Inuyasha couldn't believe what he had been told… Kagome was… dead? Punching the ground, the half-demon didn't know what he could do… he didn't know what he should do… how could he cope with the news of his love… his mate being dead? It just wasn't possible unless what Shippou says to be true, the only way to save Kagome is to stop Naraku in this time-line.

It was the only way to save his mate…

Running a hand through his hair, Inuyasha looked over at the two teens, the girl and the boy that almost looked like Miroku… strange. Tilting his head to the side, Inuyasha calmly asked "so, who are you two?" He had a feeling that the boy was from Kagome's era, since he seemed a little too neat and cleaned up to be from this time.

"I'm Takai, I'm Inu's best friend. I've known him since we were twelve." Calmly said Takai, Inuyasha just nodded, least his son had a friend as a child unlike him. But the girl, he knew that she was one of the daughters that were looking after the scroll that he was sealed in… but he just didn't remember if she was the original watcher or not. It was a little confusing since all the girls looked alike with very few different colouring.

Staring at her, Inuyasha calmly asked "are you one of the protectors of the painting?"

The girl looked up at Inuyasha only to look away nodding. "I am. My sisters were, till they were killed. I ran to find the son of the legendary hanyou, which turned out to be your son." Inuyasha nodded, he had a feeling that the girl felt… like she was useless maybe… He had seen that a few times with Kagome on their travels. But, she did find his son, which couldn't have been an easy job.

"So… tell me… have you found the Shikon Jewel?" asked Inuyasha as he looked around the group, wondering if they had even a slight idea of its location. Though, he had a feeling that they didn't… it is best, that they find out on their own instead of him telling them… for if he said its location, there could be a chance that Naraku will hear them…

"No… we only know that it is in the heart of a kind hearted demon. But we haven't been able to find any at all…" sighed Takai, it was easy to tell that he was a little upset about not finding the jewel… He must want to save Kagome as much as his son and himself…

"Why do you want to find the jewel Takai?"

"I want Inu to be happy. As a kid, Inu was always angry at the world for being different, for being great at things he couldn't explain… the only thing that made him happy was his mom. Inu did everything to protect her… even when people came to the house to ask her out on a date, he always slammed the door in their face saying that 'she wasn't interested'. Even though Inu never knew his father or why his mom never dated… he knew that Kagome was still in love with you."

"So in other words, you just want to help a friend."

"Yup."

"You don't want to have a certain girl?"

"I would like a girl yes, but I want to find that girl on my own."

Inuyasha felt a little better know, during those fifteen years… Inu protected Kagome in his own way… Who would have thought… and, to think that a descendent of Miroku would try to get a girl on his own instead of using mystic powers, it was kinda funny if he thought about it.

Shaking his head, Inuyasha turned and stared at Shippou to ask him if Inu had acted strange or anything, like he had a sudden burst of energy.

"Yeah, he was able to transform into a dog, sort of like Sesshoumaru… His sword must be powerful for him to do that." Said the fox demon with a wide grin, though it made Inuyasha think for a moment… how was Inu able to transform… was it the sword? Maybe…

Looking at the sky, Inuyasha thought that maybe he was just over thinking something; he was still very weak from being freed of his seal. It was best that they all went to sleep tonight… and try to stop Naraku in the morning… It was for the best.

The sun was shining brightly, the young hanyou wasn't sure how long he had slept for, but what he did know was that it was time to wake up. Yawning, Inu slowly pushed himself out of… his sleeping bag? When did he fall asleep in this? Shaking his head, Inu sat up a little shakily but stood on his own two feet. He wasn't sure why he felt so weak…

Rubbing his forehead, the young teen started to walk toward the forest, though he had turned his head back and stared at everyone. Takai was sleeping in his own sleeping back with his arms behind his back… that was sorta normal for him from what he remembered the one time they went camping one year in junior high…

Next to him was Shippou who was sleeping on his side, his head propped up by his head. His pointed ears looked like they would twitch now and again, which seemed a little weird since he didn't have ears like his…

Turning his gaze, Inu stared at Hana; she was sleeping on her back with a soft and peaceful expression on her face. Inu blushed softly when he saw her… to him; she has never looked so beautiful. Damn it why couldn't he explain these feelings deep within his heart? Why did he have to be a chicken when it came to him liking a girl? Sure, girls were always fawning over him; he would always give them the cold shoulder… but Hana…

She was so different from girls in his time…

Hana laughed around him, she asked if he was okay… she tried to save him from the forest before his soul shattered… she had even given him something to stop the darkness within his heart and… Damn it why couldn't he admit it to himself that… that he…

Inu could only sigh; he just couldn't admit it… He knew the truth, but the young man just couldn't bring himself to say it to himself… He felt weird just thinking about it, maybe it was because with the way his life had went for him, that it made it impossible for him to just accept it? Maybe there just wasn't a point in trying to accept it… when the time was right; maybe he could tell Hana the truth… about what he feels for her.

Moving his gaze past Hana, he stared at someone that was the mirror image of himself… Inu saw him once, and that was before he had passed out the first time… It was his father… the only real difference was that unlike his father, Inu had two black stripes from the tips of his ears, going down his head and stopping just at the tips of the strands of silvery white hair.

His father was sitting up, his legs crossed, his arms wrapped out his sword and his back hunched a bit, as if he was trying to shield his sword from the dangers of the outside world. Which was a little weird if Inu thought about it… shaking his head the young man thought that maybe he should try to find the Shikon himself, after all, it was his idea to look for it, he didn't want them to get hurt… Now, he can go and finish his mission himself… it was the only way to repent for what he had done.

Shaking his head, the young man started to walk away; there was no point in dragging them into his own problems.

Taking a deep breath Inu started to walk away, there was no way that he was going to let them get hurt cause of him… He just couldn't take the risk. Running a hand through his hair, Inu started to walk around, trying to think of a way to defeat Naraku… to get the Shikon and make sure that no one could get harmed cause of it again, and that everyone in the future would be safe again.

His defeat was the only thing that would save everyone… and make sure that the future was bright for everyone.

Though, as he walked, Inu wondered where he was to start… he didn't know any demons with a kind heart… he didn't know how to track Naraku… hell, he couldn't track at all to begin with. Sure, he had met Naraku once before but there wasn't a trace of it right now… plus, unlike people from this time, Inu didn't know how to track.

Maybe leaving on his own wasn't such a great idea after all. But he knew that he would have to keep going to save everyone from his time, those dear to him and his family… even the ones that didn't care for him at all, no, one deserved to go through that…

Taking a deep breath, Inu looked up at the sky, remembering the times when he was a kid. He was maybe five years old the last time he looked up at the sky with such a peace…

Young Inu had run out of his class, he didn't want to stay there anymore. People made fun of him cause of his silver hair and gold eyes. Thinking that he was a short old man, and that was something that really got him going… Standing in front of an old oak tree, Inu wondered where he had run off too…

It was all a blur to him… sometimes, the young five year old forgets just how fast he could really run. Sniffling, he looked down at his hands with hate and fear. He always wondered why he was different from them… why he wasn't like them… why he wasn't like other children his age. Just why wasn't he normal like them?

Angry, Inu slashed at the tree, causing splinters to go flying… he felt nothing… just the anger of being different from everyone else. It just wasn't fair at all…

Looking up at the tree, Inu frowned, wondering why he had just attacked a tree… just because he was angry? Frowning a little more… the young boy sat down under, feeling his ager seep out of him only to be replaced by an all-consuming fear of attacking anyone again if he had lost control over his anger… 'Would I attack mommy?' thought the young boy, thinking that he would attack his mother if he had lost control over his anger.

Sniffling, the young boy felt the tears building behind his eyes… No matter what he thought, the fear of attacking his mom, his uncle, his grandma and his great-grandfather… it made him scared of himself…

"Inuyasha, there you are sweetie…"

Looking up, Inu blinked back his tears when he saw his mother's smiling face… the smile that he knew was fake most of the time from an unknown sadness but knew… that she was relieved to have found him… Sniffling, Inu scooted back thinking that he would lose control and attack her… the thought of his mother losing that smile only for it to be replaced by fear… it made him wince at the thought.

"Inuyasha why are you backing away from me?" asked his mother as she walked over to him and knelt down in front of the sniffling boy. Inu just looked up at his mother, not sure what to say to her… that he was afraid of what he was? That he was mad at people for making fun of him for being different? What could a five year old even have told his mother?

"Mommy… why am I different?"

Kagome just stared at her son, blinking as if trying to think of the words that would make sense… Only for her own tears to build up and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a small hug. "It is because you are very special Inuyasha… You have the blood of your mommy and daddy, you… you are just very special honey…"

Inu didn't understand… what did having the blood of his mom and dad make him special?

"Mommy… I attacked a tree…"

"Cause you were angry?" asked Kagome as she pulled away, her soft and gentle smile still in place as she stared at her son. Inu nodded softly, laying his head over his mother's heart… his ears twitched under his hat, the one thing that he knew that he should never remove when he was out in public… not because his mother was ashamed… but because his mother wanted to keep him safe… That was the one thing, that even the young boy could understand the reasoning for hiding his… puppy ears.

"They were making fun of me… because I was different from them. I don't like being different mommy…" said the young boy, looking like he was about to cry again…

Kagome smiled before removing his hat to rub his ears. Inu looked up at his mother, wondering why she was rubbing his ears outside… she normally never does that unless they were at the family shrine, and even then that was rare, it was strange that she was rubbing his ears though it was also soothing.

"Inu, one day you'll understand that you will do great things. I'm sure that you will do something that even I can't do… you are a bit like your daddy, and one day… you'll understand why you have these gifts…"

Inu didn't think that he would understand the gifts that he's been given… They were nothing to him and couldn't do anything but hurt people that were around him… just look at that tree… if he could do that to a tree, what makes him or anyone think that he could protect anyone… he, was only someone that would bring destruction to anyone that was near him…

'Can I really protect people? Instead of hurt them? I… I'll keep mommy safe… mommy will be the only one I protect…'

Thinking about that now… it made him think that maybe his first thoughts about him were true… he was nothing but a being that brought destruction to those he held dear to him. Sighing softly, Inu kept walking, hoping to find any kind of clue to the kind hearted demon.

Sighing softly, the young man just kept on going, walking through the forest, the young man looked at his side, thankful that he had his sword… though; he didn't remember grabbing it… Shaking his head, Inu figured that maybe the sword always returns to his master? He wasn't sure at the moment. Looking up at edge of the forest, the young man couldn't believe what he smelt…

"Mom?"

Shaking his head, the young man ran forward in a blur of red and silver. There was no way that it could be his mother… she was dead wasn't she? But… at the moment he didn't care, Inu had to see her again. He just had to see his mom and see that she was alive. Running faster, the young hanyou had a feeling that was tugging in the back of his mind… he wasn't sure what it was or why he was having it… but at the moment, he just didn't care.

Once he burst out of the trees, the young man blinked at what he was seeing… standing in a meadow of flowers was his mother… she was wearing the clothes he and his grandmother bought her for her birthday last year… err… well, last year in his time.

"Mom… is that you?"

Turning around, the tall woman with long raven hair, chocolate brown eyes smiled at her son. Inu couldn't believe his eyes… His mom was… there's no way that she could be but… Smiling, Inu had tears building up in his eyes as he said "mom, you're alive!"

She smiled as she said "my baby! I've missed you Inu…" Inu didn't know what to do… tears built behind his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his mother… enjoying the warmth of her embrace… Inu didn't know how she came back to life but at the moment, he didn't care… all that mattered to him was that she was alive and with him right now.

But… for some reason Inu had this voice in his head, yelling at him that something was wrong… that this wasn't his mother; that this was an imposter… that there was no way that his mother could have been brought back to life… that there was no way that she would have been able to get to the well to travel back in time with all the danger going around in the future… And finally… there was no way that she would have known where he was…

That just wasn't possible at all…

Pulling back, Inu noticed that his mother was about to dig her nails into his chest. Yelping, he pulled back slashing at her face and gasped. Staring at her face, Inu saw that there wasn't a face at all anymore! But how is that possible! Shaking his head, Inu just stared at his mother with wide eyes… no, it wasn't his mother; this was a beast, a monster pretending to be his mother.

"Who the fuck are you?" shouted Inu, flexing his claws as if preparing for another attack. The fake just stared at him, her head had three claw-like marks on her faceless head… she didn't speak, she only made her way toward Inu. There was no way that he was going to let her win at all…

The fake just stared at Inu or… least what he figured was looking at him since she didn't have eyes… wait how the hell could she see in the first place? Shaking his head, Inu saw that the woman charged at him, her nails turning into claws. Narrowing his eyes, Inu prepared himself for a battle. Raising both of his hands in a defensive position, his left hand pulled back, the tips of his fingers bent where his claws were pointing outward. The same with his right hand, but it was held outward away from his face.

Growling, Inu just stared at the creature that had pretended to be his mother. This monster had the nerve to be his mom! This bitch was going down! The monster charged at Inu, all the young hanyou did was stand there. Narrowing his eyes into slits as he prepared for the attack. But, what had bothered him, no, what had confused him was why her hands were aiming for his chest.

Hissing in pain, Inu growled and slashed at the woman's head once more. Slicing it clean off… that was way too easy right now… Gasping in pain, Inu looked down and saw that his chest was bleeding a bit… damn, that thing had sharp nails.

Shaking his head, the young man was about to walk away until he heard footsteps. Blinking, he turned around and saw his father walking over to him.

"Dad, why are you here?" asked Inu, still holding his slightly wounded chest. It didn't hurt as bad anymore, but it still stung badly… Shaking his head, Inu walked over to his father saying "dad, what's going on? I… I just fought something that looked like mom and… and I had to kill it…"

Inuyasha looked over at the 'fake' Kagome; Inu wasn't sure why his father was just staring at the fake… it didn't make any kind of sense at all… least not at the moment. Shaking his head, the young man tried to get his father's attention, wanting to ask why he followed him. Though, when Inuyasha looked at Inu, the young man noticed something… his father's eyes seemed darker… almost… red?

Suddenly, Inu felt a burning pain surging through his left shoulder. Screaming in pain, the young man was lifted off of the ground by the strange attachment. No, his arm looked like a strange tree blanches! Struggling, Inu groaned in pain… trying to break free, he was screaming at Inuyasha, wondering what was going on. "Dad are you insane?"

Inuyasha just laughed like a mad man, his image melting away as it slowly turned into a man with long brown hair, and purple robes… Naraku…

"The Shikon Jewel had hidden itself well… It said, 'in the heart of a kind hearted demon'. But, what it should have said was 'in the heart, of a kind hearted hanyou, with sacred blood'." Said Naraku with a smirk, though what Naraku had said didn't make sense… he had only been told about a kind hearted demon, what did… wait…

"It… it was…"

Naraku only smirked, his other hand stretching and reaching toward Inu's chest… His blooded hand was limp at his side, he didn't understand… but, there was no way that it could have been… But just like that, Naraku's hand went through his chest, Inu screamed out bloody murder as he felt the blood dripping down his shirt, staining it crimson.

"Son!" shouted Inuyasha as he, Takai, Hana, Shippou and Kirara burst through the forest. Naraku laughed as he pulled out what he had been searching for all this time… The Shikon no Tama… the jewel of four souls was now his at last! Naraku threw Inu toward the crowd that was coming toward them, and moved a few feet away.

Inuyasha caught his son and held him in his arms. Inu's skin was pale; his expression twisted with pain… blood was seeping through the holes in his chest and shoulder. "Inu, you… you're going to be okay, just hold on alright?"

"It hurts…" He whispered, Inuyasha nodded and placed his son on the grass, placing his own robe underneath him to give him some comfort. Staring at the two teens, he told them to stay with Inu while he and Shippou went to attack Naraku.

Inu took deep gasping breaths; it was getting hard for him to breathe… it felt like his lungs were on fire… damn why did his chest feel warm and sticky? Was it because of his blood doing that?

"Dude, you're going to be okay… just hold on Inu…" whispered Takai, his eyes filling with tears… Inu knew that this wasn't going to be good for him… he had a damn hole in his chest for crying out loud… Weakly staring at his best friend, Inu tried to say something, but no words were coming out for him at all.

Hana stared at him with tears in her own beautiful eyes… her… her shinning blue eyes that he had fallen in love with. Yeah… he guessed that since he was dying… that he was starting to admit everything… Coughing and hissing in pain, Inu tiredly looked at Hana and gave her a small smile. Lifting his good arm, he reached into his robe and pulled out a necklace that he made years ago…

It wasn't much… it was a crystal star made of blue sapphire… he had hoped… to give it to someone that he loved deeply… Down side, it was while he was slowly fading away… "Hana… I… want you to have this…" He whispered; Hana gently took the necklace from his hand, sobbing softly… All Inu could do was smile softly at her, his once sparkling eyes were slowly starting to fade… Turning over to Takai, Inu just smiled at his best friend whispering "Takai, you were and will always be my best friend. My only wish is that you… look after Hana."

Taking a deep breath, Inu tried to think of what he should say… His mind was fading, and fading quickly. He had to tell her quick before he couldn't speak anymore… Even as he was thinking, Inu could feel his wounded heart slowly beating to a stop. Coughing a bit, the young hanyou whispered "Hana… make sure… that Takai doesn't hit on anyone… Takai, make sure… Hana is looked after properly…"

Laughing a bit, Inu stared at Hana, giving her a soft and gentle smile as he whispered "Hana… I… I love you so much… Don't… don't ever… forget me…" With that, Inu closed his eyes, his head falling over to the side, his silvery bangs covering his eyes…

The only sound that echoed through the meadow was the sound of Hana's cries of Inu's name… for the man that she loved, was dead.