Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha characters!

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Chapter five: A Cure and a Scheme

Naraku continued on his way to Kagome's cell. His head was full of thoughts and schemes. He lost himself so much with in his mind, he accidentally walked headfirst into a wall. He shook his head and looked over to the cell where Kagome was standing. Naraku walked over closer to her, and smiled.

"I hear you need some help." He said, grabbing hold of one of the bars, "and I will give to you, only because if I cure your curse, Kikyo will die."

Kikyo? Kagome thought, I thought Inuyasha had killed her…

Naraku read her thoughts, "Exactly." He said softly, watching Kagome closely, "but she still remains because of you and that curse. If I rid of it, then she will die…."

Kagome gasped. I'm so confused she thought.

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Inuyasha gasped and stood there stunned. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Kagome…" he choked out, "gone…?"

Everyone went silent. Everyone was full of worry and was pale as ghosts. No one knew what to do, and no one knew what would happen. Finally, thunder from outside broke the silence.

"What do you think we should do?" Miroku asked Inuyasha, coming to his senses, "we can't stand here all day!"

Shippo nodded and stopped shaking. Everyone was getting back their game face.

"You said you got the jewel!" Shippo said, ecstatic "If we find the last fragment, then the jewel will be whole again! Then we can save Kagome!"

Inuyasha snapped back to reality. "Yea." he said, his voice getting stronger, "your right! If we find the last shard, we can surely defeat Naraku and get Kagome back!"

"I agree…but." Sango said, "it will be hard with out Kagome telling us where it is…"

Everyone's smiles cascaded down. "We'll just have to use our own judgement." Miroku said at last, keeping his smile in place, "we have to act now, if we are to go hunting."

Nods filled the room and they left. Kaede continued to sit silent and watched the group leave, not knowing what would come.

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Kagome sat down, her mind was reeling. She had no idea what Naraku was talking about. Maybe he was crazy, or under the influence.

"I a sure you I'm not crazy." Naraku said, watching Kagome with evil eyes, "I'm going to cure you and kill Kikyo, once and for all."

Naraku opened the cell door and walked inside slowly. He raised his right hand and it began to glow. His power wasn't as strong as it was before when he had the Jewel, but still strong enough for him to cure a curse. Naraku placed his hand on Kagome's chest and the room burst into color. However, before Naraku's spell was complete, an arrow shot through the room and hit Naraku in the back. Naraku turned and was face to face with Kikyo.

"Kikyo?" Naraku gasped out. Naraku's hand left Kagome's chest, and Kagome was pushed back. The spell was not finished, and Kagome was not cured.

"Nice to see you Naraku…" Kikyo said, holding up her bow with an arrow ready, just in case, "I see you were about to heal Kagome, and kill me off, right?"

Naraku gasped for air. The arrow had pierced his heart, and Naraku was close to death.

"What are you planning Kikyo?" Naraku choked out, leaning against the wall for support.

Kikyo smirked, "I don't think you need to know." And she shot her arrow, once again into his heart. Naraku collapsed on the ground, dead.

Kagome sat stunned. Naraku was dead, after all this time. She didn't know what to think now…

Kikyo bent down and stared Kagome in the face.

"I need you to help me find the last jewel fragment." She said clearly, not blinking, "I seemed to have lost my power when I 'died' and I barely have any strength, seeing as I'm sharing off someone else's soul. However, over time, you too will lose strength and power. But for now, I need you to help me.'

Kagome felt surprised. "Why do you want me to help you?" she said, shaking, "you don't even have the other fragments, so how will one fragment help you?"

Kikyo sighed and stood up, "It's no concern to you. If you don't help me, I will kill you and your soul will belong to me. If you help, you will be spared. So do you except?"

Kagome had no other choice but to nod. Either she helped Kikyo look for a piece of glass, or she was done for. Her and the baby. She had no other options. She just hoped that she might run into Inuyasha on the way…

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Inuyasha and the others looked around them. They were surrounded by desert. Old skeletons and corpses were buried under the sand. Miroku had thought that maybe, a shard could be somewhere around this area. He thought that people and demons had fought here. He thought they had fought over a fragment. So, he figured they might get some clues if they walked around. After hours of walking around in the heat, the group decided to take a break. A hut was nearby and they walked inside. No one was home. Inuyasha sat down in the corner of the room and shut his eyes. He was exhausted. He couldn't stop thinking about Kagome. He afraid she was going to be killed by Naraku. He couldn't bear the thought. He ended up falling asleep and had no idea what scheme's and plots were taking effect at this very moment…

End of Chapter

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