NOTE: I received an anonymous reviewer who asked if there was going to be any' forced sexual' moments in this fanfiction. To answer you, no there will not, I am assuming you mean involving Sesshomaru, and as such, I am trying to write Sesshomaru as in character as absolutely possible. In my personal analysis of his character, I do not see Lord Sesshomaru ever forcing himself upon someone sexually. To him, I think, he would view this act as beneath him, dishonorable, and primitive - which implies weakness. Sesshomaru is anything but weak and responding to base animalistic impulses would be the epitome of weakness, this would also never be a problem for Sesshomaru, as I have seen no ACTUAL evidence in the original series of his 'beast' from that is inclined to rape. Yes, he is a dog demon and may share characteristics with dogs, but for the purposes of my story this inclination particular to dogs will not be an issue for him. Hope that answers your question!

Enjoy!

xxx.

The sun was just beginning to peak above the horizon, painting the sky in light hues of pink and vibrant red, as Inuyasha stepped out of a small hut on the edge of Edo village, his eyes instantly fell upon a forest that resided just beyond the village fields, it was the forest where he met Kagome. For a moment, he felt his heart swell painfully, but fortunately, his mind was pulled from those thoughts as he heard the soft shuffling of feet from the old priestess emerging from the hut behind him.

"Now that the sacred jewel has appeared again in this world, the evil beings who desire its power will soon be flocking here, Inuyasha."

"You think I don't know that, old lady?!" Inuyasha spat harshly from behind a pair of rigidly crossed arms, he huffed in annoyance and gave the hut behind the old priestess a furtive glance before looking up to the sky again.

Kaede sighed as she watched the young dog demon feign a cold hearted demeanor, old she may be, cripple she may be, but blind she was not. An almost perceptible aura of anxiety seemed to roll off the dog demon, in waves, he stood rigidly, which she found most surprising, as he was almost always slouching around or laying in a tree. Had she not known Inuyasha for the past fifty years, she would have thought nothing of his behavior, but the way his dark brows furrowed, and his bright amber eyes continued to find themselves observing the hut behind her, left no doubt in the priestess mind as to what was ailing him.

"Do ye not think it would be wise, to at least give the girl a word of parting?" Kaede nudged, hoping that if she offered it as her own idea, perhaps Inuyasha would comply, simply out of some sense of chivalry. When he scoffed and jerked his head in the direction of the road towards the west Kaede resisted the temptation to roll her eye at the stubborn boy.

"Feh! Like I care," he grunted, turning back to her he smirked then continued, "Look - I was just being nice, okay? Lucky for her I'd just eaten dinner and as such, had no use for her, got it?" He threatened viciously, she simply nodded her head, although his rough demeanor did nothing to persuade the old woman from her previous inclinations of where his heart truly lie. Unfortunately for Inuyasha, he did not have the luxury of hiding his emotions, they were there swimming frantically in his eyes.

"Calm down, Inuyasha," she sighed, as she unhooked the quiver from her shoulder, preparing to return to her hut for a period of time, after all, she had yet to eat breakfast. "Ye not need be so brash, Inuyasha, I would have taken the girl despite ye threats... have ye thought on this fully? For once you go, there will be no, turning back..." She held his gaze, attempting to ascertain his decision, was he willing to turn his back on this girl, this girl that so resembles the dead Kikyo.

Inuyasha was the one to break eye contact as he frowned and stared at the ground, his eyes took in every speak of mud and dirt caking his feet and as he felt the heavy pounding of his heart at the weight of his decision. Inuyasha suddenly, with what seemed to be ironclad conviction, turned from the priestess and began walking through the village towards the western road; putting the forest, village, and Kagome behind him for good. Kaede sighed sadly, as she watched his slow procession from the village begin, she knew that this time, she would not see him again. This departure held a finality to it, that even the passing of her dear sister, those many years ago, had not effect Inuyasha thus. For he had returned, every few years, although he lied about his reasons, always claiming he just 'happened to be passing through', but she knew, his heart still beat for Kikyo and in his own way, this was how he'd continued to show his love. But then the sudden emergence of a young woman who looked like Kikyo and to have the same jewel within her that had gone to the afterlife with Kikyo...

After a few moments, Kaede resigned herself from her dark thoughts and watching her reluctant friend disappear from her sight forever, shuffling back into her hut she was halted by his voice,

"Hey...Kaede..."

"What would ye like me to tell her, Inuyasha?"

"Tell her..." There was a long pause, Kaede stared at the doorway to her hut, determined to not look back , she could hear the sadness in his voice. Inuyasha had only sounded like this once before, on the day her sister was murdered, when he had been too late...

"...tell her to go home."

xxx.

The first thing Kagome felt when she woke up was pain, gasping her hand went to her grasp her side, an unconscious attempt to dull the pain. Clenching her teeth she sat up and looked down, her modern clothes were gone, she was now in a plain black haori and hakumas, pulling the collar open she saw a bandage wrapped tightly across her waist. Groaning she looked up to ask Inuyasha what women changed and bandaged her, because, she didn't even want to think what she would do to him if he had done this, grateful she was, but pissed she would be if that pervert had groped her up while she was unconscious, "Inuyasha ," she started warning, but stopped when she was greeted with the haggard voice of an old woman and not the youthful tenor of brash youth.

"I'm sorry child, but Inuyasha is gone, ye have been with me since before daybreak."

Kagome blinked, confusion written plainly across her face, she had never seen the old woman before, and yet, she knew Inuyasha, okay, she decided to start there, "Excuse me, but how do you know Inuyasha?" she asked politely though anxiety made her question come out in an urgent rush of breath.

The old woman was diligently stirring something, that smelled a lot like stew, in a large iron pot in a pit between them in the small hut. After a moment, of obvious contemplation, which Kagome found suspicious, but patiently waited for the woman's response.

"I have known, the half demon, Inuyasha, for many, many years...Kagome," Kagome gasped, but then realized if Inuyasha left her here, clearly he must've given her name. "I am Kaede, the priestess of this small village," She continued, as she picked up a small bowl to her left, ladling a hefty portion of stew into, and handing it to Kagome, who took the proffered bowl with a gracious incline of her head, sipping lightly for a moment as the woman poured her own bowl, Kagome decided to press her for answers, she was, after all getting quite anxious, her only friend she'd made her was gone, in what now she was certain was feudal Japan, which made her whole situation a lot scarier if one stopped and thought intrinsically on the real probability of her survival alone.

"So," she started warmly, trying to assume the best of her new friend, despite the growing fear lurking in the back of her mind that he'd abandoned her, "When will Inuyasha return?"

If Kaede had been sipping the stew, Kagome was quite certain she would have spewed it everywhere, for the look she was currently receiving from the priestess. Kagome's face darkened, "He left me, didn't he?" she deadpanned.

Sighing Kaede placed the bowl down, "Aye child," She paused at the strangled cry of frustration from the young woman, who silently fumed across from her. Kaede observed her closely, while asleep Kagome resembled Kikyo, while awake she looked nothing like her. She shared the same complexion, hair color, and similar features, but this girl was very clearly not Kikyo. She had a fiery personality and fierce blue eyes, while her sister's had been a dark brown, that had often resembled a polish onyx, while Kagome's blue eyes rivaled the bluest ocean beneath a bright sun. The way Kagome held herself spoke of an innate confidence and passion, that her sister had never had, Kikyo had been brave but she had been soft spoken. Only when she was forced, was her voice harsh under the stress of the dangerous situations, her confidence that had been revered across the land was an act, she had appeared to be the powerful priestess the people needed her to be, and she'd executed it perfectly.

But Kagome, as Kaede observed now, was a much different woman than her sister, and for some strange reason that made Kaede smile.

"Kagome," she distracted the young woman from her fiercely whispered threats about the dog demon. "Inuyasha has left ye with me, because he knows it is dangerous for ye to be near him, he spoke of why the demons were chasing him with ye, did he not?"

"Yeah those creeps chased us for almost three days, I wasn't going to let him run me around all of Nippon without an explanation!" Kagome exclaimed, between sips of the delicious stew. Kaede shook her head in acknowledgment and stared into the fire across from her, deciding what to tell Kagome and where to start.

"Inuyasha can't run anymore, for if he does... he will put ye in danger, he has resolved to return to the West in exchange for your safety-"

"Wait, but Inuyasha doesn't want to fight!" Kagome interjected, she looked horrified, "I didn't ask him to do this!"

"Aye, child...but this was not ye decision to make, Inuyasha is a Prince of the Western lands, and as such, must face his responsibilities someday. Ye have just given him the reason to so a little sooner." Kaede had picked up her bowl of stew again and sipped from him tentatively, knowing this conversation was far from over.

Kagome gripped the bowl harshly, half afraid she was going to snap it between her fingers, she was so mad, but also fiercely distraught, she hadn't known Inuyasha for long and hadn't even thought if she'd considered him a friend or not. But as she sat staring into the bowl of stew in this small hut, she knew Inuyasha meant something to her, she desperately wanted to find that damn well and go home.

"..but not before I set this straight," Kagome mumbled, Kaede simply continued to sip from her bowl of stew, quietly observing the headstrong woman before her for a moment before pouring herself another bowl of stew.

"Priestess Kaede," Kagome said, breaking the silence and causing Kaede to look up, to find Kagome staring sheepishly into her bowl of stew.

"Aye, child?"

"Did he...uh...I mean," Kagome's eyebrows furrowed.

This is ridiculous, she thought.

She knew this was supposed to be a kind gesture on Inuyasha's part, but she couldn't just leave it like this, he didn't need to go fight in a war he didn't care about! Kagome was almost certain that the only way to go home was to go back down the well. And once she did, she would be safe, and he could continue jumping down waterfalls and evading demons while laughing.

"Kagome?" Kaede prodded, uncertain why the girl was acting so oddly, she had no frame of reference to discern Kagome's behavior, having only officially met her within the past thirty minutes.

"uh..." Kagome fiddled with the small brown bowl, "Did he ask you to tell me anything...?" she finally managed to asked, awkwardly, she felt like some sappy protagonist in a romantic comedy, and absolutely loathed the feeling.

"Aye, Inuyasha said to tell ye to go home."

Kagome's eyebrow and nose twitched as she attempted to restrain herself.

"Is..that all?" Kagome forced herself to not get hysterical at this telephone game demand on the part of Inuyasha.

"Aye, Child...are ye alright?" Kaede asked worriedly, Kagome had placed down the bowl and had her hands clenched tightly atop either knee.

"Of course!" She exclaimed shrilly, having imagined all the things a decent guy would say to a girl he may never see again and having completely forgot this particular was a complete idiot - who needed a swift kick to the head right now, the nerve this guy!

She then whipped her head up, smiling confidently, she stared fiercely into Kaede's eye,

"Which road will take me to the Western Army's camp?"

Kaede sighed, there would be no dissuading this woman,

"I will tell ye, but before ye go, ye must prepare accordingly if ye wish to survive the journey there... and what will surely follow if ye remain at the half-demon's side."

Kagome's blue eyes narrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Ye life will be threatened at every turn, Inuyasha does not live a life of certainties and his mouth often gets him in to far more trouble than ye'd imagine. And, If ye wish to survive these roads alone, ye must not smell like a woman, and ye must not look like a woman...ye must not be a woman."

Kagome's eyes widened, Is this lady crazy? She thought.

Kagome's incredulous expression furrowed her brows further and her mouth hung open in disbelief, after a moment she collected herself, and ran a hand through her wavy raven hair nervously,

"How is that even possible?"

Kaede smiled knowingly, "Well ye are already halfway there," she motioned to the black haori and hakumas Kagome was already wearing and continued, "A witch I may not be, but, there are some spells of deceptions I have learned over the years from a traveling sage."

Kaede reached into her pocket and pulled out a cloth, that opened to reveal a handful of black and white beads, Kagome's expression remained confused and wary after the mention of witchcraft, she wanted to help Inuyasha out, but she was not about to have a penis magically transfigured between her legs to do so.

"Um," Kagome mumbled, "What will those do?"Kagome was scared to ask, but even more scared to let this lady do whatever she was planning to do with them without a knowing first.

"There is a spell, when uttered, will magically compel these beads around ye neck," She paused as she glanced from the beads to the uncertain Kagome, "They will mask the feminine aspect of ye scent. But know this, when ye remove these beads...even for a moment - the spell will be broken. "

Kagome nodded her head, "Okay, easy enough...what about uh...you know..." Kagome blushed in embarrassment, hoping Kaede would understand where she was going with the question, fortunately, she did, and Kaede smiled amusingly as she responded to Kagome's obvious query, "For that time each month, ye will have to remove yeself from that camp, if ye intend on staying till ye next cycle."

Kagome nodded quickly wanting to move on from the subject, "Okay." Kagome determinedly stood and winced slightly at the pain in her side, "Well, I should probably get going, its already midday, right?" Kagome asked, Kaede nodded in response, but her gaze was locked on Kagome's hand at her side.

"That reminds me child," Kaede stood and walked to the corner of her hut and reached into a large urn, she pulled out a small brown bag pulled closed by a leather string, she shuffled over to Kagome and handed it to her.

Kagome took it with an outreached hand and stared at the priestess for an explanation. Kaede nodded her head and breathed deeply,

"In the bag in ye hand, is the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls, ye must protect it with ye life. Should it fall into the hands of evil, this land would be doomed to an eternity of hell on earth, do ye understand?"

Kagome nodded dumbly, completely overwhelmed and about to ask why this was her responsibility, when Kaede continued,

"The wound in ye side is where the jewel came from, ye are the reincarnation of the dead priestess Kikyo, the Shikon-no-Tama priestess. She died fifty years ago with this jewel burned with her body. I do not know why it has returned to this world and although, it is interesting it was fated to return now."

"What is so special about now?"

"Because the jewel ye hold, is the reason Priestess Kikyo was murdered," Kaede walked to a shelf near the exit of her hut and pulled off a sheathed black short sword and handed it to Kagome, who took it immediately, impatiently wanting Kaede to continue,

"And the demon who Killed my sister, Kikyo, is the same Demon the Western lords are going to war with."

Kagome almost dropped the jewel and sword in her hands, her eyes widened as the knowledge of her quest became all the more daunting, terrifying, and suicidal. But she pushed those thoughts from her mind and tightened her grip on the palm sized jewel in her left hand, placing it into her left pocket and fastening the short sword to her waist.

"I will guard it with my life," Kagome stated, her determination renewed, the faster she found Inuyasha the better and if she could find him before he made it to that camp, even better, as long as she stayed far away from this war everything would be okay. Swallowing her fear and solidifying her resolve, Kagome tied back her hair into a low ponytail, and asked with a finality of a man going off to war, which in a way, she supposed she was,

"Can I borrow a horse?"

xxx.

Sesshomaru stared over the camp from the hill of his operations tent, a perpetually unreadable expression rested upon his features, his eyes scanned his camp, observantly watching each man within his charge, with narrowed eyes. The unmistakable stench of humanity burned his nose, through the stink of the normal rank and file demons, through the stink of blood, sweat, and excrement. And his claws twitched in response, he instinctually longed for the vicious brutality of battle, the frustration this submission his responsibilities placed upon him, placed his nerves and temper on constant edge.

And the revolting stench of human soliders was ever persuading the frustrated demon lord to massacre.

General Taisho demanded he lead this pathetic squadron of men to battle, he balked at the idea, he was leading these men only to death, in fact, he was half inclined to kill the human soldiers under the chaos of battle out of spite. At this his eyes narrowed into amused slits, as the simple thought, these dark inclinations brought a perverse pleasure to the tall demon.

Flicking an errant strand of silky silver hair, back over his shoulder, he began to walk back towards the tent where General Taisho was currently arguing with his vassal Jaken. The wind blew lazily, and lightly blew his silver hair back over his shoulder, ever so effortlessly, as he had flicked it away moments before.

What an annoyance...He thought benignly, as he went to flick the strands back over his shoulder once more, but Sesshomaru paused, his eyes widened as the scent hit his nose.

Turning to look back over the camp and towards the south, an unmistakable scent, one more detestable than that of humans assaulted him, Sesshomaru's sunset eyes narrowed darkly, as a grimace pulled at the corners of his mouth. Before he could curse the sudden arrival of it there was a heavy clap on his back, without turning, he scented his father, but did not respond to the unnecessary and insulting touch to his body. Sesshomaru's claws itched to slice into his father at that moment,

How absurd, he thought. To pretend that the arrival of Inuyasha is some, clandestine and welcomed event.

"Ha! I told you he would come!" General Taisho exclaimed proudly, as he finally removed his hand from his son's shoulder, and placed his hands on his hips and smiled broadly.

"Tonight we shall celebrate this reunion of family!"

The muscle in Sesshomaru's neck tensed, he gave a sharp, minute nod, and twisted elegantly on his heel, returning swiftly to the operations tent, and deciding on simply ignoring his brothers existence.

"Filthy half-breed..." he whispered cruelly, as he pulled the tent flap back and stepped inside.

General Inu-no-Taisho stood valiantly while awaiting his youngest son's arrival, but his amber eye followed his elder son as he'd turned away venomously, he'd heard the whispered curse, and momentarily forgot his happiness at Inuyasha's return, his elder son had grown into a powerful warrior, who would one day surpass himself, he was certain. But despite his best intentions, Sesshomaru had become the most heartless, cruel being he had ever had the misfortune to meet, and it was this same heartless and mercilessness that he portrayed in all aspects of his life that made General Taisho worry about his son, was he so unhappy?

Turning his thoughts away from the problem of Sesshomaru for the moment, he saw the leaping, red and unmistakable form of Inuyasha, and he broke into a grin once more.

xxx.

A/N: Okay, so I felt horrible that I said Sesshomaru was going to be in this chapter lots and he...well wasn't - BUT HE WAS IN IT WAY MORE THAN USUAL. And seeing as this is a SESS/KAG fanfiction. ..I should probably work on that, right?!

Anyway, he will be in every chapter from now on - so YAY! The introduction and setting up of the story is finally over OMG it was killing me doing all the Kikyo stuff, but I hope it was enjoyable for you. There is one line I absolutely LOVE from the part with Kaede/Kagome - hehe, I'll let you guess what that was! ;D

Anyway, there was so many new followers I decided to post a new chapter soon! But guys! You didn't R&R! Please do I absolutely love hearing what you have to say! It is what I love most about writing fanfiction is to get to read your responses to it!

Till next time!

R&R!

-AC