Sesshomaru hadn't been gone for long when Jaken began to patrol the halls of the castle, complaining about having to baby sit pathetic humans. In fact, he had tried to think of a way he could get out of this duty, but if he left someone else to do it, he knew Sesshomaru would have his head for disobeying. Sighing, the toad demon resigned to watching Rin and keeping watch on Kagome's body as well.

As for Sesshomaru, it was an hour now and he already picked up on his brother's scent in the east, heading in that direction. He had an idea on luring the dead woman away from the group, however, he knew he couldn't let Inuyasha know he was after her. His idiotic brother would put up such a fight if he knew, that a simple task such as this would prove, minor as it may be, to be a nuisance nonetheless with interference from the half breed. And currently he had a feeling that any great length of time more without her soul, would be fatal for Kagome.

Meanwhile, the group continued on to head towards a nearby village, being on the road for so long and without Kagome, they were running low a lot faster on supplies and thus needed to restock as soon as possible. It was growing late when they neared a village, however they didn't quite make it there when Inuyasha turned around, facing the direction they had been traveling from. He had picked up his brother's scent nearby and immediately his hand flew to the hilt of his sword. "Sesshomaru….." he growled.

Kikyo looked at Inuyasha for a moment and then in the direction he was facing, picking up on the aura of the demon lord. This was her chance to get him to hand over Kagome's body, the only problem was….how to get him alone to discuss it. She quietly moved backwards, near a tree close to the forest. Sango and Miroku had noticed her strange behavior and kept their eyes on her.

When Sesshomaru arrived, he calmly walked into the area, his golden eyes located the priestess then shifted to his brother, noticing the stance he took already. Arching an eyebrow at his brother, he knew Inuyasha would give an automatic response to such a small gesture.

"Sesshomaru! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I have no business with you, save for inquiring Naraku's location," he explained.

"Feh, if we knew where he was, do you think we'd be here chatting with you? Now get lost!" he growled, pulling the Tetsaiga from its sheath and aiming it as his brother.

Once again, Inuyasha had proven to mindlessly challenge him over merely stepping into their group for a single minute. Sighing, he drew Tokijin and aimed it at his brother, "don't be foolish Inuyasha."

"I'm not-wait a minute….that scent….I know that scent…..it's so familiar…..you bastard, what have you done?!" he growled out in anger and charged at his brother. Of course Inuyasha was charging at him but still had yet to place who's scent it was that was on his brother, but he didn't care. Obviously it meant his brother had either harmed or been around someone he knew and that was good enough of a reason to fight. Sesshomaru, was unfazed and blocked his brother's attack with ease, pushing forward he threw Inuyasha back a few feet.

Sango and Miroku took a seat at a nearby tree and began to get dinner ready when they noticed something, Inuyasha clearly hadn't. His left arm was restored. Miroku turned to the slayer questioningly, "Sango…last week…wasn't he missing that?"

"Uh huh…..strange, I've heard of demons recovering but this is too fast….it's only been a week since we last saw him…" she explained. The two exchanged a confused look and continued to watch the scene before them.

Kikyo had heard what they said and she was certain she knew what they were talking about. She had to know how that happened and on top of that, she needed something to trade the demon lord in order to obtain her reincarnation's body. That was when her wish had been granted.

Inuyasha stood there after being pushed back and ran again at his brother, this time as their swords clanked, the Tetsaiga began to vibrate, making a strange noise, as if singing out its pain. Everyone at that moment froze and Sesshomaru drew back, watching curiously at what was happening. The singing began to get softer and soon the fang had transformed back into a seemingly dull and useless sword.

The half demon stared in shock and shook the sword, attempting to get it to transform again, but to no avail. "What the hell? Come on! Tetsaiga!" he shouted and tried it again, nothing. Once more he re-sheathed it this time and withdrew it, aiming it at his brother, still nothing.

The demon lord scoffed and placed Tokijin back into its sheath. "You're growing weak Inuyasha, now even you can't manage to wield the Tetsaiga. Pathetic," with that he walked passed his brother and towards the forest. Inuyasha growled in anger and frustration and continued to try and get it to transform again but his repeated attempts were a failure.

This raised a question in everyone's mind, but Sesshomaru was the only one who had an idea on what the problem was and he wasn't about to tell his brother, after all, it would reveal too much to the half breed and it wasn't his story to tell.

Kikyo watched her beloved fight with the Tetsaiga itself, trying to get it to transform once more. This had confirmed it for her. She needed her reincarnation's body and as she watched his brother disappear into the forest, she slipped behind a tree and followed him, thinking she had gone unnoticed. Little did she know that Sango, Miroku and Shippo had seen her leave and they all had a feeling she was hiding something but neither could confirm what it was.

Kikyo didn't take long to catch up to Sesshomaru, her bow and arrows in hand in case she needed it. "Lord Sesshomaru, tell me, did you really come seeking Naraku?" she asked.

He stood there, knowing they were far enough to not be heard, he turned around to face her. "Something concerns you, priestess. You killed her and yet you aren't quite alive, are you?" he inquired, not even bothering to answer her question.

She looked shocked for a moment but quickly placed a mask of indifference to hide her emotions. "Have I become that easy to read? Then let me get to the point, I need my reincarnation's body. Give it to me and I will get you something in return.

"I need nothing from you."

"Oh? What of the Tetsaiga? It's of no use to Inuyasha now and once he becomes human by using the sacred jewel, he will have no use for it at all."

"I see, so you propose I give her body to you and you will hand over the Tetsaiga to me? And how do you intend to kill Naraku if my brother cannot use his sword?"

"That's not your concern. I will rid the world of Naraku easily, all I need is to regain my full power and I need Kagome's body to do so," she explained.

Without warning, Sesshomaru ran forward at her and Kikyo's hand immediately went to her quiver, grabbing an arrow and notching it, she shot it at him. He dodged the attack and went at her again, she grabbed three this time and shot them all at once at him, her aim perfect, but his speed was superior to her aim. He caught the three arrows and disintegrated them with his poison claws. In seconds, he used his whip and knocked the bow out of her hands and his hand was around her neck, pinning her to a tree with her feet off the ground.

After a moment, he dropped her and began to walk away. "A mere priestess cannot kill Naraku, if you cannot even handle me, I will give you one day to confess your act to Inuyasha, in which time, I shall return for what does not belong to you," and with that he was gone.

Kikyo sat on the ground, holding her neck, her eyes widened in shock at his words. She needed that body and he instead didn't intend to help her but help her reincarnation. Confess? How could she? What would Inuyasha say at her betrayal? She had to think of a way out of this and fast. Then it hit her, if he was here, he must have left the body at his castle. That was it, the perfect solution, sure it may be stealing but her soul collectors could get in and out, undetected. Confident in her plans, she summoned her soul collectors and sent them on their mission.

While he observed as that confrontation played out, he had already sent his puppet to retrieve the most sought after possession, Kagome's body. He had waited until Sesshomaru was a few hours away from his castle, before sending it to the castle for him. Watching from the comforts of his castle, he had sent his demons to attack the surrounding villages within Sesshomaru's lands. While that happened, Jaken had gotten word of the attacks and sent the guards to protect the villages while he remained on guard there.

That gave Naraku the opportunity he needed, his puppet slipping in unnoticed, save for Rin, who was put to sleep by a hint of Miasma. He dare not run the risk of Sesshomaru's wrath at the moment for killing the girl, not until he had Kagome's body in his possession, his Ace up the sleeve if you will.

And as for Jaken, he didn't even sense a thing, nor did he notice Rin's unconscious body. The puppet went into the room Kagome's body was in, grabbed her and wrapped the pelt around her, disappearing into a mist of miasma that quickly dissipated.

Within minutes, the puppet appeared and was destroyed by its master, dropping the female from its grasp, Naraku caught her and smirked. He placed her down on his futon and caressed her cheek. "Ah Kagome...finally you are mine to control and now Kikyo's secret shall be exposed," he grinned. "Kanna, summon Kagura, I have a job for her to do."

Within minutes, Kagura appeared, "You summoned…."

"I have a new toy for you to play with….Kagome's body is yours to command. Use her against Inuyasha and his group, in doing so it will expose Kikyo's lies, go now," he ordered.

Kagura bowed and opened her fan, waving it towards Kagome. For a moment she didn't move, then her fingers began to twitch, her hands, her feet, her body and finally her eyes opened, expressionless, she stood up and walked towards Kagura and as she was about to leave with Kagome's body following her, Naraku called her once more. "Kagura….one more thing. Do not screw this up. If you betray me this time…." He trailed off and squeezed something that appeared in his hand.

The wind demon coughed and grasped her chest. "Is that understood?" he asked, releasing it.

She glared at him but nodded, "yes master Naraku….." and with that, she was gone as well as Kagome.

Naraku had to thank Sesshomaru, if it wasn't for the fact that he had her and if she didn't pull the stunt in healing his arm, she wouldn't have fallen further into darkness, leaving her body unprotected by any barriers. He had watched the entire week at Sesshomaru's castle, the maids being purified, Sesshomaru being the only one to control her. It was amusing that Kagome's body had one last act before it was no longer able to protect itself and he owed it all to the demon lord. For he was able to get her and now control her as he pleased. The half demon couldn't help but chuckle darkly as he had Kanna show him the next part of his plan unfold just as he intended.

Inuyasha sat in a corner, fuming at the Tetsaiga that he had placed in the sheathed and on the ground in front of him. Sang and Miroku were minding their own business, eating dinner. Shippo too ate his dinner and felt a bit bad for Inuyasha and was going to go over to him when Kikyo appeared. This caused the fox demon to sit back down.

As she returned to the campsite, she sat down beside Inuyasha, having just sent her soul collectors to get what she wanted, she was now stuck waiting.

Sesshomaru wasn't an idiot though and had watched what she had done. As she left them and they too began to make their way into the sky, he jumped from the trees and used his poison whip to slice one in half, killing it. The other one turned to look at him and he narrowed his eyes. "Inform her of my warning," he stated and jumped down from the tree he was standing in to sit down beneath it.

The soul collector made a sort of crying sound and floated towards the camp to deliver, Sesshomaru's deadly, yet quite clear, message. As it approached, so did someone else.

In the distance, a figure appeared, draped in a black cloak.

Inuyasha jumped to his feet, his nose picking up Kagura's scent. Kikyo could feel the dark aura of Naraku and yet she knew it wasn't him but someone else. What a fine time to be attacked, she needed to be fully alive to have her full powers and now when she was attempting to fix her mistake, Naraku decided to send Kagura to attack. Kikyo was irritated at the timing of this.

Sango, Miroku and Shippo, also sensed the dark aura, but the figure that was approaching, didn't appear to be Kagura at all. The figure stopped short of a few feet from them, simply standing there silently.

Within the forest, he had sensed it as well, the demon lord had picked up her scent mixed with Naraku's and this sent an automatic response through him. He flew through the trees, stopping and remaining within them, but close to the clear path in order to see what was happening. Clearly, Jaken had failed him and he was pissed, but Sesshomaru knew, if he was going to get this done as he first intended, he had to remain calm and find a way to get her back from Naraku. Now though, whether she liked it or not, Kikyo's secret would soon be exposed.

Author's Note: So it took awhile to get this written and updated. Classes started last month for me and I've been swamped with homework. I was intend on updating three weeks ago but that was a failure. Now that I have a bit of free time, I'll be writing up the next 3 or 4 chapters that follow this one to upload weekly. Chapter 5 however, will either be uploaded tomorrow or Sunday as its already written up and just needs to be re-read and uploaded. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, as mean as it was, I felt it was necessary to end this chapter here. Sorry, don't kill me :D