Note: Shugoga (守護牙) means "Guardian Fang"

A Father's Will

Chapter 1- The Hand of Destiny

Iyoku's ears tweaked, they were nearby. Taking in a sniff of the air he could tell the battle he was trying to locate was close…very close indeed. Without hesitation he jumped across the field and ran in the direction of the brawl. Suddenly, his nose caught wind of another scent, the scent of an imp and a human child.

"Must be Jaken and Rin." Iyoku thought to himself. Finally, he came across these two figures.

"InuYasha!?" Jaken exclaimed with a very nervous tone. He paused for a moment and looked Iyoku over, "Who are you?"

"My name is of little consequence," Iyoku said as he looked at Tenseiga, "The fool, don't tell me he didn't take Tenseiga into battle."

"How dare you! Lord Sesshoumaru's business is none of your concern!"

"Perhaps not- but he is still a fool, I see he has not changed."

"What are you talking about!?" Jaken replied with frustration, "Such insolence! Feel the wrath of the Staff of Two Heads!" Iyoku quickly moved out his hands and channeled his powers to form a barrier. The male head unleashed its fire but, unfortunately for Jaken, it could not penetrate Iyoku's barrier.

"I have no time to fight with you, I must save your master from his demise." With that, Iyoku ran off in the direction of the ox tiger.

InuYasha and Sesshoumaru glared at each other. Tokijin and Tetsaiga once again clashed on the field of battle. For a few minutes now, InuYasha and Sesshoumaru had been fighting an even battle. Upon the fifth attack from his brother, InuYasha knew he had Sesshoumaru cornered as they both moved to strike each other's blades. InuYasha altered the position of his sword ever so slightly, but the resulting impact caused Tokijin to fall out of Sesshoumaru's hand. InuYasha smirked, he had him. InuYasha moved down for the kill and placed his blade centimeters away from Sesshoumaru's throat. For some reason- Sesshoumaru was not wearing Tenseiga, the sword he despised could not save him now- InuYasha would be the last thing he would ever see. InuYasha smirked, clearly savoring the moment. Sesshoumaru found it interesting that InuYasha was not taunting him- it was clear that his lust for his brother's blood was as strong as Sesshoumaru's own lust for InuYasha's death. InuYasha raised Tetsaiga and ran the blade through a spot where he knew would end up paralyzing Sesshoumaru, if only for a short time. A short time was all he needed to have some fun; however, Sesshoumaru would soon be dead. InuYasha was about to go for another stroke when he heard a strange voice call to him.

"INUYASHA!"

InuYasha turned to see another dog demon standing in the clearing- sword drawn. InuYasha was shocked for a moment as he saw how much this demon resembled him, aside from the fact he looked a bit older and had a pair of purple stripes running down either side of his face.

"And just what the hell do you want?" InuYasha asked impatiently.

"Step away from Sesshoumaru!"

"Like hell," InuYasha turned Tetsaiga towards this new opponent, "You're gonna have to make me"

"InuYasha," Iyoku said in a pleading voice, "Don't force me to hurt you."

"Hah!" InuYasha said with a smirk, "I'd like to see you try!" InuYasha sprinted across the field towards Iyoku and let out a yell. His opponent easily blocked his attack.

"Damn!" The figure began moving to Sesshoumaru. "What the hell is he doing?" InuYasha thought. Suddenly, he sensed a barrier around Sesshoumaru. He snickered.

"Like your pathetic barrier is gonna stop me." Tetsaiga Pulsated.

"What the…" Iyoku said as he looked at Tetsaiga, "No- he couldn't have unlocked the Crimson Tetsaiga yet!"

"You seem to know a lot about my sword," InuYasha smirked, "wanna learn more?" Tetsaiga began glowing red.

"Shit," Iyoku said as he put his hands on Shesshomaru's head and began chanting. Tetsaiga unleashed its attack that brought down the barrier, Iyoku knew he had little time.

"WIND SCAR!" InuYasha called out…but nothing happened. "What the hell…Tetsaiga won't let me use the wind scar." InuYasha was confused- but it was no matter. He began running towards his opponent. Suddenly, a powerful glow surrounded Sesshoumaru! Once the glow had disappeared, so had his brother. InuYasha stopped in his tracks.

"What the hell did you just do?"

"I teleported your brother to safety," Iyoku said, "Let me explain…" InuYasha growled.

"Die!" He moved forward and thrust Tetsaiga at Iyoku. Iyoku was caught slightly off guard and while he managed to avoid getting hit, he lost his balance. InuYasha wasted no time and started lunging at Iyoku who was now on the ground. Iyoku blocked several of his thrusts with his sword, which, InuYasha noted, looked oddly familiar. Finally, InuYasha saw a gap in the dog demon's defense and thrust Tetsaiga into his opponent's right side. Iyoku gasped and lost his hold on his sword. InuYasha smirked and held his sword below Iyoku's head.

"You may have stopped me from killing Sesshoumaru- but you're gonna have to pay."

"InuYasha…I am not your enemy!" InuYasha ignored Iyoku and moved in for the kill. InuYasha raised his blade as he prepared for the final blow. Iyoku saw his chance, he quickly rolled to the side and picked up his sword, Shugoga, and blocked InuYasha's Tetsaiga. Both dog demons growled at each other as they poured all of their strength into their swords.

"InuYasha," Iyoku said with a labored tone, "Has your sense of smell been blinded by your hate?"

"What the hell are you rambling on about?" InuYasha asked impatiently as he ended the stalemate and jumped back a few feet from Iyoku. Iyoku looked at the wound he received earlier from Tetsaiga and pointed to it. InuYasha decided he might as well acquiesce to the request of his opponent and concentrated on smelling his blood. InuYasha turned pale. "What the hell…you have Father's blood!"

"That is correct," Iyoku said as he sheathed Shugoga, "Who else do you smell?"

"No…" InuYasha paused, "You couldn't be!"

"Yes," Iyoku lifted up his shirt to show an identifying scar, "I am Iyoku."

"Father's servant," InuYasha thought. He remembered the times he spent with Iyoku, the human monk who always followed his father into battle. Father had, for some reason, trusted this mortal as one of his closest friends and advisors and he had served his father faithfully throughout his life. He also recalled the times Iyoku looked after him when he was a child and smirked at some of the old memories he had of pranks he used to play on the monk. InuYasha sheathed Tetsaiga.

"Why did you prevent me from killing Sesshoumaru?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Iyoku smirked, "As annoying as your older brother is, your father charged me with looking after both of you."

"Oh you've been doing one hell of a job," InuYasha said sarcastically, "I was bound to a tree for fifty years you know."

"I realize that," Iyoku sighed, "I had business to attend to."

"Oh?" InuYasha raised an eyebrow, "What kind of business?"

"Not here, is there some place we can talk privately?" InuYasha paused. Perhaps this was all a trick or some elaborate ruse. No, his nose wouldn't betray him, this was Iyoku.

"How the hell did he become a half-demon?" InuYasha thought.

"InuYasha?" Iyoku asked, bringing InuYasha out of his pattern of thought.

"Er, yeah, Kagome and the others are back at Kaede's village- we can talk there."

"Splendid, lead on InuYasha." InuYasha began the short trek to the village pondering the events that had just transpired. How did Iyoku become a half demon? What was this "business" he mentioned earlier, and why did he wait until now to surface. InuYasha was still not even sure that he could trust him; however, he felt it was a risk he had to take.

"Besides," he thought to himself, "If he becomes a problem- I won't have any trouble killing him." He thought about Iyoku's sword, for some reason it seemed to have blocked the Wind Scar! Was this one of his father's fangs? He had so many questions, but they would have to wait. Sesshoumaru had escaped his wrath, this time. "Oh well," InuYasha thought, "I'll get the bastard next time. Besides, I always like a challenge."