Ok…I know ya'll are probably thinking "Oh great…so she finally decided to update" but please hear me out! I know I haven't updated in like months, but I haven't had internet in months! IT WASN'T BECAUSE I DIDN'T GET ENOUGH REVIEWS! I SWEAR! I haven't had internet since sometime in October, and actually I'm currently borrowing a relative's laptop. –Hides behind Sasuke- you tell them!

Sasuke: HN, she has just spent 3 hours strait with nothing but me and 3 cookies retyping this entire 9 page chapter with no breaks….so don't go to hard on her or else –death glare-…..there happy Lizzy?

Me: I swear I'm sooo sorry to my remaining readers!!! I'm hopefully going to be getting a laptop the beginning of 09' if everything goes ok, and then I'll update like waaayy quicker! I'm even working on writing ahead in chapters right now! Please don't give up on me! –Jabs Sasuke in side-

Sasuke: HN, she doesn't own InuYasha in anyway shape or form, or Naruto for that matter, or me, [other than in my plushie form]

I hope you enjoy this chapter! I made it extra long to make up a little for the extreme lateness!

Enjoy!!

Thank you sooo much for sticking with me even though I let everyone down!!

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Uhg…Finally." Kagome sighed, glad to of finally gotten away from the less-than-happy hanyou.

Geeze…I bet he's going to be ticked when I get back…She thought gloomily, as she started again to jog away from camp, stopping once she got about fifty yards outside the clearing that everyone was in. She sighed and looked down at her battered yellow bag.

"Whelp, I guess I won't be needing this tonight, -sigh- To bad, a bath really does sound good right now." She muttered, throwing her yellow bag in a bush at random, not really caring where it landed. She'd have time to come get it later anyway, right? She thought to herself distractedly, now suddenly starting to think back about how sneaky she had been, and being very proud of herself for it. "Heh, and he doesn't know anything's going on…He really can be dense sometimes. Oh well, let's just get this over with.

She breathed deeply and reached behind her to adjust her quiver out of habit.

Her breath caught in her throat.

"Oh Kami no!" she cursed to herself.

She had somehow in the world of all things she never knew left her bow and arrows back at the campsite!

How?! I never leave anywhere without them! Now how am I supposed to fight Kikyo?! She fumed to herself, mentally cursing every god she could think of.

"Heh, looking for these?"

Kagome jumped about three feet in the air. She hadn't expected anyone to be near right now. Sango just jumped out of the bushes she had been fighting through and laughed, throwing Kagome's stuff to her.

"I'm surprised I was able to sneak up on you so easily Kagome, you're normally pretty good at sensing people."

Kagome caught her stuff and sent a glare at her adopted sister.

"Yah well I was just a little side-tracked by the fact that I'd left my only weapon laying about two feet from InuYasha, who thinks I'm on my way to take a bath right now! Not to mention the fact that he's probably really ticked at me for sitting him and if I were to go back her wouldn't let me go anywhere!" She huffed and crossed her arms before looking up at Sango who had a bemused expression on her face.

"So why are you here anyway?" She asked, quickly changing the subject. "I hope you didn't fall for the pitiful bath trick I pulled on Sir-Idiot back here." She said, jerking her head back toward the campsite.

Sango just raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? Come on meanie…no, I came to help you with whatever you're doing. So what are we up against? Sensing auras and such really isn't my thing."

A small smile appeared on Kagome's face. She could count on Sango to come running to help when others were clueless.

"I sensed Kikyo nearby and I wanted to find out why she's not calling InuYasha since he can't sense her tonight. It just seems fishy to me. And I've wanted some answers to a few things for a while now." She replied simply to Sango, trying not to turn red.

Sango suddenly looked confused. "Fishy??" she asked with a very comical looking face, picturing Kikyo holding a fish, {A/N and maybe it was slapping her in the head…and maybe it was…oh ok fine…-sigh- I won't be evil right now and do that…it was just a thought…-evil grin-…I have time to torture the clay pot later} totally lost in Kagome's saying.

Kagome just sweatdropped. "Uh…never mind!" She waved her hands quickly at Sango. "I meant it just seems really suspicious. I want to find out what's going on."

"Oh…ok." She replied, coming out of her fishy imaginations. "So which way do we go?" She asked, completely fine with helping Kagome fight the dead miko. She really disliked her, simply for the fact that she had been making Kagome's life living hell the last few months, stealing InuYasha and all. And she wasn't about to let anybody do that to her sister.

Kagome closed her eyes for a moment and focused on the aura of the dead miko.

"She's that direction," She said opening her eyes and pointing slightly to her right. "Come on, we've got to finish this before sun-up."

Sango, completely agreeing with her, not wanting an angry InuYasha coming after them, slung her boomerang over her back again and took off in the direction Kagome had pointed to, pausing slightly to let her go ahead, so she could lead them there.

They traveled in silence for a while, since Kagome needed to concentrate to keep them going in the right direction. Finally Sango spoke up, after they had been traveling for about five minutes.

"So what do we plan on doing once we get there?"

Kagome looked over to Sango, and thought a minute for she replied.

"I'm going to confront her and ask her what's going on. Not that she's going to tell me anything if she has it her way though…" She trailed off, and Sango glanced at her.

"Ok, well if she isn't going to tell us willingly…I guess that means you're planning on fighting her?" She asked her, involuntarily reaching for her boomerang Hiraikotsu.

"Yah, I don't really have a choice. I need to know what's going on, so I can get everyone out of danger if need be…and…I need to know…about InuYasha…" She was mumbling again by the time she had gotten to the last part, red lines appearing slightly across her cheeks.

Sango pretended not to notice her embarrassment and just kept talking.

"Ok, well Kagome I think we shou-" But Kagome cut her off, waving her to be quiet with a quick flick of her hand She looked down questionably as Kagome urgently whispered to her, "We're getting really close Sango, closer than I realized; I thing that she should be right ahead in that clearing. Sango nodded quickly, understanding, as they both stopped abruptly just outside the clearing, still not making a sound, as so they would be able to search the open area for her undetected and get their bearings. Their eyes quickly scanned the clearing, taking in any needed details.

It was a small clearing, only about a hundred feet across and a hundred feet wide. There wasn't a great deal of bushes, or such, just green grass and the occasional flower. To the far left there was a large pile of boulders, which had a narrow waterfall trickling down it. The ground was for the most part level, with no hills or bumps, and the trees were thick all the way around it. The ideal place for a battle, they both thought in unison, although they were starting to get a little unnerved that they still hadn't seen Kikyo, since Kagome sensed her practically right in front of them.

All at once they were pulled from their thoughts.

"I know you're there girls, you might as well come out." Her quiet commanding voice rang though the small field They suppressed a jump, while both pairs of eyes turned to a tree on the opposite side of the wood-line, covered in moss and parasites, where the dead miko was sitting, or rather half laying, staring back at them bemusedly, no fear to be though of in her eyes.

They both cursed themselves as they stepped into the open.

"So what do I owe the honor of seeing my incarnation, and a demon slayer tonight?" Her eyes seemed to sparkle with innocence.

"You know why I'm here Kikyo. Why didn't you call InuYasha tonight like you've been doing lately, when you know he's human and can't sense you? Tell me and I won't have to fight you!" Kagome fumed, she was suddenly mad, for some reason she didn't know, at the older miko. This disturbed her slightly, since she wasn't the kind of person to get mad easily at people, well other than InuYasha…But she quickly pulled herself away from that thought, trying to concentrate on the argument at hand.

"Well?"

Kikyo's eyes now sparkled with fake mirth. "So you want him to come to me? Is that what you are trying to tell me incarnation? You want him to be with me; or is it that you have given up on trying to beat me in his heart, knowing it's pointless?"

Kagome just scoffed and looked up at her with fake confidence. "As if Kikyo. There's no way I'd just give up on him and willingly let him be with some undead clay pot like you." She finished her sentence with a grin. "I want to know what's you're up to Kikyo, and you better go ahead and tell me, if you don't want us to make you."

Kikyo suddenly jumped down from her tree and glared at Kagome, her miko powers ablaze.

"You want to know why I didn't call for him incarnation? It was because I had no intention of meeting him tonight. I came only with the intention of seeing you."

Kagome mentally froze. What? What is she talking about? Kagome swiftly drew out an arrow and notched it into her bow. "What are you talking about Kikyo? Spill it?" Sango drew out her Hiraikotsu beside Kagome and stood on defense.

Kikyo just smirked at them and conjured up her own bow and arrows, although they were hanging only at her side. "Now aren't we hasty to start a fight? I haven't even finished taking yet," she chuckled quietly before continuing. "Although I can't say you will like what I have to say." Kagome just raised an eyebrow at her, "Well why don't you finish and we'll be the judges of that."

Kikyo just sighed lightly and continued. "As I said, it was not him I came to see tonight, my dear incarnation, it was you. I knew you would come looking for answers to what's been going on; I intentionally let you feel my aura, but did not let him see my soul collectors. It was planned, not just a simple mistake that you showed up tonight. Now I should ask you, you know where this is leading, don't you my dear girl?" She finished with a malicious glare in her eyes, which were reflecting the souls that were surrounding her.

Kagome just looked at her confusedly for a moment, not sure where exactly the conversation was leading, nor what she was talking about, when she heard Sango's breath hitch in her throat beside her.

"It was a trap, wasn't it?" the demon slayer whispered.

The elder miko in front of them just laughed darkly and whispered back, "Correct." She took a breath and then continued with her eyes narrowed, "I wanted you to come Kagome, for simply one reason. I want to be rid of you." This made Kagome's face contort in surprise, but the elder miko continued. "You are the reason that InuYasha will not have me," her voice rose, "It is because of you that I cannot have InuYasha back, to have him love me completely again. You, he loves you and not me now. And I can't have it. He's mine!" Her face became contorted with rage, and her miko powers erupted all around her, a bright blue flame of energy. In a flash she had an arrow notched and then flying directly at Kagome, with a blue tail glowing behind it. Kagome held her hands in front of her face, waiting for the impact, when all of a sudden she saw a boomerang fly in front of her and knock the arrow off course, sending it into a tree over to her left which instantly started to melt away.

"Get down Kagome!" Sango yelled, catching Hiraikotsu and throwing it immediately at the opposing priestess, who just dodged it and reappeared inches from the spot she had just been in.

"This is none of your concern demon slayer," Said Kikyo as she raised her hands as they began to glow a dangerous shade of blue, "So I suggest you stay out of this fight!" and with that she slowly stretched out both of her glowing hands in the direction of Sango, who was by now getting ready to throw Hiraikotsu again, and began muttering incantations under her breath. A glowing blue orb appeared in her hands, and then was shot at the demon slayer with lightning speed, growing in size as it went. "NO!" both Kagome and Sango shouted at once, while Sango grabbed Hiraikotsu and dug it into the ground in front of her, trying to block the incoming attack.

Kikyo just smirked and yelled "NOW!" and the orb suddenly burst apart into a million little diamond-shaped lights and re-materialized around Sango, forming a barrier. Sango just muttered a quiet, "no…" before crumpling and falling to the ground and the view of her from the outside became disfigured to Kagome who just screamed, "SANGO!!" and ran half way to the barrier before stopping and turning back toward the elder miko, her bangs hiding her eyes.

"What. Have. You. Done. To. Her?!" And all of a sudden Kagome's miko powers started raging everywhere, colliding with Kikyo's in the air and making static sounds all around the clearing. Kikyo just smirked and replied, "Don't fret dear Kagome; she is merely unconscious, not dead. This is not her battle to fight, it is yours. She'll be fine when the barrier wears down in twenty-four hours. Now come!" Kikyo shot another arrow at Kagome, but the younger miko was ready for it this time. She did a summersault to avoid it and grabbed her own arrow and shot it, which was just dodged by Kikyo. "You'll have to do better than that incarnation, if you want any hope of winning this." Kagome just smirked and got back to her feet, now holding two arrows in her hands. "As you wish you stupid little dead bitch!" She then shot one of the arrows at Kikyo, jumping to her right, and charging the other arrow with extra energy. As soon as Kikyo went to dodge the first arrow Kagome shot the second, which covered more of an area with its extra charge she had put in it. Kikyo dodged the first arrow, but wasn't so lucky with the second. It had to much power to it, so even though her arrow itself only hit her long sleeve, the power surrounding it burned her arm, creating nasty welts from her wrist to her shoulder. "Damn you." Was all she muttered before shooting another arrow at Kagome, who again just dodged it, and cursed to herself and any god she could think of when she saw that the sky was already starting to get light.

Kagome looked up and glared at Kikyo a moment before laughing a bit. "Guess you didn't like that now did you Kinky-hoe? InuYasha taught me that one as best he could; we practiced for weeks on it together. Looks like I finally got it." This just got what resembled a furious snarl from Kikyo as she screamed again, "He's mine! This ends now!" And with that she drew another arrow and then seemed to focus all her surrounding energy on it before she fired, and then nearly fell over with the force she had just exerted. Kagome on the other hand had been doing to the best of her power exactly the same as the other miko, and fired her arrow simultaneously with Kikyo's; leaning on her bow from the sudden fatigue, and watching to see what would happen with the two arrows.

As both women watched, the arrows began to move in what looked like to them slow motion. They both seemed to meet in midair, and created a blinding flash of light. As both miko shielded their eyes from the light, neither saw the arrows they had thought had been destroyed fly toward them with lightning speed.

Kikyo was the first to be hit. Kagome's arrow hit her squarely in the shoulder blade, and stuck there; dissolving any part of her it touched. Kikyo fell to the ground screaming in agony and yanking at the purification arrow. It was fixed there though, and it took her precious time to get it out of her clay flesh. By the time she was able to remove it she had lost much of her right shoulder. But being made of clay and graveyard soil as she was, it was not a completely fatal wound as it might have been for a living person. It was painful yes, but it could be repaired. 'I will live' was all she thought as she laid on the ground and tried to breath slowly, staring at the sky.

On the other side of the field was another story though. As the arrows shot toward each of the miko, Kagome still had her arm out in front of her to shield her eyes. As the arrow shot toward her, she was only able to open her eyes enough to see it less than a few feet away from her. As it came she moved her arm back in front of her for some sort of protection. All she could think was, 'There's no Sango to protect me now, no InuYasha…this is it." As the arrow closed in on the last few feet she was only able to gasp and shudder as it hit her. The arrow grazed her arm she had held up, but didn't protect her from the brute force of it as it struck her in the right side, going though and breaking ribs with a sickening snap! Kagome felt herself fall to the ground as the arrow went strait through her. She hit the ground and all she could think of was, 'InuYasha can't save me this time...I…I won't…get to see him one last time." She could feel hot tears stream from her eyes as she lay on the ground, waiting for death to take her.

They were tears that weren't able to fall though; they just ran down the sides of her cheeks and into her hair. The last thing she could remember was her vision quietly going dark in the rising sun, and thinking, 'I love you InuYasha…I'm sorry.' Then everything went black.

SCENE CHANGE: BACK AT CAMP

"ARG...I thought that damn sun would never rise." Groaned InuYasha, as he stretched his muscles and sniffed the air; his powers finally returned to him. He looked over to the droopy eyed monk who only nodded in agreement. "Yes, I do agree. Now I can finally get some sleep. I advise you to go find the girls though; they have been gone quite a while." With that the lecture laid down on the ground and immediately fell asleep.

InuYasha's ears twitched slightly at his comment as he thought of what the girls would do to him, not to mention how many sits he would get, if they weren't done with their bath and they caught him anywhere near them. He just shuttered inwardly at the thought and started walking in the direction they had both left in earlier that night.

"Damn women, where are they?" He muttered moodily. He was walking in the direction that Kagome's scent was, but it seemed weak and he was having trouble following it for some reason.

"DAMN IT!!" He yelled, kicking a bush at random and then immediately teared up.

"AARG! What the hell kind of bush is that?!" he screamed as he dropped to the ground, rubbing his bright red foot. He looked over at the bush he had just kicked only to see it had something yellow in it. What? He thought as he cautiously poked at the bush with a stick. He soon found out though that when he neared it again, it had a familiar scent. He then picked it cautiously up only to find out that it was Kagome's tattered old backpack.

"What the hell?

Something must have happened.

What's going on here?!

Did she run away?

Did she get into trouble?

What's going on?!"

His mind went from one question to another, bouncing back and forth in complete confusion. He ran around the woods like lightning, trying to pick up Kagome's scent again.

That's when it hit him.

"Kagome's blood…and…and Kikyo? What's going on?!" He yelled again, sending birds flying in all directions around him as he bounded through the trees as fast as his partial demon speed could take him. "Damnit Kagome you better be alright!" he whispered furiously, ripping every branch that was in his way apart as he raced toward Kagome's scent, which was almost overwhelmed by now with the scent of her blood.

InuYasha raced forward as fast as he could when he saw the clearing ahead of him, and was sure that, that was where Kagome was. As he reached the clearing he saw many things at once. When he looked over to his right he saw a bright blue barrier with what looked like Sango inside it; one of which he ignored because she appeared to be fine. He then looked across the field to see Kikyo lying of the ground, and a mild jolt of worry was sent through him, which soon all-but vanished when he saw her move. It was when he looked straight in front of him that his heart seemed to drop to the ground.

There only a few feet from him on the ground was Kagome, in a small pool of her own blood. InuYasha jumped with lightning speed down next to her with a sickening splash when he hit the ground beside her which was soaked with her blood. "No…" was all the whispered as he bent down and rolled her over, looking at her wound. She had been hit badly. 'She didn't have long' was all he thought as he saw the blood was still spilling from her side. "Shit." He muttered as he instantly took off his under hiori and tore it into strips before wrapping it around her small body; trying his best to stop the flow of blood. As he laid her back down in his lap he felt her stir and her eyes opened a bit.

"Kagome…" he whispered weakly, brushing the bangs out of her eyes. "Try not to move around." Kagome in turn just looked up at him and smiled weakly. "You came…I'm so glad." She muttered, tears falling down her cheeks. "Of course. You know I'd never leave you." He replied as he buried his face into her hair and whispered, "I'm so sorry Kagome…I couldn't protect you." into her ear, before straitening up with a growl, ears pricked. 'DAMNIT!' he thought. 'Not now.'

He saw the bushes stir over to his left on the edge of the clearing and just yelled, "Come on you yah bastard, I know you're there Sesshomaru!" as he pulled Kagome up against him even tighter as she struggled to remain conscious. Lord Sesshomaru stepped out of the tree line to InuYasha's left and stared at the couple on the ground.

"Don't just stand there you worthless bastard! Come help me! Use Tetseseiga or something!" yelled InuYasha to his older brother, now desperate. Sesshomaru just looked at him with a blank face and replied, "Tetseseiga is used to bring back the dead little brother, not the dieing." InuYasha just looked up at Sesshomaru and paled. "Isn't there anything I can do?" He asked weakly, pulling Kagome closer to him as she groaned in pain and the bandages began to turn pink. Sesshomaru just looked down at him for a moment before stating unattachedly, "Father once told me he saved your worthless mother's life by making her drink his blood. It seems to hold healing abilities which humans lack; although I must say it might not work as quickly with your pathetic blood." InuYasha's heart seemed to start again for a moment; but then died again. "But she's a miko! What will happen to her?!" he asked uncertainly. Sesshomaru just looked at him in turn and smirked. "What other choice do you have little brother" You could take the chance or you could sit there and watch the miko die. It is your choice. I do believe father said that even for a normal human there was a struggle to get them to drink it. If I recall right, father said he passed he blood on in a kiss, for that was the only way he could get it down her." Now Sesshomaru was really smirking, knowing how his brother was going to react to the information juts given to him.

InuYasha just turned a scarlet red before gulping and replying with a weak, "Ok…if it'll save Kagome…then…" He took a breath to steady himself.

After a moment of calming himself, InuYasha turned toward to Kagome and vengefully bit his cheek, immediately tasting the coppery taste of his own blood. As he went to bend down to Kagome though, he suddenly froze when a voice ripped though the clearing.

"Nooo…you're mine InuYasha!" was all he heard being screeched. He looked up and saw to his surprise that on the other side of the clearing Kikyo was now leaning heavily on her bow, but was standing. She smiled crookedly as him and yelled, "It's to late InuYasha! She's gone! Now you can be with me forever; you don't have to choose between us anymore!" She then stretched out her arms the best she could with her injuries as if beckoning him to leave Kagome there to die and come into his open arms.

InuYasha's eyes were covered by his bangs, as blood quietly dripped from his lips; his hands by his side, clenched.

"It was you then."

He growled, his whole body shaking with fury.

"You did this to Kagome, didn't you? ANSWER ME KIKYO!"

Kikyo just looked at him confusedly and answered, "You're not happy InuYasha? Now we can be together like we wanted all along!" Her eyes seemed to sparkle with some kind of sick happiness.

InuYasha growled again and held Kagome as tightly as safety would be permitted. Damn you Kikyo. DAMN YOU TO HELL!" Kikyo gave him a broken expression of horror before dropping to the ground, screaming hysteria to the air. But InuYasha paid no heed and instead worked on calming himself down and then looked up at Sesshomaru again. "Would you mind keeping her at bay while I'm doing…this?" he asked. Sesshomaru just nodded his head slightly in agreement, with cooperation of which would have blown InuYasha's min any other day but today.

InuYasha nodded his head to Sesshomaru in thanks and turned back to Kagome. She smiled up at him weakly but said nothing, not understanding what's going on. "I'm sorry about his Kagome" was all he whispered to her before biting his cheek again with his fangs and bringing her head up to his, kissing her as gently as he could, again as red as could be. Kagome widened her eyes in surprise, but didn't pull away as he deepened the kiss, until she tasted the blood. It burned! She half coughed as she felt it going down her throat. "It burns InuYasha." Was all that she whispered as she pulled away from him? InuYasha just looked down at her, pain plastered clearly on his face. "I know, I'm sorry Kagome, it's the only way." He then pulled her into a kiss again, now having to press himself against her to keep her from pulling away. He felt her stop struggling though after a moment, and was for a second afraid that something had went wrong and nearly pulled away, but then he felt her start to kiss him back, and was only more confused. 'At least she's getting the blood down her' he thought fuzzily as he felt her shakily wrap her arms around his neck and deepen the kiss further for a moment before pulling away. She smiled up at him weakly for a moment before coughing and whispering again, "It burns InuYasha. Make it stop." InuYasha just looked down at her a moment before nodding a replying, "I know Kagome, I know. I'm sorry. I think it'll stop in just a minute. But what was the last part of…..that for?" He asked blushing slightly again. Kagome just looked up at him and weakly smiled with bright eyes. "What? The kiss? I just figured that if I was about to die anyways, I might as well get to kiss the person I love twice before then." InuYasha pulled her up against his chest at her comment, before Kagome's whole body began racking. "InuYasha, it burns! Please make it stop!" was all she said before coughing and losing consciousness.

"Kagome?!" InuYasha said a little louder that necessary, shaking her lightly in his arms.

"Kagome, talk to me!" he quickly looked over to Sesshomaru, who was now standing in front of Kikyo, who was rocking herself back and forth on the ground muttering incoherently.

"Sesshomaru I'm leaving. I've got to get her to Kaede's; I don't know what's wrong…and…thank you for everything." He muttered a little awkwardly. Sesshomaru jut nodded to InuYasha again and began walking towards the edge of the clearing where he had came, leaving Kikyo where she was on the ground. "I suggest you hurry then little brother. And don't be surprised with the outcome of this."

InuYasha just slowly stood up with Kagome in his arms bridal style, and positioned her so her head was cradled against his crick of his neck. He then turned to leave, only to be stopped by and arrow soaring over his head.

"Where are you going InuYasha darling? We're supposed to be together forever, remember? Don't leave me!" Kikyo screamed, completely taken over by hysteria. InuYasha didn't even look at her. He just whispered, "Oh I'll be back Kikyo, don't worry. I won't forget what you did to Kagome, not ever. I will avenge Kagome, just you wait. You will pay." With that InuYasha took off into the trees, ignoring Kikyo's howls of sadness and rage; only intent on getting to Kaede's in time for Kagome. He pulled her as close as he could to him and whispered,

"Please, just a little longer…just hold on a little longer Kagome. I'm so sorry…"

---END FLASHBACK---

'

TADA!!! Another chappy! I hope you enjoyed! –Yawn- but now me and my Sasuke plushie are sleepy and are going to go to bed. I won't ask for a certain amount of reviews because I trust that you'll do it anyway. :] I'll talk to you in the next chapter!

OH! and i DID NOT get to go through and fix any kind of errors at all in this! i'm sooo sorry, i just don't have enough time! please bare with me, and i'll fix it when i can.

Sasuke: -waves-

Me: BYE!!!

Love,

Lizzy-Chan-InuYasha-Fan