I didn't get to work on the chapter yesterday. I was so tired, and I wasn't even here half of the day. I'm still sort of tired, but I'm gonna get to work on this.

Save Me From Myself

Chapter Three: The Beginning of the End

We were so close to getting Naraku, but the whole group was starting to feel dread. I could tell, even if they didn't voice their feelings. But, we would soon learn that the dread that we had all been feeling, wasn't a fluke. It was something to be feared, and we would fear it soon enough.

- - -

"We're almost there," InuYasha said, leading the group. The night was over and InuYasha was at his full strength again. They had been walking for only about an hour, but they all felt anticipation. Shippo was on Kagome's shoulder, shaking a little bit out of fear, but looking very determined. But no one looked as determined as InuYasha.

They reached a cliff that went down into a deep valley below, filled with miasma. There was some miasma in liquid form, but mostly, it was just a bunch of gas.

Sango handed out some extra masks to the group, to protect themselves from the miasma. Even InuYasha put one on, after a little persuasion from Kagome.

InuYasha, with Kagome riding piggyback, jumped down with Miroku, Sango, and Shippo following on Kirara. Kagome gripped InuYasha's shoulders as they fell through the air, picking up speed the farther they went. InuYasha slowed down a bit by spreading out, and he landed on a rock jutting out of the cliff wall, making it easier for him to land when they reached the bottom.

InuYasha landed on a tall rock that stood in the middle of a river of miasma. Kirara flew next to him and floated in the air, letting the group check the place out.

"The miasma is so strong here. I can still smell it through the mask," Sango said, pushing the mask up a little bit.

Kagome turned her head suddenly and said, "I sense the sacred jewel. It's over that way." Kagome pointed to the left and felt InuYasha tighten his grip around her legs.

"Let's go," InuYasha ordered. The others nodded and InuYasha jumped over the river and towards where Kagome had pointed.

Everyone besides InuYasha got their weapons ready, waiting for the fight that they knew was going to come.

"Naraku!" InuYasha shouted, seeing a figure in the distance. "You better not hide from me any longer!"

A dark and evil laugh came out from the miasma's fog. "So, you've come, InuYasha," Naraku said, his voice sounding amused.

"Yeah! And we're gonna defeat you!" InuYasha yelled out.

Another amused laugh. "You haven't killed me yet. What makes you think that you can do it now?"

"We could say the same to you!" InuYasha shot back, tightening his grip around Kagome's legs. The group ran towards the figure that they new was Naraku, and soon enough, the miasma cleared so they could see him.

The group got ready to battle and InuYasha yanked out his sword, it transforming into it's diamond form.

Kagome pulled back an arrow and fired it at Naraku; the arrow disintegrated through the barrier. "Ah! My arrow can't go through!" Kagome said, surprised. Though, she should have expected it.

"Don't worry Kagome," InuYasha said with a smirk, holding his Tessaiga out in front of him. "I'll take care of him."

InuYasha pulled up his sword and yelled out, "Kongousouha!" Bringing the Tessaiga down, the diamond spears flew through the air and destroyed Naraku's barrier, and also hurt Naraku with it.

"Damn you," Naraku muttered, moving out of the way from the rest of the attack. Naraku sent out his tentacles towards each member of their group, but they were cut off by Sango's Hiraikotsu.

Miasma started to pour from the cut limbs, and Kagome's eyes started to water. "It's so strong!" she said, moving out of the way from a stream of miasma running over the ground.

"Fools," Naraku said, laughing a bit. "It would be dangerous to do that again."

Kagome pulled back another arrow and shot it through two of the tentacles. "Oh, yeah?" The limbs turned to ash, as did any miasma near it.

Naraku smirked and sent out twice as many tentacles. The group tried to fight them off without cutting them, but the only one able to keep destroying them was Kagome.

Getting fed up, InuYasha ran over to Naraku, his sword ready.

Naraku blocked InuYasha, but InuYasha kept attacking. Kagome, getting caught up in watching, didn't notice the attack that was getting sent straight towards her.

"Kagome!" Miroku yelled out, running towards the miko. Kagome turned her head, and saw a tentacle heading straight towards her back.

Blood splattered onto the ground as Kagome was pierced with the limb. Miasma seeped into Kagome's body and she let out a small gasp. She couldn't even scream; the only thing she could do was try to breathe.

InuYasha had seen the whole thing, and sent a blow of his Kongousouha into Naraku's face. The attack ripped Naraku to shreds, but not before he could piece himself together a little bit and transport himself to a safe spot.

Slowly, the miasma started to clear up around them, but InuYasha didn't notice. He ran over to Kagome, who still had part of the tentacle in her back. InuYasha picked her up and tried to touch the limb in her back.

"InuYasha!" Miroku shouted at him, running over. "Don't remove it! If you do, her bleeding will become worse."

"What about the miasma that's going into her?" InuYasha yelled back. InuYasha took off his kimono top and pulled the severed limb out of Kagome's back. Instantly, her bleeding worsened, but InuYasha tied the red shirt around Kagome's wound to help stop the bleeding. Then, noticing that Kagome's mask had been cut, InuYasha took off his own and put it over her mouth.

"I'll take her to the nearest village," InuYasha said, his voice now clear from removing the mask.

Not waiting for a reply, InuYasha bounded off, holding Kagome carefully to not to make her injury worse, but also going as fast as he could.

"We need to follow him," Sango said, running up to Miroku and looking towards where InuYasha left.

Miroku nodded. "In a minute, though. I am going to see if there's anything important that Naraku left behind in the rush," said the monk, turning and scanning the area carefully. Shippo and Kirara started to get ready to leave, picking up Kagome's bow and arrow in the process.

"Ready, Houshi-sama?" Sango said, hopping on Kirara's back with Shippo.

"Yes. Though, I can't help but notice but sense a strange aura," said Miroku, getting on Kirara also. Kirara jumped into the air and followed InuYasha's trail towards a village.

"What kind of aura, Houshi-sama?" Sango asked, turning her head back slightly to see him.

"It's not any sort of youki, so it's not a youkai. But it has an evil feel to it," Miroku explained.

"I wonder what that means?" Shippo piped in, looking at the monk carefully.

Miroku sighed. "Well, I noticed it a little bit when Naraku was there, but the presence seemed to go away a few minutes after Naraku left. I don't understand it."

"Do you think...?" Sango started, but she stopped, not wishing to finish her thought.

"What is it, Sango?" Miroku asked.

Sango shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Just a stupid thought," explained the exterminator, not wanting to think of the possibility.

- - -

The exterminator, monk, and kitsune all jumped off of the cat when she landed in the village. They found InuYasha sitting in front of a hut, his white haori covered with blood. He hardly noticed his friends' arrival.

"InuYasha," Miroku said, causing InuYasha's head to pop up. "Where's Kagome?"

InuYasha jabbed a thumb towards the hut he was leaning against. "They won't let me in there. I'm pretty sure that they think I was the one who did that to her."

"Are you sure that they won't let you in because they have to take Kagome's clothes off?" Sango asked, putting her hands on her hips. InuYasha blushed. Obviously he hadn't thought of that.

InuYasha shook his head anyway. "No, they were whispering about that inside. They do think that I was the one who hurt her," InuYasha said, his ears drooping.

"Well, I'm going to go in there," Sango said, going through the door.

Inside, Sango saw Kagome laying on a futon, her chest bandaged up from her arm pits to her waist. She was laying on her back, so more pressure would be applied to the wound. Even though Kagome was on her back, Sango could see the blood that had soaked onto the bedding and through the bandages. The rest of Kagome was covered with a blanket from the hips down.

"Who are you?" asked one of the village healers. The woman was long and lanky, and had long hair that reached her hips.

"I am Kagome's friend," Sango said, pointing to the unconscious miko on the futon. "My name is Sango... I was wondering how Kagome was doing?"

The village healer shook her head and sighed. "The injury is very bad... Tell me, was it that youkai outside that did this to her?"

"NO!" Sango shouted, obviously angry. "InuYasha would never hurt a human! Much less Kagome! Kagome has to be his best friend, I would say."

"Oh, dear. Really?" the woman asked, putting a hand to her mouth. "Well, I suppose he was right then. He was telling the truth when he said it was another youkai who did this to her?" Sango nodded. "Well, I suppose you should tell him that he can come in."

Sango smiled, though it wasn't real, and poked her head outside the door. "InuYasha," Sango cooed, "you can come in now."

InuYasha stood up and walked through the door, glaring at the two healers before glancing at Kagome. Upon seeing her, he froze, looking shocked at her condition, or maybe shocked at the fact the only thing covering her was a bunch of cloth wrapped around her to stop the bleeding.

Getting over her state of being, InuYasha walked over to her and sat down next to her, his arms and legs crossed. Miroku and Shippo walked in, both of them having expressions like InuYasha's. Shocked, sad, worried.

"There was something strange that we found," the second healer said, walking towards the group and sitting down. She had short brown hair and was sort of short as well. The first healer sat next to her, making the other one look even shorter.

"What was it?" Miroku asked, worried.

The short healer cleared her throat and said, "Well, we found something in her body. It's a sort of jewel of some sort."

"A jewel?" Shippo asked, turning his head to the side.

The short woman nodded. "Yes. It's in her wound. We didn't want to take it out in fear that she may start bleeding more, or that it was dangerous."

"We can show it to you," the tall healer said, standing up and walking over to Kagome. InuYasha watched her kneel down next to him, and the rest of the group gathered around Kagome's unconscious body.

InuYasha felt his face heat up as the woman turned Kagome on her side and started to pull the bandages off of her back.

Soon, Kagome's bare back was exposed, the wound still fresh and red. But near the surface of her skin and inside the wound, sat a blueish purple jewel, glowing with a black light. It was slightly bigger than the sacred jewel, and it was a darker color than the tainted Shikon Jewel that Naraku had.

Miroku looked at it carefully and said, "That's the aura that I was sensing before!"

Suddenly InuYasha realized something. His eyes widened and he shook his head. "No... That was just some stupid legend from Kagome's time!"

"What?" Shippo asked for them all, bouncing up on InuYasha's knee. The healers slowly started to cover up the wound.

"That jewel..." InuYasha said, looking at it once more. "It's the Bachiatari Jewel."

End Chapter

:)