Kagome silently smiled to herself, as tough as he tried to pass himself off as, Inuyasha really was kind and softhearted.
Raven was dropped in a dimly lit castle. She shivered violently, scared of being murdered or tortured. A tall man with long flowing black hair stepped out of the shadows.
At Naraku's Castle:
"You are not Kagome." His voice was deep with a slight air of authority to it.
"No, I'm not." Raven replied shakily. The man was none other than Naraku, and as he stared down at her, the fear in Raven's eyes becomes more pronounced. "Are you going to kill me?" Raven finally managed to squeak out. Naraku smiled. "I have no reason to kill you, besides you are quiet pretty. I am Naraku." He held out his hand and Raven took it.
"I'm Raven Jones, I'm from a different era." Naraku was usually not as tolerant of humans, but he had actually liked the girl from the moment he saw her. He wondered if he could convince the girl to remain with him.
"Are you hunting jewel shards?" Naraku asked in his gravely voice.
Raven shook her head. "I just sort of fell here and am roaming around."
Naraku held out his hand. "Well I'd like you to stay with me if you want to. I have plenty of room in my castle." Raven smiled, inwardly she thought Naraku was very handsome. Something about him drew her in like a moth to a flame. Naraku explained his many reincarnations and how he possessed the heart of a human that still longed for Kikiyo. He had a plan to get rid of that heart, however, which was soon to be set in motion. Raven looked around, her fear has disappeared. She felt Naraku would not kill her, she had nothing he wanted, and he had already offered to try to get her get back to her time period. It was late at night. Raven was wandering around the castle when she ran into Naraku meditating by the window.
"Oh Gomen." Raven apologized.
Naraku smiled. "That's alright, are you having trouble sleeping?" Raven nodded, shocked at the kindness of his statement. "Come here." He said softly. Raven came forward, and he embraced her. His hands were warm and soft, and regardless of her further defenses, Raven felt herself calm. "I'm not out to hurt you Raven. Trust me on that." Raven nodded and she sat there held by Naraku until she slowly drifted off. Naraku let her sleep on him; it was hard for him to sleep these days.
Kagura walked by. "Sunk to letting human filth in the castle these days master?" Naraku growled menacingly at her. "That is my business, it is not your place to meddle in my affairs." Kagura smirked and left. She didn't plan on being Naraku's lackey forever.
Back to Inuyasha and Company in the village:
Miroku awoke to weak sunlight on his face. He did a quick scan of the room. Kagome was in a sleeping bag and Shippo was curled at her side. Inuyasha was sleeping cross-legged in a corner. Miroku's staff lay at the corner of the room. Kirara lay near the entrance of the hut, her tail near her body. That's when Miroku noticed Sango was asleep, her hand clutched around his. It looked like she had worked endlessly on making sure his fever broke.
"Sango." Miroku said softly. He didn't want to move, he didn't wish to disturb her. He slowly admired her in the pale sunlight. Her black hair fell at her shoulder, and for once her face was relaxed and peaceful. Miroku had always thought her beautiful, strong, and intelligent. He loved her, and he softly caressed her face. Sango seemed to rouse from sleep; she opened her eyes slowly to see Miroku's eyes staring back at her.
"Ohayo" he replied softly.
"Houshi-sama" Sango replied, she was relieved to see the color had come back to his face and he was no longer feverish.
"You didn't have to stay up all night with me, Sango." Sango looked at him for once they were alone.
"I had to make sure you'd be alright." Sango murmured.
Miroku tightened his grip on their still joined hands. "Naze?" Miroku asked.
Sango tried to hide a creeping blush. "Because.." Sango was struggling for words.
"Aishiteru Sango." Miroku blurted out.
Sango turned to rapt attention at this statement. "You love me? But what about all the hentai?"
Miroku stared into her eyes. "You're all the matters to me Sango."
Sango actually did blush and finally confessed "Aishiteru Miroku." Miroku smiled and held out his arms. Sango held him gingerly. Miroku kissed her softly and Sango for once felt her tough demon hunting exterior melt. Miroku broke off and Sango went to check on herbs when they heard Inuyasha stirring.
"So I see you lived." That was Inuyasha's way of saying he was relieved to see Miroku alive. Kagome stirred slightly.
"Your voice is too loud Inuyasha, you will wake Kagome-sama." Miroku scolded. Inuyasha let out his usual "feh" though secretly he looked to make sure Kagome was still sound asleep. As much as he wanted to deny it publicly, he loved the girl. Sango came back into the room, she handed Miroku some herbal soup to drink, which he accepted gratefully.
Kagome awoke and smiled "Ohayo mina-san! How are you doing Miroku?" Miroku smiled. "I am much better Lady Kagome, doomo arigato." Shippo awoke and was hyper as usual. Kagome dug through her bag and handed him some Starbursts.
"So where do we go from here?" Kagome asked.
"Well obviously we have to rescue that other human friend of yours from Naraku, he'll probably try to make her one of his evil slaves if we don't." Inuyasha said in a low, rumbling sort of voice.
"We need to give Miroku time to recover." Kagome glared at him, and Inuyasha glared right back. Everyone else sweat dropped and sighed. Their little fights were both endearing and extremely immature. Shippo looked up at Kagome, and Kagome turned from Inuyasha, it was going to be a long night. Sango's dreams were troubled, she tossed and turned, before her swam a multitude of faces. One was the brave demon exterminator, father of Kohaku and Sango. Kohaku held his scythe, his eyes blank. Sango's look of terror increased as the scythe hit her back, "KOHAKU!" She screamed as the picture faded to black. Sango awoke in a cold sweat, once again the dream of her village's massacre weighed heavy on her mind. Every since encountering her younger brother, she had found it hard to force the dreadful memory from both her conscious and sub-conscious mind. Kohaku now had a jewel shard embedded in his back, and was Naraku's puppet. Miroku was a light sleeper, and he heard Sango stir. He could tell there was cold perspiration on her forehead 'Probably another nightmare about her village', Miroku thought quietly to himself. He didn't wish to disturb Sango; he knew this was a time when she needed privacy. Kirara jumped onto Sango protectively, Sango absentmindly stroked her as she silently mulled over the horrendous events in her mind.
At Naraku's Castle:
Kohaku silently stared at Naraku. "I thought you were going to kill me." Kohaku glared at the half-demon before him.
Naraku gave a smile. "I have no need to kill you." Kohaku stared at him, his scythe abandoned at his feet. He could remember nothing; Naraku had wiped his memories blank. He now knew his name was Kohaku, but he knew little else, except he was related to the woman he had met in the exterminator outfit. Raven walked to where Naraku was "Nani, Naraku-chan?" Naraku's disposition automatically did a three sixty when he saw Raven. He smiled and even kissed her happily.
"Ohayo Raven. I am just talking to Kohaku here." Raven stared at Kohaku curiously, and then looked up at Naraku. "
Want me to leave?" Naraku nodded
"Just for a moment." She embraced him fondly and went to a private part of the castle to tidy up.
"She's pretty. Who is she another one of your slaves?" Kohaku spat at his master. Kohaku had started to remember in spite of himself, he knew one thing he wasn't willingly here.
"Iie, she is not. You are getting far too defiant for my tastes. I let you live; I put that jewel shard in your back to allow you to live. I even took away those awful memories from you." Naraku growled at the boy.
Kohaku didn't flinch. "I will die eventually." Kohaku reasoned. Naraku didn't answer, but instead turned away. Raven had made herself presentable by then and Naraku smiled as he looked at her, "Care to go to someplace more private?" Raven nodded enthusiastically and they left his castle together. Naraku took her to a small grove. It had a picturesque waterfall, and underneath was a beautiful hot spring. The forest dotted the serene landscape, perfect for a romantic private getaway.
"It's beautiful Naraku-chan." He had his arms securely around her.
"I come here when I need to think." She leaned against him. "It isn't easy being up in a castle by yourself, all I had to do was command the demons and fend off Inuyasha."
She held him gently, "You won't ever have to be alone again Naraku, I won't let you." With that she kissed him as they both stood together, wrapped up in each other.
Back to Inuyasha and Company:
Inuyasha had finally gotten over his ego enough to apologize to Kagome for the remark he made yesterday.
"Miroku said he's well enough to travel, we better head out before the trail gets cold." Inuyasha said to the group. Sango was out by the nearby lake, clearing her head, and Miroku was telling Shippo one of his all famous stories. The young kitsune had a lollipop today. There was a sudden rustling from the forest
"Stay back Kagome" Inuyasha commanded. The person, well demon that appeared was Inuyasha's least favorite person, Koga. Koga spotted Kagome and immediately went into fits.
"There's my woman! Still running around with this mutt-face? I hope you've been taking care of her dog breath!" Koga accused.
Inuyasha growled. "YOU STUPID WOLF! Why do you have to show up right when we're in the middle of something important! TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" Koga was in the process of staring Inuyasha down, when he grabbed Kagome's hands and started addressing her again
"Well since you're MY woman, I will defeat Naraku and you can come live with me." Koga said pompously. This drew a "WHAT! I DON"T THINK SO STUPID WOLF," comment from Inuyasha.