Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

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Chapter 6 – Let's work as a team! Or not.

Sango jumped back from a demon, wincing as she remembered that the twin of this demon was behind her. She braced herself demon claws, but all she saw as she landed was the flash of a green whip and a demon falling to pieces. Sango looked up and flashed a quick grin at Kurama. "Thanks for that."

She jumped back towards the other demon, gun shooting off and making the demon's head disintegrate. Sango looked down at the gun in consternation. "Looks like these guns are useful."

Sango ducked beneath another demon's claws, rolling to the left, one hand shooting out to get the boomerang she had earlier lost. After destroying the demon in front of her, she took a chance to look around and find out how everyone else was doing.

"Botan, duck!" Sango called as she spotted Botan off to one side, a demon coming in behind her. Obediently, Botan ducked down, whirling around and shooting the demon, bright stream of golden energy coming from the gun and throwing the demon back.

"You're welcome." Sango jumped as Kurama spoke from beside her, apparently having finished off a few demons on his own.

"It appears we're almost done with this group. But, where are our leaders?" Kurama's eyes darted over the battlefield as the others began finishing of their last demons.

"Good questions. They'd better not have gotten themselves in trouble." Sango winced as she turned, limping on one leg as she went forward. Kurama noticed but said nothing himself, one arm held awkwardly against him.

"Everyone seems to be fine besides some broken bones and sprains. No deep wounds, and everyone should heal quickly," Kurama noted.

"Except for Inuyasha. As always, he has a hole in his stomach," a voice said behind them. The duo turned to find Kikyou, looking unharmed except for a gash on her head, and Inuyasha, using Tetsusaiga to hold himself up.

"Keh. I get an injury from protecting her and she complains about it." Inuyasha emitted low growls sullenly, obviously put out with Kikyou. Kikyou shrugged, not bothering to look at the inu hanyou.

"I didn't need protection. My miko energy doesn't need a bow to be used. I thought you would have realized that with Kagome." Inuyasha ignored Kikyou's statement that proved he didn't need the hole in his stomach and looked around, sniffing cautiously.

"So why the hell are our leaders not here? The battles over, shouldn't they be here making sure everything's ok?"

"Hn," came the amused reply from Hiei. Hiei was standing on a tree, eyes looking pointedly at the other end of the camp.

The other five teens stared at Hiei a moment before slowly making their way over to where he was looking. They stopped and Kikyou lifted up her hands to cover her face in embarrassment. "Please tell me that isn't happening!"

"It's my demon!" A female voice hissed in barely audible tones.

"I wish I could," Inuyasha said, his ears beginning to lie flat on his head.

"No, it's my demon!" Came the reply to the earlier statement.

"They can't really be that immature, can they?" Five heads turned to stare at Botan after she spoke before she sighed. "Right, I guess I forgot who we were talking about."

"It's mine!"

"No, it's mi-"

"Excuse me," Kurama interrupted the two arguing leaders. His gaze fell on the poor demon who was being pulled back and forth by Kagome and Yusuke and sighed.

"Perhaps we could all get information out of this one? We killed all the other's you see."

Kagome immediately let go of the demon and began blushing. Yusuke smirked. "She started it."

Sango smacked her palm against her forehead as Kagome turned to give Yusuke a piece of her mind. "Who cares? Both of you stop it! Act your age, and your rank! Because right now, you're acting like children fighting over a toy!"

Silence settled over the clearing after Sango stopped shouting and Kagome looked down apologetically. Yusuke simply crossed his arms and stayed silent.

Kurama cleared his throat and stepped towards the demon, noticing its wild-eyed look. "Excuse me, but would you be willing to answer a few questions?"

"Like its going to just-" Yusuke began heatedly.

"Will you keep me away from them?" The demon asked, orange eyes darting to Kagome and Yusuke. The two exchanged glances and smirked proudly. To one side, Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Of course, we just want to know why your here," Kurama said, trying to soothe the demon.

"To get the Shikon no Tama of course! The only way to do that was to get to your camp." Everyone stared at the demon for a moment before Yusuke snorted derisively.

"Moron. We're looking for the Shikon no Tama. We don't have it yet."

"Of course you do! The Guardian has it; and-" The demon was cut off as it suddenly screeched, a bright pink light surrounding it before the demon disappeared in a cloud of ash. Everyone turned to look at a sheepish looking Kagome.

"Sorry. My emotions sometimes get the best of me and my powers respond to them... I don't suppose anyone else still has a demon?" Kagome smiled weakly under the angry glares of three boys and one girls.

"Damnit, I wanted to kill it," Yusuke complained, ignoring that they could have gotten good information out of it. The others all seemed to forget about the demon in the face of his immaturity, and Yusuke waited until they went of with sighs and groans to various places around camp. Finally he turned to Kagome and gave her considering stare.

"So, why'd you really kill it?"

Kagome jumped when he asked her that, expecting yelling or swearing, but not an actual thought out question. She covered up her reaction gracefully. "Exactly why I said. My emotions slipped and I accidentally killed it."

Kagome slipped away towards the girls' tents before he could say anything in response, murmuring something about being tired before leaving Yusuke to stare after her. He shook his head, a confused scowl on his face as his gaze followed Kagome. "What is going on here?"

"Secrets. They all have them, Kikyou and Kagome will do anything to hide them." Yusuke pivoted around to see Inuyasha gazing at him in what could only be concern.

"Don't get to attached to Kagome. Her and Kikyou's secret is dangerous, and getting attached to something that could die off at any moment isn't a good way to go." Inuyasha was quite for once, this being one of the few times he wasn't trying to get his point across with swears and insults.

"We could all die at any moment, that's what we do. What's so different about those two? And why are you allowed to get attached to Kikyou but I can't get attached to Kagome?" Yusuke's anger grew as he spoke and he saw Inuyasha wince, anger replacing the fleeting concern the hanyou had only a minute before had for his friend.

"Who said I was? I'm not! And at least no one seeks us out for a stupid-" Inuyasha shut his mouth suddenly, then shook his head.

"Never mind. Those demons were pretty hard for what we usually get. The girls are already beginning to drift off, I can tell. We've all used up most of our energy, I'm going to get some sleep." Inuyasha bounded off, not bothering to even look towards the boy's tent. There was a reason they only had one. Inuyasha and Hiei always slept in a tree, and it wasn't completely unknown for all four of them to set up their sleeping bags outside. Not tonight. Tonight Inuyasha knew Kurama and Yusuke would be sleeping before they even finished lying down.

Inuyasha's golden gaze strayed to the girl's tent, and he found gray eyes staring back at him. 'Kikyou..Did you know I almost told your secret tonight? It won't happen again. I made a promise, and I'll keep it.'

The gray eyes moved, going into their tent, and only one raven-haired girl was left alone. Inuyasha ignored the lonely figure of Kagome and shut his eyes. Within a few minutes the silver haired half demon had wandered off into sleep. Eventually, only the leaders were left awake, one sitting silently beside their tent, the other watching and getting more frustrated by the moment at how many secrets were being covered up.

They would never be able to work as a true team at this rate.

~-~

Shippo's tail twitched as he watched the boy down below. Just a little bit closer and he'd have him. Shippo was perched on tree, having decided on a new way to get rid of his boredom. It had been a few days since the demons attacked, and everyone had healed nicely. Except, since then, everything had been quiet, and the little kitsune demon couldn't help but feel like they should be doing something. These were warriors, they should be fighting.

So Shippo had come to the conclusion he would liven things up a bit. The demon flung himself off of his branch, waiting until his claws began to fall through silky strands. Shippo's paws tightened around the silver locks of hair and a pained howl was set off. "Damnit, you stupid little piece of - Ow! Let go of my hair runt!"

Shippo simply clung tighter as the hanyou spewed obscenities, suddenly realizing the flaw in his plan. The instant he let go the hanyou would tear him apart! Shippo did the only thing he could think of. He kicked off of the hanyou, heading towards the girls' part of camp with a yell. "Kagome! Help me!"

Hiei watched with interest as two blurs passed underneath him. The crimson-eyed demon shook his head, focusing on his target. The Botan girl had gone off to walk in the woods near the edge of camp. Hiei smirked. Time for some answers.

No one noticed their missing two members as Kagome sped out of her tent and scooped up Shippo with one hand, the other held out, palm up straight in front of Inuyasha. "Why are you picking on poor Shippo?"

Inuyasha stared at her a moment as he skidded to a stop and his ears flickered. He could have sworn he heard a snicker from nearby. His amber gaze flickered around the camp for a moment before growling at Kagome. "Poor? That fuc-"

"Don't swear in front of Shippo!" Kagome glared as she cut of the inu hanyou. The snickers became more pronounced as Inuyasha took a step back.

"Keh." Inuyasha gave his typical reply, sending daggers towards the source of the snickers that he could barely make out. Stupid forest green uniforms, it made it hard to see his teammates, just like the girls brown ones did.

Kagome waited until Inuyasha was on the other side of camp before scowling in the direction where Yusuke was laughing. Seeing that he wasn't going to stop anytime soon, Kagome turned a frown on Shippo. "You know, jumping on his head wasn't the smartest idea."

Shippo's eyes widened comically and he grinned sheepishly. "You saw it? Why'd you stand up for me then, Kagome?"

Kagome smirked. "I liked seeing Inuyasha squirm."

"Not the nicest thing to do, was it Kagome?" Yusuke asked as he walked out from a small grove of trees near the girls' tents. Kagome eyes turned dark and her mouth set itself in a grim line.

"I could do the likes of that one hundred times over and he still wouldn't have paid for the things he's done." Shippo jumped out of her arms at the dark tone her voice had taken before she disappeared quietly back inside her tent. Yusuke tried to glare, but it seemed to come out more of a pout. He looked down at Shippo. Shippo looked up at him. They both shrugged and began walking away.

"I'm bored." Shippo said suddenly a minute later. Yusuke groaned as suddenly a scream shot out, and he glared at the kitsune.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Yusuke, despite his comment, began to run anyway, recognizing the two auras' that were coming from the direction of the scream.

One was Botan, who was obviously the one who screamed. Yusuke scowled and ran faster, wondering exactly what had happened this time. 'Damnit Hiei, I'm supposed to be the one who does something stupid. If you've done something to Botan, Kagome's going to kill you. And I'm not sure I could stop her.'

-~-

Botan had gotten herself into a situation all right. Hiei had apparently decided he was going to get past those blocks. He only needed a few of them down. And, some of them were hers, so if she agreed to pull them down, he would be able to open the other barriers. Not only would he be able to see them, so would she. She had said to herself that she didn't want to know. She had friends here, but what if she could have access to more information about the Shikon no Tama? Farther back in time, more details had been known about the Shikon. Perhaps her past life could help them. Besides, no matter how she denied it, didn't everyone want to know their past?

She did, which was why she had put down the few barriers that she had created by herself. Hiei had taken off his bandana and Botan was shocked to see a third glowing eye. 'That explains it. Jagan eye...but...don't those things weaken you? How is he so strong then?'

Botan's train of thought stopped as she felt something tugging at her memories. Slowly, a few images seeped in. Her eyes widened. So many people, and all of them were dead.

"Wait...don't...I don't want to see anymore...I don't want to know."

Hiei shrugged. "You made a deal with me. You held up your end, now it's my turn. Don't you want to know?"

"How did you even figure out I didn't know? You couldn't possibly have read anyone else's mind... Kagome doesn't know much... Kikyou probably knows a bit more... I don't understand." She stalled; keeping his attention fixed on the conversation instead of her mind. Apparently this annoyed him.

Instead of gently falling like they had been, the barriers all shattered at once. Botan was briefly reminded of a window exploding outward, shards falling on the people below. Except, there was no below here, and only one person. There was also a lot more than one "window".

Botan screamed as pain ripped through her mind, only slightly before the memories came rushing in. Centuries of existence swept through her mind and Botan fainted. A human mind was not meant to experience all of those things at once, even if the human mind wasn't exactly human.

Hiei briefly wished he could join her in unconsciousness as her memories flooded his senses before he quickly withdrew, shock swimming through his senses. She, this blue haired girl, had once been a guide to spirits and an underling of the prince of the Spirit World. Hiei didn't even notice as the other began filtering into the clearing. His mind barely recognized one girl taking one glance between him and Botan before her hands began glowing. He frowned slightly at the nearly identical but older girl behind her. Something flashed in the memories, before one yell shoved him back into reality.

"Hiei, damnit, move!"

Hiei leapt away from the glowing miko, taking refuge in a tree as he struggled to bring himself away from the memories. Kurama looked between Kagome and Yusuke and backed away. In a situation like this, it was best not to get anyone angrier than they were. Unfortunately, Yusuke never did think things through.

"That the hell Yusuke? He hurt Botan, and your just going to let him get away with it?' Kagome seethed, and Inuyasha's eyes widened slightly. He had seen her angrier before, but he never wanted to see her this angry. It hadn't ended well last time.

"Shit," Inuyasha muttered as he backed away towards Kurama. "She's going to kill everything demonic nearby, including us and Shippo if she gets any angrier."

"That powerful Inuyasha? It takes a lot to kill us?" Inuyasha just glanced at Kurama as the red head spoke worriedly.

"Let's just say she has another power source. And besides that, two years ago she almost killed me when she lost the little control she had then. Usually her miko powers are dormant. But when they finally began to activate, the angrier she got, the stronger they were. Her emotions power her. And damn, is she pissed! Let's be glad Yusuke's not a demon."

Yusuke was struggling not to blow up at Kagome himself, having a silent glaring contest with her as their powers rose with their emotions. Finally Yusuke answered her earlier complaints. "We don't even know what happened yet Kagome!"

"She's unconscious. It's his fault. All I need to know. Aren't you supposed to discipline your teammates when they do something wrong? What, because he's your friend we go against regulations now?"

"Discipline maybe, but you were going to kill him! Even if you don't care about that, we need to have a whole team for the mission!" Yusuke shouted angrily. Instantly he saw that perhaps that was a bad conclusion to jump to as Kagome's face turned into horrified shock.

"You absolute moron! Even when I'm angry I know how to control my powers! I would have hurt him, but I never would have killed him. As for the mission, we have to be one team for that. Apparently you only care about your half. I care about mine, and I was beginning to care about yours. But it seems I can't trust anyone of you." Kagome stomped off, leaving the other girls to follow her back to camp. Sango had slipped in behind them and she picked up Botan, following her friend back to camp.

Kikyou regarded the boys with a blank face. Finally she simply shook her head. "Fools," was all she said as she turned and walked back to camp, leaving the boys to sort out what happened on their own.

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Review Responses:

GreenShadow
I hope you've read it all by now! Thank you for reviewing.

Fire Kitsune Goddess
It's alright, I doubt many other people did, if anyone at all. Well, a couple of people did, but most people don't.

Arcia
Yup, those are the pairings, as posted last chapter.

SilentDark
Unfortunately not. These aren't exactly like Spirit Beasts, they are a species (or maybe four) and therefore have a certain body type (or four).

blazingsunstar
Thanks.

Shadow Stone
My chapter was yummy? Cool! Thanks for the review; here's your update.

Buffybot76
Hey, that pairing will come in a few chapters. Events sort of crash into each other right after on another after this chapter until we get to them. Then things slow down again for a bit, but we'll meet them soon enough and that pairing will be revealed.

Winged Knight
Your welcome and I'll try!

rogue solus
Nope, sorry, those aren't the pairings. They are Kag/Yus and San/Kur, but the other two are switched around.