Disclaimer: I do not own any characters due to the current economic crisis.

Chapter 8

The procession home was slow. Kage was riding piggyback on Kurama. Hiei had taken to the trees and was watching Yukina like a hawk. Yusuke and Kuwabara were hovering like mother hens and kept getting into fights. Yukina was walking next to Kage and Kurama laughing at the faces Kage would make when the boys started nit picking.

Kage just mentally sighed for the 40th time that hour. She was FINE! She had had much worse before and lived so this was nothing. She was just glad that Yukina was laughing and there were no longer tears in her eyes. That was why Kage kept making the funny faces. After the first one slipped out and a soft giggle escaped Kina's mouth, she kept them rolling. Yukina was now clutching her sides from laughing so hard. Even Kurama let a few chuckles loose.

Running out of ideas for faces, Kage started to run her fingers through Kura-kun's hair. It was like freaking silk…the whore! Growling softly she continued to play with his red strands.

"I really hate you Kura-kun!" she growled out.

Tripping over his feet in shock he quickly regained his balance.

"W-what?! Why do you hate me?" He asked.

"Because your hair is too damn pretty and soft…it is just cruel." She replied.

A large sweat-drop formed on the side of his head as Yukina laughed out loud and the two teens rolled on the ground. Even Hiei smirked at the jibe.

'hn…she has a point fox. You are way too girly for your own sake.'

'Shut it 3-eye!' snarled Youko as he tried to repair his ego. Hiei just snorted and left his mind.

Kurama sighed and readjusted Kage on his back. He tensed up as he heard a soft hiss escaped her mouth. His muscles relaxed though as her fingers continued to run through his hair. It felt like heaven as she worked her magic. By the time they reached the shrine, he was in euphoric bliss. Not to mention his hair was now tangle free.

Walking into the shrine, Kurama put Kage down on the couch. He walked into the bathroom and got the first aid kit. Yukina had already sat down next to her and started to heal her. Her stomach wound sealed up and her nose healed and the minor scratches went away. The bruises had just started to fade when Yukina stopped and was panting for breath.

"I am sorry but I have run out of energy. I am sorry that I am not strong enough to heal all of your hurts." The downtrodden koorime said.

"Don't worry about it Kina. It is fine and you did a fantastic job. Thank you." Kage replied.

Yukina just gave a small and timid smile and Kage sighed. She just continued to sit on the couch placidly as Kura-kun applied a cool ointment on the bruises to help stop the swelling and allow it to heal quicker. His gentle hands lulled her into sleep like state and as soon as he had finished she tipped over and fell on his lap. Her head was resting on his legs. Not able to move without awakening her, Kurama settled into the couch and glared and Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Genkai and even Yukina as they snickered softly at his predicament.

Snuggling even closer to the warmth that was Kurama's thigh, Kage was blissfully unaware of what she was putting the kitsune through. She relaxed even more when fingers started to roam through her silky tresses, repaying the favor given earlier. Dreams overtook her and took her towards nightmares. A frequent occurrence but one the gang did not know about yet. A frown marred her features and her breathing increased a little but that was all that indicated the nightmare.

-dream sequence- (A/N: WARNING: Contains Gore and Violence)

Kage was riding a boat on the lake in Maine where the summer house used to be with her cousin. They pulled up to the dock and walked up to the top of the hill where the house was located. It was gray and a foreboding feeling overcame her. Her cousin, Kimahri, seemed oblivious to her plight and so she wearily followed him into the seemingly deserted house. It was creepy since the rest of her cousins and their spouses and children were supposed to be there.

Kimahri opened the door and walked in while Kage hesitated a moment but still followed. She could feel something terribly wrong in the house and it was telling her to RUN! Damn white people and their curiosity, she thought. Making their way to the living room she saw the massacred bodies of some of her family and went white. Kimahri yelled in rage but two arms encircled him and pulled him into a closet as four encircled her and pulled her behind the couch. Kage saw two of her young cousins and figured that the arms Kimahri was grabbed with must have belonged to another. Kage was about to ask what did this but was silenced by the fear in their eyes as they pointed towards the stairs. She paled even more as she saw the reason for their fear.

-exit dreamscape momentarily-

Hiei had sensed the girl's fear and anguish as was curious as to what she was dreaming. Plus the kitsune asked him to look. So he did. He was quite shocked at what he saw-not that anyone would ever know though.

-return to dreamscape-

There stood a masked man (A/N: think Jason but its not) with a chain saw on the top stair. The chain saw was not running and the silence was deafening. Kage swore that her pounding heart could be heard throughout the house. All of a sudden, the madman looked in her direction. His gaze spoke volumes. He suddenly grabbed a hold of his chainsaw and brought it to life.

"RUN!!" she screamed.

One of her older cousins and Kimahri came out of the closet while her two younger cousins and she ran out from behind the couch. The murderer jumped the rest of the stairs and chased out of them. One of her younger cousins tripped and before she could turn around to help the guy had cut her cousin in half. Blood was all over the walls and organs were on the floor. Kage fought back the urge to cry and continued to run.

The made it out of the house and into a forest that wasn't there before. Kage quickly lost tract of her cousins as well as the villain that was chasing them. The light was waning as she got further and further into the woods. Every once in a while a scream or two could be heard in the distance. Tears were cascading down her pale face.

-*-*-Exiting dreamscape in a moment-*-*-

Hiei had seen enough. The fox needed to wake her up. Removing himself from her nightmare, he opened his eyes to the real world. The fox looked worried as he continued to stroke her hair but tears fell down her face. Sighing in disgust at the tears, he relayed to the fox what he had seen and then flitted out of the room.

Kurama was shocked and immediately took to waking her up. He gently shook her shoulder and her eyes suddenly snapped open. Letting out a sigh, Kage blinked once. Looking into the concerned eyes of Kura-kun, she mentally sighed again.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I am fine. Thanks though. What time is it?" Kage responded.

"It is roughly 6:30 in the evening. Your purchases should be arriving in half an hour. Dinner is almost ready."

"mmkay…let me just go and wash up real quick."

Kage reluctantly got up from Kurama's lap and went to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she got a good look at herself. Her eyes were red and tear tracks ran down her face. Grabbing a white wash cloth, she went about cleaning her face. Kage also washed her eyes out with some water to help soothe them.

Looking refreshed, she exited the bathroom and went into the dining room. Everyone was there already and the food was just about to be set down. Kage took her spot in between Yukina and Kurama. Yukina gave her a concerned look but she just mouthed later. As soon as the food was sat down Yusuke and Kuwabara dived into it; Kage followed close behind in order to actually get something.

The dinner ended rather quickly, everyone trying to get a small part of it before Yusuke and Kuwabara ate it all. Kage forced her way into helping with the dishes again, only this time she was met with a little less resistance. As soon as the dishes had been dried and put away the doorbell rang.

Genkai went and answered the door. A middle-aged man was standing there. He was dressed in delivery clothes.

"Is this the Sakura residence?" he asked.

"Yes, it is. How may I help you?" replied Genkai.

"I am here to deliver your packages." The delivery man replied.

"Ok. They go upstairs."

"Thank you. Just sign here please."

Genkai just scribbled her name down and there was a spark of spirit energy. The man left and Genkai closed the door. A sudden pop of different spirit energy filled the air.

"Your stuff has been delivered. It is in your room. I suggest you start organizing everything." Genkai announced.

"Sweet! Thanks Genkai, I will." Kage then turned towards Yukina. "Hey Yuki-chan, do you wanna come and talk while I unpack?"

"Sure!" was the cheerful reply.

The two girls left the boys and Genkai downstairs. Upon opening the door to Kage's room, they were shocked by how many bags and boxes there were. A gigantic smile graced Kage's face as a giggle escaped her mouth. They carefully entered the room and meandered they way through all of the packages. They decided to start with the clothes.

"So why were you crying earlier?" Yukina decided to ask first.

"I had a really bad dream and was watching and hearing my family being killed by a chainsaw wielding madman. It was really graphic too." Kage replied while hanging some shirts in the closet.

Yukina just deadpanned at the blunt way that Kage had answered. She decided to help and started going through the clothes bags and separated the tops from the bottoms and the lingerie. Kage decided to ask the next question as she continued to hang the tops that Yukina had separated for her.

"Ok, so what is the deal with you and Hiei?"

Yukina startled at the question. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that when we were helped today, he immediately went for you and then proceeded to watch you like a hawk for the rest of the day. Not to mention how eerily similar the two of you look." Kage stopped hanging up clothes and turned to watch her reaction.

Yukina looked so incredibly sad as she gazed at the ground that Kage immediately went to her side and gave her a big hug.

"It is okay imouto-chan. If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to."

At those words, Yukina started to cry. Little tear gems started to fall to the ground. Kage was shocked at the pretty stones littering the floor. Removing her gaze from the shining jewels, Kage lowered the two of them onto the bed and was rubbing soothing circles on Kina's back. Yukina's tears slowly ceased and her grip on Kage loosened some. Staying in the same position Yukina began to tell Kage about Hiei.

"He is my twin brother."

"WHAT!!!! I thought you said that you couldn't find him." Kage was confused.

"I said that because the others were around." Seeing her confused look, Yukina decided to explain.

"You see, the others don't know that I know. Hiei told them not to tell me that he was my long lost twin brother but I figured it out on my own. I am not sure why he won't tell me. I think it is because he feels that I am too weak to be his sister and is ashamed of me and I am too scared to tell him that I know. The only person who does not know is Kuwabara. Please don't tell anyone that I know! Promise me!"

Yukina had a desperate and ashamed look in her eyes by the time that she was done. Kage could do nothing but hold her tighter and promise to never tell a soul. Another 15 minutes went by before the girls got up and went back to work. Light chatter filled the room and amusing stories were shared from their lives. Finally all the clothes were put away as well as all the athletic/training stuff.

Yukina put the sheets and bedding on the bed while Kage put the towels and toiletries in the shared bathroom. The books went in the closet on a shelf. Finally, all that was left was the electronics. Kage started off with the laptop. After setting it up she unloaded most of the features and loaded the ones that she wanted.

"What kinds of music do you like Kina?" she asked.

"I don't know. I do like some classical music as well as the sounds of nature. Other than that I am not sure."

"Mmkay. I will load your Ipod with a variety of music and we can see what you like and work from there. I can get it to you tomorrow if you like." Kage offered.

Yukina beamed. "That would be lovely. Thank you so much!"

Kage smiled back at her and got to work. It was roughly 12:30 a.m. when Yukina left and it was around 4:30 a.m. when Kage finally finished and went to bed. It was a long day and tomorrow was guaranteed to be even longer. Happy with her surroundings, She fell asleep with a smile on her face and a warm feeling in her heart for the first time in a long time.

Yay!! another longer chapter!! Though I had wanted to get it up 2 weeks ago, It took a lot longer than I thought it would. There was a major delay and a rough week that I had to deal with first. but alas it is here. The next chapter will take awhile but I will try my best. Thanks for all your support and love. 3