I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.

"speech"

'thoughts'

Flashbacks are labeled and italicized

Chapter 1: The Curse

Naraku shoots out one of his tentacles toward Sesshoumaru, cutting through the air like a sharp blade. Sesshoumaru ducks low, barely escaping the tentacles with a few silver strands of clipped hair. Sesshoumaru unsheathes Tokijin, swipes it to the side of his body in a flash, and sprints toward Naraku, appearing as a blur. Sesshoumaru zigzagged behind trees, fazing in and out, while managing to hack off the many tentacles that Naraku lashes out. Suddenly, Naraku's tentacle makes a quick swipe at Sesshoumaru's right side, but Sesshoumaru leaps over it, and slashes off seven of Narakus' tentacles, clearing his way toward his final destination. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru couldn't react quickly enough as Naraku's eighth tentacle plunges through Sesshoumaru's left abdomen from behind, piercing through his flesh. Sesshoumaru's body slams against a nearby tree with Tokijin still in hand. Warm crimson blood soaks through the forest green grass, where Sesshoumaru's figure rests. Sesshoumaru winced slightly, his eyelids slowly drooping, causing a smirk to spread across Naraku's lips.

Whahaha, "Well, well, well, even the Great Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands concedes to pain."

Sesshoumaru lifts up his head, amber orbs glared intensely at Naraku, while supporting his bleeding body with his right elbow. A barely audible growl escaped Sesshoumarus' lips, but not a word was uttered.

"Don't worry, Lord Sesshoumaru, I don't intend to absorb you without having my share of fun first. Hmmm…let's see, I can't kill your love ones to put you in despair for you hold no such emotions. What to do now? Ah yes, I recently discovered this and you shall be my first test?"

Naraku's laughter echoed throughout the forest, alarming the birds nesting in a tree. In an instant, birds flew toward the sky, leaving only Sesshoumaru at Naraku's mercy. Naraku's figure immediately glowed with a mucky purplish aura. His eyes dropped shut and his voice whistled through the breeze, chanting, "when night time falls, he who lacks affection shall return to that form in which he was born, his power will give rise to the placer of the curse, and until a maidens' tears of love awaken this lost soul, the moon bleeding crimson will seal his fate upon this moonlit curse."

Sesshoumaru's form radiates a violet outline of aura, causing his bone structure to crackle and rearrange itself. Where a crescent moon symbol rested previously, now a full moon shape occupies that area on his forehead. His frame now lay subconsciously on the forest green, cotton-light grass with dried fragments of maroon tangled in his fur.

Naraku glides behind the dark, depth of the forest inside his baboon pelt, and whispered, "We will meet again."

Kagome

Kagome clinches her fist tight, arms held stiffly on both sides, stomping farther away from the camp group and deeper into the forest. "Inuyasha is so infuriating."

Flashback:

A ten feet tall, milky white-scaled snake with ruby red eyes and sharp fangs oozing with lime green, acidic venom attacked the gang. "Giveee meee theee sssshhhikon ssshhhardsssss."

Inuyasha snorted, "Keh! You have to get pass me first."

Kagome squinted her eyes and saw a faintly glow of mucky purple in the center of the snake's forehead. "Inuyasha, the snake has a shikon shard in the middle of its forehead."

"Gotcha!" Inuyasha drew out his Tetsaiga and dashed toward the demon snake, yelling, "Wind Scar."

However, the snake turned around before Inuyasha's attack, breaking his stance and whipped Inuyasha to the right, making him collide with a tree trunk with a thump, probably with a few broken ribs as well. Inuyasha cursed under his breath, "Kuso."

Kagome ran to the left unnoticed, bow held in hand and arrow launched straight toward the faint glow on the snake's forehead. "Bull's eye." A pink light erupted from within the snake, forcing it to howl in pain and whipping its tail in random directions. The ground collapsed beneath her as stones flew upward, forcing Kagome off balance "Kagome!" Inuyasha jumped from stone to stone, making his way toward Kagome; picking up her in his arms, he leapt out of the snake's crater. Inuyasha set Kagome on the ground and once the earthquake stopped and the ground stilled, she ran toward the demon snake's corpse and retrieved the shikon shard; a pink glow surrounded the shard, instantly purifying it.

"Are you okay, Kagome?" Sango asked.

Miroku followed suit and asked. "Yes, are you alright, Lady Kagome?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you all for caring."

"Yeah right, if I wasn't there to save your butt, you'd be dead by now. I could have handled the snake, so why did you have to be stupid and try to shoot it?"

"Inuyasha, all I was trying to do was help, is that wrong?"

"Of course it is! You ran into danger, knowing you could get hurt and I always end up saving you."

"Inuyasha, I know you ca…"

"If it was Kikyou, she would have been able to handle herself. If you can't take care of yourself, then just let me handle the fighting. You were only in the way."

Kagome clinched her jaws tight, her head bowed, her hair shielding her eyes. Fists grasped tightly until her knuckles whitened. "Inuyasha!"

"Uh, oh," the group mumbled

"SIT!"

End of Flashback

"All he ever does is make me angry, would it hurt him to be nice to me for five minutes. Kikyou this, Kikyou that. I'm never good enough for him. That jerk!" Ahh…umph! "Stupid Inuyasha, making me angry and storm off, tripping over this stupid tree root that was sticking up above the ground." "Arrrg, now I scrapped my knees, and it's all Inuyasha's fault."

I stood up and dusted dirt off my uniform, but when I glanced up from my knees, I saw a blob of white up ahead near a huge tree. 'What's that?' I walked closer to inspect it. A cool night breeze blew by, ruffling my raven-colored hair, and I caught a whiff of mud and mint pine mixed with a coppery smell. I am no demon, but I could recognize that smell anywhere. I wanted to turn around and trace my steps back toward the group; however, my legs acted on impulse, inching closer toward the white object, my heart pounding against my chest, hoping that it's not dead. I know it could be dangerous, but instinct told me that it needed help. I gasp, my breath caught in my throat as I realize what it is. 'T-That is a…'

This is my first fanfiction story, so please read and review. Good? Bad? Need improvement? Just let me know.

MiaHime