A/N: Here's chapter four, everyone! This one is shorter than others, but as always, there is a method to my madness. I know I said that there would be info on an upcoming story at the end of the last chapter…but I forgot to add it! Sorry about that. You will see the info at the end of this chapter instead. There's actually two that will be out soon, so you'll hear about both of those.

Summary:A Place Where I Belong: AU. Kagome accidentally discovers a secret that her abusive family has hidden from her. She was adopted. Desperate to find her birth mother, Kagome enlists the help of Inuyasha, a private detective who always finds what he's looking for. But what happens when she finally finds the truth? Will Inuyasha be able to help her find where she truly belongs?

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A Place Where I Belong

Chapter Four: Her Past Revealed

"Inuyasha, what the hell happened here?" It was Miroku's voice. She was sure of it. But what had happened? "How long has she been out for?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I ran in here, and I almost had to pull him off of her, but…"

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whimpered. "I'm sorry. I thought it was you. I didn't hear anyone come in, and I got up, and…" she groaned. "My head hurts…"

"You knocked it pretty hard…" Sango whispered.

Kagome blinked. "I…he threw me across the…" she paused. "Wait a minute…" she realized. "Why am I alive? He was going to kill me. I was about to…"

Inuyasha sighed. "Yes you were…" he explained, "but well…about the time I ran in to kick his ass…you started to…well…you started to glow…and Naraku got away…"

Kagome was even more confused.

"I did what?" she gasped.

"You were glowing, Kagome. Naraku looked really surprised, and he ran out of here really quick before I could rip him into little pieces…" Inuyasha told her. "I didn't want to leave you alone, so I let him go. I'm so sorry I wasn't here to protect you, Kagome. I'm so sorry…"

"No…" she shook her head. "No, it's not your fault, Inuyasha. And I'm fine, so…"

"We have a lot to talk to you about, Kagome. We found out a lot when we went to see that old woman. Actually…she's going to be here in about an hour. She said she wanted to come see you."

"What?" Kagome smiled. "You found her? Is she really my mother? Did she put me up for adoption? Why? What happened?" she fired off questions.

Miroku shook his head sadly. "Not your mother, Kags…the woman coming to see you is your grandmother, a Ms. Higurashi Kaede."

"My grandmother? Really? What about my…?" Kagome began.

"Kagome…we found out what happened to your real mother, too." Sango whimpered. "This is going to be hard for you to hear…I'm…"

Kagome closed her eyes. "She is dead, isn't she…my real mother?"

Sango nodded slowly. "Yes, Kagome…" she choked. "Your real mother is gone. She was killed about eighteen years ago…"

Kagome's eyes shot open, and shock registered on her face. "Eighteen years ago? Sango! No…" she stammered, "please…tell me he didn't…tell me he didn't kill her…?"

Again, Sango nodded. "According to your grandmother, he did. Then he and Kagura took you in as their own child and took over the shrine, which was supposed to be under Kikyou's protection. The old woman and your mother were both very powerful mikos, Kagome. Apparently, though, the old woman was not strong enough to take on Naraku and Kagura on her own. She didn't even know if you were all right. She couldn't sense you because she said you had not awakened your power yet…"

"Well, I think she should be able to sense her now…" Miroku noted. "I can sense Kagome's aura myself…"

Inuyasha nodded in agreement. "So can I." He looked worried.

"What does that mean?" Kagome demanded, groaning in pain when she tried to stand up too quickly.

"Settle down, Kags. I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore than you already are…" Sango nearly pleaded with her.

Kagome sat back down. "What does it mean?" she repeated, making eye contact with Inuyasha.

"To you, it means you have strong and untapped spiritual power that you will now need to learn to control since you have awakened it…" he frowned. "But to demons, bad people like Naraku and Kagura…"

"They are…?" Kagome yelped.

"Yes…" Inuyasha continued. "And your new power may make it a lot easier for them to track you down and find you. It's kind of like a special marker that lets everyone know who you are…it changes your scent too…." He took a deep breath. "In a crowd of people, it would definitely be a lot easier to find…"

Kagome paled. "But I don't want them to be able to find…" she began, her voice rising.

Inuyasha gulped. "I know, Kagome. They won't find you. I'll protect you." He promised.

"You can't always protect me, Inuyasha. You can't go everywhere that I go. It would be very impractical…" Kagome admitted sadly.

Inuyasha's jaw was set. "Kagome, after what has happened to you, I refuse to let anything happen. I will protect you, damn it." He nearly growled. "If Naraku or that bitch Kagura gets within five hundred feet of you, I will break them in half myself…" he vowed angrily.

"That is no guarantee to the child's safety, Inuyasha…"

The group turned in surprise to see the old woman standing in the doorway, which was still partially open.

"It will be very hard to keep them away with just force, Inuyasha. The solution is much more complicated than that…especially since Kagome has the jewel."

Miroku did a double take. "What did you say?" he gasped.

"The jewel of four souls…Kagome has it…" Kaede said.

Kagome shook her head. "I do not. I don't even know what jewel you are talking about." She insisted.

Kaede sighed, shaking her head. "No, child. You wouldn't know of the jewel…because it was reborn inside your body when that vile man Naraku killed your mother in search for it."

"Inside my body?" Kagome chirped. "What do you mean?"

"It's hiding there…" Kaede pointed to Kagome's midsection. "Which means that we may have more than one way out of this predicament…mind you…all of them will be complicated…"

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"What do you mean you let her go?" Kagura screamed. "How in the hell could you let her go when you were so close?"

Naraku paced the room. "I couldn't help it. At about the time that idiot Inuyasha came running into the room, Kagome started to glow…and I had to let go of her! She would have purified me if I had held onto her any longer!"

"You damn weakling! She's just a human!" Kagura yelled.

"No! She awakened the power!" Naraku insisted. "That just makes things more complicated!"

Kagura laughed. "No. It means next time, when you go to kill the bitch, you need to make sure that you finish the job…" she chided him.

"I say you try…I'll watch her purify you!" Naraku growled.

"Shut up, you idiot! If she has unlocked that power, then we have to come up with a new plan…" Kagura warned him. "Our old one obviously has a couple of holes in it."

"Kagura, we have other problems…"

"Like what?" she smirked.

"If the girl has unlocked her own power without Kikyou's aid, how are we to be sure that she can't find and unlock the power of the jewel without Kikyou?" Naraku asked. "How can we be really sure?"

"We can't be…" Kagura admitted.

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"Kagome…" the old woman smiled, wrapping her granddaughter in a hug. "We will protect you. Nothing is going to happen to you. There is a way to hide…we can hide while I train you…"

"How? How do we hide her? They already know where she is, lady. Not to mention the obvious change in her scent…"

The old woman smiled. "We will go back to the old ways. To our own past lives."

"Past lives?" Miroku gulped. "What are you talking about? That sounds almost crazy…"

"Almost isn't the word for it…" Inuyasha added.

Kaede sighed. "We use the well…the portal between this time and the last. It's located next to the sacred tree at Kikyou's shrine…where Kagome found the photo, I believe. There, we will become our past selves…and unlock abilities that none of you knew you had. You will have all of your memories of this time…and your memories of that time. It will only seem strange at first. You will be surprised to learn the truth about yourselves, your abilities, and the people that surround you in this time…"

"It sounds kind of farfetched to me…" Sango finally admitted.

"Trust me," the old woman pressed. "The next time Kagura and Naraku come after Kagome in this time, we will not be able to fend them off…unless, like Kikyou and I have done, you all take yourselves back…and learn the old ways…" She frowned. "I lost track of Kagome for so long and she is not properly trained for the threat headed her way…"

Kagome stared at this woman, her grandmother, as though she was nuts. After a moment of contemplating, though, she sighed. "How do we know until we try it?" she asked the group. "We know that demons and hanyous exist in this time. How do we know that the well doesn't provide a portal between this time and the past?"

"We don't, but don't you think that we should…" Inuyasha began.

"No I don't. I say we should trust my grandmother and see what happens. It's a lot better than sitting around here and just waiting for Naraku and Kagura to show up and try to kill me again…"

Kaede nodded in agreement. "We can't do that. If they killed you and got their hands on the jewel…nothing would matter anymore. Nothing. Everything would be gone."

Sango cleared her throat. "There's one problem that no one else seemed to mention yet." She announced.

"Hmm?" Kaede grunted, and the group looked in Sango's direction.

She coughed. "How are we supposed to get onto the shrine grounds and even get to the well house if Naraku and Kagura will be there?"

Kaede nearly laughed. "Child, you underestimate me. Naraku and Kagura will not even realize we have left…"

"How?"

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A/N: Hmm…yep. I just had to do that. I hope I didn't confuse people that much. I mentioned the 'old ways' in a previous chapter…but I decided to take it a step farther in this chapter, and take the story in a different direction. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for the support thus far!

Next, on 'A Place Where I Belong': The group heads back to their pasts with the help of Kaede, and unlock secrets about their lives that they'd forgotten they knew. But things are different in the past, and the group finds themselves faced with more problems than they anticipated. What is Naraku doing here?

Upcoming Story Info:

'Far Away': Something happens, and Inuyasha fears he may lose Kagome forever. Can he finally admit what's in his heart and save her…and himself? A multi-chapter songfic based on the Nickelback song 'Far Away'. COMING VERY SOON!

'Somewhere, Sometime': Kagome and her best friend Sango find a photo in the Higurashi shrine's well house. They've found strange things in the well house, and even the well before, but this is different. Kagome finds herself falling in love with the man in the photo...a hanyou. Even stranger is the writing on the back of the photo...in Kagome's own handwriting! Will Kagome be able to unlock the mystery of this man...a man she will never get to meet...? Or will she...?