A Fox's Heritage

Chapter 11

With one last look at his dead friend, Youko turned and began a sprint. Blind fury fueled him as he searched for Naraku. A pain ripped through his chest. It was the pain of losing someone so close. The only other time he felt an emotion so intense was Sakura's death. It was his fault again. Maybe if they hadn't fought before this. Now Kuronue wouldn't be there with that stupid grin of his to tell him to forget about their little spat.

The gnawing pain in his chest grew and grew as his death sunk in. His last words kept repeating in his mind. "Forget about me, Kurama. Go! Run!"

Kuronue called him Kurama only when he acted seriously, which was very few times in his life. He used it to grab his attention, to make the fox listen to him. He only used it for something of importance. He stopped and wacked the mirror against the bamboo. The glass fell to pieces.

Tears collected at his eyes. They flew past him as he ran. The ache in his heart did not dull. It did not falter. It did not stop, even for a second. The pain would never leave him. It would haunt him for the rest of his life. Death followed him wherever he went. It was no different when he was a child to as an adult.

"Stupid pendant...stupid mirror..stupid bat..."

"Inuyasha, where are you going?" demanded Kagome.

The dog demon's eyes did not leave the image in front of him. He stared at the inn and the bamboo. "I need to go back. Something happened," he replied.

Sango and Miroku were trying to keep Shippo busy, stopping him from feeling sadness. They didn't know what was causing it. They assumed it was his father leaving him to fight. They didn't know the real reason.

Shippo hugged his knees. He refused to cry. Not in front of everyone at least. Never would he hear his mother's comforting words. Never would he feel her warmth, nor see her smile. Everything felt dull and unimportant. The burning feeling in his chest would not stop. Trying as hard as he could, he could not keep his mind off it. The more he thought about it, the more intense the feeling came.

"My mom is dead," he mumbled incoherently. His head rested on his kness. Tears streamed down his face.

Inuyasha flew past the bamboo plants. He smelled blood. Demon blood. It was getting more intense the farther he traveled. He prayed it did not belong to Youko or Kuronue. Poor Shippo would be devastated beyong belief.

"Holy shit," murmured Inuyasha. Before him was Kuronue, speared in every direction. A pool of blood surrounded him. He gulped and stopped his breathing. The intensity of the smell burned his nostrils.

He pulled his sleave over his hands and began pulling the spears out. They dropped to the ground with a thunk. More blood poured out from the open wounds. Lastly, he placed his pendant around his neck. He slung the bat demon over his shoulder and ran out.

He placed him near the entrance. Several servants were busy with repairing the inn's courtyard. They noticed the corpse of the bat demon. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as he yelled, "None of you touch him, you got that! He better be right here when I get back!"

With that said, he ran back inside, hoping nothing horrible had befallen Youko. Passing by the site Kuronue had died, he forced himself to keep the tears from forming. Sure, he had never met eye to eye with him, but he was a good demon. No matter what anyone thought, he was fond of the bat with his stupid little antics.

The bamboo thinned out into a clearing. Youko was fighting Naraku. Anger consumed every action, every attack, every motion that the fox did. Bloodlust and revenge was on his mind. Inuyasha pulled out his Tetsusaiga. He charged into the battle.

"You don't mind, do you?" Inuyasha asked Youko.

"Not at all," replied the fox, cracking his whip. "I hope you don't mind, but I would love to torture him for just a bit." The look in the fox's eye made Inuyasha shudder. This was a demon out for revenge. He wondered if Naraku was the cause of the bat demon's death or if he was just going to be the on the receiving end of the anger of a very anguished fox.

Youko was calm and collected, a bit too much actually. It made Inuyasha worry. It seemed unnatural. He shrugged the feeling off and turned his attention to the ongoing fight. To him, it seemed like it had been going on for quite some time. Youko had some scrapes and bruises and a large head wound. It was nothing he couldn't handle.

Inuyasha, unscathed, began swinging his sword at full force. He cut off tentacles left and right, but they grew right back. It frustrated him to no end. Naraku cackled, focusing on his target. His tentacles lunged themselves at Youko, hoping to take advantage of his previous injuries. But the fox was smarter. His rose whip cut through them very easily. Taking advantage of this moment, Inuyasha used his Wind Scar.

Naraku was hit. Bits and pieces of his body twitched on the ground. Suddenly, they began converging together and rejoined his body. The fox and dog demon jumped back as he attacked again.

"Got any bright ideas?" asked Inuyasha.

"Actually, I have quite a few," replied Youko with a smirk. Inuyasha raised his brow. "Plan A requires blood."

Now the dog demon was confused. He thought back. Had he ever seen Naraku bleed before? Had he? Most of the time it was his demon puppets, and whenever he cut off a tentacle, no blood would come out.

Inuyasha, to prove his theory, cut off another tentacle. It twitched on the ground for a bit before rejoining its master. No blood. He sprinted towards the fox's side.

"Naraku doesn't bleed," the dog demon whispered.

Youko wrinkled his noise. "There goes my vampire plant..." Inuyasha didn't even bother asking about that.

"Plan B requires you to stand completely stand. Can you do that? And stay away from us," said Youko.

Inuyasha, although hesitate, listening to Youko. A person listens to a demon with a vampire plant. He backed a bit off from the battle ground, but he was going to jump in on the first sign his plan failed.

"Naraku, I'm sorry, but this is the end for you," said Youko, smiling evilly. Oh, yes, bloodlust and revenge was his mind for sure.

CrazyDreamerGirl: Yay! I got another chapter out, and it didn't take months! XD To all you Kuronue fans out there, sorry, but he had to go. It took some arguing with myself to type that scene out. It had to be. Please review, and no flames please.

I would like to thank the following people for reviewing: GaaraSakura Luvers 4Evah, Link Fangirl01, S. T. Nickolian, InuJoey, neolannia, Bloodcherry, NeonAlchemist