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 Six: Pain
Rating: M

The Crown Jewel

"What the hell do you mean that Naraku has Kagome?"

Inuyasha winced, the sound of Koga's voice hurting his sensitive ears. He ignored his pain, a vicious growl ripping from his throat as he bared his fangs at the wolf prince, an expression of rage on both of their faces.

"It's none of your damn business, wolf!" Inuyasha spat without turning to look at his rival. They continued running, albeit both demons held a silent competition of speed and agility while simultaneously holding their argument. Inuyasha's fists clenched under the cover of his haori, his right hand itching to grab a hold of Tetsusaiga and blowing the annoying wolf demon to pieces. But Inuyasha knew he couldn't. Not only would Kagome be pissed at him if he killed one of her friends (he uttered the word disdainfully in his mind), he might need Koga's… alliance if worst came to worst with Naraku, which Inuyasha was quite positive it wouldn't.

"None of my business!" Koga howled. "Kagome is my woman, mutt! If it's anyone's business, it's mine!"

Inuyasha stopped short on his response, a grunt of anger pulling from his throat instead. Behind him, Sango and Miroku exchanged worried glances, both of them hoping that the two opposing demons would put their differences aside and focus on saving Kagome. However, sensing the rising tantrum from Inuyasha, Miroku gently pressed his heel against Kirara's side, telling her to move faster until they were between the two angry demons. Inuyasha, who was about to retort, shut his mouth at the withering look Sango shot him and kept his eyes front, deciding to continue the argument after Kagome was safe. Sango then turned on Koga, and Inuyasha smirked as he heard a quick, heated argument in which Sango threatened to slice off certain parts of Koga's anatomy. Kirara growled and looked meaningfully at Inuyasha, who lifted his nose and scented the air.

"Sesshomaru's scent is getting stronger; we're almost there," he informed his comrades. Sango and Miroku nodded in response. Miroku glanced to his left, where Koga was running along pace with them.

"Koga," Miroku addressed, waiting until the wolf prince lifted an eyebrow to show his acknowledgement. "Will you be fighting along with us?"

Koga shook his head. "Before you guys arrived, I told some of my wolves to rally the Northern, Eastern, and Western tribes." He looked up at what he could see of the sun through the canopy of the forest they were running through and then looked at their shadows. "They should arrive soon."

"How many warriors?" Sango asked.

Koga looked thoughtful before he shook his head again. "The North, Ayame's tribe, has a couple hundred. I'm not sure about the Eastern or Western; we haven't had contact with our sister tribes since Naraku's first attack on my pack."

"Useless," Inuyasha spat in a low voice. "I don't need any help from some stupid wolves; I can take down Naraku and his army with one hand tied behind my back!" he said confidently.

"Wanna test that theory out, fleabag?" Koga called over Kirara. She roared loudly in warning and the two demons fell silent, though occasionally grumbled under their breath. Ignoring Inuyasha as he cursed, Sango looked behind her to Miroku, whose hand suddenly twitched around her waist.

"How's your head?" she asked softly. Miroku grinned at her.

"Worried?" he asked, his grin widening as Sango flushed. She turned back around in a hurry, her hair whipping Miroku in the face.

"I just don't want to have to save your butt when we're fighting!" she said. Miroku chuckled and slowly guided his hand over her hip to hover above her curve of her bottom, but before he could touch anything, Kirara came to a skidding halt, her hackles raised. Inuyasha and Koga stopped along with her, both of their fangs bared.

"We're here," Koga said. He looked around. Their surroundings had not changed at all, but Naraku's and Sesshomaru's scents had both come to an abrupt end. Miroku and Sango disembarked Kirara as Inuyasha held up a steady hand and pressed forward. His hand disappeared into what seemed to be a large, invisible dome.

"A barrier," Inuyasha said, slightly puzzled. He wondered briefly if they were walking straight into a trap, but kept walking despite until he was all the way through. Their surroundings changed suddenly; what was once a luscious forest became a dead, almost swampy, desolate land. The castle, which had appeared out of thin air was huge and dark, but nearly half of it seemed to have been blown to pieces. Inuyasha lifted his nose and sniffed before the smallest of smirks crossed his features. "Sesshomaru's been here," he stated bluntly.

"But where's that bastard, Naraku?" Koga voiced loudly, but Inuyasha shook his head. Naraku wasn't what they were here for. At least not yet. Inuyasha scented the air again, but Kagome's scent wasn't on it. A deep frown pulled at his features and he sniffed again and again, but could find not trace of her, but another scent caught his attention. Inuyasha smelt again, just to make sure before looking at Kirara, who appeared to have also smelt the scent and nodded. Koga looked away into the distance, something seeming to have caught his attention. Inuyasha ignored the wolf prince and tentatively took a step forward, Miroku and Sango following cautiously behind.

"Can you smell Kagome?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha clenched his teeth.

"No," he replied. His pace quickened suddenly. "But I smell Shippo." He heard both of his companions footfalls stop briefly and assumed that they had paused at the news, but they quickly gained on him.

"Is he close?" Sango asked worriedly.

"No. I'm going to try and find him and Kagome—" For some reason, something caught in his throat as he said her name. To make up for the sudden silence, he paused and looked behind him. "Where the hell did that fleabag go?"

Miroku and Sango spun around, their eyebrows raised only to see that Koga had disappeared. They gave each other questioning glances before looking back at Inuyasha, who had already turned around and was heading for the castle. They stepped over much debris and finally arrived at a destroyed corridor, the inside incased in complete darkness. Inuyasha hurried inside, Miroku and Sango following behind loyally.

"Doesn't matter," Inuyasha spat, but something nagged at the back of his mind about Koga's absence. They were rivals, yes, but why would the wolf turn tail when they were so close to finding Kagome? Deciding to push it to the back of his mind, Inuyasha continued, but paused when they came to a fork in the hallway. Cursing, Inuyasha sniffed, then his ears perked up. "Kagome—" he started to go down the left hall, but stopped and sniffed again before glancing down the opposite one.

Growling, Inuyasha looked forward. "We have to split up," he said. Miroku nodded, but Sango looked worried, as did Kirara.

"Why?" she asked.

"Kagome and Shippo are in different areas of the castle; I'm going to get Kagome. You two look for Shippo." Inuyasha was about to take off on a run, but Miroku's voice held him back.

"Be careful, Inuyasha," the monk warned. "I'm not sure why Naraku hasn't shown up yet, but this could be a trap—"

"I could say the same to you." Inuyasha smirked. It widened. "Watch out for Sesshomaru," he said, and then he left, leaving Miroku, Sango, and Kirara in the dust.

oOo

Kagura scanned the large premises of the castle, her eyes narrowed as she panted slightly. Her eyebrows lifted when she saw Inuyasha and his companions, all of whom were walking cautiously towards the debris of the castle. One of them, Koga, she recognized, suddenly turned and ran in another direction, away from the group. She eyed Inuyasha before deciding to follow Koga and seeing what he was up to. He ran to the opposite side of the compound, where he paused and sniffed the ground before standing back up and running again, straight out of the shield that Kanna erected. With a puzzled expression, Kagura followed him, ignoring the painful twinge in her chest that told her repeatedly that Naraku wanted her. She took high to the skies and looked below her feather, where hundreds and hundreds of other wolf demons gather around Koga. Kagura noticed that they had different color fur; some were brown, like Koga's, others were a deeper hue, akin to orange, and some pelts were even pristine white. Kagura used her fan and gave it the smallest of taps, causing the wind to blow towards her, along with Koga's words.

"…avenge our comrades! Naraku will meet his death today!" Koga's finishing words to his speech were the only things that Kagura was able to hear before the crowds of wolves began to howl and cheer alike. She pulled back and stared down at them some more, a wistful look on her face, but a painful twang brought her out of her reverie. Hissing in pain, Kagura quickly reentered the premises of the castle and flew around to the entrance, where she knew Naraku himself was lying in wait in the foyer. She jumped to the ground, grabbing her white feather and placing it in her hair before she opened the large gate doors and entered the dark castle. Before she could even lift her head, she came face to face with a sneering Naraku. His hand, which was clenched around her beating heart, twitched, his claws digging into her most desired appendage. Kagura keeled over in pain, gasping for breath as Naraku stood silently before her.

"It certainly took you a while to answer my summons, Kagura."

Kagura pulled her lips back into a snarl, baring her fangs. Naraku emitted a noise of great annoyance from the back of his throat before beckoning Kanna forward. She held her mirror in front of him, and Kagura could see out of the corner of her eye Inuyasha, who was running down one of the corridors alone. The image then shifted to Sesshomaru. At first sight, Kagura was angrily surprised to see that he was alone, but then the demon turned around a corner and the small pup came into view, a look of deep anxiousness on his face. She felt her mind rest a bit easier at the sight of him, and wondered briefly when and why she had become attached to the fox kit. Kagura kept her eyes on Kanna's mirror as the picture within shifted again to reveal Koga and his wolves, all of whom had just entered the barrier. Naraku nodded his head to Kanna and she closed her eyes. Kagura felt the atmosphere change again as the barrier was removed and unsteadily got to her feet. Naraku glared down at her, one of his tentacles withering from under his robes.

"You disobeyed my orders again, Kagura," he said smoothly. Kagura refrained from wincing, not wanting to show him any pain or weakness. Naraku grunted and looked down at the heart he held before squeezing it so tight that it looked like it might explode. Kagura's breath caught in her throat at the pain. She backed up until she was against the wall and leaned heavily against it, hissing at Naraku as he came closer to her. "I told you not to help the kit. You should have listened to me if you wanted your heart returned to you."

"You wouldn't have given it to me," Kagura spat angrily. She tilted her head back, biting her lip to stifle her moan of pain as he gave her heart another squeeze.

"Is that so?" Naraku's hand clenched around her heart before he slowly brought it up to her face so she could get a good look at what he was doing. Then, he slowly lowered it and pressed it against her chest, forcing it through her flesh quickly and easily. Kagura gasped and tried to step further away from him, not wanting to touch him at all, but the wall behind her prevented her from doing anything. Instead, she stood stock still, her hands coming up to press against the part of her chest where Naraku had replaced her heart. She took a deep breath; her first breath. She was reborn. Kagura snapped her gaze up to Naraku, who had a smirk on his face. His hand, which she realized was still hovering over her heart, slowly, agonizingly pressed back into her flesh. Kagura's body convulsed, her hands hanging limply at her side as Naraku sunk his hand deep into her body and out of her back. The pain had her gasping for breath and sweat trickled down her forehead to land on Naraku's forearm. Then, he brought his bloodied hand back out, and Kagura screamed. Miasma began to seep out of the hole in her chest, eating at her flesh and causing her to fall over. She felt Naraku move over her to reach the door, beckoning Kanna to follow. The albino child stared down at her younger sister for mere seconds, an unfamiliar emotion in her eyes before following Naraku out onto the compound, leaving Kagura struggling for life on the grounds of which she was born.

oOo

"I hope Shippo's okay," Sango said softly. She, Miroku, and Kirara trudged down the hall that Inuyasha indicated Shippo was down. Kirara was in the lead so she could sniff out which room he might be trapped inside of. Miroku gripped his staff, an anxious feeling coursing through him, but he remained calm for Sango's sake.

"I'm sure he's fine," he assured Sango. She nodded, but continued to look worried. Miroku was about to say something else when Kirara stopped suddenly and growled. Miroku and Sango both crouched into defensive positions as they stared in front of them. When nobody came into view, they kept to the wall and slowly crept around, pausing just before the edge of the corner. They were about to attack, but the demon on the other side beat them to it; Kirara growled loudly as a small body slammed into hers. She pushed back into it, her growls turning into loud purrs instead.

"Kirara!" a familiar voice cried. Miroku and Sango whipped around to the large cat demon, who was licking the small form of Shippo as they rolled around the corridor. Shippo looked up, his eyes welling up with tears as he spotted his two companions. "Miroku! Sango!"

"Shippo!" Miroku and Sango cried in unison. Sango rushed forward and pulled the fox kit into a tight embrace which he returned wholeheartedly. She pulled back and brushed his bangs to the side, looking him over for injuries.

"Are you hurt?" she asked. Shippo shook his head, though Sango continued to fret about him. Behind her, Miroku turned around and nearly jumped back in surprise as Sesshomaru whipped passed him, not having sensed the demon earlier. Sango gasped when she saw him and held Shippo tighter to her chest.

"Where is Inuyasha?" The question came out more like a demand.

"He went to find Kagome," Miroku answered. Sesshomaru assessed the monk before turning and walking down the hall which they had come, a frown disrupting the usually stoic expression on his face. Sango looked at Miroku questioningly; he nodded at her and they set off after him, Shippo riding on Kirara's back. Sesshomaru didn't seem to mind that they were following him; Miroku guessed he was used to having human companionship, namely Rin.

"What happened here, Shippo?" Sango asked, her pace fast. In front of her, Sesshomaru cocked his head just slightly, keeping his eyes front. Shippo clenched Kirara's fur tightly.

"I—Me and Kagome were chained up in this room—Kagura came in and tried to help her with her wounds, but then—" But Shippo was cut of at Sango's exclamation.

"Kagura?" she asked incredulously. Shippo nodded.

"Y—Yeah, she helped me and Kagome. Then she gave Kagome this cloth and—K—Kagome wrapped it around my eyes and told me not to take it off—and then Naraku came in and Kagome started screaming—" Shippo's voice became hoarse as he recalled what had happened in the room. Miroku and Sango exchanged extremely worried glances before urging Shippo on. Sesshomaru had a slight hitch in his step as his mind processed what had happened, realizing with the smallest hint of appreciation that Kagura had tried to salvage the pup's innocence. "I don't understand what was happening, but then Kagura came in a—and took me to another room. She left and I was alone for a while, but then Sesshomaru came and got me…" Shippo looked up hopefully at the older demon. "Are you going to take us to Kagome…?"

The question had Sesshomaru pause in his tracks. Just barely, he inclined his head to the right, staring at the pup out of the corner of his eye. Without answering, he trekked forward, his pace suddenly faster than it was before. When they reached the fork where Inuyasha parted, Sesshomaru stopped and stared down the hall where he knew the dead priestess was waiting to be discovered by her loved one. Briefly, he wondered if he should retell what he could from the smells to his brother's companions, but his gaze shifted over to Shippo, and he overrode the thought. Kagura did what she could to save the pups purity, and he would not taint it with the knowledge that his surrogate mother had been raped and murdered. The words toyed around in Sesshomaru's head and Tenseiga pulsed suddenly. He looked down at the sword, his hand brushing over its hilt in wonder. Tenseiga wished him to revive the girl, but for what purpose? Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. Was it because it was the fang of his and Inuyasha's father? Did Tenseiga want to save his brothers mate for the sake of being his fathers son? Slowly, Sesshomaru stepped forward down the hall, his eyes lingering over the humans' faces and finally Shippo's. He knew what he had to do, but saving the ex-priestess was not his first priority.

With a glance of warning to the humans, Sesshomaru set off down the hall, his nose working overtime to find the scent of the one he sought, leaving the small group looking after him.

Man, this is dragging out longer than I thought it would, but I like the results. Next chapter will be a dramatic one, so be ready for it! Shoutout to Aditiz, who asked me kindly to update this story. This one is just for you! Keep in mind that I only updated because my friend requested-it will still be a very long time until I update next, as I really want to prepare more chapters prior to updating.

Review please!

~Miyopiyo