Putting The Damage On

Chapter 15 : Rin-chan's Gift

Author's Note: Hey, hey, hey : ) Sesshomaru and Sango's battle begins! Dun dun dun! Er, well, thank you to everyone who reviewed and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Now read it and review! Tee hee!

Warnings: Violence! Whoooo!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

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Rin was grinning happily. Just the other day she'd found some really pretty stones, wedged into the side of a tree near the river. She'd kept one for herself and given the other to Sesshomaru. He'd taken it a little slowly and then tucked it away. But he had taken it nonetheless and that was enough for Rin.

"I'm sorry Jaken." Rin said suddenly, as she kicked her feet in the water. Jaken was cleaning himself from where he'd slipped in the mud.

"What are you talking about?" Jaken mumbled, only slightly paying attention. Rin smiled.

"For not giving you a stone." She said, "I only managed to find two…"

"I do not care about such things." Jaken snapped, "And besides you foolish little human, you wont be able to keep those stones. Actually, they're not even stones at all! They're shards of the Shikon no tama."

"Shikon no tama?" Rin repeated, "Well… Sesshomaru-sama took his."

"He may have but I'm sure he doesn't have it anymore. You should get rid of yours as well, they will only lead to trouble. Those shards are wanted by… well, everyone who knows about them… except for Lord Sesshomaru, he has no interest in such things."

"But he took it!" Rin said, "And… why would he take it only to throw it away?"

"Because its dangerous, Rin." Jaken explained, "Not that Sesshomaru-sama is concerned about danger, but he has to keep in mind that he travels with a small, weak human child."

Rin frowned, "Well…"

"Enough Jaken." Sesshomaru walked out from the woods. The imp and the child both smiled as he came towards them.

"Sesshomaru-sama,"

"Yes Rin?"

Rin smiled and then she jumped up and walked towards him, "You don't have to keep the stone, er, I mean, the shard I gave you if its dangerous… Here," Rin pulled her own out of the pocket of her kimono, "I'll throw mine into the river…"

Sesshomaru stared at her, "I still have it." He pulled it from his sleeve. "Do you wish to throw them?"

Rin blinked, "But I thought-"

"I am not concerned about danger." Sesshomaru said, "Or any lowly youkai attempting to steal these shards. If you wish to keep them Rin, then keep them."

"Well, I want to keep mine, but if you don't want yours then-"

"No." Sesshomaru placed it back into his sleeve, "It's fine."

Rin grinned brightly and Jaken rolled his eyes. "But Sesshomaru-sama, we wont be able to keep those shards forever. What with your dirty hanyou brother and that bastard Naraku searching for them…."

Sesshomaru caught Jaken's eye, "So what if they come…"

Jaken blinked and then it dawned on him, "You intend for them to come?"

Sesshomaru began to walk and said nothing. Rin chirped cheerfully and followed after him. Jaken quickly scrambled out of the water and ran to catch up.

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Sango and Kagura floated above the three travelers on the ground. Sango ran a hand through her bangs and grinned, "Wow. That's Sesshomaru? He's really good looking."

Kagura blinked and felt slightly uncomfortable. Sango eyed her, "You agree?"

"No." Kagura answered quickly. Sango smirked but said nothing. She stood up then and unsheathed her sword.

"Might as well attack him suddenly."

"You're going to attack him now?" Kagura almost shrieked, but her words were lost as Sango dived off the side of the feather. The sorceress's heart skipped and she rushed to the edge to watch. Sango was pummeling towards the ground, her sword drawn.

"You fool." Kagura muttered, her eyes wide.

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Sesshomaru whirled around and unsheathed tokijin, barely having enough time to counter the attack. The swords clashed and sparks flew. Jaken grabbed Rin and the two ran into the bushes. Sesshomaru managed to pull away and jump back, regaining himself from the surprise attack.

Sango grinned, holding her sword out before her, "You're good."

Sesshomaru sniffed. "You're annoying."

Sango's grin got wider, "Yep. I was right. You're beautiful."

Rin gasped. Sango's eyes darted to her direction, but then focused on to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru stiffened, the girl may appear to be foolish, but she was keeping a very good eye on him. And her entire body was tense, ready to spring at any time. He had to admit, her comment had slightly surprised him and now he was trying to place where he had seen her face. She was familiar.

"Let me introduce myself." Sango said, "I am Sango of Naraku."

"Sango of Naraku?" Jaken repeated. He looked at Sesshomaru. Perhaps this girl was like Kagura. He was sensing many conflicting powers inside of her body, and he wasn't sure if she were human, youkai, or something else.

"So Naraku has reacted already." Sesshomaru remarked to himself. He recognized her now, she resembled one of the humans who traveled with the hanyou Inuyasha. But she did not smell like a human and her spirit aurora was… tampered with or altered in someway that Sesshomaru had never encountered. Who was this girl really?

"Hand over the shards," Sango said eyeing Sesshomaru and glancing in the direction of Rin. Kagura landed not far behind Sango and stared at Sesshomaru.

"Kagura!" Jaken exclaimed from his hiding spot in the bushes, "What is the meaning of this!"

Kagura narrowed her eyes, "Naraku wants the shards, obviously." She opened her fan and placed it in front of her face, her eyes landing on Sesshomaru and then slowly moving to Sango's back. "Just give them to us Sesshomaru. You have no use for the shards."

Sesshomaru did not respond. He held tokijin before him. Sango heaved out a dramatic sigh and called to Kagura, not taking her eyes off of Sesshomaru, "I don't think he's going to listen."

"No. I don't think so either." Kagura mumbled the words but Sango heard her.

"So we fight." Sango mused and for a moment she looked really tired. Then she gripped her sword and pounced at Sesshomaru, who countered. Kagura watched the interaction closely. At the moment, they seemed to be testing each other, trying to determine skill and style. They seemed even matched. The swords clashed and Sesshomaru pushed forward with his body, and with his greater physical strength, he managed to knock Sango off-balance. She skidded across the ground and quickly jumped up from where she had landed, as Sesshomaru struck the ground with tokijin seconds later. Kagura frowned. No. Sesshomaru was indeed the stronger. But Sango was quick. The taijiya maneuvered herself so that two blasts of power missed her.

They clashed again, their swords moving so quickly it was hard for Kagura to keep a steady eye on the battle. Then she heard Sango's muffled cry and watched as the girl jumped back, holding her shoulder and grimacing. Sesshomaru blinked.

"I'm surprised, that was a killing blow." Sesshomaru spoke slowly, swinging his blade towards Sango, "You're better than I predicted." And then he attacked her once more.

"So are you." Sango grinned slightly, although it was obvious she was concentrating more on the movements of Sesshomaru's blade than anything else. Sesshomaru stabbed for her head and Sango ducked, pieces of her hair falling from the bare-miss. She quickly rolled out of the way as he came after her. He stopped suddenly and his eyes went to his sword. Sango smirked from where she sat on the ground, but she then quickly took the opportunity to get away from Sesshomaru and place her sword out before her.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. Sango's severed strands of hair had entwined themselves around his sword and arm. Miasma burst out then and Sesshomaru growled.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin and Jaken cried at the same time. Kagura's eyes widened.

However, the miasma spewing from the hair strands was pushed away from Sesshomaru's face by the power of his youki, which he had began to use voluntarily. Sango smirked.

"Well. It was worth a shot." She shrugged, "But I guess a youkai as powerful as you would have control over his own youki to use as a barrier from poisonous vapors."

Sesshomaru glared at her but said nothing. Sango continued, "Oh. But Sesshomaru… just how long will you be able to use that continuous flow of youki without tiring? I should tell you that the miasma from those hair strands wont quit until I stop them…" She smiled and then she added, "Or if I'm…dead."

"And that was all I needed to hear." Sesshomaru growled out and shot forward. Sango's eyes widened dramatically as his sword connected with hers. The sheer force was enough to drive her heels into the dirt and she skidded back. His attack was more forceful and more deadly than before. She had really managed to get his attention.

Kagura bit her bottom lip. Sango had pissed him off. The sorceress jumped into the air and released blades of wind towards Sesshomaru, making the youkai lord momentarily stop his onslaught on Sango to dodge them. Sango quickly regrouped beside Kagura.

"Damn." Sango cursed, "He's strong."

"I told you, you idiot!" Kagura snapped, "This is suicide."

Sango frowned, "Well, we're not dead yet." She jumped away as Sesshomaru came towards them. He followed Sango, intent on killing her this time. She tossed several small daggers at Sesshomaru, which he blocked with his sword. Her feet hit the ground and she instantly jumped again, as Sesshomaru was right behind her. Kagura managed to hit Sesshomaru with one of her attacks, which gave Sango enough time to get out of the way and unfortunately, made Sesshomaru focus his attention on Kagura. Kagura's heart skipped a beat when she noticed the blood red color of Sesshomaru's eyes and the visible teeth as he glared at her. The miasma spewing from the hair strands was dancing around his face, mixed with his own youki. He looked murderous.

"Shit." Kagura muttered.

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"When shall we aid them, my lord?" Kohaku spoke in a monotone voice. He, Naraku, and Kanna stood from above, watching the battle play out before them. Naraku narrowed his eyes.

"When things get desperate." Naraku replied, grinning maliciously. He glanced at Kanna.

Kanna's mirror flashed and on the battlefield Sesshomaru was momentarily blinded, allowing Sango a chance to push Kagura out of the way of his blade.

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That is all!

Aw, the shards were a gift from little Rin. But… how was little Rin able to touch the shards when usually they need to be purified? Herm, something to ponder…

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. And I hope the action was good, eh, hehe. I'm always a little unsure of it. Well, time to reply! Yay!

Inuyasha's2ndloverafterSango – I agree that Sango's very strong, but she's also human and human's in general are weak. And well, he overpowered her mind when it was almost broken, all things considered… so… :shrugs: But anywho, I'm glad that you love the story. I feel all fuzzy inside reading that, tee hee. Oh and I was a little concerned about the whole Kikyo planning to match up Sango/Inuyasha, but I have an explanation for it, so… hehe, I'm going with it! Anyway, thank you for your words and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Bye bye!

Emili – Wow. Thank you so much. I really never expected that it would be someone's top favorite. :smiles: Thank you again. Yeah, I love Inu/San stories too… but I can't say exactly who the lucky man will be… er, or hanyou or youkai or whatever. Hehe. Well, stay tuned and find out! Bye for now!

Robot Killah - Hehehe. Happy (late)Birthday! Will it become a San/Sess too? Perhaps, perhaps not. (bwhahaah, aren't I evil?) But the idea is certainly a possibility. Keep reading to find out for sure. Hehe. Anyway, don't worry about ranting. I like ranting. Especially in comments. So rant, rant away! Tee hee. Bye bye for now!

GrowlingFluffBall – Well I hope this chapter made you fall in love even more, tee hee, although Sango didn't quite kick Sesshy's butt… but hey, she's not finished yet! Thank you for your review and keep reading! Bye bye!

Icygirl2 – I agree with you about Kagome. She reminds me of Tohru Honda (xcept not as nice ;;) which, in itself, is not a good thing because Tohru Honda from Furruba never fails to annoy me (though I do like her… hehe) Anyway, I'm so glad you like this story and I hope to see more reviews and comments from you and certainly more ranting! Hehe.

TwistedTiger – Glad I impressed you, . And I hope this little treat makes you smile. Hehe. Enjoy please. Bye bye.

SanMirLover – Snakes united! Tee hee! Sesshy has the upper hand but Sango's not out yet, hehe.. Aw, I love you too! Hehe! Bye Bye for now and I hope you're able to read this!

Hoppy-chan – Not a definite San/Inu, mind you… That's just Lady Kikyo's desires. Hehe. Anyway, onto you're questions/comments! Okay, I'll go ahead and say it... Kagura wont die. I had planned originally for her death… but :sniffles: me likes her toooo much! X) Thumbs up for writing in character! (something that I try to do because it bothers me to read a story where the author is presenting a serious story only the characters act very… unlike themselves… now comedies, well, they're excused. Hehe) To be honest, I never even imagined sticking Kagura with Miroku… hmmmm… :ponders it: What an interesting idea… ack, well, although you don't like it… but… hmmm… eh, anyway, yeah Sango loves Naraku… but its mind control love. Haha. Bye bye for now and keep reviewing:hugs:

Nightfall2525 – I'm not sure if Sesshomaru and Sango will have any romantic interaction yet… perhaps though. Keep reading to find out! Thank you and bye bye for now!

Okay! Thank you everyone who reviewed! I'm out!

Er. Oh yeah… if you ever want to see what's going on with me and my work all at one time, check out the section in my bio where it says NEWS. That should help. Later.

Taijiya