Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

Chapter 31: Shinobi

Haru smirked as the newest additions to his army finally arrived. He had his silver hair braided down his back, except for the loose forelocks in front covering his crescent moon scar, wearing a gold-colored hamaka and haori. The wolves circled him. Glaring at him as he rose to his feet. When their masters started to approach the wolves sat down, still surrounding Haru. The leader of the wolf tribe approached, wearing only a brown fur around his waist. His bare chest and face was covered with battle scars, his gray-lavender eyes looking over the inu-youkai with a cold glare.

"I'm Shinobi of the Northern wolf tribe. I take it that you are Haru?"

"Yes, and there's no time for further pleasantries. Get your men ready to move out with the first strike within the next hour."

The wolf growled. "I take it that you remember our deal?"

"Of course. You and your tribe help me kick Sesshomaru from his high-and-mighty seat and you can have the girl. Now, if you are finished, I have other matters to tend to." He watched the wolf give him one more glare before huffing and turning to leave, the wolves following close behind. "Taru." He called to his son. The other inu-youkai bent to one knee with his head bowed.

"Yes, Otou-san?"

"Make sure the wolf tribe does not survive the battle."

Taru nodded. "I shall see to it myself."

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They attacked only a few minutes after sundown, approximately sixteen hours since the majority of their forces left for the true battlefield. At first, no one thought too much of the ominous feeling surrounding the castle. Their friends and family had just left for a war after all, but soon that dreaded feeling escalated into panic as the first of the attacks on the castle began. Two giant-eared bat-youkai from Shori's clan acting as sentries had been among the first to see them coming. The herd of fire-horse youkai was being led by a giant, green-skinned youkai with giant fangs protruding from his bottom jaw. He seemed to be controlling them with a black-flamed whip. Any order he gave after cracking the whip, the horses quickly followed.

Inside the castle was nothing short of chaos. Bits of ruble fell, the stone walls crumbling from the attacks of oni. Everywhere youkai and humans were scrambling down stairs and corridors to the lower chambers away from the fighting. The stronger youkai and a few humans defended the castle as much as they could. Kagome and Kita were directing everyone to appointed locations as Miroku and Sango fought outside the castle against the onslaught. Shippou, Tani, and Rin took the kids down through the chaos and made sure they were safe before Shippou went back up into the fighting.

Kita was jumping over fallen bodies, checking a few to make sure they were dead, leading others down the corridor, and generally helping out as much as she could. Kagome was doing her best, but Kita could tell her strength was fading fast. This had to stop before the whole castle fell to the youkai. Kita stormed toward the front door and past the guards. It was pitch black except from a few torches and the fire and lights coming from various youkai. The she-wolf easily spotted Kirara, already branding a huge gash on her side while Sango took out a bear-youkai on the ground with her Hiraikotsu. Miroku was sticking close to her side throwing ofuda at anything that came too close.

Kita picked out the huge oni with the whip that was controlling the fire horse-youkai. She ducked under the beast and gave the back on its ankle a deep swipe from her claws. It let out a deafening roar as it hit one knee and simultaneously swung around its massive fist toward the she-wolf. She leaped out of the way and ran up the spine on the oni, coming to rest on its shoulder. The foul creature slapped at her and missed, twisting its full body around in circles in a feeble attempt at capturing the girl. She aimed at the base of the neck with her claws and sliced the spinal cord in one fluid motion. The oni fell forward with a crash and didn't move. Without commands, the two horses left began attacking without charge, both sides seen as a threat.

Down from the sky some kind of nocturnal creature flew and scrapped its talons across Kita's shoulder, digging into her flesh. She let out a yell laced with fury as the creature flapped its wings and her feet left the ground. From her position her claws couldn't reach the beast. Miroku turned and saw the girl in trouble, flying above his head, and quickly unleashed an ofuda. Kita let out a scream as the ofuda hit its mark, turning the youkai to dust but at the same time sending a shock through her shoulder where they touched. Miroku caught her in his arms and fell backward. She was cringing with her eyes closed tightly.

"I'm sorry, Kita, it was the only thing I could do at the moment." He apologized.

"It's alright, Miroku-sama." She replied through gritted teeth. "Thank you." Miroku set her back down on her feet and she looked around. Their forces were slowly driving back their attackers. But something wasn't right. The oni were retreating, the last of the other lesser youkai were retreating, even the semi-intelligent youkai was backing off. The wind howled through the trees as Kita sniffed the air. There was smoke and blood, corpse, dirt and dust, sweat, a variety of different people and emotions to go along with them. It was hard to discern one scent from another, but there was a deadly familiarity to one certain scent that kept evading her, downwind. A badly burned Shippou crouched by her side.

"You smell that, Shippou?" she asked. He took a big whiff.

"Something is sneaking around out there." He turned. "Kirara, can you still fly?" the fire-cat mewed an answer and took to the sky. Neko eyes scanned the darkness. A few seconds later the fire-cat returned, landing in front of the group and letting out a feral hiss toward the forest.

"What is it, Kirara?" Sango asked, heaving her weapon in position. Kirara roared and dug claws into the dirt, her tails sticking straight out and every inch of fir standing up on end. "What's out there?" The cat used its nose to push Sango toward Kita and started to rub against the she-wolf and meow. Kita paled as realization wiped over her and she let out an involuntary whimper. She sniffed the air again to check.

"Shinobi and my pack." She barley whispered.

"Your pack?" Miroku questioned.

"The northern wolf tribe. Haru must have recruited them."

Shippou growled low in his throat as, one by one, twelve wolf-youkai stepped out from the forest. The one Shippou could only assume as the leader stopped a few feet away, ignoring Shippou and looking directly to Kita. On instinct Shippou and Miroku stood in front of her, weapon and claws raised. Shinobi only glared.

"Kita. You betrayed your own tribe. You left without permission and now, here you are, hiding behind a pathetic human and a fox. How can you even live with yourself, knowing you're a traitor to your own pack?" He slowly circled, the other wolf-youkai chuckling behind him and following his lead.

"I'm not the traitor. You murdered my father!" Kita yelled, stepping in front of her protective duo.

"Politics. You father became weak. That in turn made our pack weak. He had to be disposed of."

"What about my mother?! She didn't have anything to do with you!"

"She was a weak link. As much as I despise it, after your father took that human as a mate, she became part of the pack. I will not allow humans in my pack. You're lucky I elected you keep you around."

Kita shook her head. "I won't go back."

"You don't have a choice. You can't fight your instincts. You can't fight your loyalty to the pack, and you know it. You'll kill yourself before you go up against me and the rest of your…'family'." Shinobi's cold stare was left unchanged as Kita lowered her head.

She knew he was right. It was hard enough convincing herself to leave the pack in the first place. Going against them, fighting them? It would kill her. Instincts in a pack are too strong to ignore. No, she couldn't fight them and then live with the conviction of a complete betrayal of her pack. But she wasn't about to just stand around and let Shinobi kill her new family. She wasn't ever going to go back with them.

Kita let out a feral growl and leaped through the air with her claws raised. She sliced the unmoving pack leader across the face on the first attack. Shinobi turned his head with the attack, thin lines of blood trailing down his cheek. The glare in his eyes turned red with anger as he raised his hand to his face, smearing the blood on his fingers. With unforeseen speed Shinobi was by Kita's side and backhanded her across her face. Her entire body turned with the impact, causing her to trip on her feet and fall to the ground.

Shippou moved to her side and helped her back to her feet. The action was like a signal to the others. The wolf-youkai created a circle around Kita, Shippou, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara. They sprang on the group all at once. Shippou created a wall behind them using his foxfire to keep the wolf-youkai from attacking from behind. Three of the wolf-youkai was attacking him at once. One punched him directly in the gut. Shippou doubled over and was hit on the back by one of the other wolves.

Miroku and Sango were standing back to back with each other. Too close of range for using her Hiraikotsu, Sango pulled out her kodachi just in time to block the claws of one of the youkai from taking off Miroku's head. Miroku gave a smile of gratitude as he knocked back another youkai with his staff. Kirara was struggling with the wolves of the wolf-youkai. She let out a roar as two bit down on her front paw. The fire-cat swiped at another with her good paw and bit down on another with her fangs, shaking her head and sending the wolf flying into another.

Shinobi and Kita's eyes were locked within the battle. He attacked with his full speed but Kita matched every move Shinobi made with blocks. Shinobi swiped at her with his claws as she blocked his round-house kick to the side. His claws caught the edge of her kimono, shredding pieces in the sleeve. She ducked another blow but couldn't act in time to block a shot in her lower ribs. Kita wrapped her arm around the abused flesh and winced at the pain. The wolf-youkai took that open moment to slam his elbow down between Kita's shoulders, bringing her to her knees.

Kita fell hard but managed to duck and roll as Shinobi made another move against her. She stood to her feet and charged. Shinobi side-stepped and Kita ran past him. He brought his claws down, grazing her back. She let out a scream of pain and frustration as she whirled around with one clawed hand reaching for Shinobi's throat. Her hand froze in midair, only inches away from her target.

She couldn't do it. As much as she told herself it was the only thing she could do, she couldn't fight Shinobi. Every fiber in her being told her that fighting him was wrong. It felt wrong down to her bones. So she did as best she could. Shinobi took Kita's thought filled moment to his advantage, slashing her outstretched arm and bringing his foot down on her bad ankle. She could almost feel the bones breaking all over again. Stumbling upright, she found that she couldn't put any pressure at all on her foot. Kita was on complete defense against Shinobi's attacks. Hit after hit she felt her strength waver. A glance to her friends told her they were fairing better. A few of the youkai on their side had already joined in the fight. She smiled to herself. They would be okay.

Kita, however, was slammed into the dirt from Shinobi's round-house kick to the head. She was dazed. Her ears throbbed from the lack of sound. Her eyes became unfocused and blurry. With everything going on around her she pulled herself to her knees and sighed. Her thoughts faded from the battle. If she was going to be killed the last thing she wanted to be thinking about was fighting. She hated fighting. There was only a few times that she had willingly fought. Those times were centered around one being: Makoto.

Shinobi spit on the dirt beside her. "It all comes down to loyalty, Kita, just as I've said. Yes, I killed your parents, but for the better of our family. Now," he kicked her side and made her fall forward, "I'm willing to forgive you this time. All you have to do is say the word, and we go back home. We forget about this. Everything goes back to the way it should be."

Kita took a deep breath, catching herself for a moment as her ribs complained to the movements. "Just get this over with." She grunted.

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Makoto groaned as he sat up; head thrumming from the latest vision from Touken. Everything was still so fresh in his mind. He crossed his arms and legs and closed his eyes to think. Touken was telling him something, but what? In the first vision, he couldn't protect anyone because he was either human or youkai. This time he couldn't protect Kita because he was in the forest, not with her. In both instances his human and youkai self told him to choose. What was he suppose to choose? Makoto was pretty sure by now that they weren't speaking of choosing between the two. But what else could they have meant? He remembered back to the two figures in the smoke pointing down at the castle. Touken wanted him to go back there. What if he transformed while there? Was he just going to have to trust the sword? What if the thing really had been cursed and it was trying to lead him to disaster?

'Kita..' he thought. It had been so real; he could still feel the heat from the flames, the softness of her touch… Makoto got to his feet with a grunt. He had made his decision, no, Kita had made his decision for him. Transformation or no transformation, he had to be with her. He smirked at the thought of seeing her. It had been only two weeks, but that was far too long. Thousands of thoughts tumbled in his head as he broke into a run. Human: he was too weak. Youkai: he was too dangerous. Hanyou: he was both. Good, bad, weak, strong. An hour later Makoto cursed his human blood as the effects of his run started taking control of his body. His leg muscles ached, he was breathing hard, and he was slow.

Finally he had to sit down for a rest, spreading his legs beneath him and his arms beside him on the ground with a heavy pant. His eyes fell on the darkening sky. "You want me to rescue Kita but you turn me human! How am I suppose to save her when I can't even get to her?!" he yelled as soon as he had breath to yell. As an answer, the sword pulsed.

"No. No no no no no no no. Don't even start that crap again!" Makoto sat up and pulled out the sword with a human growl. "I want to be hanyou! Hear me? HANYOU!" Touken pulsed, changed its color to silver. Makoto raised an eyebrow and grunted. It couldn't be just that simple… could it? He said it again, this time less forcefully and more meaningfully. "Hanyou."

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A/N:

Sorry it took so long. Classes really overwhelmed me this past semester, but with that over with and summer here hopefully I'll be able to update more often. .;;