On the morning of the fourth day Sesshomaru left. He gave clear instructions to his mother on where the grave was located. Although he had the feeling she would just follow his old trail.

So began their journey towards Totosai and his forge. At the beginning of the journey they had a lot of ground to cover. So for the most of the day they flew with very few stops.

In the early evening they were making good timing that he stopped and they made camp. Unknown to them, Kenji was on the run from Akane, being the last of his pack as she had wiped the others out.

In the middle of the night Kenji actually almost plowed through Inuyasha's camp. Would have if Inuyasha hadn't sensed him and immediately stopped him.

"Oi! What the hell you doing racing at me and my friends? You were told to leave us alone!" Inuyasha yelled.

"I'm not targeting you! I'm on the run!" Kenji glared as he stopped to breathe.

"Huh?" Inuyasha took in the sight of the demon.

Heavily wounded and bleeding. Suspiciously the attacks reminded him of Sesshomaru's handiwork. Something was off.

"Did my brother do this to you?" He asked warily.

"No. But she looks like him! Actually, she looks like you too. If I didn't watch him bleed out, I would say that bitch is the child born from you two." Kenji explained. "She killed off the rest of my men. She calls herself Akane."

"What does she look like?" Kagome asked.

"As I said, she looks like a mix of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. She carries only one sword. She looks to be about thirteen. Oh, she did mention that if I'm not much of a target, then she hoped Inuyasha and Sesshomaru proved to be a better challenge."

"This...kind of screams Naraku all over it." Miroku frowned.

"You don't think he found the grave, would he?" Kagome asked the others.

"What did she smell like?" Inuyasha didn't like this either.

"Death and graveyard soil."

"Damn it!" He ran passed Kenji to try and locate her, ignoring his friends calling out for him.

Inuyasha had to see for himself. As he followed Kenji's trail he caught wind of the scent. It was just as Kenji described. Death and graveyard soil. He tried to follow it to the source.

She proved to be cunning when the trail disappeared on him. Inuyasha glanced around at his surroundings. There was literally nothing to indicate where she could have gone.

Feeling his anger build up Inuyasha released it. He howled loud enough that the immediate surroundings of the forest heard. Inuyasha raised Tessaiga to slice a huge rock in half like it was nothing.

Unknown to him the display of power frightened Akane enough to let go of Kenji as her current target. And she decided that Inuyasha will be saved for last. However she stuck around to listen just long enough for any indication to find Sesshomaru.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome reached him. "We need to warn Sesshomaru!"

"I know. How many days has it been?" He asked. He had lost count.

"Tomorrow is the sixth day." Miroku had been keeping count.

"Then we have time to make it to him when he reaches Totosai's forge." Kagome grew hopeful.

With the information, Akane disappeared to find information on this Totosai and his forge. Although, some part of her felt some form of recognition in Inuyasha. Something about him was familiar.

She pushed the thoughts aside. Akane was given this chance to avenge those who abandoned and killed her. Inuyasha was one of them. Therefore he was still the enemy.

The next morning Sesshomaru wasn't so much in a hurry that they didn't need to fly. Instead he opted for a slightly fast walk. At some point Jaken had grown tired and climbed onto Ah-Un to join Rin.

Kohaku kept pace with Sesshomaru and lead the two headed dragon. For the most part nothing happened on this day and into the evening. On the sixth morning Sesshomaru sensed that they were being watched.

He glanced around for any indication that his instincts were correct. And yet there was nothing. There was no wind to help him. He couldn't sense any demonic aura.

"Is something wrong?" Kohaku asked, noticing his nervousness.

"...Keep an eye out." Sesshomaru warned, still unsure if he was being paranoid or not.

They made it to the edge of Totosai's choice of home. They didn't even have to venture past the lava cracks when they spotted the blacksmith. He waved to them from his seat.

"It is done. I imagine it might need one more time to reforge, that is if you wish for it." Totosai held the Tenseiga out.

"Only one more?" Sesshomaru grasped the sword to place it where it belonged. He wouldn't admit out loud he missed the weight of it at his hip.

"Yes. I considered to do it, since I finished rather early for the first upgrade. But I figured it would be best to bring it up to you if you wish to make the Meido Zangetsuha more powerful."

"Can it be passed to the Tessaiga instead?" Sesshomaru had a thought.

"Hmm. Maybe? Never tried that before. Transfering an ability from one sword to another. But since these two came from the same demon, it might be possible." Totosai was curious as to why Sesshomaru opted to give Inuyasha this ability at all, but decided not to question it.

"I saw something!" Kohaku yelled. During the exchange he had turned to keep an eye on their surroundings. As soon as Sesshomaru turned, the boy pointed towards the cliffs.

"Stay by Rin!" Sesshomaru ordered both Kohaku and Jaken as he raced towards the cliffs.

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha's voice called out.

His voice caught him off guard, and it came from his left. Sesshomaru stopped to turn to the source, feeling rather annoyed. He caught sight of his brother and his friends racing towards him at full speed.

Suddenly with a great amount of speed someone appeared behind him. His nose was filled with the scent of fresh death and graveyard soil. From the corner of his eye he caught sight of long white hair.

Sesshomaru twirled with a strike of Tokijin, too used to drawing the sword out of habit. He glared down only to blink.

"That can't be," He was at a loss. So much so he leaped back to take in her appearance.

The crescent moon that was only present from his mother's bloodline. And he knew she was an only child just as he was. There was one large dark blue stripe on both cheeks. The only indication of Inuyasha was his jawline and nose.

The long white hair that would reach her back was held up in a high ponytail. Her kimono white but with pink sakura flowers at her sleeves. However she didn't wear the traditional kimono for girls, for her pants were a boy's, to perhaps give the illusion of a boy.

If he wasn't so sure of the scent of a girl he would have sworn he was staring at a boy. She glared with narrow eyes, the shape definitely from Sesshomaru. She even the magenta color on her eyelids.

"She has a Shikon Jewel shard!" Kagome confirmed.

"Hinata!" Inuyasha stopped short the same distance away as Sesshomaru. His hand was on the handle of the Tessaiga, but he hesitated in drawing it out.

"My name is Akane!" She yelled as she raised her sword to send a wave of crimson light towards him.

Inuyasha blocked with the Tessaiga. He grit his teeth in fury. Not only did Naraku dare to use the body of his unborn child, he gave her a different name? He glanced at Sesshomaru, who was still too deeply shocked to move or say anything.

In fact, was he really shaking? Inuyasha blinked. Yes, Tokijin was shaking. Damn it, he must have grabbed the sword out of habit.

"Aniki! We need the Tenseiga!" He tried to snap him out of it.

Sesshomaru silently blinked. His body stiffened as it registered that they had to fight their own daughter. As if reading his mind that he couldn't fathom such an idea, Akane ran towards Rin, Kohaku and Jaken.

In a blink of an eye Sesshomaru intercepted. Inuyasha stepped forward to help, only to stop as the two showed off their speed in a flurry of attacks that even he had a hard time following their movements.

"What do we do? It's like she has Sesshomaru's speed but Inuyasha's power!" Miroku questioned.

It was easy enough for everyone that she could match Inuyasha with the way she could push Sesshomaru around. Or perhaps he wasn't at his full strength yet. It was unknown how long losing an unborn child will impact the strength of a demon.

"Or maybe he won't fight her at full strength." Inuyasha guessed.

He was proven right when a blue aura surrounded Sesshomaru. It curled as the dragon head arched up into the sky with its high pitched cry. Sesshomaru aimed his strike.

He purposely aimed to her left. She didn't even have to dodge. Akane smirked at Sesshomaru's torment.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha tried to intervene her next attack.

Akane was quicker and she reached Sesshomaru first. He blocked, but then she twisted her sword to send Tokijin flying. Inuyasha swung between them, which forced Akane to back away several paces.

"Sesshomaru! Snap out of it! If we want to reverse what Naraku did then we need the Tenseiga!" Inuyasha berated, glancing over his shoulder as he took to stand protecting his brother.

"So you suggest we kill her...again?" Sesshomaru's voice shook.

"Damn it all to hell! Wind Scar!" Inuyasha unleashed the attack to hold her off just long enough. She was sent flying over the cliffs some distance. This time when he turned his attention back to Sesshomaru he raised a hand to a pale cheek.

"I know that you know she is beyond saving. Naraku twisted her so much that the only means to put an end to all of this is give her peace. It wouldn't do her any good that this is how she began her life, now would it?"

"But...Kohaku can be himself." Sesshomaru tried to reason.

"He remembers who he is. She wasn't even supposed to be born. He gave her a false identity, a false story, everything about her is false. The only truth is that she is ours. To be born from this again, that would just make her suffer that she was forced to fight us. Do you want her to live with the guilt for the rest of her life?"

Sesshomaru looked away. For the briefest second Inuyasha saw the threat of tears in his eyes. His heart shattered at the sight. If they weren't in the midst of battle he would have pulled Sesshomaru into a hug. Even if it ended with his eyes clawed out he would do it.

Watching from the sidelines, Kagome felt her heart sting. Everything about this whole mess tore at her. But she didn't know what hurt most. Watching Inuyasha's own daughter being used by Naraku to fight her own family, or Inuyasha comforting someone else who had bore the child.

Akane released a wild cry as she leaped towards them.