Chapter Fourteen: Not again

A/N: Ok, so by the end of this chapter, many of you will be mad at me. For this I only have one thing to say to you: I AM SO SORRY! BUT IT HAD TO HAPPEN! IT JUST HAD TO! Please forgive me… And I'm sure that by now all of you who are reading this are like… "oh shit" well yeah… sorry. And by the way, I'm not really sure if this chapter's going to be as good as the rest. I'm rushing it here.

Disclaimer: The story… that' s mine. But Inuyasha? (takes a deep breath) NOT MINE! (runs away sobbing)

Previously: Inuyasha was either a great actor, or he had actually allowed her to see his face when he was genuinely hurt. It was only for a grand total of three seconds. But she still saw it. She saw it so clearly that she found herself wishing she hadn't said it at all. But then, an instant after she had thought she saw the weakness, his face hardened over like a mask. "Are you lying?" he asked hardly, and she could tell he was on the edge of losing it.

She couldn't bring herself to say anything. Part of her was screaming to say 'YES! YES YES YES! GOD YES, I AM LYING! AND I AM SO SORRY! JUST STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" But the other part was too proud, and too scared to allow it.

She found he was looking at her so intensely, searching for something again. "… I…" she breathed unable to continue. "I'm not."

… Not Again …

The silver haired hanyou was looking at her as if she had stabbed him in the stomach with a rusty knife. And it was that very look on his face that made Kagome feel as if he were stabbing her with the knife. Needless to say it was a painful experience for both of them. But Kagome couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. She just couldn't. She would feel so much safer if she could even understand the reason why. The seconds dragged on forever, and all the while her stomach twisting itself into complicated knots as he continued staring at her that way… with those unbearable golden eyes. And then finally, he recovered, his face shaping into a glare, which to Kagome, was much easier to deal with than his previous expression. He opened his mouth, no doubt to yell at her when suddenly he froze, his eyes growing wide. He was still staring right at her, just like before, but now he wasn't really seeing her… he was… sniffing.

"Do you smell that?" He asked softly, obviously very much aware of something she was not.

'Uh… no.' Kagome thought to herself, but didn't say anything. This guy just got weirder and weirder.

Suddenly he was reaching for his sword, but stopped, seeming to remember that the Tetsuigia had been nullified by Kagome's arrow only a few seconds ago. He cursed bitterly before turning around and eyeing the forest that lay on the other side of the dirt road. "It's him." He said grimly, placing himself in front of Kagome protectively, though she didn't realize it at the time. "It's Naraku."

Kagura felt her heart skip a beat beneath her chest. 'Naraku?' She fought for control over her body, which was screaming at her to run. 'Does he know that I've betrayed him again?' She asked herself, racking her brain for the possibilities. 'Is he going to kill me this time?'

Sango on the other hand was having exactly the opposite reaction. It took all her willpower and the pain of her wounded shoulder to keep herself from grabbing the Hiraikotsu and throwing it into the forest, hoping that somehow she would hit him. While Inuyasha was waiting, his golden eyes studying every shadow and catching every rustle within the density of leaves. Naraku was lurking somewhere in the darker pools of shade. He could smell the rotten, minty scent slowly becoming stronger.

"Feh." He smirked after cracking his knuckles maliciously, making Kagome jump behind him. "Why don't you just come out already, Naraku?" He asked the seemingly still forest. "Or are you too afraid to show yourself when you're out numbered?"

Kagome watched the forest, waiting, but nothing was happening. She glanced up at the red clothed man standing infront of her, seriously considering for a moment that he had lost it, when a definite rustle broke the thickening silence, snapping her attention back to the forest. There was a strange whiteness that was slowly emerging from the shadows of the vines and bushes. Upon seeing it Inuyasha instinctively seemed to widen his stance a bit, preparing to both attack Naraku and protect Kagome. He would be damned if he let anything happen to her again, memory or no memory.

Behind him, Kagome watched intently as the indefinite white spot in the forest seemed to come into focus as it drew nearer. Finally she was able to make out a lumpy figure beneath a baboon pelt. She stared at the figure in confusion. There was no way to tell if it was Naraku. Time seemed slightly warped somehow as the figure finally emerged from the edge of the forest and slowly sat down on the side of the road, squatting in the grass and looking out at them through large black eye sockets. It was all sort of disturbing for her, though she couldn't explain why.

For a few seconds everyone was silent, even Inuyasha, and then the baboon finally spoke. Kagome looked startled and was forced to blink once or twice as she recognized it as Naraku's voice.

"Inuyasha." He said slowly from under the pelt, as if being cautious. "Still alive I see?"

"Feh. Yeah, that's right. More than I'll be able to say for you in about a few minutes…"

"Minutes?" The man asked, seemingly amused. "All I need is a matter of mere seconds." He turned then, so that the baboon's face was regarding Kagura, its cruel, black eyes sockets as empty and menacing as ever. "You are to bring Sayuri back to safety. The plan has failed."

At that Inuyasha scoffed before lunging forwards. "Oh no you don't!" Inuyasha had disappeared from in front of her before Kagome could even realize it. But as soon as she got over the initial shock, she saw his red figure racing towards Naraku. "As if I'd ever let the likes of you touch her again!" He yelled angrily, his right hand raising up into the air.

"No!" Kagome gasped, sudden fear plunging into her, "Don't!" She reached out with her hand as if to stop him, but it had already been done. Inuyasha's claws raked the head from the body in a jagged trail of golden light. The three spectators watched in silent shock as it flew up into the air, leaving the body to crumple lifelessly into the grass. Unfortunately for Kagome, it then proceeded to land at her very feet and then roll unevenly up against the hem of her dark blue kimono, mud and dirt from the road now clinging to the pristine, white fur. She watched in petrified horror as the mask fell away from the face, revealing none other than Naraku. He stared up at her with an eerie stillness… a dead stillness, something that she had never seen before, let alone on a familiar face. His milky, slate blue eyes were wide and blank, unseeing as they stared intently up at her. His mouth was slightly open. He was obviously dead. And she couldn't look away.

She felt herself slowly slip into shock. Her hands pressed over her mouth tightly as if to keep herself from screaming, her knuckles were pressed white, and her body begging to shake. She continued to watch, not understanding, as the head before her began to fall apart, disintegrating into dust, and all the while her heart was jolting in uneven beats of shock and terror. Soon all that was left of the severed head was a small wooden knob and a pile of dust, which was quickly lost in the muddy road. But by then Kagome was mentally gone.

The miko was only vaguely aware of the fact that someone's hand was wrapping around her wait and tugging her forwards roughly. She didn't know who it was; she could barely remind herself to breathe. Unknowingly, she allowed herself to be hoisted up off the ground and carried ungracefully in the air. Her light brown eyes were wide and still focused on the spot where the supposed man of her dreams's head had disintegrated, unable to tear away. The next thing she knew she was on that same white feather again, probably about fifty feet high off the ground.

And someone was screaming.

Who was it?

She drifted half way back into reality, and vaguely she recognized the voice. It was Inuyasha. "No! No! Give her back! Dammit! Give her back!" she heard the words, but to her, they were just sounds… incomprehensible sounds… meaningless; she couldn't understand any of them.

She watched, still numbed as the small red figure below her drew a useless Tetsuigia and waved it around in the air. Beside her, there was laughter. "That useless hanyou," someone said, apparently amused. "Trying to summon the Wind Scar when he know it has been rendered ineffective." There was a long pause and then Kagura began speaking again, but Kagome could only half hear her. "Snap out of it, Kagome. That wasn't even the real Naraku."

Kagome blinked and frowned, her mind working slowly to replay what she thought she had just heard: "Snap out of it Kagome… Snap out of it… Kagome…" Slowly the younger girl looked up at Kagura with wide, fearful eyes. The sorceress frowned back down at her, obviously confused. "What?"

'Did she just call me…'

"Kagome!"

Kagome snapped out of her thoughts when someone else called out that name again. She tried to find the source… and then could only stare dumbly when she saw what it was. It was a cat. Off in the distance now, but coming steadily closer, was a huge black and sandy-blonde colored cat. And it was on fire. Huge flaming balls of orangey-red fire blossoming up from beneath its black-socked paws. Whatever it was, it was galloping over the sky towards her. And the girl on its back, Sango, was calling out her name. The sight did nothing to help Kagome pull herself out of her already shell-shocked state.

"Hmph." Kagura said a bit of distain evident in her voice. "What a bother."

There was a small noise of a fan opening, and soon Kagrau was standing up next to Kagome. The younger girl watched, petrified and confused, and unable to do anything. "Dance of the Dragon!" There was a discreet wave of a fan, and huge winds were suddenly ripping past her face, making it difficult to breathe. And somewhere behind them the sound of pain echoed through the valley. The last thing Kagome could really manage to make out through the slashing current of wind was a blur of black and sandy-colored fur falling to the ground where the red figure was still screaming. But Kagome didn't understand it. She didn't feel the teardrops start to fall again as the back of her mind listened to the alien sounds of Inuyasha screaming. She didn't understand them or have the slightest idea of what they meant. She couldn't understand that they were for her. At the moment she didn't understand anything.

A/N: Ok… time for explanations. Firstly: yeah I know, it was pitifully short. But I've already started the next chapter. This was just a convenient stopping place. And secondly, (And more importantly): IT IS SO NOT MY FAULT THAT KAGOME AND INUYASHA GET SEPARATED AGAIN. It's the story's fault. Seriously, believe it or not I can't really control what happens sometimes. The ideas just pop into my head. I didn't want this to happen. At all. But it sort of had to. Anyway the point of it all is that you shouldn't freak out or rip out any hair or anything. Because they're back together again by the end of the next chapter. Promise. Now all I have to do is finish smoothing it out and then it'll be ready to post. So once again: DO NOT FREAK OUT! I hate it when people do that. Next chapter's coming soon.