Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

Chapter 33: Leader

Makoto decided he had waited around long enough. One quick leap and he was by Kita's side, ripping Shinobi off of her by the scruff of his neck. Makoto pulled the stunned wolf-youkai into the air leaving his feet dangling above the ground. Kita wouldn't have it though. As soon as Shinobi's fangs left her neck she was back on her feet. She plowed into the hanging Shinobi with her shoulder, sending him flying through the air, hitting the ground hard and skidding to a stop yards away. Kita wasted no time charging forward again, just as Shinobi started to push himself back up. Before he could regain his awareness Kita latched her fangs into his shoulder and they went tumbling again. Makoto decided it was time for him to finish the fight before Kita really got hurt. When Makoto approached, Kita had completely turned the tables on Shinobi, her claws wrapped around his throat while he clawed at her forearms. Makoto reached down and pulled Kita back. Feral eyes glared back as she struck Makoto's cheek with her claws. Shinobi lay still on the ground gasping for breath. Kita jerked her arm away from Makoto's grasp and growled.

Wha…? Makoto thought to himself. Kita was turning on him? Even in her youkai state she should be able to recognize him. He squared his shoulders and looked at the wolf. "Back down, girl. You're done."

"You keep out of this, dog!" she spat back. Only out of pure shock did Makoto do as instructed. A dozen things hit him at once. He felt pride at Kita's strength, fear for what was happening, a little hurt at her comment, but mostly he felt furious.

Hearing a loud gasp Makoto turned to see Kagome, the pups, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Tani, along with the others and the members of Shinobi's pack watching the fight. Everything else had stopped for the ongoing battle between the wolf-youkai. Kita, keeping her injured leg out of the fray, still had the upper hand. One of her knees dug into Shinobi's stomach; her forearm was held firmly against his throat as her nails imbedded into his shoulder. Shinobi snarled and, grabbing Kita's wrist and elbow, twisted her arm and shoved her to the side. He roared out as Kita's claws sank deeper in his flesh.

"The pack is mine!" he yelled, fangs lowering to take hold of her throat once more. Kita released her hold on his shoulder for the time being and focused on Shinobi's advances. He bit down close to her jugular and Kita became as still as stone. She perked her ears and snarled, letting Shinobi know he had the upper hand but she would never submit to him. Flipping them both over in one fluid movement, her knee landed on his groin and his fangs released her as he let out a howl of pain. That moment was what Kita had been waiting for. While Shinobi groaned lying on his back, Kita circled him, eyeing him. She struck. It was quick. It was silent. It was deadly.

There was a mixture of gasps, growls, and whimpers from the bystanders as Kita wiped the blood from her claws. Shinobi lie on the ground, throat slashed, still alive and choking on his own blood. What seemed like forever was only a minute or two with no sound but his gurgling. Kita stood above him, eyes glazed over with a fixation on the blood caked around her.

"Enough!" Kagome shouted, stepping out from the crowd. "End it now, Kita, please!" she sobbed. Kita smirked sadistically and lowered her foot, crushing Shinobi's esophagus with a sickening crunch and a pop. The wolf-youkai's body faded to dust under her foot, a spiral of light shooting from the ground to the mark on Kita's forehead. The star shone bright gold for a few seconds then disappeared. There was another round of gasps and shocked expressions as the star became more prominent and Kita's hair became completely golden.

"Kita…" Makoto gritted through his teeth. This is not Kita! Her youkai has taken control of her thoughts. "Kita calm down. You can't let yourself lose anymore of your control."

Kita ignored him, turning to her new pack. She was their Alfa now, but would they listen? There was always a chance the pack would turn on their new leader, especially if they didn't think them competent enough. Kita didn't really feel like having them around right now anyway, not with the shape she was in and the lack of knowledge of their loyalty. "All of you. Out of here. NOW!" There were a few yips and more snarls as the pack turned to the forest. Kita gave a quick nod of approval as the last member of the pack, however reluctantly, disappeared into the tree-line.

Makoto had backed down and made his way to Kagome's side as Kita seemed to be planning her next move. At his approach Kagome stepped in front of the crowd shakily and pushed the pups behind her. Makoto was taken back by her fearful attitude before he remembered his current transformation.

"It's alright, Okaa-san." He cooed as well as his husky new voice would allow.

"Makoto? How?"

"Touken. It has the power to… transform me."

"But, you're able to control your youkai?"

Makoto shook his head. "Not that simple. Takes…concentration. Getting easier longer I stay transformed, though." He answered. "Okaa, everyone needs to leave. Now. Kita… she can't control. Dunno what she may do."

Kagome nodded and took the time to wrap her arms around his neck for a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You be careful, Makoto." She released him and turned to the others. "We're going to find somewhere to set up a camp farther away from the castle. Anyone who is able should be helping the injured." Makoto looked away as his mother led the group from the ruins of the castle and turned his attention back to Kita. She was curiously inspecting the spot where Shinobi's ashes were still being swept up by the wind. Cocking her head to one side, picking up the cloth that served as his clothing, and throwing it back to the ground.

"Kita." Her ears twitched to his voice but otherwise showed no sign that she knew he even existed. "Kita, you need to control."

"I am in control, Makoto, more then you think I am." She spoke clearly after a short pause. She took a moment to fiddle with part of Shinobi's clothing she found interesting before she tossed that aside as well and stood from her crouch. "I told you before. You said you understood. I knew you didn't."

"What are you talking about?"

Kita smirked and shook her head. She looked at her hair and began to toy with it as if she had just realized its new color. "I told you who I was. You knew," she spayed her fingers and held her arms out to the side, "you knew this is what I am. I told you." She repeated.

"I don't understand Kita. Just change back!" he ordered, his voice becoming more demanding.

"What difference will it make? Youkai or hanyou I'm one in the same! I kill. Up until now it was for others. This time it was all me. I killed for me." Makoto growled. He really didn't like the way Kita was talking. He really, really didn't like the way she was talking. "You want that poor, sweet, little wolf-hanyou you feel so fondly for? I'm her! She is me! That little wolf-hanyou has done far more then this, killed far more beings in much more horrible ways then this." She looked him dead in the eyes. "Shinobi had an easy death compared to others. Some just pups no older then your brother and sister." Kita nearly whispered. Makoto could have sworn he saw a flash of green in her eyes, but it quickly faded. "I can fight. My father taught me everything, never expecting that his daughter was a born killer, as fate would have it, who only knows how to murder, even the innocent."

"It's not true, Kita! You weren't in control of yourself, you're NOT in control of yourself."

"THEIR BLOOD IS STILL ON ME! Does it matter how?! By what means?! NO! When I was too weak to kill, I was controlled to kill. Now look… no one is pulling strings… and they still fall by my hands…"

Makoto ignored the rambling he knew wasn't Kita. "Change back! I don't want to use force, but I will!"

"Be my guest." She spat.

Makoto let his anger fuel his movements. He had to let Kita know she was not in charge. He had given her a command and she had refused him; that just would not do. In an instant he was behind her. She retaliated, dragging her claws down the length of his arm. He gritted his teeth from the pain, twirling her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides, and then pulled her back flush against his chest. He put his chin on her shoulder and breathed in her ear: "Let it go." Kita struggled against him. Twice she almost managed to make Makoto lose his footing but he was quick to recover, then making her fall on her knees and he sat on the back of her legs, his own knees on the outside of hers.

"Kita." He used his fangs to nip at the sores on her neck, adding a comforting lick in between the nips. Kita struggled once more before giving in, her body going slack against Makoto's chest, she whimpered and flattened her ears.

"I don't want to go back…" she pleaded even as her change began.

"Shhh…" He loosened his grip as her hair changed from gold back to black. He grabbed the hilt of Touken. "Hanyou." Then as he changed, he turned her so she was sitting in his lap. Makoto closed his eyes and rocked her. He wished she didn't remember anything. He wished she would never know exactly what went on, like with him and Akina. One look in her eyes told him she remembered…everything.

"Makoto…" she whimpered, muffled from having her face hidden in his kimono. The scene reminded him of when Kita was huddled in the corner of the hut when they first truly met. Broken again. He sighed and pulled her closer as she began to shake all over. He did his best to comfort her. She raised a hand and gently outlined the claw marks she left on his arm. She turned in his arms, eyes suddenly wide, and raised her hand to also outline the marks on his cheek, then broke down into a chorus of "I'm sorry" and "please don't leave".

"Everything's fine now, I'm not going to leave." She continued to mutter unknown pleas into his chest for the better half of an hour before exhaustion finally settled down on her, as she fell into a deep, restless sleep. He sat with her for another solid hour. Holding her, rubbing behind her ears, kissing her forehead, anything to will away bad dreams. Then he shifted her in his arms as he stood to his feet and started following Kagome's trail. He found the group in a small field a couple of miles from the castle. Youkai, hanyou, and humans bustled around the grounds carrying blankets, food, water, and other supplies. Some were helping erect shelters for the injured, old, and young.

"Makoto, we're here!" Kagome was waving from a small lean-to on the other side of the field. "How is she?" she asked as Makoto laid Kita next to the sleeping Mehiji and Gina.

"I don't know." He replied. There was a short pause. "Can you watch her? I'm going to see what I can do to help." He stood and left, not even catching Kagome's nod. He set to work chopping down bamboo stalks and setting them up in the ground and helping hoist weaved branches on top for roofs. As he lifted a particularly heavy bamboo frame for the back wall, half the weight was suddenly lifted. Makoto looked to his right. Shippou had the other end. His face was straight, sober, and he gave a small nod. Makoto nodded back, and they both lifted the frame together.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

InuYasha grunted as he made his way back to the main tent to greet his half-brother. He wasn't disappointed. Sesshomaru stood off to one side surrounded by some of the other leaders. Kouga, to InuYasha's disappointment, being one of them.

"InuYasha." Sesshomaru called, finally noticing the hanyou's presence.

"Another human group returned. Same as the others. Every village within distance around here is either completely destroyed or abandoned. Not so much as a rouge samurai to gather information from." InuYasha replied.

"There is still one more group. They should be arriving at any moment." Sesshomaru waved his hand and the group dispersed, with the exception of Kouga.

When all the others disappeared, InuYasha approached. "We need to start back to the west. Knowing Haru, he's trying to lead us as far away from the lands as possible."

"Shows what you know, Mutt-face. Haru was last seen heading to the southeast. There's no way a group that large could have gotten past all our scouts. I say we head out and follow them. The longer we delay, the more time they have to get things together."

InuYasha growled and looked to Sesshomaru for his thoughts. Sesshomaru looked from one to the other, considering each perspective with an impassive gaze. Before he could give the command, a middle aged human man pushed through the flap of the tent. He fell to his knees before he even made it past the entrance. Humans and youkai followed behind him, each with worried or curious eyes.

InuYasha was the first to the man's side. "What did you see?" he demanded.

The man was taking deep, raspy breaths. "They…they're everywhere!" He banged his fist to the ground and clinched his teeth. "We were headed to the villages to the west. They were all empty. But…but… they showed up just as we were heading back. The others were killed. I was able to light smoke-bombs and get away."

"Keh. If you got away, it means they're not worried about their location being revealed. And that means they're planning on attacking us first."

"How far?" Sesshomaru was by InuYasha's side.

"Not far. They will be here within the hour, if that is their wish. At least a thousand head strong."

InuYasha turned and mumbled incoherent words under his breath. Kouga grit his teeth and tightened his hands into white-knuckled fists.

"Get everyone ready to move." Sesshomaru spoke up.

"What's your plan?" InuYasha asked.

"The only alternative is to meet Haru head on. This Sesshomaru will not be 'snuck' up on."

The man had already left the tent and he along with the others that were hovering just outside the tent were busy spreading the word around the small camp. InuYasha and Kouga turned to each other and smirked. It was the first time they both had the thought of a good fight in their heads, without it involving each other.

A/N:

Just wanna know, at the beginning of the chapter how many reviewers were like "Omg… SHE'S EVIL!"

Lol. Just for a bit of personal enjoyment.

I know this chappie is a bit short, sorry about that, but the "BIG" battle is coming up in the next chapter or two. Thanks for hanging in there with me, the journey is almost over!