Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Is that understood? Good.

Note: Oh my goodness… I didn't update this story for five whole months (O.O )Sorry about that. No, I did not abandon this fan-fic! I vow never to abandon a fan-fic, that's such a horrible crime (umm… to me it is). I shall continue it, and I am right now. So, please enjoy this new chapter. Yes, and thanks for the reviews! I appreciate them greatly!

Note: I'm updating this a/n on September 26, 2005. Because I've recently finished the whole Inuyasha anime series, I'm changing a little bit of chapter 1, other than that, the rest of the story is still the same. It's just a minor change about Rin's background. At first I said she was taken back to the castle after abducted by Naraku and confined there, now I'm just changing it to that she willingly decided to be with Sesshoumaru. Sorry about the changes. Enjoy.

The Obscure Truth

Chapter 5

Jealousy

Another moonless night. A dark figure hid himself behind a tree in the forest near the village. He had sealed this village up with his spell. No scent would be able to escape the village. That girl Sesshoumaru tried desperately to protect, Rin, her scent will not leak out from the village. This means, Sesshoumaru won't smell her even if he came close to the village.

A wicked smile appeared on the face of the figure. He had rather handsome features, with long black hair and blood-thirsty eyes. Sure, he was defeated years ago, but he was back. They had no idea he actually was able to survive, even he was surprised that he lived. Now, a plot of revenge came along with his presence. He vowed to take away the most precious things away from all of them, those who defeated him!

A demon with a pair of white eyes approached gradually. It had been six days since he carried out the mission he was given in Lord Sesshoumaru's castle. He was here to gain his reward for helping this mysterious demon.

"Mission was successful. 'He' drank the cup of drugged wine, and everything else went according to plan." The white-eye demon reported.

"Good." The mysterious demon said coldly with a smirk.

"The reward you promised me… Can I claim it now?" The white-eye demon asked eagerly. All one could see was greediness on his face.

"Sure." The mysterious demon replied, ever so icily. He had promised to give this demon one hundred human girls for him to devour or toy with all he wanted.

"Thank you!" The sick expression appeared on the white-eye demon. He rubbed his hands eagerly at the thought of one hundred delicious young human girls. They would taste delicious as dinner. "Where are they?" He questioned excitedly.

In a mere second, a venomous claw pricked the white-eye demon's neck. He's white eyes widened, shocked at what just happened. Yet, he didn't have much time to think as he fell flat on his face on the ground, dead.

"Hahahaha…" The mysterious demon laughed abominably. "There is no reward, and I don't keep my promise, hahaha…" He laughed some more, watching coldly at the body of the dead demon. Why would he waste his time to gather one hundred human girls as reward for this useless demon? Even though he could have easily done it, but there was no point.

Clap, clap, clap. Some one was clapping, coming out behind a tree. "Still as callous as ever, Naraku." The woman said as she revealed herself.

Naraku looked coldly at her. It was ironic, he wanted to kill her that much, yet now they were cooperating. It was even more ironic that she always wanted to kill and destroy him, yet she was also the one who saved him when he was defeated years ago. Not that he would ever thank her for saving him, but why not work with her for now to accomplish similar goals?

"You're even more coldhearted than before, if I recall correctly. Had jealousy and hatred truly changed you completely, Kikyou?" He retorted back. He would still enjoy crushing her later on, just not now.

"You don't have to know that." Kikyou said, staring at him icily. She didn't like him at all, she vowed to crush him by her strength. But a few days before Naraku was defeated, she found out that the spell that brought her back to life had been wearing out, and not even the souls could replenish her. But she refused to die just yet; she didn't get Inuyasha back with her yet. Her only option was to help Naraku; he was the only one able to keep her life going. Without any other plan, she saved him, in return he kept her alive. Now, they were actually helping each other out, but just barely. They had different goals. She wanted Kagome out of her sight, so Inuyasha would go with her to hell. He wanted more, revenge against all those that tried to defeat him. But as long as Inuyasha was safe, she no longer cared what will happen to other people.

"The plan at the castle was successful." Naraku informed Kikyou.

"I don't care about that. All I want is Inuyasha." She replied without any emotion. Even her eyes showed no emotion at all. Naraku smirk sarcastically at her comment.

"What have you been doing lately then?" He asked. Not that he cared, but he didn't want her to make any trouble for his plans to be carried out successfully.

Kikyou kept silent. She had gone to see Inuyasha. She asked him again to go with her. If he agreed, she would never go with the plans of Naraku, and instead she would help them defeat him once more, even though he could keep her alive. But if Inuyasha went with her, then she didn't need to be alive anymore, they would be in hell together, and forever. But Inuyasha denied her offer. Hatred suddenly grew stronger in her emotionless eyes. He left her no choice but to cooperate with this despicable Naraku.

In fact, she knocked Inuyasha out and dragged him away. She knew Kagome saw them; she wanted Kagome to be jealous, to be hurt, and to be suspicious of Inuyasha, so she took Inuyasha away for four days. A victorious smile appeared on Kikyou's face at the sob she remembered Kagome let out behind the tree that day.

"What's next?" Kikyou asked concisely. She had to make sure Naraku wouldn't hurt Inuyasha.

"I've already taken Rin away from Sesshoumaru. I will take away the most precious things from every single one of them!" Naraku snickered. Breaking apart Inuyasha and Kagome would be easy with Kikyou's help. There were Miroku and Sango still. Ah, and Kouga and Ayame, how could he forget? But that wasn't enough, they should suffer even more. After his revenge is successful, he would go on with dominating the world. He was, after all, the strongest demon in the feudal era.

"Well? What will you do next?" Kikyou repeated again impatiently.

"Wait and see how things play out, hahaha…" Naraku snickered. Things went quite well, even luck was on his side. He had no intention of moving on with his plans just yet. Observation would be his priority now. Too much weird things happening at once would only make Inuyasha and his gangs be suspicious of him, if they even know he's still alive.

Kikyou looked at Naraku with disgust. She turned around and left immediately, couldn't stand being near him even just one more second. She never trusted Naraku, even if she was cooperating with him now. She would never forget Naraku actually trying to kill her before. That was the reason she would never let her guard down again when being around this despicable Naraku.

Naraku just glared at Kikyou, thinking of the time he would actually be able to kill her again. He did it before, and he would do it again in the future. But first, he needed her alive. So, he would go find her when he was ready to carry out the next step of his plan…

Kagome was sitting in her room, looking out the window towards the stars in the night sky. She had been ignoring Inuyasha for two days. He was so… unbelievable! How could he went and hugged Kikyou behind her back, and then disappeared for four days? Four! Didn't he know she was worried sick?

She had the urge to go back to the future and visit her mother, brother, and grandpa. She missed them so much. She would sure find some comfort and family love back at home, but she couldn't. She had to take care of Rin first. That poor girl, whatever happened to her wasn't good, that much she could tell.

Her big brown eyes wandered towards the table in the room. Then her vision drifted towards the bed. There was only one pillow left on the bed. Inuyasha was chased out of their room yesterday. She had whacked the pillow on his face and pushed him out of the room. She had been married to him one year ago, but Inuyasha called the marriage "mating"… When she first decided to stay in the feudal era, she didn't marry Inuyasha immediately. Instead, they slept in separate rooms, until one year ago. But how could he betray her? Kagome got angry again when her thought drifted back to what she saw the other day: Inuyasha and Kikyou! Argh!

Feeling irritated, she left the room. Kagome walked out of the house and sat down on the grass. But she felt a bit too lonely sitting there by herself. So, she stood up and decided to go visit Rin. Miroku had knocked her out at dusk when Rin totally panicked after seeing Inuyasha. That was a bit strange…

Too deep in thought, Kagome didn't notice a pair of golden eyes staring at her. When she was about to get into the house, a strong arm grabbed her waist and pulled her away. She realized she was being dragged away at a fast speed! Shocked, Kagome started to struggle.

"We need to talk, Kagome." Inuyasha said firmly. Whatever her problems might be, he needed to know and then solve those problems.

"Let me go, Inuyasha!" After realizing it was Inuyasha, she stopped struggling. Observing where he was taking her, she saw they had gotten near a lake. "Don't make me say that special order you must obey!" She growled at him.

"Would you just shut up? I just want to talk!" Inuyasha said irritated. If there really was any problem at all, she should have told him instead of ignoring him for days!

"How can we talk if you want me to shut up?" She challenged him. Then, considering if she said 'sit boy!', she would get dragged down along with Inuyasha and fall flat on her face as well, since he was holding onto her so tightly. Kagome decided not to say that special order, just so she wouldn't hurt herself.

"What is it?" She grunted. She was still too jealous and too sad about what she saw. She just couldn't get the image out of her mind.

Inuyasha finally stopped at the edge of the lake. The surroundings were beautiful, with several firebugs flying around. The sky with bright, shinning stars made the atmosphere here so romantic. Too bad Kagome was puffing and Inuyasha was irritated at the moment to notice the beauty of the lake.

"What exactly is wrong with you since yesterday?" Inuyasha started asking her. He had to find out why she was mad at him, why she wouldn't get some food for him, and why she kicked him out of the bedroom.

"Me? What's wrong with me? You know what you did!" Kagome said angrily. How dare he questioned her like she was the one being at fault?

"I don't know! That's exactly why I'm asking you now!" Inuyasha growled back. He was annoyed that she kept on ignoring him.

"Think about what you did in the forest!" Kagome gave him the hint. Tears swelled up in her eyes again at the thought of the scene she saw in the forest. She was angry at him, felt betrayed, and was very upset and depressing, especially at Inuyasha's disappearance.

"In the forest?" Inuyasha had a confused look on his face. What did he ever do to her in the forest that made her so mad? Mind started to race, searching every corner of his memories.

"And where were you for four days?" Kagome turned around and interrogated Inuyasha. "How could you just disappeared for four days? Don't you know how worried I am?" Angry tears dribbled down her cheeks.

"Four days? So that's how long I've been gone…" Inuyasha mumbled. Even he was confused. How could he be missing for so long, and he didn't even had any memories of that four days? What had he been doing? Was he knocked out somehow? A confused look appeared on his face. He lowered his head and started pondering.

"So you have nothing to say?" Kagome stared at him unbelievably. She turned around abruptly and started walking back towards the village. Inuyasha was too deep in thought that he didn't notice her. When he finally looked up, she was already a couple of feet away from him.

"Hey wait!" Inuyasha hopped quickly towards Kagome. "We didn't even start communicating yet!" He grabbed onto her wrist and stopped her from walking away.

"I thought we are done with our discussion!" She growled at him, and then swung her hand free of his grasp.

"Listen! I don't know where I was for four days! When I woke up, I was in the forest, and I even had to find my way back to the village. Trust me, my mind was all blank, I had no memory at all." He explained to her.

Kagome just stared at him, didn't know whether or not to believe him. How could someone just loose their memory? And not to mention for such a long period of time, four days. But, why would he lie to her though? He had never lie to her before, so that means she should trust him.

The silence made Inuyasha a bit uncomfortable. Did she not trust him? "What? Don't you believe what I said? Lying won't benefit me, you know." He said, looking straight into Kagome's eyes, showing no signs of falter.

Kagome sighed. His golden eyes showed honesty, meaning he was telling the truth. She believed him. But then… what if he was with Kikyou for four days, but was somehow lying to her with his fearless eyes, luring her to believe him? Jealousy began to make Kagome doubt him. "I… believe you… But tell me, do you remember what you did before you lose your memories for four days?" She interrogated him again.

Inuyasha sighed in relief. Kagome believed him, does that mean she's not mad at him anymore? He thought that she was mad at him for disappearing suddenly, but she shouldn't blame him, even he didn't know what happened in those few days. Inuyasha started thinking on Kagome's question again. The last thing he remembered was… Uh oh! He remembered now that she mentioned it! He was… embracing Kikyou! Don't tell him that she saw that!

"Uh… I…" Inuyasha glanced at Kagome every now and then, trying to see if she really saw what he did. But from her reactions since he got back to the village, she probably saw him. No wonder she was so angry at him, and even kicked him out of their room! Problem found, but now he just had to explain to her so the problem could be solved.

"Well?" She rushed him to answer her. She was also tapping her foot to show her annoyance.

"I… was… um… embracing Kikyou…" He answered softly. "But I can explain!" He immediately shouted out.

"Oh yeah? Then go ahead and explain yourself." She said. She wanted to hear his explanations eagerly, and she hoped desperately that it was only a blunder on her part, so she could forgive him and not felt like she was being betrayed.

"Kikyou came that day after we took a walk in the forest. I tried to find you, but you weren't near me, and then she appeared in front of me. She told me that she was dying." Inuyasha explained. "Well, I gave her a friendly hug as a way to say goodbye." He emphasized on the word 'friendly'.

Kagome looked at him with shocked eyes. Kikyou dying? It was really astonishing to hear that since she was gone for years already… Aww, now she felt bad for Kikyou, even though Kikyou had tried to steal Inuyasha away from her before. Kikyou's whole life was a tragedy… Kagome just couldn't harden her heart to hate Kikyou…

"So that's the whole story. Kagome, I told you before, the only one I love is you." Inuyasha's golden eyes shone with adoration.

Tears once again swelled up Kagome's eyes; it wasn't because of sadness, but because of joy and gratitude. She went over and hugged Inuyasha tightly, burying her face into his chest. "I'm so sorry for doubting you…" She mumbled. Now she felt so ashamed of her jealousy.

"It's okay. You're jealous at Kikyou, that's all." A smile appeared on Inuyasha's face. He was glad Kagome got jealous, because that showed how much she cared for him. He didn't mind that at all. Well, except that her ignoring him was really frustrating and annoying. But he was glad everything turned out to be fine.

Inuyasha soothed her by patting her back softly. Everything was back to normal. Kagome wasn't mad at him anymore. Inuyasha smiled at that thought. Just when everything was so quiet and peaceful, a voice popped out of nowhere.

"Are you two done?" A female voice asked. She sounded familiar.

Inuyasha and Kagome both looked around them. They found a shadow in the forest. Inuyasha tensed and put his hand on Tetsusaiga, ready to charge at an enemy.

"Relax, it's me, Ayame." The female wolf demon walked out of the forest towards the couple. There was a disappointed look on her face. She looked kind of lost.

"Hey, Ayame!" Kagome said cheerfully. She broke out of Inuyasha's arms and ran towards Ayame, then gave her a big friendly hug. "Why are you here?"

"Kouga. Is he here?" She asked concisely, and eyeing Kagome suspiciously. She knew Kagome loved Inuyasha, but still, she's jealous that Kouga kept on saying he still like Kagome after all these years. He even dumped her all alone in the forest!

"No. He did come over today, but left before dusk." Kagome said. She didn't know why Ayame appeared here by herself. She knew Ayame liked Kouga, and had been following him for years, but that heartless Kouga only thought she was annoying… Poor girl.

"He said something like 'Where the hell is Ayame' before he rushed off. He seemed worried about you." Inuyasha butted in, not that he really cared about Kouga or Ayame. But then, if Kouga got together with Ayame, then he wouldn't come bother Kagome. That would sure benefit him, Inuyasha thought joyfully.

"… Really?" Ayame asked hesitantly. Would Kouga really be worried about her? A little bit of warmth flooded her heart, but it was quickly covered by doubt. Kouga seemed to hate her so much… Ayame sighed. It took her so long to find this village, but only to find Kouga gone already.

"Believe whatever you want. Hmph." Inuyasha grunted. He then turned to Kagome. "Let's go back to the village." After that, he grabbed Kagome and was about to hop back to the village.

"Wait!" Kagome yelled, stopping Inuyasha's movement. "Ayame, would you like to stay in the village tonight? You can go find Kouga tomorrow morning. Besides, you must be tired." She smiled gently at Ayame, inviting her back to the village.

"Can I… really stay for a night?" She asked carefully. She would hate to trouble others.

"Sure, right Inuyasha?" Kagome turned and looked at her husband.

"Whatever." He answered. It was none of his business to begin with.

"Thanks…" Ayame said. Kagome had been so nice to her, even when the first time they met. Kagome was so kind to her.

Inuyasha hopped swiftly away back to the village, and Ayame followed close behind. She suddenly remembered that she saw Sesshoumaru this afternoon in the forest. Maybe she should tell Inuyasha, just in case Sesshoumaru brought trouble to them. But then, Sesshoumaru's cold warning replayed in her mind…

"You better not say a word about seeing me here in the forest. Otherwise I'll have to hunt you down."

Ayame shuddered at the warning. She decided it was better not to tell anyone, even though she was tempted to tell Inuyasha. After all, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were half brothers. Shaking her head, Ayame decided it was still best not to say a word about it, just in case Sesshoumaru was still somewhere near. But speaking of the Lord of the Western Land, why would he be near this village, and sitting there deep in thought? Guess that would be one mystery she will never solve…

Back in the village, Sango was sitting next to the bed of Rin. Miroku was reading some kind of book besides Sango. They were both worried about Rin. The room was silent, but Rin's mumble broke the peaceful silence.

Cold sweat soaked her forehead and her shirt. She was frowning and mumbling. Soon, tears flooded out of her close eyes and drifted down her cheeks onto the white pillow. Sango and Miroku just stared at Rin, with worried written all over their face. They listened carefully to Rin's mumble, perhaps they could find some clue of what exactly happened to her.

"Help! Is anyone out there! Let me out!" Rin mumbled. She was re-living that nightmare she had been through in her dream. That dark room with something in there…

"There's something in here! Help! HELP! LET ME OUT!" Rin's voice trembled with fear, but it wasn't a scream.

"Did you hear that? She said there's something where she was." Sango asked Miroku.

"Yes. She seemed to be trapped somewhere. But maybe that's just a nightmare…" Miroku said uncertainly. They had no idea what was in Rin's nightmare…

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Help me! Don't leave me in the dark!" Rin mumbled some more. Tears drifted down her pale cheeks.

"She's calling out to Sesshoumaru…" Sango said, a bit taken aback that she would ask a cold, heartless demon for help.

"I guess Sesshoumaru really did protect her. She seemed sort of dependent of him…" Miroku analyzed.

"Let me go… please…" Rin whispered. Her hand was clutching onto the bed sheet tightly, as if she had caught a floating wood in the middle of the ocean.

After that, a long silence returned to the room. Sango and Miroku were both deep in thought. From what they heard so far, it seemed like she was somehow trapped somewhere, and there was something or someone there… And that something got to her… One more thing, she tried to call for Sesshoumaru to help her. That was all they got so far from her mumbling. But, that could just be her nightmare. It doesn't mean they found a clue to what happened to her that caused her wounds.

"No… how could you do this to me?" Rin gasped in shocked with a trembling voice after a long silent. Then, she turned to her side with her back facing them, still sound in her sleep.

Sango and Miroku were confused now. What did Rin's last sentence means? They didn't even get the whole big picture yet, and now Rin mumbled something else… It looked like they couldn't figure out by themselves. They would have to ask Rin about it, but not recently from the way Rin panicked today. They would have to at least wait until she was more stable.

"Poor girl… I really want to know what happened to her so that we could at least try to help her out…" Sango said, looking sadly at Rin.

"We can't figure it out unless she's willing to tell us." Miroku put his hand on Sango's shoulder and pulled her into his arms. They sat there in silent. Then suddenly, Miroku's hand found its way to Sango's butt. Her face quickly turned red. She slapped Miroku on his face and then whacked the book he was reading on his face.

"You're being perverted again!" Sango yelled angrily. How come Miroku just couldn't change his bad habit? Well, at least he was no longer doing that to other women, otherwise she would sure go crazy because of jealousy.

"I couldn't help it…" He said with a red hand mark on his face. "My hand has its own thoughts, it runs around without my permission." He joked.

Sango giggled at his last comment. How could she still be mad at him after he made her laugh? She sighed and shook her head. Looking at Rin, she was glad they didn't wake her up.

"All right, Sango. It's late, you should go get some sleep." Miroku said, pulling her up and pushing her out the door. Sango had been taking care of Rin for the whole day, she must be so tired.

"But someone needs to watch Rin… I'm so worried she might try to hurt herself…" Sango said worriedly. Rin had panicked totally today, it was hard to say she wouldn't hurt herself… Someone must watch over her.

The door was being slid open, and Kaede stood there. She was still wearing the same red pants and white shirt, the costume of a priestess. "Don't worry Sango, I'll take care of her. You should get some rest." Kaede said gently. "You too, Miroku."

"Sure." Miroku said. Sango had something more to say, but Miroku dragged her away. Kaede had no problem taking care of Rin, so they need not worry.

After Miroku and Sango were gone, Kaede closed the door. She walked towards the bed and sat down quietly. She looked at Rin with pity and kindness in her eyes. Even though she didn't know what had happened to this poor girl, but from what Kagome told her, something terrible must have happened. She had a bad feeling about this whole thing… She didn't know why, but she did.

Rin's back was facing Kaede, and her face was facing the wall. She silently opened her eyes. She had been awakened by Sango's angry shout at Miroku being perverted, but she didn't move at all. She was thankful that they helped her out. Her whole body still ached terribly.

Rin's eyes were illuminated by tears. Her eyes weren't focused at all. She just stared blankly at the wall, and her mind was all blank. She was afraid to close her eyes. Once she closed her eyes, memories of that dark room would deluge her mind and drive her crazy. Those horrible memories… She was trapped in that room for the whole night, 'tortured' by that 'thing' the whole night. But even more painful was what she found out the next morning about exactly what was in the room… How could he do this to her? Tears silently soaked the pillow once again, without Kaede knowing it…

Note: Okay, that's it for chapter 5. Kikyou working with Naraku shiver. How did I ever come up with that idea?

Kagome and Inuyasha got back together.One problem solved. Now Kouga still needs to find Ayame, but it was technically his fault to dump her in the forest in the first place. Yes, we still don't know why Rin was so scared of Inuyasha, but it definitely has to do with the 'thing' that was in the room with her that night. More mystery: what did Rin find out after being trapped with the 'thing' in the room? And what did she mean by "how could you do this to me?"?

Is it clear what happened to Rin that night? It wasn't just that she got wounded, but there's something more horrible… Anyway, please review! I appreciate very much for the reviews! Thanks.