Disclaimer: Silly Disclaimers I have none. Straightforward: I don't own Inuyasha! (I own his sissie though! Muah-hahaha!)

A/N: Terribly sorry for the wait! Many apologies from myself. I wanted to update this long ago, it's a long story why it never got updated and frankly, I think it would be better off to spare you from my excuses! I hope you haven't all lost faith in me! Well, here is the next chapter, please review!

Summary of Story so Far: Sesshomaru finally tells Inuyasha about a secret sibling he had, yet could never be woken up. His sister, Asaki was under a powerful curse that had kept her asleep for a total of three hundred years. With a bit of Inuyasha's help, Sesshomaru was finally able to break the curse and free Asaki. Unfortunately, when Naraku found out about the sibling, he stole her away and put a suspicious piece of gold around her left wrist. The band around her wrist somehow makes deep slash wounds appear on Asaki if she does not obey Naraku's command. His first command to her was: she must retrieve the poisoned jewel. A sister jewel to the Shikon no Tama that drains all energy and power. Somehow, Naraku knows that Asaki was the only one who can find it, since she had protected it three hundred years ago…

Chapter Ten: Questions

FlashBack

"Asaki? Asaki where are you?" The distressed child demon called out for his sister in the dark. His golden eyes anxiously scowered the surrounding woods for anything that might attack him. The forest at night was a scary thing for the demon child. His iridescent eyes did not yet possess the ability to see at night, therefore he was afraid.

Blindly attempting to find his sister, the small demon flailed his clawed fingers about wildly, trying to find his way around the thick brush and tree trunks. A bush had entangled with his silver mane, causing him to panic more.

"Stay where you are, Sesshomaru, I will come for you." A voice came from the surrounding darkness. The child demon instantly recognized the calming voice.

"But where are you, Asaki! I'm scared…" he called out to her again.

"I'm not far, but the jewel is with me. It is dangerous for you to come closer, so just stay where you are and I will come and get you."

Quickly obeying his sister, he loosened his hair from the brush and found a tree to climb into. He jumped to the tallest branch, and huddled into a ball. He clutched his knees and shut his eyes tight. "She will come and get me soon…" he reassured himself. Sesshomaru was not yet used to being alone in the forest. He had been warned by his father that many hungry demons live in the forest, and he was not to go wandering off without him or Asaki.

But that night was different. Sesshomaru snuck off in the middle of the night to see his sister. He was beginning to regret ever taking his father's warnings for granted. The forest was so ominous; anything could have been watching him at that moment, ready to pounce.

Sesshomaru's tiny pointed ears suddenly perked up. Although his demon senses had not fully grown in yet, he could still hear something coming in the distance. What ever was coming was moving quickly.

Sesshomaru cowered, burying his pale face into his knees. But after a brief moment, he thought, "This is my chance! If I can be brave right now and face whatever is coming, sister and father will be so proud of me!" Gathering up all the courage in his little body, he silently jumped down from his perch, landing crouched on his two feet.

He stood up and watched the dark skies above him, and listened for any unnatural movement in the trees. It was quiet but for the wind that brushed through the trees. Sesshomaru began to feel his legs buckle and grow weaker, but he stayed in his spot on the ground and waited for whatever was coming.

He did not have a sword; his father was teaching him to use his claws in battle. He flexed his fingers, readying the sharp, bladed tips for an attack. His heart began to race faster, as the growing suspense filled his blood with adrenaline. He was getting excited to endure his first battle, but he was getting scared as well.

The wind suddenly began to pick up, unnaturally fast. He heard something coming up from behind him. He turned around quickly and lunged at whatever it was.

It was only to his embarrassment later, that he realized he had jumped on top of a small rabbit. He quickly jumped up from the ground, brushing himself off in an annoyed fashion, as the frightened bunny ran away in fear of the child demon. Sesshomaru was just grateful nothing had seen him try something so foolish until…

A low chuckle came from somewhere in the darkness of the trees. Sesshomaru searched frantically for the owner of the voice, but he could see nothing.

"Having fun frightening the animals?" A cold, wry voice asked him.

"Who's there! I demand to know who is speaking to me!" Sesshomaru asked the voice defiantly, resisting the temptation to cower and run.

The voice only chuckled once more. "You must be the son of Inu Taishou, I presume? What a pleasure. I will remember your name the day I kill your father in battle…" the voice drawled with slight menace and entertainment.

Sesshomaru growled. "How dare you speak of my father like that! Come and face me so I can fight you!" He flexed his claws angrily, but the voice was only more amused at his anger.

"I am sorry young prince, but you see I have more important business to attend to…" the voice was silent momentarily. "I shall tell your sister you said hello.." The voice was beginning to grow faint as if it were moving farther away from Sesshomaru.

"Wait! Come and fight me!" Sesshomaru yelled, blindly flinging his arms about to find the owner of the voice, but only more trees and brush.

"Perhaps later, I've made a little meeting with your sister and a little something she possesses…" The voice was even farther away now.

Sesshomaru was in a panic. He didn't even know what the entity looked like, and now it was after his sister! How did this thing know about their family? It didn't matter at the moment, he had to warn Asaki; and quickly.

"ASAKI!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, "ASAKI, WATCH OUT! ASAKI!" In a panic, Sesshomaru decided to run and get his father's help. He knew he would be in trouble, but he did not want anything to happen to his older sister.

Sesshomaru began to run in the direction of home, when a faint noise stopped him dead in his tracks. His heart was racing faster than it had ever been in his life. The noise he heard sent cold shivers down his spine.

A loud, tortured, blood-curdling scream echoed through the darkness of the woods. It filled Sesshomaru's ears, making him clap his hands to them in agony. He recognized the voice to which the scream belonged to…

"Asaki…."

End Flashback

Sesshomaru awoke with a start. He found himself lying on a tree branch, being soaked in the rich colours of the evening light. He looked below to find two sleeping figures at the foot of the tree. Sesshomaru took a quick inhale, letting his tense body relax. It was only a dream.

Ever since the return of his sister, which had not been very long, he had been having dreams of his childhood. Not the good times of his childhood either; the times in which he wanted most to forget were popping up back into his mind every night. Why? He had yet to find out.

The dream he had just moments ago, was so far the worst. That memory felt like poison every second he thought of it. It was the day he had failed his sister and let the beast from the forest hurt her. If it hadn't been for himself, Asaki could have been saved from a fate worse than death.

Before letting himself succumb to the overwhelming sense of guilt in his stomach, he silently jumped out of the tree onto the dew laden grass. Double checking that the little girl and the small imp were still asleep, he began to run at a fast pace. Running and killing were the only things that could cure him of his vain emotions.

"He's been so quiet lately, I wonder what he's thinking about," Shippo wondered aloud to his friends in between heaping mouthfuls of stew.

"Is it not obvious?" Miroku sighed, "If I had found out I had a long lost sister, and then see her being kidnapped in front of my eyes, I would be silent for months!" Miroku looked up from his bowl at Kagome, but she was silent.

Kagome sat, not touching her bowl of stew. Instead, she stared at the red figure sitting atop a roof in the distance. He hadn't moved from that same spot since that morning. He had only spoken once to tell them that Asaki had left. Kagome wondered what was going through his mind.

"Now there is a more important matter to think about," Sango sighed in frustration. "Does this other jewel Asaki talks of even exist? And if it does…How come we have never heard of it?"

"And how come Naraku hasn't found it yet? He's usually the first to find the jewel shards and stuff like that," Shippo piped in. Sango and Miroku sat back in silence, thinking intensely for an answer to Shippo's question. After a long while of intensive thinking, they could not come to a conclusion and sat back in defeat.

"There are just too many questions right now with no answers," Miroku deduced. "We must find the answers before any one else does though. But how?"

The wind began to pick up, wafting the flames of the fire that burned bright in the middle of their circle. The wind carried the first of the fallen autumn leaves, as they began to dance around the livid flames. The sun had almost set over the horizon, as twilight embarked the surrounding area.

The cool night was peaceful, but restlessness began to overwhelm the group. Kagome even wondered whether any of them would be able to sleep that night. New anxieties over their safety were increasing rapidly, and more questions were swimming wildly through each vivid mind.

"How? The only one who knows the answers to some of our questions is Asaki." Kagome finally said. An air of depression flowed through her words.

"Asaki is off to find this "poisoned jewel" right now. It would be difficult to find her. And dangerous…" Miroku contemplated.

"Are you saying we should go find Asaki and ask her?" Shippo asked, his emerald eyes shifting quickly to each person in the circle.

"It's too dangerous!" a voice shouted angrily at them. They turned in Kagome's direction to see a heated, silver-haired boy standing with arms crossed behind Kagome. "You'll only be going if you have a death wish!"

"Inuyasha! Don't sneak up on us like that!" Kagome protested, standing up to face him. "We never said we would! It was just a suggestion…"

"A suggestion for what?" He looked around the circle.

"We need to know some answers. We need to know some things about this other jewel. And your sister is the only one with the answers." Miroku told him calmly, but it did nothing to help Inuyasha's growing temper.

"Keh! You can wait 'till she comes back then!"

"Aren't you worried about her, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked him. "She could be in trouble right now! And besides…what I want to know is why she hasn't done anything about the jewel until now. Why is she in such a rush to find the jewel now?"

Inuyasha was silent. Of course he was worried for her! The whole day, all he could think about was how Asaki was doing. And with Naraku on the loose, she could easily be taken advantage of and be at the hands of his most hated enemy! But she told him that she had to do it alone. Nobody else could come with him…

"Of course I'm worried Kagome! But do you think there is anything I can do!" he yelled finally into Kagome's face.

Miroku and Sango got up from their spots. "This is important Inuyasha. We need to know the answers before something happens that we cannot prevent." Sango said.

"Like what?" Inuyasha stared at them.

Sango opened her mouth to reply, when she, Miroku and Inuyasha noticed something change in the air. The wind moved rapidly. It was unnaturally fast. Something was coming.

Inuyasha grew on edge. He smelled a familiar scent in the air that whipped by them, causing him to growl deeply.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, alarmed. She quickly scooped up the frightened kitsune and ran behind Inuyasha.

"He's back…"

A/N: Finished! I'M FINISHED THE 10TH CHAPTER! You wouldn't believe how many cappuccinos and caffeine-filled items it took her me to finish! I apologize for the wait, and the fact that it is a bit run-on and boring in a couple of places. But the next chapter will come more quickly, and better! I just had to finish this one! Sorry for the cliffy. Thank you all for your reviews! I'll make comments on them later, but I have to finish homework now. If you need to know any recent news from myself about my stories, take a look at my profile, or email me. Please review! I love you all! 'Till next time then!