Warning: blood and swearing

Summary: Naraku has come up with a new devious little scheme. To use Magatsuhi, his new little minion created from the jewel shard itself to wound Sesshomaru enough so he himself can absorb the wounded inu youkai's wondrous powers. Can Inuyasha help his wounded brother heal after the assault and will Naraku succeed in gaining Sesshomaru's powers for himself? Read and find out.

Thoughts

'flashback'

"Talking"

Chapter 4

Jaken and Kohaku tensed, it had only been half a day and yet someone was already coming for them. Their Lord's blood had dried on their skin and clothes; creating an itchy shell where ever the blood had landed and the smell had calmed. Both males had their weapons drawn, the slayer inhaled sharply through his nose as he lifted his blade (what is his weapon called? A sword, dagger or does it have its own name like Sango's hirakous? And how do you spell that?) to a defensive position. Jaken gulped and glared at the opening to the burrow, the staff quivering in his tight hold. Ah-Un was the one who had alerted them to the coming people or things, their growls low and quiet though still dangerous. The group had decided to leave their muzzles un-strapped in-case of any danger.

Rin glanced at the agitated dragon for only a second before glancing over at Kohaku and Jaken get into fighting stances, preparing for the battle that they were not looking forward to. Sesshomaru was whimpering softly as she ran one of her hands in and over his hair in a soothing rhythm while the other was rubbing soft circles on the base and tip of his ear. A huff of air blew from his nostrils as he sensed the tension within the small room, no doubt he could smell the oncoming intruders but whether they were friendly or not he could not say due to the pain from the wounds.

The group heard sudden noises from the official opening of the burrow where the intruders were, they were loud and apparently felt no reason to hide the fact that they were there. Their voices were muffled due to the fifteen foot distance between the groups so they couldn't tell if it were just random passerby, Naraku or his offspring, possible help or even the badger demon that owned the small burrow. Everything was silent, the only things heard was Ah-Un's growls and their own heavy breathing and the occasional soft whimper coming from the injured Lord so when Ah's fangs clicked together producing the loud snapping the group jumped.

Apparently the trespassers were indeed dangerous, why else would they be coming down into some random tunnel where anything could be? Ah opened his mouth; a bright blue light cackling with power and electricity formed in his throat before lighting up the darkened tunnel and escaping from his mouth. There was a loud, shocked and infuriated shout coming from, most likely the one who was trying to descend down to their level, and the three smallest members of the group could practically feel their hearts beat within their mouths where they had traveled up the esophagus, up the throat and currently resided.

The dragon slowly walked into the tunnel his tail disappearing in a matter of seconds and there was complete silence in the room for a minute before he reappeared and settled himself against the far wall.

Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks in the mouth of the cave; causing the others to run into him and roughly push him the rest of the way into the room. Their reactions were the same as his, clean pure shock making their eyes wide and their mouths to hang until they threaten to unhinge themselves from their joints.

The fire in the small room was casting gorgeous red and yellow colors floating across the room, bright red embers floating softly in the air away from the flames. Jaken and Kohaku's brows were furrowed up to the top of their heads as they lowered their weapons slowly in surprise of who the intruders were. It looks like they're not dangerous enemies after all, Kohaku thought as he eyed his older sister's gang.

Inuyasha's eye twitched as the flames licked a yellowish coloring on his older brother, making the already gruesome wounds far more disgusting to look at. A gaping, bloody hole was in his chest, thin red threads of blood and skin linking the body together (don't worry he's still completely intact people…except for the fur). The hanyou could quite clearly see the brown soil through the wound, a wound so big one could probably fit their head into. His right knee looked like it had imploded in on itself, as if one of the tentacles had ran straight through it and then pulled a chunk of flesh through the back of it. His left thigh was missing a chunk of flesh and muscle, turning it into a bloody mess; ultimately the man wouldn't be able to walk for a good while. Kagome recovered from the first shock of his immediate appearance and was now covering her mouth and turning away with her shoulders shaking as she attempted to hold back the sudden and powerful urge to puke.

Inuyasha's fingers twitched as he eyed the long wound on his elder brother's shoulder. The skin was completely torn, flesh and pink bloody muscle ripped clean apart. His once white clothing was almost completely red, and the areas that were closest to the wounds were black with blood. His armor was cracked, the spikes gone and the only thing keeping it on was the sashes around his belly. The young human girl was sitting beside him, her own being covered with blood that was still not completely dry but, the new group almost didn't notice that she was even there, their attention trapped by the massive wounds afflicting the Taiyoukai.

"Sango, what are you doing here?"

Immediately the older slayer jumped from her spot in the opening and enveloped her younger brother in a tight bear hug before pulling back in alarm. In her haste she hadn't even seen the dark blood stains that turned brown on his figure, now that she had she fingered the hard substance. "Kohaku, are you alright? Where are you hurt?"

Kohaku opened his mouth to respond before closing it along with his eyes and clenching his fists and teeth. His dark eyes opened as he drew in a deep breath and the elder exterminator was shocked to see unshed tears glittering in the dark orbs before he looked away from her. And his gaze landed on the injured Sesshomaru.

"It's not my blood."

Everyone looked at the boy in shock before turning back to the Taiyoukai. The inu youkai gave a sudden shaky breath a series of tiny whimpers escaped his slightly parted lips, a small line of crimson dribbling down his chin. Rin ran both hands through his hair in a motherly fashion, attempting to soothe the distraught man.

Kagome turned back to them, her need to puke no longer there and she took a deep breath. "Do you have any water? We should clean his wounds before they become infected."

Sesshomaru's pack all looked up at her. "Yes, we do have water," Jaken's high voice suddenly wasn't so high pitched. "Kohaku and I went to get some as soon as we got here but, my Lord won't let anyone near him. The only one allowed to go to him is Rin."

Kohaku and Jaken both shuddered at the memory of when they had brought back the water. Lord Sesshomaru and Rin were in the same position that they were now but, when they approached he growled so ominously they nearly wet themselves. They hadn't tried since.

"Feh, the bastard needs his wounds treated, you should of done it anyway." Inuyasha's insides twisted at the sight of his injured brother and covered the unease and guilt with his snappish attitude. He grabbed the canteen in the middle of the room and ordered Rin to move.

"Rin won't move," the girl's usually happy grin turned to a sharp scowl as she glared at the approaching hanyou. "Lord Sesshomaru doesn't like it when Rin leaves him."

Kagome blinked. Never had she heard the usually happy go lucky child speak in the tone she was, or even look at anyone with the look she was sending Inuyasha. Frankly, it shocked her.

Inuyasha blinked as well before ordering her to move again. Looking down at her Lord Rin stood and sat in front of Ah-Un, waiting expectantly.

The half breed huffed and smirked triumphantly at her obedience before his ears went flat from both his ankiki's pack mates sighing and the mewing. Sesshomaru shifted where he lay, his face scrunched in pain as he mewed, pleading with the girl to come back. Rin stood like she was about to go to him when Inuyasha stopped her with a look. The white haired boy expected the whimpering to stop, thinking that the mewing coming from his brother was nothing more than the Taiyoukai wanting someone close. The whimpering and mewing did indeed stop but, he didn't expect the older youkai's lips to twist in a demonic snarl as ferocious growls escaped his throat.

With each step the growling grew louder, turning to a low vibrating thrum to other companions ears before Inuyasha apparently got too far into Sesshomaru's personal bubble. His eyes remained shut, and the stripes on his cheeks darkened and thickened as the stretched further around his mouth, he snapped his inch long fangs together producing a clicking sound as his hand twitched. Shippo screamed and gripped onto Miroku's clothing and Inuyasha yelped, jumping back when Sesshomaru's poison whip struck the ground he stood upon merely a few seconds ago.

The light receded and Sango narrowed her eyes as she looked at the wound on the inu demon's chest as Inuyasha began to yell. Something was terribly wrong…

"See Master Inuyasha?" Rin's voice cut through the half breed's rant as she walked to the growling youkai's side. To Inuyasha's and his pack's surprise he allowed the girl within his personal space and she tucked a stray silver strand behind his pointed ear. "Lord Sesshomaru won't let anyone but Rin near him." The Taiyoukai's growls turned to whimpers as he weakly nudged his head into her hand, encouraging her comforting touch.

"Ok then," Inuyasha snapped as he looked perpexedly at the odd pair. "Stay with him and I'll work on his wounds."

"That's not going to work Inuyasha."

Ignoring Kohaku's warning the half demon walked forward again, only for him to jump back at the warning growl coming from Sesshomaru's snarled lips.

"Like I said you idiotic dolt!" Jaken puffed out his chest as he shouted at the dog. "Only Rin is allowed anywhere close to our Lord!"

"Don't fight with them Inuyasha," Sango forcibly dragged Inuyasha from his brother. "The closer you get to him the more defensive he gets and the more his wounds spread."

The last statement froze all of the people in the room. "Look at his wounds, the edges of them are green."

They narrowed their eyes and looked closely at the wounds. Sure enough each of his wounds were out lined with glowing green acid that was slowly eating away at the flesh, widening the already gruesome wounds.

"But how," Kagome took a small step forward to grip Inuyasha's sleeve as the acid dispersed with a sizzling sound.

"Magatsuhi, the guy we were fighting," Kohaku answered the unasked question of who this man was. "He had injected poison into Lord Sesshomaru while they fought, normally his immune system would of repressed it but, I think his poison is stronger than our Lord's."

"Hmm," Miroku lifted his index finger to rest on his chin as he watched the young girl whisper soothing words into Sesshomaru's ear. "Just who is this Magatsuhi you encountered?"

Kohaku opened his mouth to answer before an anguished whine brought their attention to Sesshomaru, whose hand was rapidly picking at the wound on his chest. Rin shouted as she pulled the hand away from the wound while everyone else stood in shock. After a moment Rin was successful in pinning the pale, striped wrist to the ground, her small frame jumping whenever the limb twitched.

Low growls ensued from the injured Taiyoukai, causing Inuyasha's ears to twitch as he dropped the canteen; water splashing slightly on the ground from the impact.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome put a worried hand on his shoulder, her face wound up in concern but, his attention was centered on his brother.

Sesshomaru growled again as his left leg jumped and his fangs clacked together. "Get it off…"

Ah-Un moaned in discomfort as he debated on approaching or staying put. He walked over to the other side of the room to rub their noses on Kohaku and Jaken's temples to calm them.

Shippo hopped off of Miroku's shoulder onto Inuyasha's red clad one, his attention focused solely on the Taiyoukai.

"The jewel…get it off…"

"The jewel?" Shippo perked his head up as he stared at his pack alpha's older brother. "Kagome do you see a jewel shard on him anywhere?"

The humans and Jaken blinked. "No," Kagome searched the form head to toe. "There isn't one on him. Why do you ask?"

"He just said it." All the kitsune received were stange looks. "Didn't you hear it?"

"The scent…get it off…"

"There! He just said it again!"

Inuyasha knocked the kit off his shoulder so he landed face first onto the ground. "Baka, he's talkin inu, all they hear is growls."

"Oh."

The growling was raspy raising and lowering in pitch in intervals. "His scent…get it…off!"

"Than what is he saying?"

"Apparently the jewel shard's scent is on him and he wants it off," Inuyasha snorted as he answered the miko's question. "The old dog must be going senile, the shard doesn't have a scent!"

There was a loud clunk and silence covered the room, Sesshomaru's growls the only noise echoing off the walls.

Inuyasha twitched, his upper lip curling into a snarl as he bared his fangs, the Staff of Two Heads resting on the ever growing lump on his head. "My Lord is not old! And he is most definitely not senile! How dare you say such things you ignorant, unwanted half breed!"

Jaken squawked as he was plucked off the ground by the irritated hanyou who was currently squeezing the imps head. "You wanna say that again toad?" He squeezed harder, causing the imp to gasp and clutch the wrist holding him.

"Magatsuhi is the sacred jewel shard!" Kohaku's sharp statement made Inuyasha drop the smaller demon in surprise. "The shikon may not have a scent but Magatsuhi does, and he is the evil spirits residing in the jewel." The child took a deep breath, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from the older humans. "Look, I'll tell you what happened after we cleaned Lord Sesshomaru's wounds."

Turning back to the still struggling youkai they assessed the situation. Sesshomaru wouldn't let anyone but Rin near him, would she be able to clean the wounds? No, if she were able no doubt she would have done so by now. Still, Inuyasha felt obligated to put the thought into words.

"Than why doesn't the runt do it? He lets her near doesn't he?"

The girl sighed softly at that as she released the now silent and still youkai. "Rin has tried but, whenever Rin gets close to him with water that poison starts up again."

Miroku took a step towards the wall opposite the other pack and sat down. "Than if the enemy was the sacred jewel than someone with spiritual powers against the jewel should be able to suppress it."

Everyone turned to Kagome who in turn, turned red. She put her hands up in a defensive position as a large sweat drop appeared on her head. "Hey, don't look at me, Sesshomaru won't even let me near him so I can't do it."

Sango put a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "You never know until you try Kagome. If the wounds don't get cleaned their infections may lead to something no one wants."

The whimpering restarted and Kagome suddenly found her hand within Rin's, the child's dark eyes large with unshed tears. "Please miss Kagome. Help him, Rin knows you don't like him but, he keeps us safe."

Looking down at the girl the miko bit her lip before sighing awkwardly through her teeth. She gave the girls' hand a squeeze before taking the canteen from up off the floor. Rin giggled happily before running back to Sesshomaru, immediately quieting his whimpers.

Inuyasha stood on alert as Kagome took a tiny step forward, ready to pull her back if he struck. Her entire body was shaking and he could smell her fear through her sweat.

Everyone waited with bated breath as Kagome got closer, until everyone jumped when the feral growl broke the silence. Kagome squeaked and clutched the canteen to her chest as cold sweat beaded down her forehead. Ok girl, just take deep breaths…deep breaths…

The growling continued, rising in pitch as she took another step forward. "Perhaps we should reconsider," Sango was being held back from going to get Kagome by her younger brother. "I don't think you should go Kagome."

Inuyasha was having his doubts as well, his ears pressed back against his head in worry. He reached out to grab a fistful of her shirt, "Yeah Kagome, come on back before he kills you."

Ignoring the hanyou Kagome took another step forward, determined to help Rin in any way she could, almost missing what was coming from said girl's mouth.

"You're ok miss Kagome, Rin found Lord Sesshomaru when he was injured pretty bad but all he did was growl. He didn't attack, he's just growling at you."

Growling himself and ignoring the girl's words Inuyasha stepped towards her about to roughly pull her back before Miroku's voice stopped him.

"Don't stop her Inuyasha, she's already passed the place you were when he attacked you."

Indeed the girl had walked right into Sesshomaru's bubble and the youkai hadn't done anything against it except his growling. With a bit more confidence Kagome knelt beside the youkai Lord.

How dare she…horrid miko, even in his mind Sesshomaru was growling, but for some reason he let the girl come. Otouto and his pack smelled shocked, no! Rin don't leave! Stay here…arigato Rin…this miko, perhaps that is why he let her near, she is much like Rin…What is she…It smells like water but the poison!

The sudden pain was unbearable as he whined and tried to arch away from the wet cloth that had touched the wound on his shoulder, causing it to twitch and cool at the same time. The poison, Magatsuhi's poison was rushing from deep within his veins to attack the already brutal wounds. Gods it hurt, the Taiyoukai knew that the was whimpering and hated how he was showing weakness in front of his brother's pack but it hurt. The poison felt like liquid fire as it rushed through his system to spread the skin and muscle apart.

But, the pain suddenly stopped. Magatsuhi's poison was receding back into the depths of his body and all the pain that was left was the harsh throbbing of the wounds themselves and the slight sting coming from the cloth touching them.

Yay ch. 4 is done ). In case you're all confused the whole inu language that Inuyasha mentioned was just a language that all dogs can understand, and considering Shippo is a fox and a fox is in the canine family he can understand it to. Thanks for the reviews so far and keep 'em coming.

Ja ne.