I want to start out by saying thanks to my second reviewer Kaihaku No Iroke. Thank you so much for reviewing. Again to everyone, do not be afraid to say anything in your reviews. I want to know your opinions so that I can become better. Ok for this chapter we're finally coming back to the present. I can guess that a lot of people who have looked at this story so far have seen all the strange names and positions and stopped reading. Well, now everything is going to start to come together and make sense about why I did that. Review.

Chapter VIII

THE SUN SETS IN THE WEST

'I hope he's alright,' the young miko thought as she pushed aside plants while looking around frantically. 'He seemed really upset.' Kagome was surprised at how strongly Inuyasha had reacted to the message. 'I still can't believe that Inuyasha had another brother and didn't even tell us,' she thought with disbelief. 'He didn't even confide in me,' that thought was a little more painful.

After searching the forest for about half an hour Kagome decided to go see if Inuyasha had gone back to the god tree. When the ancient tree appeared in front of her a minute or so latter she wasn't surprised to find Inuyasha there, but she was relieved. 'I wonder what he's thinking about,' she thought as she studied him from a good distance. His face was turned away but she could tell that he was really concentrating.

She hesitated for a moment before shouting ", Inuyasha!" He reacted quickly enough as he spun around to face her, but that was all he did that was normal. He didn't say anything like "What now wench?" instead he was trying to disguise the raw emotion that was on display for anyone to see. 'What is he so upset about,' the miko thought as she stared at the hanyou.

Inuyasha twitched a claw and Kagome saw a reflection from whatever he was holding in his hands. "Inuyasha what's that?" she asked softly hoping not to anger or annoy him. He gaped for a moment before returning to normal and saying "Feh. None of your business wench." Kagome's eyes narrowed in annoyance as she said ", Sit." As Inuyasha struggled to rise the miko came over and picked up the rod.

She turned it over in her palms admiring the craftsmanship. "This looks like some kind of scepter." Inuyasha groaned as he said sarcastically ", You think." Kagome chose to let the comment slide and instead asked ", Where did it come from." Inuyasha stood up, dusted himself off, and said ", The Northern Lands." The girl's eyes widened as she asked ", Was it your brother's, Healo's? How did it get here?"

Inuyasha turned away and replied ", I don't see how this is any of your business." Kagome let out an irritated growl as she said ", You agreed that we'd go see him in the Western Lands so I think that we all should know." Inuyasha's ears flattened and Kagome took that as I sign that she had made a point that he could understand. The hanyou flicked his golden eyes to the rod and said calmly ", Yes it was Healo's. I'm not sure how it got here. It wasn't here when I was bound to the tree, but after you freed me I found it."

Kagome smiled and held the rod out to him, as he took it back she asked ", Do you think he left it here on purpose?" Inuyasha's eyes clouded as he answered ", That would be the kind of thing he would do." The miko asked with curiosity ", Do you mean that in a good way?" Inuyasha snapped out of his thoughts as he answered ", I never knew of anything with Healo that wasn't good." The miko accepted his answer with a nod and then decided to ask another question ", So why didn't you tell us about him before?"

Inuyasha's ears flattened and he looked down as he said ", Because I didn't want to talk about that part of my life. He took care of me after my mother died. I still am nowhere near living up to the legend around him." Kagome's eyes widened in surprise again as she said ", Did he disown you at first like Sesshomaru? Or what?"

Inuyasha looked back into the miko's eyes as he answered ", Sesshomaru didn't want anything to do with me or my mother because I was a hanyou who tainted his families name. If he had had his way my mother and I would be dead. Healo convinced Sesshomaru to let us go, and Sesshomaru listened because there was no way he could hold onto our father's land without Healo's help. Then about 20 years later Healo came to the village where my mother and I lived, he took us with him into his lands, and cared for us."

Kagome's eyes filled with pity as she said ", Your mother died while you were in the North. Is that why you left the North?" Inuyasha's eyes clouded again as he shook his mane and said ", No. I left for my own reasons." The girl heard the finality in his tone and decided that she had grilled him enough. 'He does look uncomfortable when talking about this sort of thing. I'll give him a break…for now,' she thought mischievously.

The hanyou turned wordlessly with the rod still in his hands and began to walk back towards the village. Kagome rushed forward and asked ", So how long will it take us to get there?" Inuyasha closed his eyes in though as he answered ", Will spend the rest of the day getting our supplies. Sesshomaru's palace is all the way on the coast. It'd take a human about five days to make the trip." Kagome stopped and said with a sigh ", Five days!" 'Uh…I can already feel the pain,' she thought dismally.

Inuyasha interrupted her thoughts ", But if I carry you and the others ride on Killala, it'll take…three days." Kagome gave a small frown as she thought ', It's still longer than I'd like, but at least I won't be walking the whole way.' They walked in an easy silence for the rest of the trip and when they got back to the village Inuyasha informed the others about their travel plans. The others took the news far better than Kagome did, and by the time they went to sleep everyone couldn't wait to leave.

As soon as the soon rose the group ate breakfast, said farewell to Kaede, and started off on their journey. After traveling for a few hours in relative silence Kagome got up the courage to begin questioning Inuyasha again. "Inuyasha?" she asked hesitatantly. The hanyou's response was neutral enough ", Ya." Kagome let out a breath and asked quietly so that the others wouldn't hear her ", Is Healo really your brother?" Inuyasha tensed slightly before answering ", He is to me."

The tone in his voice silenced the miko's next question for a few minutes before she tried again. "How old is he?" Inuyasha made an irritated noise before answering ", Two-hundred and seventy-seven." Kagome's eyes widened at the figure so Inuyasha said reassuringly ", It's not that bad. He looks like he's in his twenties." The miko gave a small nod ', So a demon about a year every decade.'

Kagome decided to try a more delicate question ", What's he look like?" Inuyasha's ears flattened as he asked ", Why do you need to know that? He already has a mate and besides you'll see him soon enough." The miko's eyes flashed as she shouted ", I didn't mean it like that you jerk!" The rest of the group turned to regard the two curiously as Inuyasha gave a muttered reply ", Whatever. It's not like I care."

The miko's anger melted away and was replaced with grief. 'No I suppose you don't. It's dumb of me to hope that someday you might.' Inuyasha seemed to realize that he had hurt her so he said nothing else about the subject for the rest of the day. Kagome noticed that Inuyasha had decided not to speak to her for a while and thought dismally ', This is gonna be a long trip.'

2 Days Later in the Western Palace

Healo's POV

Impatient was an understatement. The demon lord was struggling to find the patience to wait for Inuyasha and his small group to arrive in Ionin. Part of his anxiety was because he was worried about the possibility of Naraku learning that they were coming into the West. Even Naraku had reason to fear the power of the Western Lands, and if that power were combined with the jewel shards he might never get his hands on the completed jewel.

Of course that was not Healo's plan. Eventually Naraku might become powerful enough to destroy even the West. But, before anything could be done about the maniacal half-demon Healo felt that what jewel shards were still outside his control must be protected. Once that was done he could try to convince Sesshomaru and Inuyasha to help him.

It was unlikely that the group would face any problems coming to Ionin. Only about a day and a half before a scout had come to report that Inuyasha and his companions had crossed the Silvan River, the boundary of the "Old" Western Lands, without any problems. Almost hourly a scout would come and report to Healo the status of the small group. Only a few minutes earlier the last scout had come in and reported that they should arrive at the palace in less than half an hour.

So Healo had come here to watch for them. He was leaning over the ledge of the balcony leading off of the easternmost room in the whole palace, his own. Below him he could see the various humans and demons of the city going about their business, and far to the east he could even see the cities wall and eastern gate which stayed open during the day.

As a demon Healo could actually pick out individuals even from so great a distance. Fearing that he might miss them in the crowd, he allowed his mind to reach out through the palace and city to see if they had arrived yet. Only a great amount of mental control allowed him to do this. There were nearly a hundred-thousand people within that radius and only three of them knew how to block off there emotions. 'He isn't here yet,' the demon sighed as he allowed his probes to draw back.

"There is so much I have to say to him Sulam," the demon said reflectively as he stared out into the crowds. His young son stepped beside his father. The seventy-four year old demon spoke comfortingly ", Father, I am sure he'll understand why you did what you did." Healo turned to regard his son and said wistfully ", My son people are not always as good and kindhearted as you believe them to be. My actions caused the deaths of thousands not to mention that of the miko he loved and his own captivity to that tree for half a century."

Sulam shook his head as he replied ", You may have made the choice that began those events, but the result is not completely your responsibility. If what you tell me about him is true, then he will find a way to forgive you. Especially when he learns what you are planning to do to make everything right." Healo gave a small laugh and said ", My son you are displaying that refreshing optimism of yours again. Nothing will make everything that has happened right. What I can do is finish off Naraku." The demon lord's gaze became hard as he said ", It is long past time that he paid for his crimes. Against Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and I. His actions have caused his fate to become our family's affair."

Ok. So I hope you noticed that I tried to give more hints for what's going on in this chapter. At least you can now see one of the reasons why I called the story "A Family Affair", but you only know Inuyasha's reason for wanting to kill Naraku. As we go along I will reveal the other deeds that cause the whole family to want to destroy him. Review.