A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys. Here's the second installment, but let me answer some questions first. Kagome's little brother's name is indeed spelled with a 'u' in the middle. May seem kind of weird, but it's actually supposed to be like that. Inuyasha calls Kaede an 'old granny' several times in the manga, and Shippo's calling Kagome 'mommy' was my own invention. Sango and Miroku say in the manga at one point that Shippo considers Kagome and Inuyasha his parents, and I am using that to illustrate the closeness of Shippo and Kagome.

Lastly, for those of you who want to know, the song lyric in the first chapter (as well as the continuing lyrics in other chapters) is from a song called "When I Get Where I'm Going (Don't Cry for Me Down Here" by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton.

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Don't Cry for Me
Chapter Two

"What?" Inuyasha yelped. "You let her go off on her own to find Sesshoumaru? She'll go straight for Naraku!"

Miroku nodded. "Yes, Inuyasha. I believe that was her plan, he sighed, pacing back and forth in front of the fire in Kaede's hut. "Don't go running off after her, either, Inuyasha. That's precisely why she didn't talk this over with you first. She wants to do it on her own..."

Inuyasha frowned deeply. "She could die, Miroku! And I am supposed to stay here and worry about her while she's gone?"

"Inuyasha...you already know about that," Sango whispered, looking at Shippo and the old woman Kaede with caution. "She wants you to stay here..."

Kaede shook her head. "What could possess the girl to go off on her own like that?"

Kagome's grandfather looked as though he might comment, but the look he received from her mother told him that not everyone knew the full extent of Kagome's 'injury'. He took a deep breath and looked away.

"Mommy is strong, Inuyasha. She won't let the demons get her." Shippo stated proudly.

Inuyasha sighed deeply. "If...if she really doesn't want me to follow her...I guess...I guess I can stay here..." he frowned in defeat. "Besides, I doubt any of you would actually let me follow her anyway. This sucks. I hate doing nothing. I am supposed to be the one protecting her, not the other way around..."

"We know, Inuyasha..." Sango nodded sympathetically. "But I'm sure that Kagome will be just fine."

"I hope so..." he whispered.

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"Miko, what on earth are you doing? What is wrong with you?" Sesshoumaru wondered out loud.

Presently, Kagome was leaning up against a nearby tree, her head down, taking deep breaths. Her side felt like it was on fire, and she had suddenly felt as though she had been punched in the stomach. She groaned, sitting up slightly as she did so. Sesshoumaru looked at her with mild interest.

"It's...nothing, Sesshoumaru. I'm...I'm sick, remember? I'll be fine in a moment...I don't know...what's wrong..." Kagome gasped.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "Do you require some water?"

Kagome took a small canteen from her bag and gulped down much of the water inside of it. She took another deep breath. "I'm...fine...We need to keep...just keep going..."

"You can't even breathe properly right now, you stubborn human. How do you expect to be able to walk? Catch your breath, and then we shall continue on...but not before. I am not about to have Inuyasha blame me if you die before we even get to find Naraku..." he snapped.

Kagome blinked. "Is that...what you think?" Taking one more deep breath, Kagome sighed deeply. "I don't plan on dying until after he does, understand? I will not be the first to go down..."

Sesshoumaru's stoic gaze returned to him, and he shrugged. "I don't know about that, miko. After all, you're having trouble breathing already. If this happens during battle, you may end up..."

"Shut up, Sesshoumaru." Kagome warned, her eyes stinging with tears. "I...I have to do this." she stammered. "I can't let them...let him get hurt. I would try to explain it to you, but you wouldn't understand..."

Sesshoumaru blinked. "I, Sesshoumaru, understand far more than you think I do, miko."

"Oh, really?" Kagome smirked.

"Yes. You love my hanyou of a brother quite possibly even more than he loves you, although neither of you will admit it. You want to protect the kitsune because you consider him to be like your own son, and the monk and the demon slayer are like a brother and a sister to you, and you are afraid not that they will fail against Naraku, but that they might get hurt...something you can't stand the thought of. So you came to me so that I might help you do it, thus taking my idiot brother and the others out of the equation..."

Kagome cocked her head sideways, and her mouth hung open slightly in shock. "You...well...fine." Kagome said stubbornly, a slight blush coming to her cheeks as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Are you ready to walk yet? I am half tempted to leave you," Sesshoumaru snapped, suddenly returning to his normal self.

Kagome nodded silently. "Yes, I...let's go..."

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"Inuyasha...get out of that! Those are Kagome's personal things! You can't just go nosing around through her things just because she isn't here to 'sit' you for it!" Sango whined. "What are you looking for anyway?"

"I'll let you know when I find it," said Inuyasha quickly.

Sango took a deep breath. "I'm going to knock you over the head if you do not tell me right now and get out of Kagome's belongings..." she threatened.

"Here!" Inuyasha smiled triumphantly. "Look...it's from Kagome..."

Sango looked at the piece of paper in Inuyasha's hand with growing interest. "What is it, exactly?" she wondered out loud. "I think it's addressed to you..."

Inuyasha nodded. "I know that!"

"Well, read it you idiot! It could be important!" Sango demanded.

Inuyasha unfolded the paper and read quickly. "Sango...Kagome didn't take the jewel shards with her when she left to find Sesshoumaru..." he whispered.

Sango blinked. "What do you mean?"

"She says she's hidden them somewhere where only either herself or me would think to look..." Inuyasha read. He paused, placing his hand to his chin in thought for a moment. "That could mean...the sacred tree! Kagome has hidden the jewel shards inside of the sacred tree..." he realized.

"I don't understand why she would do that, though." Sango frowned. "Isn't it supposed to be her job to protect the shards?"

Inuyasha paused again. "I think that is what she is doing..." he sighed. "I knew she wouldn't just leave and not leave us something to go by. Her letter said she'd hidden the jewel shards. It kind of makes sense. After all, she is out there looking for Naraku, right?" His eyes went down to the floor when he said this. He was still very unhappy that Sango, Miroku and the others had not allowed him to go get Kagome. He continued. "If she's looking for him, the last thing to do would be to carry those shards around. Her scent attracts demons simply because they know she has the shards. Hiding them means that even if Naraku was in a position where he could get the shards from Kagome," Inuyasha shivered at the thought, "he still wouldn't actually be able to..."

Sango smiled. "That does sound pretty smart..."

"Yeah, well, let's go get them before someone else figures it out." Inuyasha nearly snapped at her.

"All right, Inuyasha..." Sango agreed.

"And Sango?" Inuyasha added.

"Hmm?" she looked back at him.

"If Kagome isn't back in two weeks, I am going after her...and there won't be a thing any of you could say or do short of killing me that would keep me from doing so..."

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"His castle is this way, miko..." Sesshoumaru pointed.

Kagome had stopped walking entirely, and was just staring straight ahead in the direction in which Sesshoumaru was pointing. She blinked and shook her head. "I know that, Sesshoumaru. I can sense his jewel shards just as well as you can detect his scent. I was just...I was thinking..." she explained.

"About what?" Sesshoumaru wondered. "Do you have some sort of plan?"

"I might..." Kagome smiled thoughtfully.

It was Sesshoumaru's turn to stop and stare. "What is it, exactly?" he wondered.

"...if I tried to purify him, would the same thing happen to me as happened to Midoriko?" she asked, instead of answering his question.

He blinked. "You're not thinking..."

"No...this isn't a suicide mission. I'm just...well, I'm not too worried about something bad happening. So what do you think?"

"I do not know..." Sesshoumaru admitted. "I would imagine the same sort of thing will happen..."

Kagome sighed. "Guess I won't be doing that, then..." She paused. "But maybe if I can get close enough, I can hit him where it counts with one of my arrows. I'd have to be really close, though...If I wasn't, he might dodge it...but there's also the possibility that it won't work."

"It's worth a try if you think it will, though. I can help you handle him." Sesshoumaru nodded.

Kagome looked down at the ground. "I know. That's why I found you. But I still don't want to go in to this thing blind. I want to know what I want to do before I get there, so I know I'll be able to do it."

"Well, it sounds like a plan to me..." Sesshoumaru agreed, "I think it will work."

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"Sango, back away, damn it! Let me go! She's been gone too long! I already told you! Now move!" Inuyasha demanded, growing angry. "I have to go find her! She could be hurt!"

"Inuyasha...she didn't want you following her." Sango replied simply.

Inuyasha seemed to be thinking about this for a moment. "That doesn't count anymore because she has been gone for too long." he decided, leaping over Sango, and running into the forest.

Sango sighed and looked down at the half-completed jewel in her hand. It was Kagome's to protect...but Kagome was off trying to protect everyone else...and now, Inuyasha was gone too.

"Kaede!" Sango hollered.

The old woman stepped out of her hut, where she had been talking to Kagome's mother and little brother about their new duties around the village. She blinked several times when she saw Sango holding the piece of the jewel. She held it up.

"What do ye need, Sango?" asked the old woman.

Sango frowned. "What do I do with this?" she asked.

The old woman stared at the jewel. "Well, we won't be burning it again, that's for sure. That didn't exactly work last time, so I think...wait a minute!" Kaede realized. "Why do ye have the jewel shard? Where is Inuyasha? Has he gone off after Kagome already?"

Sango nodded and sighed in defeat. "She has been gone quite a while, though, Kaede. I understand how Inuyasha could get worried...especially considering what she left us to do."

"She's...she's going to be all right, isn't she?" It was Kagome's mother. She was now standing in the doorway with Kaede.

Sango frowned. "She's strong, Ms. Higurashi." She replied. She wasn't about to tell Kagome's mother that what she was doing was very dangerous...or what happened last time the group had come up against Naraku...

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"What makes you think that you can come into my castle and dispose of me?" Naraku smirked as one of his tentacles shot out at Kagome, then at Sesshoumaru. "Where are the rest of your little friends, eh?"

"Shut up. That's none of your concern." Kagome snapped.

"Really now? Well, why would you be here all alone save Lord Sesshoumaru if there wasn't a really good reason for it?"

"Quit your mind games hanyou!" Sesshoumaru spat, running forward and slashing his sword at Naraku.

Kagome looked back behind herself. In the quiver on her back, she had only three arrows left. In the beginning, Naraku had dodged two, and stolen several more from her. Kagome shook her head. She gasped as another one of Naraku's tentacles shot out. This time it wrapped itself firmly around her waist.

Kagome screamed. The bruise on her side felt as though it was burning.

Naraku laughed. "Hmm? Are you already injured?" he smirked. "That's interesting. Want to hear a secret? It doesn't bother me that Inuyasha isn't here. It was you, I wanted..."

"Let me go. I'm not Kikyou." Kagome smirked.

Naraku blinked. "You think I don't know that? I don't want you alive, silly girl." he smiled. "With you dead, the only person who will be able to see the jewel shards is Kikyou. But before I kill you, maybe you should tell me where the remainder of the jewel is..."

"That's funny...you think I'm going to tell you...?"

Naraku thought about this. "That's true. Maybe I should just absorb you instead?"

Sesshoumaru jumped up and slashed at Naraku's tentacle. Kagome fell to the ground. She was only a couple feet from Naraku by that time. She got to her knees and looked up. Sesshoumaru was standing there. He nodded.

Kagome aimed her arrow and shot quickly. Her arrow hit its mark, but just as it hit, another one of Naraku's tentacles shot out. This one hit Kagome in the stomach. She jumped back, aimed, and shot another arrow.

Just as Naraku fell to the ground, so did she.

Sesshoumaru blinked, and let his sword fall to his side. There was nothing left of Naraku to use it on. Behind him, the miko was unconscious on the ground. Sesshoumaru stepped forward. The other half of the sacred jewel that was missing from the miko's collection was glittering in the sunlight. Sesshoumaru picked it up, pocketed it, and walked back over to Kagome. He picked her up.

Just as he reached the forest, Inuyasha caught up with him.

"Sesshoumaru! What the...what happened?" he demanded.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "It was quick...but at least it is over..." he told his half brother.

"And Kagome?" Inuyasha looked down at the unconscious girl in Sesshoumaru's arms. "Is she...is she all right?" he whispered.

Again, Sesshoumaru nodded. "She is only unconscious, Inuyasha. She isn't in any other danger at the moment...aside from her own sickness..." Sesshoumaru frowned. "I think she hoped she would die fighting him..."

"What? No! The Kagome I know would never say or think something like that!" Inuyasha snapped.

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "Think about it for a moment, Inuyasha. Are you really willing to just sit there and watch her wither away for the next several months? To grow weak...to die? I don't think she likes that idea either..."

"I'm not..." Inuyasha admitted. "I'm not willing to watch her die. I can't lose her...but this time, I don't have a choice about it..."

"Humans are mortal, Inuyasha. You've always known that. Your mother was mortal. She died. Humans are born, they grow old, and they die. For someone like you, or a full blooded demon like myself, the process is different, and it takes much longer. Knowing this, you should already know that falling in love with a human was a useless investment of your emotions, anyway. Even if she does love you back, it doesn't change the fact that her life is coming to an end..."

Inuyasha blinked. "What...what did you just say to me?"

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A/N: Please review and let me know what you think, and I will try to have the next chapter out soon.