Sesshomaru was attracted by the sounds of battle. He'd been following his half-brother's pack, for reasons he himself could not fathom. He never let them even sense his presence.
And then he caught the scent. The miko's scent, mixed with Naraku's foul taint. He heard the clash of weapons. And, suddenly, he smelled InuYasha's blood.
Pouring on the taiyoukai speed, Sesshomaru appeared, almost instantly, on the edge of the clearing.
There was Naraku, with the taijia boy Rin had grown so attached to, and…
His brother's miko.
But she was changed.
Gone was the indecent kimono she'd worn while in his brother's pack. Now, she wore a twisted, torn parody of a miko's garb in pure black. She had the same blank expression as the taijia boy. And she now, wielded a katana.
The taijia girl had a tear down her sleeve, obviously from her brother's sickle-chain. InuYasha had a sluggishly bleeding chest wound. From the blood dripping off her blade, she'd been the one to inflict it.
Naraku noticed him. "Ah, Lord Sesshomaru, you've arrived." the evil hanyou greeted him. "Here to see the death of your dear brother's pathetic pack?"
Sesshomaru didn't deign to reply. Instead, he turned, and began to walk away.
"I wouldn't leave just yet, Lord Sesshomaru." Naraku called after him. "There's someone here who wants to see you very much."
Suddenly, Rin's scent joined the others. Sesshomaru whirled, to see his ward cradled in Naraku's arms.
"So, the great taiyoukai, the Aristocratic Assassin, the glorious Lord Sesshomaru's weakness…is a filthy ningen girl-child." he sneered.
That was going much too far.
Sesshomaru rushed the dark hanyou, golden eyes bleeding red.
Mere inches from ripping open Naraku's throat, and snatching Rin, a lithe figure stepped between them.
Sesshomaru paid no attention to them, concentrating solely on Naraku.
A mistake, as it turned out.
The sharp, icy point of a katana, still stained with his brother's blood, pricked his windpipe.
Sesshomaru froze. Taiyoukai or not, even he couldn't survive if that sword slipped.
The miko stood before him, eyes blank, face emotionless.
"Onna. Move." he ordered, voice a snarl.
She stayed where she was.
"Surprised, Lord Sesshomaru?" Naraku asked. "My little miko is as loyal to me, as she used to be towards your half-breed brother. Isn't that right, Koaru?"
"Of course, Master Naraku." the girl replied dully.
"And just think, Lord Sesshomaru, you have only yourself to blame. You let her go, after all."
"Kagome was with that bastard?!" InuYasha yelled, shocked.
"I found her, after you tired of her, brother." Sesshomaru replied coldly. "Bleeding in the snow, with your claws on her back."
"What?!" the taijia girl whirled on InuYasha. "You bastard!"
He held his hands up in weak protest. "He's making it up, Sango!"
"Really, InuYasha?" the monk asked. "What reason would Lord Sesshomaru have to do that?"
Perhaps you wonder why Naraku was letting them have this conversation.
Sesshomaru did.
When he looked back up the evil hanyou, he-along with Kohaku, Kagome, and Rin- was gone.
That had been his plan all along. To use Sesshomaru to sow the seeds of discord among his brother's pack.
And he had fallen for it.
Who was he turning into?
InuYasha?
He shuddered, horror at the thought of fluffy ears atop his head momentarily overcoming his worry for Rin, and fury at Naraku.
Kami forbid.