The Blood I Shed for You

Disclaimer: Considering I am posting this story on a site called fanfiction.net, one would assume that it is exactly that, a fanfic. One would also assume any writers on this site would be immune to lawsuits in any way, shape, or form. Though, this may not be the case, and I do not wish to trustingly leave myself in the hand of another. I hereby announce I have no ownership of the Inuyasha series, manga, and movie. Ownership and all rights go to Rumiko Takahashi. I write any and all stories merely for entertainment of others, and myself. I receive no money for my efforts. Any original characters I may or may not use in any of my stories are of my own making, and though none of them may be protected as mine by law and I will have no power should someone decide to use one, I do appreciate permission, first.

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Inuyasha swung, the bright light of the Tetsusaiga filling the air as it destroyed everything in its path. When the light, dust, and smoke cleared there was no sight of the strange youkai. He stood ready for a few more minutes, but when no attack was made he scoffed and sheathed Tetsusaiga.

"That bastard was all talk." He proclaimed as the group began to approach.

"I'm not so sure, Inuyasha." Miroku said, thoughtfully as the group continued on to their destination, this time with Kagome riding Kirara.

"What are you talking about, stupid?" Inuyasha said, indignantly.

"Well. . . even though we were all prepared for an attack, this youkai managed to slip into the very center of our defenses with out being noticed."

"So. . .?" Inuyasha said, smugly.

"And even managed to get a hold of the Shikon shards before anyone even realized they were gone…" Miroku continued.

"Whose fault is that?" Inuyasha huffed.

Miroku continued before anything else could be said on anyone's part. "And being a youkai, it was odd that this one wanted nothing to do with the Shikon shards."

Sango looked at Miroku with a look in her eyes that showed she was truly processing this information for the first time.

"So you are saying that the youkai didn't want the Shikon shards, because it was already powerful enough on its own?"

Miroku nodded. It was at that moment Sango chose to bash him across the head.

"Again, let me remind you to mind your wandering hands, houshi."

Miroku managed a charming smile as he nursed the forming lump on his head. "It was worth it."

Inuyasha snorted. "It doesn't matter how powerful it was. It was no match for Tetsusaiga!"

"We can't be too sure, Inuyasha." Miroku chided.

"I don't see anything left, do you?" Inuyasha asked haughtily.

Miroku paused. ". . .No. I suppose not." Then fell silent.

They continued in silence for a while before Inuyasha looked back at Kagome. He couldn't help a small smile as he saw her, sleeping peacefully on Kirara with Shippo snug under her arm, also sleeping. Sango, and even Miroku, followed his gaze and couldn't help a smile, either. Kirara had noticed when they began falling asleep and tried to walk as smoothly as demonically possible. Inuyasha's smile slowly faded as he jumped beside Kirara, gingerly took Kagome's ankle in his hand, and began examining it. He frowned deeply as he saw how swollen and bruised it was. He knew it obviously hurt a lot, and was surprised she had been walking on it as long as she did. She never even complained as she walked for a good 3 miles with an ankle like that. He took more of her appearance in as he realized she had also been carrying her heavy pack and even Shippo. He would remember to yell at and beat on Shippo later for it. Right now, he had others to confront.

"Miroku." He said, looking quite agitated. "How could you let Kagome carry such a heavy sac? Lazy monk."

"You are just as capable as I. Lazy hanyou." Miroku retorted.

Inuyasha looked as if a bug had just flown down his throat as he searched for words.

"I didn't know her ankle was hurt that badly!" He defended.

"Shhh. You'll wake Kagome." Sango whispered.

They both silenced, realizing Sango was right. They would finish this later.

They continued walking, growing steadily closer to the Inuyasha forest. Inuyasha couldn't help but notice Sango and Miroku's footsteps had grown tired. He realized he could use a rest, too, though he'd never admit it. He led them into the shade of a fairly large tree and stopped.

"We'll rest here for now."

They all looked like they could use a rest. Even Kirara looked ready to settle down for a nice catnap, so Inuyasha walked over and gently lifted Kagome and Shippo off her back, careful not to wake either. Kirara transformed back into her smaller form and trotted off to lie in Sango's lap, who was relaxing with her back against the shady tree. Inuyasha walked over, Kagome in hand, and was about to set her down when he realized that the second he set her on the hard ground, she'd wake up. He couldn't put her in Sango's lap, Kirara was there, and there was no way in hell he was going to leave Kagome with Miroku. He half moaned, half growled in frustration as he slowly sat, letting Kagome and Shippo continue their nap in his lap. As embarrassing as the situation was, he had to admit it was kind of nice. Kagome smelled so nice and felt so snug sitting in his lap. Shippo even looked kind of cute sleeping in his arms like that, not that he'd ever tell anyone else that he thought the little snot was even remotely cute. His current thoughts were amplified as Kagome sighed in her sleep and snuggled into his chest and Shippo whimpered in his sleep from the movement. Inuyasha protectively draped his arms over both of them, thinking that they weren't so bad while they were sleeping. Inuyasha noticed Miroku open his mouth to say something perverted no doubt.

"Shut it, houshi."

Miroku said nothing, but continued to grin. Inuyasha watched as Sango's blinks became longer as her lids seemed to grow heavier each time until they remained closed. He felt the same heaviness come over his own eyelids as he drifted off to sleep between her and Miroku, Kagome and Shippo content in his arms. Miroku was the last to doze off a while later, the sound of Kirara's purring slowly fading as she, too, slipped into a deep sleep.

The forest was serene as the Inu-gang slept peacefully beneath the shade of a tree. The birds chirped in the mid-day sun, and for once. . . not a thing in the world was wrong.