A/N: ok, this one might be a bit long, but hey its the weekend and i feel creative. I'm sorry if this chapter and the last chapter are kind of... i dunno... bad. Sorry (heh) (heh) hit a rough spot. One more chapter till Inuyasha and Kagome meet. BUM BUM BUM! anyway. I know i didnt give too many of you a chance to review the 10th chapter before i posted the 11th but thats ok. i wont hold again yall or nothing.

Disclaimer: I d-d-d-don't own I-I-Inuyaha! Stop reminding me, dammit! Its depressing enough as it is. (runs away sobbing). BUT! On the bright side, i do own Tetsuya and the little hat girl from the chapter with the Inuyasha flashback (10 i think...). She will have a name later on. Anyone who wants to suggest one, just put in your review. Thanks guys!

Factoid: See review corner at bottom. I luv you guys!

CHAPTER 11: Pretty Lies

Kagura watched as Kagome came shyly up to her. "Sorry." The younger girl muttered, her head bowed down as she studied the floor, her long dark hair falling over her face. Kagura felt her distaste for her intensify at the apology. This girl was still too sweet. She snapped her fan against her palm with a single, sudden movement, making Kagome flinch as if she had been slapped.

"Follow me." Kagura said coldly, turning her back on the room and those in it. When they got to the brown, shuddered curtain, Kagura stepped to the side, pulling it clear of the doorframe and allowing Kagome to pass through. The younger girl did so with a bowed head and silent footsteps. Kagura turned to follow, her hand still pining the shudder to the wall.

"Kagura."

She turned and met her master's slate blue eyes. He stared hard at her, all signs of the gentleness he had used with Kagome were gone. She knew what he was doing… he was warning her. His hard blue eyes seemed to whisper to her, 'Don't say anything to betray me…'

The corner of Kagura's lips turned down in disgust as she held up her head, defiantly. She stared at him, daring him to say something to her. Finally she turned away from him with a soft "hmph", the curtain dropping shut behind her.

They didn't speak at all while Kagura dressed Kagome in the dark, red kimono. Kagome stared at the black marble floor as Kagura hung long strings of gold beads from Kagome's ear lobes and in her long, dark hair. The soft, raven tresses slid easily around the woman's fingers. Kagura had been nothing but kind to her since they had left Naraku's room. She had drawn Kagome a hot bath, and afterwards had washed her cuts with a harsh wet rag, spreading ointments over them with nimble fingertips. And even now, as she was dressing Kagome in the long, red dress, she was being nothing bur polite. But Kagura's hands were quick and cold. Kagome felt no warmth or gentleness from them, and so she never felt comfortable enough to speak… the silence between them was deafening.

As Kagome stood, allowing Kagura's quick, efficient hands dress her with a cold, unfeeling touch, Kagome felt her curiosity start to build. She wondered what she looked like. She waited anxiously as Kagura took the last shimmering strings of gold and clipped them into her hair. Finally she was finished.

Kagura stepped back, her eyes studying the result with critical, crimson eyes. Finally she nodded. "It will have to do." She said. With that she used her closed fan to point to a full-length mirror that stood in front of Kagome, which was covered in a simple, white sheet. Kagome reached out and hesitated, not sure she wanted to know what she looked like, before she finally grasped the cold, silky sheet and tugged gently on it, letting it slide down the smooth, glass surface and then crumple silently on the marble floor.

She stared silently at the girl in front of her. A girl with almond shaped, cocoa eyes set in a delicate, smooth face who looked back at her with an indescribable gentleness. Her long, lean arms hung by her sides, her hands were gracefully arranged with their long, delicate fingers and wide, soft palms. Her dark red dress clung to her hourglass shape, and draped over her small, arched feet. Her soft, raven hair flowed down to her mid-back, and fell into her face where messy bangs had been cut. There was something about her face that was young, and innocent… she was unearthly beautiful.

"Sayuri!"

Kagome jumped as Kagura's shattering voice yanked her out of her trance. She turned to see the Kagura standing impatiently beside her, her weight held on one hip as she opened her fan and held it against her chest, her wrist turned away from herself. Kagome realized that she had been staring at her reflection for a long time. "Sorry." She said, blushing with embarrassment.

Kagura seemingly had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. "Come on," She said, closing her fan and pushing it up her sleeve with her fingertips. "I'll take you to the garden." She said as she turned away from Kagome and started towards the door, expecting her to follow. When she didn't hear Kagome's soft footsteps padding against the dark, marble floor, she turned around to glare at her. "Sayuri - " Kagura blinked when she saw the younger girl looking directly at her for the first time. Kagome was smiling gently, her light brown eyes were kind.

"Kagura." She said, her voice was gentle and soft. "Thank you."

Kagura was left in a state of mild shock. She stared at Kagome for what seemed to be an eternity, unable to move, or speak, or even throw an insult, which had never happened before. She had never received a "thank you" in her entire life, and now that she had, she didn't quite know what to make of it. She knew orders; she knew what to say to "you've failed me", or "you haven't done well enough" and mostly "I'm only going to give you one last chance" and the occasional "you've done well". But never a "thank you". Kagura stared blankly at Kagome, as the younger girl continued to smile warmly at her. No one had ever smiled at her before either… it was a strange, alien feeling… to be smiled at out of pure, warm gratitude. Kagura couldn't help but continue to stare.

"Come on." She said finally, turning her back on the smiling face. "Naraku will be waiting for you."

A cold chill ran through Kagome's body when she thought of going back to see Naraku. His slate blue eyes flashed into her mind and she cringed. She wished she never had to see him again. Why couldn't Tetsuya have been the Lord of the manner? "Kagura," She said quietly as she began to follow the older woman out of the door.

"Yes."

"I …" Kagome hesitated, not wanting to sound rude. "I don't really want to see him again… Naraku. He gives me…the creeps." She had no idea why she was telling her this.

Kagura turned around, studied Kagome as if to see if she was lying, and then burst out into laughter. It was Kagome's turn to be surprised. Without an explanation, Kagura turned around, her soft laughter dying out as they started again through the stretch of endless halls. "You are not alone." Kagura said finally. "When it comes to Naraku…"

Kagome waited. But Kagura stopped, suddenly falling silent. Kagome was about to ask Kagura what she was going to say, but thought the better of it. Kagura didn't seem like the type of person you wanted to annoy by asking too many questions. Kagome suddenly slowed, straining to hear. But she was only met with silence. Reluctantly, she started after Kagura again, frowning quietly to herself as she passed though the plain, white walls. She could have sworn that for a little while at least, she had been able to hear a faint buzzing, right after Kagura had fallen silent. She wondered what it was… it sounded like some sort of insect…

When they reached Naraku's room again, Kagura stood aside and pulled the dull shudder curtain away once more, waiting for Kagome to pass through to Naraku's room. Kagome did not want to go anywhere near him. Kagome shot a nervous glance to Kagura, hoping the woman would leave her with some words of advice, or at least a bit of encouragement. She received none. Kagura only remained staring at her, a slight glare apparent on her pretty face. It seemed as if she were ushering her through the curtain to certain doom, rather than letting her linger in protection from it.

Finally Kagome took a deep breath, and gathered the courage to step through the curtain into the man's room. It was just as cold and dim as it had been when she had left it. The bitter smell of rotten wood and mint that lingered through the entire mansion was stronger here. But Naraku was nowhere to be seen. She was met by bare, wooden floors that were covered in some sort of dark varnish and bare walls. There wasn't a speck of dust anywhere. The only thing that served as evidence that anyone had ever been inside was the neatly folded cot and sheets that lay in the corner. Naraku wasn't there. She turned around, looking to Kagura for help, but met the dull brown curtain that now hung in the doorframe. Kagura had gone. And left her alone to face the Lord of the castle. But how she was she supposed to face him, when she couldn't even find him?

"Sayuri…" His voice was barely a voice. Naraku's call was so quiet that it appeared to melt into the rest of the typical day sounds of chirping birds, creaking floors, rustling leaves, falling acorns… She wondered if she had even heard him at all. "Sayuri, I know you're there…"

Kagome swallowed hard, Naraku's voice was just beyond the rice-paper door on the other side of the room. Suddenly her dress seemed too fancy, and it revealed too much of her pale shoulders. The gold strings in her hair were too flashy, and drew too much attention to herself, just like the golden bangle on her left wrist. What was she doing? Going out there to see him, dressed like this. Nervousness fluttered around inside her gut, but she pushed it down with a shaky will. She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, but it didn't help her any. She forced herself to the door, and gripped it with delicate, shaking fingers.

'Come on,' She told herself silently as her hand hung by its fingertips on the indent which served for a handle. 'This is stupid…' She told herself, closing her eyes and thinking hard, trying to give herself her own private pep talk. 'He's just one man…' she thought as she slid the door open, allowing a shaft of brilliant light into the dark, cold room. 'Just one man…'

It was beautiful outside. Dusk was coming, making everything seem strangely brighter and fuller, as the sun showed signs of beginning to set. In front of her was a large, thick forest that was chattering with life. Ancient, towering oaks stretched their lush branches upwards towards the sun, and she felt a little bit of her nervousness fade away.

"Sayuri…"

Naraku called her back into reality. She followed his voice around the corner of the deck, and entered a beautiful, stone garden. The sand had been raked into spiraling designs around the five crudely shaped gray boulders and an upward-reaching slab of stone. Around the rocks, bright red and orange flowers turned their faces upwards towards the sky. Thick, ropy vines wrapped themselves around the stones, giving them an old, mythical feel. And posted in each little patch of plants and rock, was a little, stone house that sat up on a column, tall enough to reach to her wait, and large enough so that she could have hid her face behind it. They were neat little things, with gently sloping roofs that curled elegantly upwards at their ends. Inside the window of each little house there was a half melted, white candle, its hardened wax caught in mid slide down the candle's body. There was a hill at the back of the garden that led up into the forest, and down its slope, a slab of dark gray rock had been set down. A small stream of crystal clear water slid down its surface, smoothing the stone, and then dripping down into a marble pond below, filled with bright orange and red speckled goldfish. It was like she had been dropped into a fairy tale.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Naraku's throaty voice slithered into the silence. Kagome turned, startled, she had forgotten all about him.

Naraku was sitting in the corner of the garden that she had yet to study. In it, was a huge, Kwanzan tree, its braches stretching out over a small, stone bench with no back, on which Naraku sat, alone in its shade. The tree's soft, pink blossoms were in the height of bloom, and seemed to dip down to the bench, as if inviting whoever sat there to smell their sweet fragrance. It took Kagome's breath away.

Naraku smiled, his slate blue eyes gentle for once. He brought his large, pale hand to rest on the place beside him, inviting her to sit down. Kagome followed the footsteps that Naraku had left imprinted into the sand's carefully spiraling design. Each patch of stone and flower had its own circular lines of sand around it… it reminded Kagome, somewhat, of ripples in a lake; small, and elegant. She didn't want to ruin them.

"Come here, Sayuri…" Naraku said, smiling at her. "Come sit by me."

She tried her hardest not to look at him, but she couldn't help it, he was staring so steadily at her. She ducked her head underneath the Kwanzan tree's gentle protection; she inhaled the cool, fresh air and sat down beside Naraku. She expected him to start saying something as soon as her dress touched the bench, but on the contrary, he said nothing at all. They sat in silence.

After a while, Kagome finally dug up the nerve to look directly at him. Naraku was staring out from underneath the light pink branches, his eyes had turned mellow and gentle, as he traced the spiraling design in the garden. Kagome was surprised at how gentle he suddenly appeared. She watched as a small, soft smile softened his face, and he stared at the beautiful Eden in front of him. Maybe he wasn't that bad… she thought to herself, turning to join him in his study of the garden. She watched the way the smooth, unwavering lines curled around the rocks, and spread across the sand, meeting with the lines of the other rippling circles, and fading into each other…

A man with a garden like this, she decided, couldn't be all that bad. He had only frightened her so badly, she supposed, because he had claimed to know her. Suddenly a sense of dread sunk into her. That was right… he was the only person who seemed to know her. But who was she? Quickly, she fell back into her old habit of trying to remember. She raked at the bottom of her mind, trying desperately to uncover something… anything… some sort of hint as to who she was… or where she came from… did she even have a family?

"Sayuri…"

She stopped, suddenly realizing that she had started to frown, she turned to meet Naraku's slate blue eyes, this time only flinching a little as she met them. He seemed to be so much calmer now, so much gentler, that she found… she wasn't really afraid of him at all.

"Yes?" She asked, holding his steady gaze.

"Do you remember, anything?" he asked, hopeful.

She opened her mouth to say "no", but ended up closing it again. She was not going to cry. Not again. She had cried too much today already. She smiled at Naraku, trying to just be reassuring, but she must have allowed her silent answer to show through her act, because he smiled sadly down at her in return.

"That man that you met earlier," Naraku said, turning back to the garden, "Tetsuya Okinami… he is my adopted son."

"Oh…" She said, not knowing how she was expected to respond. She fidgeted with her hands in the cooling, fragrant air. "He's a very nice man." She said finally.

Naraku smiled, looking over to meet her eyes momentarily, "Thank you." Then, he shifted, moving his right foot up to the bench, and propping his elbow up on his now bent knee. He gazed out into the garden again as Kagome gawked at the casual gesture. He was a Lord of a castle, and from what she remembered about etiquette he was always to keep correct posture and manners in polite company.

'Maybe that means…' She thought slowly to herself, her brow furrowing. 'Maybe I'm not polite company… maybe…' She bit her lip, 'Maybe I'm a slave of his or something…'

"Sayuri," Naraku pulled her out of her thoughts once again. "Tetsuya always wanted to meet you."

Kagome looked at Naraku, confused. "We met each other earlier."

At that Naraku let a small smile slip onto his face, he laughed and bent his head downwards before lifting it again. "No…" he said, shaking some loose hair out of his face. "No, that's not what I mean… I mean… he always wanted to meet the woman… that I fell in love with…"

She felt as if he had suddenly dropped a bucket of ice water over her. It hit her like a kick in the gut. "That you… fell in love with?" She struggled with the words. None of it made sense to her yet, and then in a sudden burst of realization, it made perfect sense. "Y-You mean, we… I…" she was suddenly grateful that she was sitting down, as she gripped the edges of the stone bench with her hands. "We're married?" She whispered.

Naraku let out soft laughter, which would have annoyed her had she still not been so shocked. "No." He said. "We were only lovers."

"Lovers?" The word was thick and slow in her mouth, and heavy on her tongue. She was in love with the Lord of a Castle? Her? Suddenly everything was overwhelming her, the entire day suddenly seemed like too much to bear. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, only to lose it again as a large hand was placed on her back. She looked up at Naraku, who had put a worried hand over her, as if to comfort her. Kagome knew that he meant well, but all she wanted to do was get some space to breathe.

"Who…" She stared, before stopping and making an attempt at gathering her composure. "Who am I?" She asked, him, as the Lord's hand slipped away from her back.

His slate blue eyes were deadly serious. "Your name is Sayuri Asakura."

She turned the name over and over in her mind, but there was no familiarity attached to it, and it didn't help to tear down that massive wall that was blocking the rest of her life from her. "Sayuri Asakura…" She repeated the name gently to herself. "Who are you?"

"I am Naraku, Lord of this castle and the nearby village." She watched him carefully as he spoke, absorbing everything that he said, when something suddenly came to her.

"You and I… we're…" She struggled to say "in love" but the words wouldn't come out, "we're in a relationship," she said weakly. "But… you look so much older than I do… and you have a son…" She added as an after thought. "Who's older than me, so how can we be…"

Naraku shook his head. "Age has never meant anything to us… not to you and I… our relationship is…" he searched for the right words. "Special."

Kagome gulped hard, trying calm herself down and think clearly, the peace that the garden had instilled in her not so long ago had vanished. 'Oh God…' She thought quietly to herself, 'Oh God… what kind of mess am I in?' "Special how?" She asked warily.

He smiled warmly at her, as he reached over and fingered one of the gold strings in her hair. "True love." He murmured.

Kagome smiled weakly at him. "Oh…" She didn't want to be mean, but she didn't even know this man… she had no idea if she was capable of falling in love with him.

Naraku seemed to notice that she was uncomfortable, and let go of the thread, backing away and giving her some personal space, which she was grateful for. She could breathe without that bitter smell. "So…" she said, trying to find out as much as she could, "Other than my name… who am I? How long have we known each other?"

"Since we were children." He said with a smile. "You're father," Naraku began, "Was the head priest of my temple, and when my father was Lord they were great friends, like brothers to each other. And you were the most beautiful girl in the entire village; there wasn't anyone who wouldn't have gladly stepped up to make you theirs."

Kagome was grateful that Naraku was looking up into the maze of pink flowers above their heads, otherwise she was sure he would have laughed at how deeply she must have been blushing. She could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"But you and I," Naraku started again, "We were already in love, and we had promised each other when you were only fourteen that we would always belong to each other and never stray into anyone else's heart…" he smiled, as if reliving a dream. "You even went against your father's wishes, and refused to become the great priestess that you had been training to be, so that one day we could get married, and have children together." Kagome watched as Naraku's soft smile slowly disappeared, and his slate blue eyes began to cloud with what looked like sorrow or regret. "But when my father fell ill… I became heartbroken… and stupid… and I broke it off between us, telling you that you might as well become a priestess for all I cared, and that I just wanted to be alone. So…" Naraku seemed to drift a while in sadness before he came back to her. "You believed me. And the next time I returned to see you, my father was dead, and you were wearing sacred robes. You forgave me, and left the village to come live with me. But you were still a priestess, and it was divine law that you were not allowed to be married to anyone. You were never to be bound by those vows…"

"That's why…" Kagome said slowly, starting to put things together. "We're not married."

"Yes." He said with an air of sad resignation. "That's why we aren't married, and we may never become married. My foolishness has separated us both… for a lifetime."

Naraku turned to her, and in his eyes, she saw worlds of countless stories of sadness. And she felt a wave of pity wash over her, something she never thought she would feel for the blue-eyed man.

"Sayuri," he said softly, leaning closer to her. "I know you don't remember anything, and that I'm still considered a stranger to you, but do you think you could forgive me just this once… if I…" his sentence was lost somewhere into silence. And Kagome watched, confused as his face got closer and closer to hers.

'What is he doing?' She thought dumbly to himself, as his hand moved around to the back of her head, cradling it gently in his palm. She frowned, confused, 'What is he - ' suddenly, Naraku's cool, lips were pressed up against hers. Kagome's body went rigid in shock. 'Oh my God…' he was kissing her! She sat still, hard and unmoving as a rock. She couldn't even believe this was happening… this couldn't be real…

As suddenly as she realized that she was being kissed, Naraku pulled away, leaving Kagome stunned and speechless.

"Do you remember me?" Naraku asked gently, patiently waiting for her to become responsive again.

"I…" She heard herself say weakly. "I…" Suddenly everything snapped into place. She had just been kissed. She had just been kissed on the lips by a complete stranger. She shot up from her seat. "I! I… what… uhhh, I have to-" She turned to run out of the garden, but his cold, soft hand caught hers and rendered her still yet again.

"Sayuri…" he said slowly, she couldn't turn around and face him. Not after that. "Sayuri," he continued. "Do you remember anything at all?"

'He was trying to jog my memory…' She thought dumbly to herself. 'Maybe he wasn't trying to harass me… maybe he was just… trying to help me remember something…' Quietly, she turned back towards him and he let go of her hand. 'Still…' She thought, fidgeting nervously, 'he could have thought of a better way than that…'

"Anything?" his deep, quiet voice brought her back to him. She blushed, opening her mouth to say "no", but when she saw the soft, saddened look in his eyes, she couldn't bring herself to do it. "I… uh…" She sighed, smiling as best she could back at him. "Maybe…" She said quietly.

Naraku smiled gratefully at her, and stood. "Alright." He said, "We'll take it slow for now… why don't you go find Tetsuya, and he'll fix you something to eat."

She felt as if she were being set free. She felt as if the world had just been dropped off her shoulders and she could move freely again. She was grateful to be able to get away… she needed to think. She walked as quickly as she could out of the sand garden without breaking into a run, forgetting to follow the footprints she had left before and jumped up onto the deck that wrapped itself around the house. She could only breathe again, once she was around the corner, and she knew Naraku wasn't watching her.

Naraku stood in the sand garden, alone, looking after the girl, who had disappeared around the corner a while ago. Gingerly, he brought the back of his hand up to his mouth and wiped away the soft feeling of Kagome's lips against his.

"That was quite the heartwarming story you just told that girl."

Naraku turned, to see Kagura standing behind him, her fan held so that it hid her mouth. He smiled a wicked smile at his incarnation, and he imagined from her hardening eyes that she was sneering back at him. "Find Kanna and inform her of all the pretty things I've put into the young priestess's head. She ought to know about her "past" when the time comes for Kagome to meet her." With that he turned and followed Kagome's footprints back to the castle. "I have business to attend to."

Kagura stared at her master, a look of contempt spreading across her face. "They were all lies." She said bitterly as she sat on the stone bench, suddenly tired. "All those things you've told her… they were all a pack of pretty lies."

A/N: i warned you it would be long now didn't i? Sooo lemme know what you think! Ok? ok. Its been a pleasure doing buisness with you and noooow for my review corner:

REVIEW CORNER!

gothic-ember: hi again! Welcome back! Naraku's plan... oh well... its um... Narakuy... you know... evil and strange and stuff and twisted as usual. When it comes to Kagome's memory... i'm afraid you will just have to wait. (i hate that word... "wait" i have no patience to speak of whatsoever ;). ) and find out. sorry! (btw: thanks for the words of wisdom, they are greatly appreciated).

SilverStarWing: Well she certainly will doher fair share ofnudging... unfortunately because of those stupid insects of Naraku's she never actually "leeks" anything, but she does do a lot of nuging... which may turn into forceful shoving... but i cant give anything away.

Squabbit: I will never doubt you or your silentpresense ever, ever, everagain! Thank you for the review!

Isisoftheunderground: (phew) thank you for not being confused! I was so nervous about that! Anyway, let me know what you think of this one ok, things starting to get boring? Other things taking too long? Anything i can do to improve this thing? I'd really appreciate anything you have to say.

Akileh: AHAHA! NEW REVIWER EVERYBODY! where did we put that rubber chicken again? Sorry... new reviewers make me kinda giddy. Anyway, thankyou for reviewing! and I'm soooo soooo sorry that i had you all anonymous ones blocked. I was so horrified when i realized it. Keep reviewing! And thankyou for the detail compliment! Yey!

OK! That's it for ch. 10 and recent reviews. If any of you have questions just add them in when you review and ill do my best to answer in the next chapter. and... just so you guys kno. I LOVE YOU ALL! REVIEWRS ROCK!

XOX nanirain