Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story, except the plot. I hope….

Whoa! I can't believe that it's been 2 years since I wrote this. I'm sorry I made everyone wait to finish this story, I just…forgot about it…so, here's the next chapter, finally. Oh, and by the way, I have a new story out called "Love, Betrayal, and Ramen" if you anyone would like to read.

Chapter four: The Curse's Pain

Naraku stepped into the hut, his eyes glowing with malice. Kagome gasped and hid behind Kaede. Shippo yelped and began to run in circles around the blazing fire. Pretty much everyone in the room was in shock. Naraku just grinned at the chaos, and took another step closer to Kagome, who winced, as if she was being whipped by a chain.

"I guess it wasn't so hard to find you after all, Kagome." Naraku said with a deep voice, "I would like you to come with me to my castle for awhile, and discuss a few matters."

Kagome gulped, "No way in hell, am I coming with you!" she shouted out with confidence.

Naraku laughed, "you cant' fight me! What are you going to do about it?"

Kagome thought. Her first thought was Inuyasha. He would come, right?
Naraku chuckled. He had read Kagome's thoughts, "he will not come. He will, hopefully, be killed tonight by my new reincarnation."

New reincarnation? Kagome thought, stressed. Shippo, on the other hand, did not believe Naraku's words.

"I'm sure that Inuyasha is more than capable of taking down anything you send out!" Shippo said with strength in his voice.

Kagome kicked him and told him to ssh! She didn't want Shippo to get hurt too.

"Fine." Kagome finally said after coming to a conclusion about the situation, "I'll come with you, as long as you don't hurt Shippo and Kaede. Also," she said, "call off your demon pal, and let Inuyasha and the others go!'

Naraku frowned, "you put up a hard bargain." He said. He stood there for awhile considering. Would Naraku actually give in to something so lame?

"I agree." Naraku said into the silence. Kaede and Shippo gasped. Naraku will actually accept Kagome's offer?

Kagome stood up and walked over to him, "so you won't hurt anyone?" she asked tentatively.

Naraku smiled and nodded, "maybe you." He said and he grabbed her. Kagome screamed as Naraku took off into the night.

"Kagome!" Shippo and Kaede called, but it was too late. Naraku and Kagome were nowhere to be seen.

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Inuyasha tightened his hold on tetsusaiga. Nahiro was sending off very powerful waves of energy. Maybe this demon really was strong after all.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku called out, "what are you going to do?"

Inuyasha raised up his tetsusaiga and replied, "I'm going to kill him." And he swung his sword. Without warning, a weird whistle sounded off into the distance. It was Naraku's call. Nahiro froze, and did not move. It was the perfect opportunity for Inuyasha.

"Wind scar!" he bellowed and sliced the demon in two. As the demon fell apart, something unexpected came out. It was the jewel of four souls. Well, most of it, but not all, seeing as there was only 3 shards left. Inuyasha landed on the ground gracefully and put his sword in the sheath. He walked over to the dead demon and tapped it with his foot. It truly seemed that the demon was dead. Inuyasha bent down, and picked up the jewel. He could feel the power emanate from it, as he held it in his hand.

"I can't believe that happened." Sango said, walking toward InuYasha, "I can't believe that demon froze like that, and it actually had Naraku's jewel fragment."

"I guess we lucked out." Miroku said smiling, "now we only need three more shards. Then think about what we can do!"

Inuyasha nodded. He was already thinking about that. With the shikon jewel, he could protect Kagome.

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Naraku took Kagome to his secret castle off into the mountains. As they rushed there, Naraku had knocked Kagome out cold. He was getting tired of hearing her scream. But as they arrived at the castle, Kagome was waking up.

"Inu…Yasha?" she whispered, looking around.

Naraku smirked, "not quite…" he replied throwing her in a cell and locking the door, "I'm afraid you may never see him again…" and he left.

Kagome began to cry silently in her little space. She didn't know what to do, and she felt pain jolt through her body every now and then. She had no idea what was going on. Footsteps sounded down the hall, and Kagome got her hopes up. She was wishing with all her heart that the footsteps would belong to Inuyasha, but they didn't. It was Kagura.

"Kagura?" Kagome asked the approaching figure.

Kagura nodded and knelt down beside the cage door, so she would be the same height as Kagome, since she was sitting down.

"I have good news for you." Kagura said through the bars, "Inuyasha and your friends have gotten hold of the jewel shard fragment that was Naraku's."

Kagome jumped up, and leaned against the wall, "what? Why are you telling me this?"

Kagura stood up too, and looked Kagome in the eye, "it's because I'm on your side. I have no desire to be with Naraku anymore, yet this is the only place I have. I will help you get out, if you help me break my bond with Naraku. Do we have a deal?" she asked.

Kagome thought about the suggestion. Should she? Kagome fell to the ground in pain. Why was she in so much pain?

"Something wrong?" Kagura asked, "I can get you something if you like. That is," she added, "if your in the deal."

Kagome opened her wet eyes and nodded. "I think I heard Kaede say that I had some kind of pain curse placed upon me." She finally said, the pain subsiding, "anything you can do?"

Kagura thought about it and nodded, "it was one of those curses that priestess Kikyo used to use on Naraku. I can find a cure and help you."

"That would be great." Kagome replied, as another wave of pain struck her.

Kagura left and quickly went in search of a cure. Kagome, however, was confused. When Kikyo died before, did she curse me? Kagome asked herself. If that was the case, then there was nothing that could be done, right? Unless…

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"Kikyo is back to life? Again?" Naraku asked Kanna, as he gazed into her mirror, "how is that possible?"

Kanna shrugged and left the room. Naraku was in a bitter mood. How could Kikyo come back to life? And then, to top it off, his new reincarnation was dead, and his jewel fragments were taken. Kagura entered the room and woke Naraku up from his thoughts.

"Naraku." Kagura said, "would you happen to know a cure for a pain curse?"

Naraku whipped his head around to face her, "why would you like to know?"

"Well," Kagura started pacing around the room and holding her fan, "it seems that Kagome had one placed upon her recently, and she needs the help. Didn't you want to kill her in front of InuYasha? If this curse was to continue, she could die before he would to arrive…"

Naraku stood up, for he had been sitting on a cushion, "so." He said looking Kagura straight in the eye, "you want me to cure her?"

Kagura said nothing, but stopped pacing.

Naraku frowned, "fine. It will be done, only because I want that stupid half demon to witness her death." And he left. As he walked toward the cell where Kagome was staying, he began to think about what was happening. The curse that was on Kagome, wasn't a pain curse, in fact it was a life-splitting curse. That meant, when someone was going to die, they could place a curse on a certain person, so when the person was to die, they could still live, but then live off of the person with the curse. It was as if, one person was sharing a soul with another. That's why Kagome felt pain. She could feel her soul tearing in two.

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Inuyasha and the others headed back to Kaede's hut in high spirits. Who'd a thought that they would actually get the jewel? Inuyasha was first to enter the hut and came in with a huge smile.

"We got the jewel!" he announced, holding it up. No response came. Inuyasha looked around and saw Kaede and Shippo both looking depressed.

"What's going on?" Sango asked, as she and Miroku entered, "where's Kagome?"

Kaede and Shippo sighed and stood up.

"Kagome was…she was…" Shippo stammered, "she was taken away with Naraku…"

End of Chapter

I know this chapter is short, but bear with me. I'm trying to get my bearings and continue on with the story as I had intended, but the only problem is, I can't remember what's supposed to happen. So, I'm going to change things around a little bit. PLEASE REVIEW