Sakuya polished the Tetsusaiga with the cloth she used to polish her weapon, which was named "Deafuon a shiruberu chiinu," which meant "Death on a silver chain." Each step jingled the chain wound over her shoulder, making her vulnerable to attack.

Naraku emerged from the trees on the side of the road. "Ah, Sakuya. I see you have succeeded."

"Yes, of course I have." She didn't look up, but simply walked on, polishing the Tetsusaiga. "Now tell me where the amulet is."

"Not until the Tetsusaiga is on my hands," Naraku replied.

"No. I know your tricks and lies. I want thorough directions to the amulet that cover every obstacle on the way." She snapped.

"I see, I see." Naraku pointed off to the North. "Several miles north you will encounter a troll guarding a cave. Tell him who you are and give him confirmation and he will let you pass. You will have to fight many demons to get to the amulet's chamber."

He caught the Tetsusaiga as it was thrown to him forcefully. Sakuya whipped out her fan and unfolded it. "If you are lying, you scum, then I will make short work of you. And believe me, I can." She turned and walked off, her chain jingling. Her pupils shrank when she felt the firm blade of the Tetsusaiga slide deeply along her left shoulder blade. She cried out and fell, warm, scarlet blood pouring from an open wound.

Naraku hid the blade beneath his baboon hide. "Fare the well." He laughed, and disappeared down the road.

Sakuya lay there for a moment, until she found the strength to drag her other arm and close over the gash. Her back was exposed to the open air, making her more vulnerable. The moisture was once again, sucked from the air and made to form two hands of water. Sakuya let go of the wound and let the hands clean it out.


Her eyes fluttered open, some time later. She had heard something coming towards her, passed out, and now…

"Can you get up?"

She focused her eyes on two bare feet, inches from her nose. Her dark, emotionless eyes lifted to the face of Inuyasha. "No... I… I can't…"

A fire was burning a little way off. Inuyasha had followed her scent, and Kagome insisted they help her. She was only human, for the time being, anyway. Her left sleeve was torn off at the shoulder, exposing bandaged flesh underneath. Kagome looked away from the fire to Sakuya. "You've lost a lot of blood. For the time being, all you need is rest. You are deeply injured, and Naraku has the Tetsusaiga. You are foolish not to realize its power."

"Foolish?" Sakuya sat up swiftly. "The Tetsusaiga is made of a demon fang, as is Deafuon a shiruberu chiinu…" Her face twisted as something popped and snapped in her shoulder. She sank back down. "Ooowww…"

"You won't be fit enough to move so quickly in a long time!" Kagome snapped. "Stay still!"

"The wound on your shoulder is just below fatal." Miroku explained, warming by the fire. "I'm afraid to say that you won't be able to move your arm for some time…"

He gasped as Sakuya's good arm gripped his collar and pulled him forward. "What? HOW LONG?"

"A very long time."

"GAH!" Sakuya let go and sank back down for the second time. "This is terrible… I'll be an idiot human forever…"

"Hey! We're not idiots!" Sango replied. "You are, for giving Naraku the Tetsusaiga! And what did you expect in return anyway?"

"Naraku told me where my amulet is! If we find that and return me to my demon form it will speed up the healing process!" Sakuya hissed.

"Are you out of your mind?" Inuyasha laughed, hopping up and sitting in a tree. "We wouldn't return you to your demon form if your life depended on it!"

"Inuyasha, you're powerless—" Miroku began.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Let me finish! You're powerless without the Tetsusaiga. We need a weapon against Naraku to get your sword back. And Sakuya could just be that weapon."

"What kinda demon are you anyway?" Inuyasha asked, looking down at the wounded girl.

"Sea serpent."

Inuyasha fell out of his tree. "A sea serpent DEMON?"

"Yeah, wanna make something of it?"

"Yes. I do. But keep in mind that I'd kill you if you weren't wounded."

With her good hand, Sakuya whipped out her fan and shouted, "Dense ofu fu Serupentsu!"

The serpent was one hundred times smaller than her first one because she was so weak, but it still managed to bash Inuyasha against a tree and explode with water, which doused the fire and soaked everyone. Sakuya still glared at Inuyasha, who was rubbing his head.

"Say it again."

Inuyasha shook himself, soaking everyone… Again. "What does that mean, anyway?"

"Dance of the Serpent."

Everyone exchanged quick, uneasy glances.

"Have you ever heard of Kagura?" Shippou asked, sitting next to her.

Sakuya rubbed his ears with her good hand. "Kagura? No, sorry…"

"Well she controls the wind, and she has a fan like yours, and her attack is called 'Dance of the Dragon.'"

"Really?" Sakuya smiled wryly. "I want to meet this Kagura…"

"You can't, she's dead. Princess Kaguya killed her."

"…Oh. Kaguya, she was so annoying. Always trying to manipulate men..." Sakuya pointed at Miroku with her good hand. "Your grandfather sealed her away, right? That was what my mother told me."

"Yes." Miroku replied. "My grandfather too was cursed by Naraku and found Kaguya as he was chasing him."

"Whatever… Now on to more important matters."

Everyone exchanged quick glances.

Sakuya opened her mouth. "Someone feed me! I can't move and I'm hungry!"

Shippou snatched a bowl of ramen from Inuyasha and held some to Sakuya's mouth. "Being as old as you, you must have dozens of bedtime stories to tell!"

Sakuya swallowed the ramen. "You could say that, I guess. Most of the stories mainly focus on me, though. More please!"

Shippou fed her another bite. "Can you tell one? Please? I bet yours are better than Miroku's!"

Miroku glared at him. "Insolent fox…" He muttered.

Sakuya laughed. "My stories aren't what you'd call 'fairy tales.' They have death, and blood, and depression, and romance. I tell my stories like they are, I don't cut out all the gore. More please!"

Shippou fed her eyes more. "Ooh! Tell me a story, please?"

"Sure, sure. Alright, about 30 years ago I was going to this town, see, and…"

"She seems very social with Shippou." Kagome said to Inuyasha, as Shippou eagerly listened to Sakuya.

"It's just an act," he scoffed. "To earn our trust. Then we give her the amulet and BOOM, there is the super evil demon we've heard about."

"I don't know, Inuyasha. It's pretty convincing." Sango put in. "Look how happy Shippou looks. And Sakuya is different from the girl I knew."

Sakuya waved a hand in the air to indicate something in her story. "And then, this big demons comes out of nowhere with slavering jaws like this—" She opened her mouth wide and closed it several times. "He sorta looked like a fish, or an eel, or something. His skin was all blue and yucky…"

"She's much more social, and strong. We never even knew she had that water magic. Kagura is the wind and Sakuya is the water. I remember when we were young, she was always so secretive and quiet, like she knew something others didn't." Sango looked at the sky. "Maybe the last several years as a demon slayer changed her perspective."

"Huh, highly doubted." Inuyasha sniffed. "She's probably as evil as ever. If she had an encounter with Naraku and lived she can't exactly be 'trusted.'"

"Think about it, Inuyasha. We return her demon power until we get the Tetsusaiga back, then take it away again. See? We can have a weapon, without her being dangerous to the public!" Kagome pointed out.

Inuyasha did consider this. "Alright… But I won't like it!" he glared down from his tree at Sakuya. "I'll get your stupid amulet, but I won't like it!"

"Fine, whatever. As long as you get it. Naraku said to go north, find a cave, kill all the demons and steal the amulet. Easy, okay?" Sakuya snapped in reply. "Now shut up, I'm telling a story! OK so that blue yucky guy…"

And so on.

Inuyasha hopped out of his tree. "Can someone come with me? Or do I have to go alone?"

"I'll go." Sango volunteered. Sango knelt by Sakuya. "Sakuya, just get better, alright?" She stood and picked up her boomerang. "Come on, Kirara."

Kirara mewed and leapt onto her shoulder.

Miroku shot Kagome a sly glance. Sakuya paused when Shippou said, "I'll protect you from Miroku, Kagome!"

"Thank you, Shippou." Kagome smiled as Inuyasha and Sango disappeared into the forest.

Sakuya's eyelids drooped. "I suddenly feel so tired…"

Kagome felt her forehead. "You're burning up with a fever. Here, I'll go get some cold water. Miroku, Shippou, watch Sakuya while I'm gone."

Sakuya rested her chin on the back of her hand and looked at the grass. "Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked in a drowsy voice.

"Inuyasha intends you use you as a weapon to win back the Tetsusaiga." Miroku explained. "We all do…"

"So that's how I repay your kindness. I fight for you."

"Is something wrong?"

"My whole life… All seventy-nine years of it… I've had to kill something. I don't try to be evil." She cast her eyes to the side, away from Shippou and Miroku. "Something triggers in my mind and tells me to kill something. And even if I refuse I do it anyway for reasons unknown. And now I'm going to be used as a weapon to get back some toothpick of a sword." He voice grew in volume as her dark eyes were fixed in a glare upon Miroku. "Why do you care if Naraku has the Tetsusaiga? What could he do that Inuyasha can't? So maybe he'll kill some people, what does it mean to you anyway?"

"That's why you are evil." Miroku said. "You do not have any family, or friends, do you?"

"..No, I've never really loved anybody…"

"Exactly, you have never felt the need to care for anybody but yourself. Naraku will kill thousands with the Tetsusaiga and we have to stop him. Inuyasha and Kagome are determined the save those people."

"What about you?"

"I just want to kill Naraku for the curse he laid on my family." Miroku clenched his right hand.

"What curse?"

"I'm back with the water!" Kagome announced, skipping into camp with a bucket of water.

Sakuya sighed with relief. "Thank you… I feel so hot now."

Kagome pulled a cloth from her backpack and dipped it in the water. "I hope you two had a nice conversation while I was gone."

Sakuya and Miroku exchanged glances. "You could say that." Miroku leaned against a tree. "I'm going to sleep. Shippou, watch over Kagome for me, will you?"

"Can do, Miroku!"

(I promise the next chapter will be better. This is just sort of a transition from one action part to the next, y'know, where you find out some stuff that will be used in the future. Kay? I SO TOTALLY PROMISE the next chap. Will be out super soon! R&R, please! Flames will be used to light lanterns!)