Here I am again. I decided to update again early because the last chapter was pretty short. Okay, I know that all of you people are really disappointed that I broke Inuyasha and Kagome up. . . PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! What's a good story without something to shake things up huh? I really didn't have it planned, but my characters kind of got in the way and decided that they wanted things their way. Now Naraku's told me that he wants to come back into the picture and out-do Michiko to get rid of Inuyasha and Moyuru once and for all. Here's the beginning of his little scheme. Anyway, you people enjoy and remember to REVIEW!

Mayu Kitsune

Naraku Resurfaces

Moyuru took in a deep breath of air as she followed Inuyasha and the rest of the group on their first jewel shard hunt in the past month. Kagome still hadn't come back by the next day so they had decided to look without her, not wanting to waste anymore time and figuring that Kagome just needed to come back on her own terms. It was quiet without Kagome, a nearly depressing silence had fallen over the group as they continued their travels, barely anyone having spoken at all.

Inuyasha traveled up ahead of the rest while Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara traveled near the middle and Moyuru finally drug up the rear. It wasn't that she was having a hard time keeping up, it was just that she wasn't used to traveling in a group of people. All this time she had struggled just to be invisible, she just didn't quite feel comfortable around people yet. She swallowed hard as she debated over something. She couldn't just isolate herself like this forever!

Moyuru quickened her pace a bit, now walking up with Miroku and Sango. She kept her eyes focused on the ground for a moment before looking up to the monk that walked next to her. She gave him a questioning stare as she noticed him smiling. He had a huge grin on his face!

What's he so happy about all of a sudden? Moyuru wondered.

Sango seemed to notice the same thing, "Miroku?" she said questioningly.

"Nani?" he prompted, looking to her now.

"What are you smiling so big about?" she asked, she looked confused about it.

"Didn't you notice? It seems as though Moyuru has finally decided to join us." the monk replied.

"Oh." Sango said as she seemed to get it now, noticing Moyuru walking on the other side of him. "It's good to see you've finally come around." the demon exterminator commented with a smile.

Moyuru managed a small smile back, "Finally." she said, still soft-spoken and shy. Moyuru suddenly froze, that wasn't what she thought it was was it? There was definitely something rubbing against her rear. "Lecher!" Moyuru growled, another voice saying the same thing as her hand came across one of the monk's cheeks.

Apparently he had been doing the same to Sango. No wonder he was so happy, he had two pretty girls with him, one traveling on each side. Now he had two bright red handprints on his face. One on each cheek.

He got up, brushing himself off, "I don't know which one hits harder." he mused aloud.

"Would you like another hit so you can judge?" Sango prompted heatedly.

"I suppose that means he gets another hit from me as well." Moyuru stated, her fists clenched.

Shippo and Kirara simply stood off to the side, "He's got himself in way over his head this time." Shippo commented. Kirara just mewed once, seeming to be in agreement with him.

"Now ladies! Don't be rash!" Miroku cried, trying in vein to save himself from the beating he was just about to recieve.

Moyuru went rigid all of a sudden her eyes scanning the area. Something was wrong, she had caught a forboding scent.

"Moyuru? What is it?" Sango questioned.

Moyuru didn't seem to have heard her, "Where's Inuyasha?" she asked quickly, her eyes still searching the forest around them.

"It looks like he didn't wait on us." Miroku stated.

Oh no! Moyuru thought as she darted off. That scent she had caught, it was the smell of blood that had caused her to freeze like that. It was the scent of Inuyasha's blood! What had happened to him? She hadn't heard anything! How could anything attack him without making so much as a sound?

She stopped as she came to a point in the road, her eyes widening. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at the sight in front of her. NO! her mind screamed.

There on the trail in front of her lay Inuyasha's motionless form, his neck looking as though someone had taken a large chunk out of it. The ground around him was stained crimson with his blood, the thick liquid creating a puddle around him.

Moyuru's head snapped in the direction of rustling in the underbrush near her, but all her eyes managed to catch was a flash of a dark, nearly black, purple. She looked back to Inuyasha as she heard him moan. He was still alive!

She began forward but a sudden pain shot down her leg. She cried out as she looked down to the appendage. What was wrong with it? Why did it hurt so bad? It felt as though she had a deep cut there, but there wasn't a wound.

The scenery around her abruptly began to change. It changed from the green forest and blue skies to the ghastly scene of Naraku's castle. She was right in the middle of the courtyard.

"We finally finish this, Moyuru." a voice taunted. Moyuru paled. She knew that voice, it was Naraku!

She looked in the direction of the voice and as she had guessed, there stood none other than Naraku himself, his lips twisted in a sadistic smirk. Moyuru's eyes went wide as what looked like tentacles shot forth from him.

She had no sooner pulled out her weapons to fight back than her wrists and ankles where caught. What the hell? she thought. Another tentacle wrapped itself around her neck and another around her waist.

"No!" she screamed, "Let me go!"

Naraku only smirked wider as he began to draw her in, "Don't worry Moyuru, it'll all be over soon. Soon you won't have to deal with the pain of this world anymore."

"No!" she cried again, struggling violently, her eyes clenched shut as she didn't want to see what was coming next.

"Moyuru." a voice suddenly said softly.

The hanyou paused at the sound of her name, who was calling her?

"Moyuru." the voice said again.

She felt pressure on her shoulder and her eyes shot open. She sat straight up, her eyes scanning her surroundings. She wasn't at the castle anymore. Her gaze searched a moment longer before resting on the figure kneeling next to her. It was Inuyasha! Without even thinking she immedately latched onto him, holding back tears as she forced herself to calm down.

Inuyasha had fallen backwards as she jumped into him, he now looked beyond confused. What was her problem? "Moyuru? What's wrong?" he questioned as he looked to her in confusion.

She blushed at bit, "A. . . a nightmare." she replied quietly. Inuyasha seemed to understand now as he put his arms around her. It must've been one hell of a nightmare! She was shaking!

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, trying not to wake everyone else.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied, finally able to calm herself once she seemed to register that Inuyasha was indeed alive and not lying in a pool of his own blood. That dream was horrible! It wasn't like the dreams she had had before. All of the others had been of things that had happened to her in the past or things that she was worried about. No, this dream had been just too vivid for her liking.

She pulled away from Inuyasha after she had calmed down enough. Looking around, she noted that it was early morning, the sun was just about to rise. She knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after this one. She stood, beginning off in the direction of the fallow field. "I guess I should get up now." she said quietly with a sigh.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha questioned.

"Not far, I'm just going to clear my head, practice a little." she replied.

The inu hanyou just nodded once, confirming that he had heard her. She turned and began off.

Once she had gotten there, she picked out a spot and sat down cross-legged. That nightmare had really troubled her and she just had to get her mind off of it. She sat with her back straight and her eyes closed as she tried to clear her mind. Focus only on your routine. she said to herself as she seemed to gain her focus and stood up.

She began her routine with small things first as her brother had taught her, eventually working her way up to more advanced things. Seiya hadn't been sloppy in training her, sparing no lesson. He had made the routine up for her to do every day and she would get up and practice every morning.

Her movements started off stiff at first but soon moved to being more fluid. She messed up a few times, always getting back into focus before starting back where she had flawed.

Soon came the finale, a series of the most difficult moves Seiya had ever taught her. Kicks, flips, everything. She fell a few times, muttering a curse before getting back up again and trying again. Seiya had always made this look so easy!

She finally got the big finish right, showing off an impressive amount of flexibility and agility. Though it was still not perfect, it would have to do for now. The routine did get easier every time she did it, that was the way Seiya had meant for it to be. It was supposed to help her sharpen her skills when he couldn't get to her to teach her. Now he could never be there to teach her. This was all she had left to go by.

She ended on one knee, holding the position for a few moments before straightening and letting out a heavy sigh. She wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. How had he always made it look so effortless?

She headed to a nearby stream for a drink. She had to get back to doing that routine more. It had been nearly a month since she had even thought about it. She needed to sharpen her skills now more than ever. Seiya had been teaching her so that she wouldn't be defenseless if she ever had to deal without him. He was so selfless and caring, she missed him so much.

She cupped her hands in the water of the stream before lifting them back to her lips and drinking the cool liquid down. Her ears twitched and she went still as she heard someone behind her.

"I have to say, now I see why Naraku believed you could defeat Inuyasha."

Moyuru recognized that voice. She turned, her hands near her weapons. Kagura stood not too far off, leaning against one of the trees.

"You. . . you work for Naraku. What are you doing here?" Moyuru demanded, trying to keep cool. Naraku had been in her nightmare and now, right after, he had decided to show up again. Even though he hadn't shown up in person, the happenings still unnerved her.

"You have something Naraku wants back," Kagura stated, "and he's sent me to get them."

"If you think I'm just going to hand the shards over to you then you're sorely mistaken." Moyuru growled.

Kagura shot her a dirty look, she really was not in the mood to deal with this hanyou's stubborness, "Look here you little bitch, why don't you just make things easier on yourself and hand them over!" the wind sorceress snapped.

Moyuru glared right back at her, not at all liking the name Kagura had called her. "I don't think so."

"Fine then, we'll do things the hard way." Kagura stated moodily as she allowed her fan to unfold, "I need to vent some frustration anyway

A fan? What good is she going to do with that? Moyuru thought as she took a stance. She wasn't quite sure what Kagura was capable of. She remembered how she had introduced herself earlier, "wind sorceress." What were her abilities?

Kagura made the first move, throwing a powerful wind attack the hanyou's way.

Moyuru's eyes widened. What was this? She had never had to fight this before! She barely escaped the attack as it slammed into the ground where she had been standing.

"Stop wasting my time and hold still!" Kagura shouted as she unleashed another attack.

Moyuru was quick to dodge this time, the blades didn't come close to hitting her as they had before. Moyuru began off at a run, trying to get around behind the sorceress and making herself a moving target instead of a sitting duck. If she could get around to the forest behind the sorceress then maybe she could hide and strike her when she didn't expect it.

Kagura wised up to her strategy, throwing an attack a little ahead of Moyuru. She smirked when she heard the hanyou scream. "Hm, now just to get the jewel shards." she said to herself as she waited for the dust to clear.

She gained a shocked expression when she noticed that Moyuru wasn't there. A splotch of blood stained the ground where the hanyou had been standing, but she had obviously gotten away. She still had the jewel shards too. Where had she gone?

Where is that little wench? Kagura thought in frustration. She couldn't have gotten too far, she was apparently injured and, judging by the blood stain on the ground, pretty badly. "Where have you gone off to, half-breed?" Kagura asked to no one as her gaze searched the forest around her.

Moyuru stayed silent in her hiding spot on a tree branch. What chance did she stand now? She had managed to dodge the attack but not quite fast enough to escape injury. One of the blades had caught her leg, tearing deep into the flesh of her thigh and cutting it nearly to the bone! Moyuru couldn't get far enough away from her if she tried to run with this injury. All she could do was hope that the wind sorceress would give up looking for her and leave.

Kagura continued to look around, a bit puzzled as to where Moyuru could have gone and obviously not thinking about looking up. The hanyou just stayed silent, gritting her teeth to hold back a scream as she put pressure on the wound. She trying to keep it from bleeding anymore; she didn't want to bleed to death before Kagura left.

The thick liquid oozed through her fingers as the injury refused to stop bleeding. Who knew that wind could do this! The pain was horrible!

The blood was beginning to drip and Kagura stood directly under her. If the small drop hit the sorceress then it would give her away and there was no way in hell she could dodge another attack in this condition! That would be the end of it!

She tried to use the cloth of her pants to stop it from dripping but it only took a few moments for the cloth to be soaked through. Now a drop looked as though it were beginning to fall. It was going to hit Kagura!

"Moyuru!" A voice called.

Kagura's head snapped in that direction and she let out a frustrated curse. Now that Inuyasha had the ability to use the wind scar whenever he wanted, her wind powers didn't have much effect on him. She would have to leave for now. She had no desire to be blown away by the sword's powerful blast, "Make no mistake, I'll be back for those shards later."

With that the wind sorceress took off.

Moyuru let out a heavy sigh of relief when she had moved just in time to avoid the drop of blood that had fallen from between Moyuru's fingers. The hanyou leaned her head back against the tree trunk looking at the sky before muttering a "thank you". That had been too close.

"Moyuru!" Inuyasha's voice called again. He had caught the scent of her blood and immediately run to find her. He doubted that she was clumsy enough to nearly kill herself while just practicing.

"Inuyasha!" Moyuru shouted in answer to his call. The pain that she was in bled into her voice requiring her to nearly have to force the yell out. Her blood was now steadily dripping as the wound still refused to seal up.

Once Inuyasha had gotten in the area he looked around in confusion, where was she? He could smell her blood, but where had she gone? Moyuru was becoming lightheaded and hadn't even noticed as he wandered under the tree branch she sat on.

She had her eyes clenched shut. So much pain! It was unbearable!

"Moyuru, where are you?" Inuyasha grumbled frustratedly as he looked around. He paused as he felt something warm on his shoulder. He looked to see what is was, surprise obvious on his face when he realized that it was blood.

He stared at the drops of crimson before looking upward, "Moyuru!" he exclaimed as he caught sight of her. He didn't hesitate, leaping up into the tree and landing on the branch in front of her.

Moyuru opened her eyes slowly as she felt the branch move under her.

Inuyasha had knelt down in front of her, "Your leg. . ." he began, looking at it in shock, "Did Naraku do this?"

Moyuru nodded, "He sent Kagura after the jewel shards I have." she answered in a pained voice. Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead and small tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she fought to stay conscious, "I didn't let her have them though."

Inuyasha looked to her worriedly.

So, Naraku had reentered himself into the battle for the jewel shards. He certainly didn't stay gone for long. Now he was attacking Moyuru as well because she had jewel shards. Inuyasha thought for a few more seconds.

Maybe he shouldn't let Moyuru hold onto them if they were putting her in even more danger. He would have to think about this later. Now he had to work on getting Moyuru back to the village to get her injury worked on.

He took hold of both of her arms, "C'mon Moyuru, I can't pick you up like this, you're going to have to stand first."

Moyuru just nodded before trying to push herself up with her good leg, finally standing with Inuyasha's help. Once she was standing she leaned heavily on him, it was obvious the pain she was in. Inuyasha held her there for a second with his arms around her, "Just hang on." he said quietly as he scooped her up, jumping down out of the tree and beginning at a run for the village.

It didn't take long before Moyuru was situated and everyone else in the group had heard about what happened. "So, Naraku's shown back up again." Miroku mused aloud. He didn't seem too happy about it. His thoughts were obviously again with breaking the curse on him.

"We should get moving again, but it looks like that third lead'll have to wait since Moyuru's injured." Sango pointed out.

"No it doesn't, you were supposed to leave today, and I'm not letting this keep me down." Moyuru stated.

"You're suggesting that you travel injured?" Miroku prompted.

Moyuru nodded, "It takes a while to get anywhere so by the time we get to where ever it is we're going I'll be fine. If I stay here then the village may get attacked again."

"Don't be stupid, you can't travel like that. The lead can wait." Inuyasha stated firmly, shoving his hands into his sleeves.

Moyuru sent him a glare, "I'll be fine. I've had worse." she insisted.

Inuyasha didn't know really how to react, he was only being this way because he didn't like her being hurt. Unfortunately, she was much more prone to it than Kagome. He let out an exasperated sigh.

Not much did happen to them on the way to someplace. She did have a point and with Naraku back out there it was imperative that they get to the jewel shards before he did. They couldn't hold the hunt off any longer.

"Fine." Inuyasha said reluctantly after a moment.

Moyuru seemed satisfied by this. The only problem now was the way she would travel. She was sure Inuyasha wouldn't carry her all the way.

Kirara mewed a few times up at Sango who sat petting her. Sango looked down to her, "I don't think Kirara would mind giving you a ride." She mused.

Moyuru gave Inuyasha a triumphant look, "See, I won't be slowing you down at all."

Hmph, damn Inuyasha, always getting in the way. I shouldn't have given up so easily! Kagura thought in frustration as she flew towards Naraku's castle. She was taking her time on getting there, not at all wanting or looking forward to being chewed out for not getting the jewel shards back. There was no doubt that he wouldn't be happy with her. It would have been so much easier if he would just allow me to kill her. It's his own damn fault he if he doesn't get them back.

She clenched her fists, If only I were free! she thought angrily, If he didn't have my life in his hands then I would have killed him and been on my own by now and not running his damned errands! she yelled in her mind. She landed outside his castle before hesitantly entering, dreading the mere sight of him.

"So Kagura, you come back empty-handed." Naraku's voice intoned as she approached the room he seemed to have claimed as his.

"Yeah, so what of it? You wouldn't let me kill the little bitch so I couldn't get the shards from her." Kagura replied moodily, "It's much easier to get something from someone when they're already dead."

"Oh, I have other things planned for her, much greater things." Naraku stated with a smirk. "I'll get the jewel shards back eventually myself, I just would have preferred to have them back sooner."

"What?" Kagura growled, "You sent me out there for nothing?"

"It wouldn't have been so much for nothing if you handn't failed to get the shards." Naraku replied.

Kagura clenched her fists, Damn him. she thought, I will be free of him one day, then he can do all his damn dirty work himself.

"Did you injure her?" Naraku asked all of a sudden, snapping Kagura from her thoughts.

"Yes, I did. I suppose you didn't want me to do that either?" she said sharply.

"Things are going well then. That was the half of the purpose of sending you after the shards. Kagura, meet another part of my plan, your younger sister." Naraku stated as someone stepped forth from the shadows.

So, did I scare you people with the dream sequence? I know that was a cruel thing to do, but that's what I'm supposed to do as an author. Write an good story and keep you people guessing what I'm going to do next. It's called suspense.

I still have to figure out how to finish this whole story off. I'll probably end up with a sequel before too long. Anyway . . . I also want to bring Seiya back! I really did like him, he was nice. If you people have any ideas on how to do that, then that would help! (You know, just an interesting little fact. When I made Seiya up, I made him up to be everything I wanted in a guy. Tall, dark, handsome, considerate, tough when he needs to be. . . . -dreamny sigh- But now he's dead. . . . and I don't want to leave him that way. Suggestions are nice!

Anyway, now for a preview of the next chapter.

PREVIEW!

Chapter 22: Foresight.

What happens when Moyuru begins to recognize some of the happenings around her because of her dream? Will she open up and tell Inuyasha and the rest of the gang or will she just brush it off? Are these happenings a coincidence or are they fate? Find out!

Reviews are appreciated!

Mayu Kitsune