Summary: Her Purity revised! Knowing the end was near, Naraku kidnaps and rapes Kagome, leaving her terrified of men, including Inuyasha. With this knowledge, Inuyasha tries to help her, but what happens when her condition only gets worse?
Notes: Her Purity revised.
Chapter Five: Retrospection
Rating: M

The Crown Jewel

"We're almost there, Kagome," Inuyasha panted heavily. He looked behind him to Sango, Miroku, and Kirara, the latter of whom had her tongue lolling about in exhaustion. They had traveled nonstop for an entire day, and though she was used to it, the cat demon had never ran for such a distance in this short amount of time before.

Miroku had regained a lot more blood during their journey, and his color had improved, as well, but Inuyasha couldn't help but wonder how well he would put up in the fight. The bandage he sported covered one of his eyes. Sango was fairing well, though Inuyasha had seen her more than once grip her side, where he guessed she was hit with Hiraikotsu. However, he would not stand for a break. The only one who was protecting Kagome right now was Shippo, and Inuyasha knew that the small pup couldn't put up a defense for long. Shippo's strength may have improved, but not by much; one swipe could knock him out for hours, as Inuyasha knew all too well.

Growling viciously and tightly gripping Tetsusaiga to the point where it vibrated uncomfortably in his hand, Inuyasha sniffed the air again before glaring meaningfully at his companions, who nodded. Sesshomaru's scent was getting stronger, but he was still too far ahead. Inuyasha could also barely pick up the stench of one of Naraku's puppets, but Kagome's aroma wasn't with it. Instead, he smelt the stench of something quite similar to himself and his brother, but had a more wild taint to it. Not only that, but blood, and lots of it.

"Koga," Inuyasha spat.

"Did you say something, Inuyasha?" Miroku yelled loudly from behind.

"We're in wolf territory!" Inuyasha shouted back, glancing briefly at them before looking ahead.

Miroku and Sango exchanged worried looks.

"Why would Sesshomaru go through here? Do you think he wanted to pick a fight with Koga?" Sango asked.

Miroku shook his head. "I don't think he'd have any reason to, but—" Miroku cut himself off, his eyes widening as he took in his new surroundings.

Wolf demons and their animal counterparts alike lay scattered over the earth. Blood formed in large pools and painted itself across the dead bodies and trees, smearing across the forest. The smell of it was so strong that Sango slapped a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes, painful memories bombarding her as Miroku and Inuyasha cursed.

"Damn it all…" Inuyasha muttered angrily up ahead. "One of Naraku's puppets has been through here..." Inuyasha squinted ahead of him before slowing his pace just slightly.

"Ah, look!" A voice yelled. "It's Inuyasha!"

A demon with long, black hair tied in a ponytail turned sharply, his bloody fists clenched tightly. Sensing a fight coming on, Inuyasha snarled, but didn't stop. Instead, he practically flew right past Koga, Ginta, and Hakkaku, Kirara following him quickly. Koga, already agitated, sprinted after him, his tornado forcing his pack to take cover as it caused dirt and debris to fly everywhere.

It didn't take long for Koga to catch up to Inuyasha, but when he did, he continued to run along side him, his aura angry and suspicious. Inuyasha assessed the angry wolf quickly; Koga had multiple scratches adorning his entire body; his armor was torn and blood was smeared along his face and chest.

"What the hell do you want, wolf?" Inuyasha asked irritably.

"Mind telling me what the hell your brother and Naraku are doing in my territory?" Koga responded, his teeth bared and brows furrowed. "I returned home from a hunt and found nearly half of my pack massacred!"

"Why don't you go and ask them, wolf?" Inuyasha yelled. "Your stinkin' pack ain't my problem!"

Koga ignored him and looked behind them, where Sango and Miroku waved. He lifted an eyebrow at them before looking back at Inuyasha.

"Where the hell is Kagome?"

The question had Inuyasha's stomach plummet all over again.

oOo

Kagura felt revolted.

She had been summoned to Naraku's quarters again, and when she arrived, he had just finished retying his robes around his waist. He had Kanna show her Inuyasha and his small group and said he was going to the outer premises to "greet" them alongside with his other minions. She was about to follow him when he smirked at her and ordered her to go to the chamber that the girl and fox pup were locked in and "clean up" the mess he left. She had muttered angrily that she was not his servant, but a painful squeeze of her heart had her thinking otherwise.

When Kagura reached the door, she couldn't help but pause at the smell that was filtering through the cracks and forcefully held down her bile as she slowly slid open the door, which creaked loudly upon her entrance. Inside, she noticed that the fox pup was curled into a small ball and was rocking back and forth, murmuring to himself. He stopped when he heard the door open, but continued to mutter and rock his body even faster as her footfalls came nearer. Kagura's eyes then landed on the girl. The wind demon looked away immediately. She was used to seeing bodies massacred; she herself had been the cause to most deaths and destruction, but never had she seen a body violated so.

Walking tentatively toward the dead young woman, Kagura lowered to her knees and placed a clawed hand over Kagome's face, gently sealing her eyes shut with the lids. Then, standing up again, Kagura pulled off her outer robe and draped it over the body before turning to the pup, who continued to sing a strange lullaby to himself.

Naraku be damned to hell, she was not going to let a pup linger and scent the death of his surrogate mother.

Pulling her fan from her inner robes, Kagura spread it wide before bringing it down in a flash of wind. The pup jumped as he felt the chain around his waist become loose and fall away to lie on the ground next to him. He fingered the blindfold, about to pull it off when Kagura's clawed hands covered his and pulled them away. She didn't need to cause him too much distress by letting him see his dead parent.

"K—Kagome?" the pup sniffed, his nose far too stuffed to sniff out who was there. Kagura felt her brows furrow, but didn't say anything as she picked the pup up and began to leave the room. "Kagome?" the pup called again. "H—How did you…?"

Keeping silent, Kagura hurriedly closed the door behind her and walked as fast as she could toward another room far away from the one which she emerged. When she found a room suitably far away enough, she locked them both inside before setting the pup down and placing her hands over the knot of the blindfold. Her hands hesitated for mere seconds, but finally, Kagura undid the knot and watched as it fell away.

Shippo, who had his eyes shut tightly, opened them, and then blinked several times before wiping his eyes tiredly. He examined his surroundings first before looking up at Kagura and squeaking in fright, his eyes wide.

"K—Kagome!" he cried. When he received no answer, he looked around again, tears forming in his eyes when he couldn't find the one he was looking for. He looked back at Kagura, who had her hands clenched tightly. He eyed them for a second before looking up in her eyes. "W—Where's Kagome?" he asked. His voice was shaky; Kagura could tell that he was trying to be brave, but she could hear the fear underlying his tone and licked her lips.

"She's—" Kagura paused, thinking for the right words. "She's somewhere else now."

Shippo breath quickened. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly. "Where? I smelt her—I was with her a minute ago, take me back! Take me back to her!" He came forward and pounded his small fists on Kagura's knees. He began to cry harder than ever as his attempt to do any damage drained whatever energy he had left and he slumped forward onto her lap, his tears soaking through her inner robes.

Kagura looked away and at the wall, her stoic façade beginning to ebb away. "She'll come back for her pup," she said. Shippo stopped and looked up at her. "Your friends are coming now; you need to stay in this room until they arrive."

Kagura was surprised when Shippo's eyes darkened slightly. "Y—You mean Inuyasha?"

"Yes." Kagura nodded. There was a sudden change in atmosphere as something—or someone, Kagura's mind suggested—penetrated the barrier that Kanna had put up to hide the castle. She looked up, a smirk tugging at her lips as she sensed the aura of the powerful dog demon. "And it seems he'll be getting a little help."

She was about to stand, but Shippo tugged on her robes, holding her down.

"What do you mean?" Shippo whimpered. "Who?"

Kagura stared down at the pup for a minute before answering. "The Lord of the West," she answered, her voice softening just slightly as Shippo backed away again, his bottom lip trembling.

"S—Sesshomaru?" he gasped. Nodding, Kagura stood again and made her way to the door, but small hands tugging on her robe caused her to look down again. "W—Wait! What about Kagome?" Shippo sniveled, his eyes wide.

"She'll be fine," Kagura assured, sliding the door open.

"You promise?"

Kagura hesitated, wondering if she should answer this question. Sesshomaru's Tenseiga had the amazing ability to bring people back to life, but why should he help her? He didn't owe her or Kagome anything, so why should he bother bringing the girl back to life when he really didn't need to?

Her body stiffening, Kagura walked out and slowly slid the door shut, her eyes on Shippo the entire time.

"I promise."

oOo

Sesshomaru felt the barrier around him pulse slightly, what seemed like an electric current emanating from where his body began to penetrate its edges. Ignoring it, he walked straight through, easily concealing his surprise and suspicion that Naraku's castle had been revealed so effortlessly. His eyes scanned the premises for any sign of life and stepped forward when he found none. So far, he could sense no threat coming from the castle, but kept well on guard. He knew Naraku was hiding somewhere in there. His hand gripping the hilt of Tokijin, Sesshomaru slowly pulled the sword from its sheath, raised it over his head, and brought it down in a powerful strike. Dirt and debris flew everywhere as the side of the castle exploded, a powerful wind forcing the remains away from the building. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as a familiar scent on the wind floated past his nose.

Kagura strutted out of one of the destroyed halls, her hand whipping her fan closed as she looked at the mess he made. She the eyed the sword Sesshomaru wielded, an almost amused expression on her face.

"Dramatic entrance," she mocked.

"Kagura," Sesshomaru addressed. "Tell me where Naraku is."

Kagura gave a mirthless shout of laughter before reopening her fan and waving it tantalizingly over her face. "Now where's the fun in that?" She brought her fan back down to her side and turned her back on him before slowly walking away, pausing only to see if he was following her. Sesshomaru vaguely noticed that her robes were different, but paid no mind. He softly grunted his annoyance and sheathed Tokijin, but his hand continued to hover over his swords. Without saying a word, he followed her through the large castle, his eyes narrowing more and more as another familiar scent wafted across his nose. But this one was tainted.

"Inuyasha's woman…" he stated softly as his footfalls came to a rest. Kagura paused, but didn't turn around. "The priestess."

"She lost her title as priestess a while ago," Kagura murmured. Her body twitched suddenly and she arched over as if she were in great pain, but hurriedly composed herself and continued walking, her pace a bit faster than before.

Sesshomaru lifted an eyebrow at the news and followed again, his mind racing. Was Inuyasha so weak that he couldn't even protect his intended? The question fluttered around his head before a new one took its place. Why was she even here, anyway? Was this a trap set for his younger half brother?

Before he knew it, Kagura came to a halt in front of a set of sliding shoji doors. The scent of death assaulted his nose quickly along with the revolting stench of Naraku's essence. Frowning, Sesshomaru slid the door open, his eyes scanning what he could see of the room before landing on a small lump of what appeared to be Kagura's outer robe. He took another tentative sniff before walking inside and standing beside the body of the ex-priestess.

"Why have you brought me here?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice suddenly icy.

Kagura looked him over for a minute, her eyes expressionless before walking to stand beside him and staring down at Kagome.

"Why do you think?" she replied.

Sesshomaru ignored her and stared down at Tenseiga. The sword had suddenly begun to pulse around his waist, urging him to use it. His hand hovered over the hilt, but did not grab it.

"The pup was here," he stated, lifting his nose just slightly. Without waiting for Kagura's response, he turned on his heel and left the room. Kagura stared after him, her mouth slightly agape. She had felt the pull of his Tenseiga, and knew that the sword wanted him to revive the girl; she had been sure that Sesshomaru would do it. Her hands tightly clenched, Kagura marched after him into the hall.

"Sesshomaru, wait!"

The lord ignored her and continued to walk down the corridors of the castle until he arrived at another set of shoji doors. He paused, his hand resting over the door before sliding it open, revealing what seemed to be an empty room. The scent of fear wafted by his nose and Sesshomaru looked to his right, where a shadowed figure was cowering in a dark corner.

He was about to take a step towards it when Kagura was in front of him, an angry expression on her usually calm face.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"He could not even protect his pup," Sesshomaru said. Though his voice was usually indifferent, Kagura could hear the anger underlying his tone.

"Why do you care?" she spat. She clutched her chest suddenly and kneeled, gasping in pain. The figure in the corner squeaked in fright before rushing to her, trying to push her back to her feet.

Sesshomaru didn't answer. The truth was, looking at the frightened pups face reminded him much of Rin, and he couldn't help but wonder how she would react once she found out that he had left her friend in the hands of Naraku. Grunting in disdain, Sesshomaru stepped forward to retrieve the fox kit, but Shippo jumped back behind Kagura, foreboding, and small traces of rage, written all over his face. Sesshomaru paused, keeping his eyes on Shippo as Kagura stood again. Before she could open her mouth, another electrical current surged around the castle. She looked to the window, and then down at the pup before pulling a white feather out of her hair. Eyeing Sesshomaru, she seemed to understand his intentions, for she said to the pup, "Stay with him," and in a gust of wind, took to the skies on her feather, creating a large hole in the roof of the castle.

Shippo watched her go silently before fearfully staring at Sesshomaru. The older demon spared the pup a glance before turning on his heel, pausing for just a moment to let his eyes linger on where Kagura disappeared and walking out of the door and down the corridors. He got what he wanted.

Behind him, Shippo reluctantly followed.

Yeah, not much of Inuyasha or Kagome in this chapter, but its getting there, so be patient. I'm also a Sesshomaru and Kagura fan (I don't hate Sesshomaru and Rin together, but Rin is a child, so it's weird.)

Thanks for reading! Review please!

~Miyopiyo