Miko Upgrade - Chapter 8

"Kagome… Kagome?!" Inuyasha called, his voice strained with panic. His clothing bloodied and in shreds, Tetsusaiga hanging off his waist and blood staining his skin and hair. His head hurt horribly, but then again so did the rest of him. Looking around the battered ruins he could pick up Kagome's scent but there were too many new smells in this world for him to follow it. He knew she was here and that was a start at least

'Trust that girl to break the well' he huffed trying in vain to differentiate her scent from the multitude of others. Inuyasha had no idea where he was or when he was, the well had always been a mystery to them but they should have thought of the possibility of being taken to other places and times. When Inuyasha had defeated the snake demon, once he'd retrieved his sword, the hanyou had jumped into the well hoping to follow his lost and reluctant bride. He knew she would be pissed at him for letting her fall through the well but causing her to fall was the only thing he could thank the snake demon for… his new bride was still as stubborn as ever.

However, Inuyasha began to worry the second he jumped into the time stream, the calming blue had turned to a sickening red. Even an idiot couldn't miss the giant tear in the portal and it didn't take a genius to figure out its cause. Inuyasha followed his mate through the rip and tracked her scent in the nothingness, however once he was dropped in this new land he couldn't find more the barest of hints that she'd ever even been here.

Today was not supposed to be like this, today was their wedding day after all. Kagome and he had mated a while ago but today they made their union official in both human and demon terms. Inuyasha knew Kagome had wanted her parents to be at the ceremony but no one could tell them if the well would close after she went through this time or not. It had stopped them both from mentioning Kagome's time or her family because they both knew that though Kagome would always miss per family in the future, she couldn't bear to leave her family in the feudal era.

Inuyasha cursed the snake demon which had separated them and delayed him, without his tetsusaiga he hadn't been able to kill the demon as quickly as usual. The silver haired man had been forced to retreat back to village after Kagome fell; he had to get his sword back and once he had it the snake demon didn't stand a chance. However the delay cost him dearly, he had lost her trail. He called out again "Kagome! Where the hell are you?" what he would give to hear her say 'Sit!' They'd decided together that Inuyasha would keep his beads, he was still a half demon and losing control will always be a threat to him and their family and so the black beads still weighed on his neck, yet another testimate to their bond.

Inuyasha kept walking, trying to find some hint of Kagome's scent and soon enough he came across a pair of men, "Oi, have either of you seen a woman with dark black hair round here?" he asked approaching the men. Normally not one to ask for assistance Inuyasha was getting too annoyed in this new land to care about his own stubborn pride. The Hanyou remembered when Kagome had first come to his time, the spirited girl had made a huge stir and it was always easy to find her because of it. He wasn't too hopeful she'd done him that same favour again.

Inuyasha examined the figures before him, they were both wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them and each wore a strange little hat. He couldn't say much for the fashion sense in this place but hopefully that would make his mate stand out all the more. One of the men was excessively tall, his face hidden by his straw hat and he held a large sword strapped to his back but just because he had it didn't mean he could use it. His own hand drifting to his sword the inu watched them intently.

"No" the other one answered, he had black hair and red eyes glowing from beneath the brim of his hat. He wasn't a demon but that was definitely a demonic trait, perhaps he had some watered down blood. A voice in Inuyasha's told him to be cautious, the smell of these two wasn't quite right. It was a mix of human and demon, the tall one had slightly more demon to him but still Inuyasha decided the two could not be trusted.

"Keh" Inuyasha turned to walk away, leaving these strange semi-demons to their musings and mischief; he had more important things to do.

"You're not from around here are you? Who are you 'Inpo'?" Inuyasha growled and flung the tall one up by his throat revealing a shark like face, he was pathetic compared to the demons Inuyasha had faced but in his injured state Inuyasha was not sure he could wipe the smirk off his blue mouth as quickly as he normally would.

"Who you calling weak? 'Teme'." Inuyasha growled in a low threatening way, his claws wrapping around that thick blue throat and pricking the thick skin.

"Enough, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I am Itachi Uchiha, that is Kisame Hoshigaki; your name?" The red eyed man spoke calmly, as though he didn't care one way or the other what happened to his friend.

"Inuyasha"

"You said you were looking for someone?" Itachi said in his cool calm voice, it rubbed Inuyasha the wrong way with its icy insincerity.

"Yes my wife, have you seen her?" Inuyasha didn't want to give this scheming stranger any excess information, but he was also very aware that he needed help in this strange land.

"No but if she was headed this way she is probably in Konoha…"

"Thanks" he mumbled dropping the almost unconscious shark to the floor ready to trash this place 'Konoha' to find his Aisai.

"That'll do you no good! It might even put her in danger" Itachi said his voice smooth as oil.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha raged at the thought of Kagome being in danger but his common sense told him listen to but not trust this man and his words.

"People like us, strong and different individuals are not welcomed into places like that. We are seen as threats and usually attacked on sight, you stand out too much. Where ever you come from is completely different from here and if whoever has this 'Kagome' of yours may not like you trying to take her back.

"You may be attacked and then she would be hidden or even worse they could turn on her. Join up with us, we will teach you about how things work here. In a short amount of time we will be 'visiting' the leaf village and then, if you are ready, we will take you with us if not we will search for her and help you find your 'koishii', what do you think? Will you join with us Inuyasha?" Inuyasha thought about it, they didn't seem the best of people but he could look out for himself. He needed to know this place and if there was a shred of truth in his words then perhaps they were worth using.

"If it's to protect Kagome fine" Inuyasha nodded but his eyes did not lose their mistrusting edge.

"Excellent, follow us and we will take you to the base of the Akatsuki. There you will begin your training as a shinobi"