Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Chapter Twelve
Inuyasha and Naraku: The Third Attempt
Inuyasha woke up, lazily. He was aware of the slight ache of his body, despite the healed wounds. More than anything it was the ache in his left shoulder that caused him pain. Experimentally, Inuyasha sat up and stretched. He could move, albeit slowly, but his left arm felt useless. Blinking, he looked around the room.
Kagome was gone, as was her family. Judging by the light outside it was around noon. With a great sigh, Inuyasha heaved himself out of the bed, and struggled to what Kagome had called the bathroom. Once finished, he washed his hands as Kagome had showed him, and wandered back into the sleeping room. His nose twitched as his stomach rumbled. He eyed the giant pile of ramen in the corner of the room.
Five cups of ramen later, Inuyasha was starting to feel full. Thank goodness he had watched Kagome boil water. With these immediate needs satisfied, Inuyasha finally sat down in the chair Kagome usually frequented. It was surprisingly comfortable. Inuyasha bounced up and down a few times, before settling in. His mind began to wander.
Kikyou had died, he was sure of it. He had died; this he was also sure of. It seemed that, because of that, there was truth to Kagome's reincarnation theory. Inuyasha felt a pang of sadness thinking of Kikyou, and briefly wondered when he had gotten so emotional. Things were weird here. He had quickly opened up to Kagome, something that was unlike him. His emotions, normally only strong on his human nights, ran rampant. Plus he had that dull aching pain all throughout his body...
He wondered about the creature...Naraku, Kagome had said his name was. Surely there was a connection there? Had Kikyou been with another man? But this was a demon... Strangely then, Inuyasha thought of his brother. Had Sesshoumaru survived? Was he still here, even though humans had taken over? Another pang of sadness filled Inuyasha, and he felt irritated by it. Why should he care what happened to his brother anyway?
Standing up as quickly as possible, Inuyasha strode out of the room, down the stairs, and through the front door. He blinked in the sunlight before heading over to a tree he knew very well. A sad smile graced his face as he faced the God Tree.
"Feeling a bit glum, Inuyasha?" At the sound of the silky voice, Inuyasha spun around, albeit painfully. A well dressed man stood there, clothed in loose purple and black. Dark curly hair cascaded down his back. Most importantly, red eyes glowed from the pale face.
"Naraku!" Inuyasha hissed.
"Indeed," the man remarked, almost casually. "Thinking about Kikyou?"
"How did you know her?" Anger was starting to creep into Inuyasha, filling his mind.
"I know her better than you ever did." Naraku smirked at the effect that comment had on the hanyou before him.
"You killed us both!" Inuyasha snapped. "Why am I here?"
"For my own cruel desires," came the simple response. Before Inuyasha had time to react, tentacles burst from the ground, and Inuyasha had a very vivid image of what happened to him when he was killed.
"NO!" yelled Kagome, appearing running up the stairs to her shrine. Takumi was following, phoning his uncle. Naraku turned his red eyes upon them. His eyes narrowed as he saw Kagome fiddling with a bracelet she was wearing.
"Inuyasha, here!" Kagome ran straight into the fray, with Takumi shouting for her to stay back. Inuyasha dazedly watched her form run towards him, and he saw Naraku preparing to strike. She threw something at him just before the attack. Inuyasha caught it just as Naraku attacked her. Before he could even look at it, an enormous amount of energy shot through him and his hand started to glow. Within seconds, a battered sword appeared in his hand. And when he looked up, stunned, he saw Kagome almost crushed by Naraku. Takumi was rushing in with a sheath, attempting to drive back the creature. Without warning, the sword suddenly transformed, and Inuyasha gaped at the beautiful creation he now held.
"Would you attack him already!" Takumi shouted out, startling Inuyasha out of his daze. The hanyou leapt up.
"Prepare to die, Naraku," he snarled. Swinging the sword wildly, he attacked, against the protest of his aching body. Hacking away at the tentacles, all three watched in shock as Naraku regenerated himself.
"What now?" Inuyasha asked.
"I don't know," Takumi whispered. "I hope my uncle gets here soon."
"You told someone to come?" Inuyasha snapped.
"I think you might know him well," Takumi suggested, a gleam in his eye.
"I just hope he gets here soon," Kagome interrupted, disturbed by watching Takumi and Inuyasha acting so alike.
"Speak of the devil," a smooth voice interrupted. A flash of white shot by, attacking Naraku. Inuyasha watched in a daze, recognizing his brother. He couldn't figure out what his brother was doing, however. As far as he remembered, Sesshoumaru had never once tried to protect him. He mentally added it as one of those strange things that went on here.
"Go Sesshoumaru!" Kagome cheered, not noticing the dirty look Inuyasha gave her. Sesshoumaru really was defeating Naraku, who was wasting fighting time by regenerating. Finally the red eyed beast seemed to have enough.
"Don't worry, I'll be back to finish you off!" And then he simply seemed to vanish. Shesshoumaru turned towards the three beings facing him, but his red-laced eyes only looked at one.
"Hello little brother."
Author's Notes: And so, the brothers meet! Hehehe, what will Inuyasha do now?
