CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Inuyasha

Two hours had gone by and I was beyond impatient. Kagome was treated first, having the least amount of injuries. She came outside every once in a while to give us updates on Sakura and Ayame. Since they were demons their bodies would heal mostly on their own. The sword gash in Sakura's stomach would take a little longer.

"Ayame is going to be alright. The doctor is going to give Sakura stitches."

"Stitches? What are those?" I asked.

"It's when you get your skin sewn back together. When the slit in your skin heals, the thread will fall off." Kagome explained.

"Do they practice that in your time?" Sango asked, still dressed in her slayer outfit.

"Yeah, among many other things. I'm surprised that Dr. Gensu and his assistant are even skilled in it."

I crossed my arms. "Whatever it does, it better help Sakura get better faster."

"Inuyasha, don't be so tense." Kagome said. "I heard that there's a hot spring not too far from here. Why don't you guys go check it out and I'll prepare some ramen for when you return? Maybe then Dr. Gensu will be finished."

I wanted to stay but the look in her eyes said that I didn't have a choice. I didn't want to relax until I saw with my own eyes that Sakura was really okay.

Soaking in the hot spring Kagome heard about did do me some justice. It relaxed my muscles and gave me new-found strength. When Miroku and Koga returned to the village, I took that time alone to wash the mud and blood out of my clothes in a river nearby. I walked back to the village wearing only the towel Kagome provided me with. I asked someone to dry my clothes and told them I would send for them soon.

"Oh, Inuyasha, you're back." Kagome looked at me then blushed, turning her face away.

"Uh, where are your clothes?" Miroku questioned.

"I washed the blood and stuff out of them and someone's hanging them to dry for me." I explained, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Inuyasha?" Ayame waked out of the doctors hut wearing her present day clothes and a black thing Kagome once told me was a jacket. She opened her mouth to speak but decided against it, shaking her head.

"How do you feel?" I asked, concerned about her.

"Besides this aching headache, my scars have already healed, so I'm okay." She gave a weak smile. "I could go for a soak to relax my muscles, though." She stretched her neck from left to right.

"Same here," Sango spoke up.

"Here, Inuyasha. Your ramen," Kagome held out the ninja food to me.

I shook my head and tried to peek inside of the doctor's hut. Ayame jumped back in front of me. "Wait! She might not be dressed yet. Let me go check." She went inside and I heard her and the old woman's muffled voices. Three more minutes and Ayame came back outside. "She's all yours."

I rushed inside and stopped as the old woman stood with her arms crossed, blocking my way to Sakura. "You got something to say to me, you old bat?"

She looked offended. "No funny business!" She looked me up and down and jumped up to flick my nose. I growled loudly at her back as she exited the hut.

"I managed to close her wound from both sides. It's up to her demon body to heal the rest of the way." Dr. Genu said while wiping his bloody hands on a wet cloth.

I nodded absently and sat cross-legged on the floor beside the futon Sakura was on, folding my towel down the middle. She was all bandaged up at her torso, breasts and her hands. A blanket lay over her lower half but still showed a lot of her legs. This time, looking at her body didn't make my body temperature hot like it did when I was alone in the forest with her. I was actually enraged looking at the state she was in. Naraku had done this to her. He had caused her all of this trouble and pain.

I slowly reached up to touch her bandaged right hand and immediately felt heat rise from them. I wrapped my fingers up under her palm and grazed my thumb against her bare skin. I felt this crazy attraction to her already. It hasn't been long but I really liked her. She was interesting, she was strong and she was sweet at heart. She was definitely different. Way different than what I was used to. But I didn't mind. I really enjoyed her company.

I can't say how long I had been sitting beside her, holding her hand. Kagome came inside twice telling me that I needed to eat but I refused each time. I was glad when I sensed no one outside of the hut. I knew it was getting late so they all probably went to bed. Except for Ayame. I knew she was around here somewhere waiting for the moment her sister opened her eyes, just as I was.

My ears perked up as insane heat started to come from Sakura's hand, but I still held on, watching to see what was happening. Her hands gave off a faint golden glow and all of the scratches Akira inflicted on her started to disappear. When they were all gone, the glow from her hands faded and her fingers slowly wrapped around mine. She was waking up.

"Sakura?"

Her ears turned outward, the right one facing me as it processed my voice. Her eyes opened and she turned her head to face me. "Inuyasha," She smiled.

I smiled too, glad that she was finally awake. I looked into her big red eyes. They were beautiful and sad. I couldn't even imagine how she felt after today's battle and I didn't dare ask…at least not right now.

"Inuyasha…" her pouty lips stared at me.

"Yeah?"

"Why…why are you naked?" She pulled her brows together and tried to hold in a laugh.

My face turned fire red. I forgot I was sitting there in only a towel. "Uh, w-well, I could ask you the same thing." I said back, releasing her hand, thinking of something to save me from embarrassment.

"I was sleeping, I wouldn't know for sure. But you have no excuses." She shot back at me with her eyes now narrowed.

Just then, the flap to the hut opened and Ayame walked in with my clothes and some ninja food. "I believe these belong to you."

I took my clothes from her and went outside to change in the nearest tree and headed right back in the hut. Ayame had just helped Sakura put on a peach shirt which was a short dress on her and tied a black obi carefully around her waist. Sakura sighed from relief and leaned back against the nearest wall.

"Does it hurt?" I asked her, still standing.

"Yeah, a little. But it's just a scratch." She said with a soft voice, waving it off.

I chuckled and sat beside Tetsusaiga on the wall adjacent to the sisters. She sounded like me. "You don't think you would need to go to the present for treatment, would you?"

Sakura shook her head. "And have to explain why there's a sword gash going through my stomach? No, thanks. I'll heal completely in a couple days."

"So, I guess you wanna eat now." Ayame passed some ninja food to me and Sakura.

"Yeah! I'm starving." I didn't hesitate to start digging in.

"I bet." She turned to Sakura who was also eating like she hadn't had anything in ages. "He didn't eat the whole time you were sleeping."

"At all?

"Nope. He refused Kagome's offer about three times."

I groaned. "Do you have to tell her all of that?"

Ayame laughed. "Yes, I do. It's my job."

"Get a new job!"

"I feel so special, Inuyasha." Sakura's voice was starting to sound as vibrant as usual.

"Yeah, well, enough with the mushy stuff. You're alright now and that's all that matters. Everyone is okay." I finished up my food and waited for Sakura so I could take her empty cup. "Get some rest, both of you." I instructed, getting ready to leave them alone for the night.

"Yes, Master Inuyasha." They both cooed, snickering afterwards. I sweat-dropped but didn't turn to look back at them.

Ayame

Neither I nor Sakura could sleep that night. It wasn't coming to us so easily so I decided to accompany her to the hot springs so she could bathe.

"You just got stitched up. Are you sure you wanna do that?" I was skeptical of her soaking after the doctor had just patched her up. Her wound was still pretty fresh if you ask me. "And your bandages…"

"Stop worrying so much, sis. I'll be okay as soon as I'm relaxing in the water."

When we reached the springs, Sakura undressed and unwrapped all of her bandages and slowly dipped herself into the water. I had my back turned but heard her hiss and I figured that was when the water touched where her stitches were.

"Damn. I didn't expect it to feel like this."

"Is it safe for me to face you now?"

"Yeah."

I turned to look at her with dark green eyes and sat on a rock, rolling my jeans up and dipping my feet into the water. "You okay?"

Sakura nodded with her eyes closed and her hair tied up, sinking lower into the water and blowing bubbles.

"How did you feel about what happened earlier?" I finally asked, playing with my fingers and slowly kicking my feet in the water. Now was the perfect time to talk about the fight we had.

Sakura's big red eyes opened and looked to the moon. She pushed up some to where the water was just above her collar bone and leaned back on a rock behind her, getting comfortable.

"I don't know, really. It was…crazy."

"Yeah…" I tapped my fingers on my legs and watched as I made small waves appear in the water. "I can't help but think about why Naraku would do something as low as put us up against our own parents."

"Me either…But, it won't matter in the end anyway because we will destroy him and avenge their deaths."

"That's another thing- do you think those were their real bodies?" I continued to make waves in the water.

Sakura sighed. "I'm not sure. I pray that they weren't, but you know never to put anything past him."

We were silent for a moment and I stopped making waves when the cuff of my jeans started to get a little wet.

"I was thinking, though," Sakura started. I looked in her direction and she was still staring up at the moon. "We should go home and see what it looks like. It's been years.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Are you even up for that?" The real question was, was I up for it? I knew Sakura would never suggest doing something if she wasn't going to go through with it herself.

"Yeah, I mean, why not? We might find some of our family. And…if mom and dad's bodies are still there by some miracle, we could bury them properly so they can finally be at peace."

She did have a point. Since that night Naraku attacked our castle and we left, the thought of going back hadn't even crossed my mind. Until just then, I'm not even sure why it didn't. I hoped that there were survivors in our family and they buried my parents. If not, Sakura and I would put their remains to rest.

"Hey, Ayame…" Sakura's curious voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"Hm?"

She looked away from the sky then down to the small ripples of the water created by my foot movement.

"I was trying to reach you when I was fighting mom's puppet towards the end, but she had me so tied up."

"It's okay, I get it. I knew she was a handful. Puppet Shinobu was too." I laughed a little along with her because of the name I gave our not-dad.

"Well, I want you to know that I was watching you. At one point, you looked so petrified when you looked at him. It scared me. What did you see?"

I stopped moving my feet and looked at her for a brief moment. She looked so worried. "It was Naraku…He showed me something through that puppet's eyes."

"What was it?"

"He…He showed me that night. He showed me how it ended. How he killed mom and dad." My voice cracked and I wrapped my arms around my waist to seek comfort since Sakura wasn't in a position to hug me.

"What?" She asked, her voice soft and full of disbelief.

"It was terrible." I cried. "He had- he,"

"No." I looked at my sister who was now crying too, shaking her head. "You don't have to explain." She turned her back on me and stood, the water coming to her lower back. Her skin was slowly starting to heal itself of the remaining bruises she had left. Her stitches ran up the middle of her back and it made my skin crawl. Looking at her wound made me grab at my stomach, somehow feeling the amount of pain she probably felt when the transformed fist shot through her, turning into a sword.

I looked away as she stepped out of the water to dry off and get dressed. She came around to the side of the spring where I was and hugged me like there was no tomorrow. I swung my feet around so I would be facing her and hugged her back just as tight as she sobbed into my jacket. I welcomed her salt water tears with some of my own and held onto my sister for as long as she wanted me to.

We slid down to sit in the grass and didn't let go of each other.

"Dad's spirit was with me when I decided that we should fight back." She choked out.

"What do you mean?"

"My okurimono pulsed right before I punched puppet Shinobu."

I sighed, not really knowing what to say but silently thanked my father for still watching over us and giving us strength when we needed it.

When I stopped crying I waited a while before deciding we should head back to the village. Sakura had been pretty quiet and I noticed her uneven breathing. She was starting to fall asleep.

"Sis, let's go back so we can get some rest." I woke her up and stood to slip my sandals on. She did the same and grabbed her bag and we both headed back to the village.

"Let's go home tomorrow?" Sakura leaned into me while she walked.

I threw an arm around her shoulder and rested my head on hers. There was no need to put off the task any longer, so I agreed. "Sure thing."