Chapter 10: Naraku

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

A/N: I have posted this chapter early just to say sorry for how I've had writer's block. But the rules are still the same-review!

In Hospital

"Where's InuYasha?" Kagome wondered aloud as she wandered farther into the darkness. "I can't go without him, not when his beautiful amber-golden eyes aren't around to show me where we're going and if his hand isn't around to tell me he's here…" shivering, Kagome took one more step before stopping abruptly. She had felt something-something that did not feel very pleasant. Scared that it was a demon, the high-school girl took a step backward and made contact with something fleshy. Whipping around, Kagome came face to face with a pair of amber-golden eyes and a soothing face.

"I'm sorry Kagome, I've got to go," was all the hanyou said before he retreated back into the shadows.

Blindly following her guide, Kagome cried out, "Where to? I won't be able to stand it if you just leave me here…in the darkness…"

As if in a flash, InuYasha turned into a mean-looking face. The new face had diabolical, glittering eyes, and his mouth was curved up in a sneer. "InuYasha's gone, woman, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Nothing I can…do? No…" Kagome couldn't help dissolving into sobs. InuYasha, gone? But she had stayed…just for him. How could her choice to stay have been the wrong one? "What can I do to save him?"

The man handed Kagome a box. "Inside this box is my soul. If you open this box and let my soul flow out into the graveyard, then I shall come back to life, and bring your hanyou back with me. Deal?"

"Yes, of course, deal," Kagome hurriedly nodded. Anything for InuYasha to come back to life.

"Don't let me down, girl," it was the man's turn to retreat into the shadows. "You have a promise to keep, so make it."

------------------------------End of Dream Sequence------------------------------------------------

Kagome woke abruptly to receive a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. Rubbing her stomach, she realized that the source of the pain was a strange-looking wooden box. It seemed to look eerie. Suddenly knowing that this box was connected to her dream, Kagome searched her memory for some kind of hint of her previous dream. Finding nothing, the girl scowled and smacked the wooden box down on the bed. It fell with a rather loud clatter. Now what?

"Kagome, you're awake!" Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw Kikyo rush over. "Bad news."

"What's the bad news?" Kagome's throat was suddenly dry, as if she already knew the answer.

"Oh Kagome…InuYasha's dead! That wound of his never got well! What will his father say when he…where did that box come from?" Kikyo unlatched herself from her friend's throbbing arm and stared at the box on the bed. "How'd you get it?"

Kagome's memory was suddenly jolted. "Of course! Kikyo, do you know where the nearest graveyard is? You have, after all, been in Hawaii before…"

The high-school girl shook her head. "No, not to a graveyard, but I'll ask Sango and Koga if they know where the closest graveyard is." And without further ado, Kikyo hurried away after calling out, "just wait in bed, Kagome! It's cold outside."

With InuYasha

"Gods, it's dark here," InuYasha stared around coldly at the cave he was in. How'd he get here in the first place? Had Sango, Koga and Kikyo decided to abandon him and dump him in this hell-hole? "D… them!" the hanyou cursed before walking rather slowly deeper into the darkness. Even though he could see perfectly well in the darkness, he preferred to think of the light as 'dark'. It was good practice for pretending to be a human.

"So I see that you've met you fate in here, too, eh?" a dark voice chuckled out, and InuYasha growled. It was the voice of his father's worst enemy, Ryuukotsusei (sorry if I made a spelling error on that one). "Of course, I would've preferred that your father were here, but maybe one of his young, cursed pups is here, ne?"

"Shut your trap about my dad and tell me where we are!" InuYasha yelled rudely, his eyes darting about everywhere.

"We, my friend, are in hell. But I do not wish to converse with you now; instead, my friend, Naraku, will come forth and entertain you with some news," the demon smiled wickedly. "Naraku, the whelp is here! You can come out and talk to him now!"

"You pulled me down here and sent that demon, didn't you? B……!" InuYasha cursed at the advancing hanyou. "I should've known that it was you all along!"

"Glad to know that you still remember your dead rival," Naraku grinned. "But soon, I will be out of here. You see, I have invaded that girl Kagome's dreams and told her to let my soul go at the closest graveyard. There, my soul will find its way to my body, and I shall be resurrected. I had promised to drag you along, but that box I gave your woman does not contain your soul…so too bad."

"How dare you…" InuYasha growled. If only his precious sword Tetsusaiga were here. "Well, I'll find a way to warn my friends of you, and that way, you'll never be able to come back to life!"

Naraku grinned, showing a full set of teeth that had not been brushed for two years. "Good luck, dog boy, because that Kagome girl and her three companions are driving to the graveyard now."

And InuYasha knew for sure that he was never going to be able to warn the others in time.

On Earth

"InuYasha better thank me for this," Kagome grumbled as Koga casually drove the flashy Lexus down the avenue. Looking at the box closely, the high-school girl fingered a few patterns on the wooden box and threw her head back onto the softest car head rest she'd ever rested her head on. What was InuYasha doing right now? Would that man in her dream really bring InuYasha back? If only she could see his soothing amber-golden orbs again…wait, what was she thinking about? Stupid, romantic thoughts!

"Stop complaining, Kagome. If you'd gotten to know him better and ignore his cocky attitude, he's not at all THAT bad," Sango stood up for her acrobat friend. "Anyways, we're nearly there, so you can get that box ready. Anyways, what if that weirdo in your dream doesn't really bring our hanyou back? What if he's a maniac who wants to rule the world?"

"Those are risks we'll have to take," Koga replied, never taking his eyes off the road ahead. "Anyways, Kagome, even if the mutt doesn't come back to life, there's still me!" there was a small hint of hope in the last part of the demon's sentence.

Kagome frowned slightly. "In your dreams, wolf boy. There'll be no such thing happening."

The whole car was silent for a moment. Then-

"GAAK!" I've forgotten to put my eye-liner on!" Kikyo looked at her mini-mirror, wide-eyed.

"Kikyo, that's a stupid thing to worry about right now! Why would you wear eye-liner to a graveyard anyways? You are so totally useless!" Sango finally snapped. She had lost it all.

The worried high-school girl pouted. "Chinese Taoist priests say that eye-liner stops the evil spirits or ghosts from enchanting you."

Kagome sweat-dropped. "You can only prevent that if you put your underwear on your head. You ARE rather useless, my friend."

But the future (by about ten to fifteen minutes) would prove Kagome and Sango wrong.

"Well, here we are," Koga said, nervous that Sango would make some sarcastic remark about his statement.

"Of course we're here. No, we're in a New York pub right now," the performer said sardonically, glaring at her fellow peer. "Kagome, let's open up that box. I'm raring to see InuYasha again. And Kikyo, bring InuYasha's body over here."

"Roger, Sango," Kagome gave Sango a playful wink (which annoyed Sango) and opened the box without hesitation. A dung-coloured ray of light shone from the box, and a tiny orb flickered around, showing that the man's soul was searching for its true body. Finally, an ugly, gnarled hand thrust out of the soil/grass and groped around, looking for something to hold onto. Finally, the man in Kagome's dreams appeared. He wore ragged clothes, and his black, long unkempt hair hung in one huge mess. Grinning at the three people, the man said, "Too bad, the InuYasha baka I was about to bring back to life isn't going to come. I'm not bringing him back; he's my rival. Now, if you'll grant me some time to be truly alive, for I'm still half dead-"

"What-how dare you! Go back down to hell and retrieve InuYasha's soul! If you don't, I'll…I'll force you back down there!" Kikyo threatened.

"And how will you force me back?" the man coolly looked at the fuming teenager. He wasn't cowed by someone who wasn't even his equal.

"Like this! And this!" as if in a flash, Kikyo's foot came out of nowhere. As the man was still crouched on the ground, the teenager stomped down forcefully and forced the man back into his grave with her foot. All Kagome, Sango and Koga could do was to stare in amazement as their raging friend literally stomped the unfortunate Naraku back to where he originally belonged. "AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU'VE FOUND OUR FRIEND!"

After a pause, there was an outburst of cheering and clapping. "Wow, Kikyo, you really showed that guy!" Kagome whistled and laughed. "Typical you, I love it!"

"You're not useful; you're VERY USEFUL!" Sango laughed a tingly, happy feeling in her stomach. "If only I had a camera!"

Koga grinned happily at Kikyo. So maybe she wasn't a sadistic psychotic woman. Maybe Kikyo was full of fun, too, just that she hardly showed it.

Back in Hell

"Back so soon?" InuYasha asked teasingly as he watched his old rival sink back down. Naraku's already tattered clothes were covered in muddy footprints. He had really deserved what he asked for. InuYasha could guess what had happened.

"Which girl stomped you back into your grave?" the hanyou asked. "The one with her hair in a ponytail (Sango), the one who was calm most of the time (supposedly Kikyo) or the one who was really feisty and angry (supposedly Kagome)?"

"The stupid, feisty one," Naraku replied before covering his mouth. He wasn't supposed to say such things to InuYasha. Then the ungrateful idiot would have something to laugh about.

I always knew Kagome had it in her, InuYasha couldn't help falling into fits of laughter, and Naraku could only watch with rising anger and embarrassment. Finally, when he couldn't take the unstoppable peals of laughter, Naraku said, "Fine, I will take you up with me, dog boy, but don't think that we'll never see each other again." And beckoning for the hanyou to follow him, the evil Naraku flew back to earth again.

Up on Earth

For the second time that day, Kagome and her friends watched the 'great' Naraku rise up from his grave, but this time bringing InuYasha's soul (a red orb, as the hanyou had done so much laughing) with him. Relieved that the man had brought InuYasha back this time, Kikyo held out the supposedly dead acrobat's body, and Naraku inserted the soul into its body's mouth. When InuYasha had woken up and seen Naraku, he immediately growled.

"Remember, half-breed that we'll meet again-with me the Shikon Jewel and the ruler of the world!" Naraku smirked before flying off, using his poisonous powers to propel him into the sky.

When Naraku had gone, the hanyou felt his muscles relax. Grinning, he turned to all four of his friends. "Good on you Kagome that you forced him back down with your foot. I hate Naraku's guts out."

"Actually, it wasn't me, it was Kikyo," Kagome said coolly, and giggled.

InuYasha stared in shock at Kikyo, who was busy filing her nails. The quiet and calm one-stomping his greatest enemy back into his grave? Unbelievable!

"So anyways, who IS this Naraku guy? Have you found out his ambitions?" Sango queried.

"Yeah, but there's no time to tell you now. I just want a nice shower back in the hotel room and some time to rest. The way you were jolting my body in the car was enough to make one barf," InuYasha said, feeling his new leg. Gosh, it was good to be back in a body without a broken leg.

A/N: Another chapter done! Yay! (punches the air in triumph) Please review, I've been slaving away for so hard at these two chapters!