saw, its not real! I know your hurting, but that doesn't mean you can just run away from what happened," Miroku shouted after him, agony radiating from his own voice. InuYasha wasn't the only one hurting, they had all lost her. It wasn't fair that InuYasha only made them hurt more by using that small, infinitesimal sliver of hope that she wasn't dead. They had all seen her, or ....what was left of her. She was dead, and there was nothing, no matter how much they wanted it otherwise, that they could do about it.

They didn't believe him. He had seen her, he had smelled her, there is no other person that could smell as sweet. The only other person who came close was also dead, he had killed her. On the other hand, Naraku had fooled him once. InuYasha began to slow as Kagome's scent grew cold. He had lost her again. Resigning to let Miroku and Sango chew him out, he skulked back to the village. He had a lot of soul searching to do when he got back.

InuYasha is falling for it hook, line and sinker. I'll drive him stark raving mad in two days at this rate. He'll be putty in my hands, Naraku mused as his puppet returned to his side. Driving InuYasha insane was going to be absolutely entertaining. All he needed was the slight cooperation of a obstinate miko, which she was unwittingly doing. Creating an array of puppets would keep InuYasha distracted from the world and its comings and goings. InuYasha would be too busy chasing after his puppets and trying to live out his delusions to notice his presence. The monk and the exterminator would be a minor hindrance, but could easily be taken care of. The special binding Naraku used to hold Kagome was doing its job flawlessly. Drawing on her power to see the shards, the demon tree was able to locate shards more effectively than Naraku alone could do in the past. Kagome was in a constant state of slumber due to the steady withdraw of her life force. Her body shut down in order to keep up with the incessant demand for energy. Unbeknownst to Naraku, Kagome was able to reach out in her slumber. In dreams is where she could roam free, always searching for InuYasha's dreams to tell him she was alive. Captive, but alive. After what seemed like three days, she found him. Even in his dreams he was sitting in his tree. She walked up to the base of it and called to him. He gracefully jumped down to her.

"Kagome? But I though you were-" she placed her hand up to his mouth to silence him.

"Don't talk, just listen. I need you to remember everything I tell you when you wake up."

InuYasha nodded in agreement. They spent what seemed like days talking about what had really transpired. She told him why Naraku had her, where he had her and that everything that had happened was his plan to get their jewel shards. He took it all in, every last word. It was like a miracle, no it was a miracle. After she had finished explaining the situation, he drew her into an embrace. He had just wanted to hold her for so long and soon he would be able to again. He just needed to keep a level head, especially when he thought he so much as sensed Kagome. He couldn't allow his feelings to cloud his judgement. The time was growing near for InuYasha to wake up, he could feel it. This time he kissed the real Kagome, all the more reminding him of what was waiting for him at Naraku's castle. And he would not fail her again, no matter the cost.

Rising from an eventful slumber, InuYasha recalled the dream from which he realized the truth. He knew what had to be done and how to do it.

"Miroku, Sango, get ready. We have a lot of work to do. And even less time to do it."

(A/N): ahahaha I'm on a roll! Two updates in two days. Boom baby! Ahaha and she's not dead! I'm a sneaky devil. :D anyway remember to review gives giants cookies to all