Hello this is up faster than my last chapter and I got a lot more reviews this time which made me quite happy, I couldn't stop smiling.

So thanks to all those who added me to alerts and favorites and as always my special thanks to my reviewers:

xXAngel AlliXx : Thanks a lot for reviewing I hope this next chapter is worth the wait.

ScareletEyezInfinit : I'm glad it's got you addicted, in the best way possible I've actually spent a lot of time to make sure that it was a pretty good story and that you wouldn't be able to figure out who Itoe-sama is. I almost slipped up a few times. Thanks a lot for the review and the add to favourites.

xxHeartless Girlxx :Thanks I thought it would be kind of funny to see that, or read it as it is

To the anonymous reviewer: I hope you like this next chapter.

Sessy and Kags: I felt bad for it probably taking a while to actually hook those two up so I added the last part of the chapter to make appease you.

princess of the western lands : I tried to update as fast as possible so I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Kirara314: I like almost killing off characters and making interesting twists in stories I'm glad you like it, I wouldn't have killed them off their pretty central to the rest of the plot, thanks for reviewing and I hope that you like the next chapter

rebeccareed90: Thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of the show but there are some names and characters that belong to me.

Chapter 8:

Sesshomaru allowed his control to fade once more as yet another sigh escaped his normally immobile lips. There had only been two other people who had managed to make him show even the slightest emotion, normally frustration. Inuyasha and Rin, and now the small kit he had foolishly adopted.

At least Inuyasha was already somewhat educated in the way demons were supposed to act, and from what he knew Shippo had little time around his parents and the only other demons he came in contact with were either just as corrupted with human ways or demons with uncontrolled blood lust. At the moment the kit was struggling to eat everything but noodles, and Sesshomaru was curious as to why.

"Kit I thought your mother provided for you and taught you proper manners?" Sesshomaru asked dreading to see this human try and eat properly.

"She did, but Inuyasha always wants noodles and if we eat meat its normally cooked on sticks over a fire. Kagome told me to eat with chopsticks but Inuyasha said that I'd never be in a situation that would call for it . . . she sat him for that."

So the human had more manners then his half-brother, which wasn't surprising if he hadn't changed much from when he lived in the palace. Sesshomaru turned away as the kit attempted to master the utensils deciding to contemplate what the kit meant by 'she sat him'. No answer was suitable considering he couldn't see the miko forcing his brother to the ground and sitting on him, and it wouldn't be that effective.

However he was too proud to ask what he meant by it and decided to wait until he saw the two interact. Seeing it would be better than experiencing it second hand, and he was a patient demon he could wait.

Yet another piece of meat slipped out of the kits grasp and landed in Sesshomaru's tea, he growled in frustration. He apparently wasn't that patient and the two children took the hint and raced out of the room to torture Jaken.

Tomorrow it would be better they would work on addressing Lords, Ladies, and those that were stronger than him. After that Sesshomaru would train him in fighting, and he might just find someone else to suffer the headache of table manners.

Once he had grasped onto what was left of his tattered sanity and patience he walked out of the dining hall and was bombarded with the scent of wolf. His nose crinkled slightly, the only indication of his dislike for the un-bathed smell both demons and humans, mostly humans, carried around with them. Without hesitation he veered in his course and headed to the front hall where his visitor would be waiting.

He walked in and waited patiently for the wolf to begin his report, the wolf took a few minutes in spilling the news first looking at Jaken and then to the general of Sesshomaru's army. Susuki was a slight female with a lot more power and ability then some of the male demons one could find in the area, she had trained with him since their hundredth year of birth. They often fought together and seemed as close as siblings, when they were younger and Inuyasha had been old enough the three were never seen apart. Unless of course they were planning something, then they were never around until it was too late to stop it.

Finally nervousness won over the demon once he discovered they weren't to be left alone, "I bring news of . . . your pack," Sesshomaru gave a small nod to tell the demon that he was listening and that he may continue, "The male is eating well, and the female woke the other day. She's still not very strong but it seems as if it is coming back milord."

Sesshomaru nodded and turned as emotionless as ever, nothing of the relief he felt could be seen just like his worry and insanity had gone unnoticed. Since he had left the clearing that day he had been driven mad by his inner beast to see how his 'pack' was fairing. He had refused and spent many long nights in torment as punishment, he had thought claiming the humans as pack would simply keep them out of danger and fulfill his duties as pack leader.

He was wrong and he often groaned mentally at the stupidity of his actions. His claim caused his more basic instincts to pack come out and he often found himself outside his castle before he stopped himself. He now was unable to rest if he didn't know how his pack was, even his avoided half-brother. His beast even had the nerve to urge him to take a mate, leaning towards the demon slayer as the best choice for she was alpha female of his pack. That was simply unacceptable, if he was going to mate it would most likely be for power since one such as him are often found unsuitable for love and he was sure he didn't want it anyways. So a female demon would only do, not a weak woman he had claimed as pack.

'Damned beast.' Sesshomaru thought to himself as he made his way to his library. Paper work always helped to distract him, and he was doing a lot of it lately. He had never needed a distraction before this and he had been more than happy to ignore Inuyasha and his pack for the majority of the year, mostly showing up to see if his brother had stopped being an idiot. The rest of his year was spent traveling around and avoiding his paper work.

He sat at his desk gracefully and picked up his quill, finally he glanced down to see what was on top of his pile of documents. There was only one piece of paper, a note from the 'Lord' of the wolf tribes. He only ever got messages from the demon about one thing, and it was the one thing that he was trying to avoid.

Dear Lord of the West:

It regrets me to send you this message, but unless you find a mate I will be forced to take over your lands. A ruler cannot go without a mate and if you fail to find one Prince Kouga will be the new Lord of the west. This is fair warning which I hope you take heed of; you have until the end of this week to find one and announce it at our gathering. If you do as requested the gathering will double as a mating ceremony.

Sincerely :

Matsu.

Sesshomaru growled and stood from his desk, this was obviously a ploy to take over his lands. It would now be void due to the bond Kouga had to him. One the demon lord was sure he was ignorant of and would be more than happy to educate him on. A feral smirk graced his lips and Sesshomaru turned to face the window that was behind him. In a flash he was gone heading first towards his pack, and then to see the grandfather of Kouga's intended.

He landed in the cave not long after he left his home and looked around the cave he spotted the monk and demon slayer and was relieved to see that Kouga's messenger was telling the truth, next he looked for Kouga.

"I sent someone with news," Kouga said and the demon lord nodded.

"I received it, this is about other matters," with that he tossed the letter. Kouga read it and growled, Sesshomaru inclined his head and turned away, "come."

Kouga followed after some commands to his pack and the two demons raced away, Kouga silently thankful that Sesshomaru hadn't just decided to kill him for the old man's scheme. One he had been unaware of and one he would never have agreed to with or without the bond to the western demon.

They traveled through the night and as the sun was breaking over the horizon they stopped not too far from what seemed like an impassable mountain face. Sesshomaru watched the other demon closely following his every move, constantly looking out for signs of betrayal. The mountain face started to move the moment Koga touched it, and Sesshomaru walked forward to examine the shifting illusion.

From out of nowhere a demon bounded out of the cave and tackled Kouga to the ground, Sesshomaru glanced over the female and watched the interaction deciding that his was Koga's intended. Then he turned away as his beast decided to speak up. He growled silently, one that matched Kuoga's as the woman refused to get off of him.

"We're here to see your grandfather," Kouga said and heaved the girl off of him, she sighed happily and smiled.

"You're here to finally claim me as your mate!"

"Not right now"

"But you promised!"

"Yeah that was before your grandfather decided he wanted to take over the west!" The girl finally realized Sesshomaru's presence, screamed and hid behind Kouga. Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow and Kouga just shrugged he'd never understand females, "Take us to him."

"No! He's just going to kill grandfather!"

"So might I. In present circumstances your grandfather has offended Sesshomaru and in using my name has disgraced my honor. Now bring us to the old bat or we'll go in by ourselves." Kouga growled and his apparent mate to be paled and nodded finally getting the hint that Kouga was more likely to kill them all in punishment rather than the cold demon that was with him.

The mountain was silent as if a whisper of death had robbed the on looking demons of all thought, one glare from Kouga and the whole mountain fell to their knees in respect for their future lord as well as his most feared companion.

Sesshomaru watched all carefully, especially the one who was leading them she seemed to be glancing in one particular direction. He sniffed the air and growled at Kouga, who sniffed too. In the air was a slight sent and used in the proper way could incapacitate dog demons, wolves were normally fine but dog demons would lose some of their demonic powers. In a way it was a demonic form of purification targeted to weaken even the strongest of dog demons.

Already it's effects were taking place and Sesshomaru felt, too late to do anything, a demon approaching with intent. He glanced at Kouga and saw nothing but horror on his face; he was in fact innocent of the note and current situation. Unfortunately bonds to a pack were normally stronger than bonds made out of debt, and this was a distant part of Kouga's pack.

.00

Kagome growled as she entered the laundry room, it didn't matter what time period or who you were in the past demons just did not like mikos. Even the harmless ones like her who could only call upon her powers subconsciously, and whose only other ability was sensing and deciphering auras. She wouldn't even be a danger if she wasn't bound into servitude, she wasn't trained in anything. Her bow skills weren't bad but not good enough to get her out of the trouble she's constantly in while in the past, and she was pretty sure that the only reason why she stood up to those much stronger than her was part of some suicidal wish.

Looking over most of the situations in the past it was obvious that things would have gone a lot better if she had just sat back and not angered any strong demons. She probably would have gone unnoticed by Sesshomaru as just another worthless human that traveled around with his brother.

'Maybe that's why Kikyo never seems to be in trouble, she never pisses demons off. She just purifies them.' Granted it was Kikyo's fault Sesshomaru wanted to kill them in the first place, she was the one that pinned Inuyasha to a tree. So except for the Sesshomaru incident, which is entirely Kikyo's fault, she pissed off every other powerful demon she came in contact with. Even the not so powerful ones like the ones working under Itoe-sama now, they were weak but they hated her.

"How's your first official day going?" Susuki asked with a wide smile, and Kagome growled something under her breath, "I didn't hear that."

"Horrible, so far every demon servant in here so far hates me and enjoys making me look like a fool. The things I'm doing aren't complicated and I've done them a thousand times before, but now everything that I touch just blows up. I haven't even been frustrated enough to blow them up!" with that being said Kagome's powers flared and cracked around her in anger and frustration, still the powers did not lash out.

Susuki noted that she still had quite a bit of control over her powers flaring out and attacking things; it was obvious that the girl was aware that her powers would go for the first and closest demon it could find, and blaming it for the distress she felt. She didn't want that to happen and was working to calm herself down.

"See she's dangerous. She's not trained and her powers are constantly out of control, which is how the sink, stove and fridge blew up," it was a female voice, one that was high pitched and nasally. Reminding Kagome of the really geeky stereotype she often saw on T.V.

"My powers aren't flaring out of control, my emotions are. Not to mention my powers don't attack inanimate objects, they attack demons because I'm a miko." Kagome growled turning her glare from the floor to the girl, Masami.

The girl ran as Kagome took a step forward, and once she was gone she crumbled to the floor. Working with demons was not what conventional Mikos did, yet she refused to mindlessly kill them. She couldn't work with them due to them not wanting to be around a human, and she couldn't kill them because she didn't really hate them. Except for Naraku, and maybe Masami she was annoying.

Itoe-sama took note of the girl on the floor, and glanced at Susuki before walking out of the room. Susuki followed stopping and kneeling down beside the distressed Miko before following the master of the house. Kagome collected herself and continued on with washing the clothes, it was silent and Kagome dreaded what the demon servants in the house were planning. Whatever it was it was probably the most humiliating thing yet.

Kagome walked down the hall silently aware of the several demons trailing her, but they did nothing just watched and waited. She eventually finished several `chores with little incident, the demons were still watching her and she had to fight back the nervousness and dread that was filling her with every moment of peace.

It was when she carrying plates down the hall from Itoe-sama's study when something finally happened. She felt a spike in the auras that were following her, and understood the feeling as glee which was her only warning before she felt her leg catch on string. Kagome fell without so much as a scream, but the crashing of the plates was loud enough to cover the sounds that she didn't make.

She felt stinging in her hands and knees and watched in a gross fascination as blood pooled in her palms from several small cuts. She then inspected the damage and spotted a pair of legs; she followed them and came face to face with her new master. She ducked her head and began an apology which was cut short by him.

"You really are a walking disaster area. No grace what so ever," Kagome felt her face flushing in anger at his words, she would have been fine except for the fact that the rest of his staff hated her but she couldn't tell him that. He wouldn't believe her if she did, "To avoid further . . . mishaps you'll train with me in the mornings and when your able to you'll continue your work during the nights. Night shifts are done by one person so if anything goes wrong it is entirely your fault."

Kagome nodded as if she had a choice the matter and stood as Itoe-sama left the hall, she sighed and looked at the mess. She glanced down and noticed her clothes tattered and bloody, she let a small gurgle of laughter escape she'd never thought that modern times would wreck her clothing. She looked up again and saw Susuki in front of her with a dust pan in her hand; she looked regretfully at Kagome before handing her the items and taking off.

She had started acting so oddly after Kagome had finished her training, they didn't talk and Susuki always seemed to carry around an apologetic air. She would sometimes help out like she just did, but she wouldn't stay around long enough to hear a thanks. Maybe it was her job to make everything awkward in an attempt to make her quit, but that was unlikely and wouldn't work anyway.

Kagome knelt down and started cleaning the broken dishes ignoring everything including the demon that watched her. Once finished Kagome broke out into a smile and walked down the hall to the kitchen happy to finally be done and at the moment being left alone. Walking back to her room she collapsed gracefully on the bed and sunk deeply into sleep.

In what seemed like the next instant she was being woken up by a gentle hand, groggily she opened her eyes and saw Susuki standing over her. It was so different from the last time that Susuki woke her up, yet another sign of Susuki's more reserved feelings toward her. Kagome sat up and rubbed her eyes, not really expecting Susuki to mention why she was being woken up.

"Training with Itoe-sama in five minutes, hurry."

Kagome nodded and forced her legs off of the bed, she quickly dressed in something that would be easy to move in and followed Susuki out of the room to a dojo where Itoe-sama was waiting. They bowed and Susuki left them, Kagome eyed her employer who stared back emotionless and bored.

"No training today. Today we test your abilities," Itoe-sama said and lunged at her Kagome moved to the side his claws scraping her side slightly.

Unsure as to what to do Kagome backed up slowly focused on the demon in front of her, she had faced demons before none of them with the same power level and she barely escaped them. She wasn't about to delude herself into thinking that she had a chance against this demon. He was testing her, playing with her.

He turned toward her and attacked with more speed, Kagome couldn't even see him and before she knew it she was flying across the room. Her arm smashed into the wall, she wasn't sure if she had heard her bones crunching first or felt them. She bit down on her lip to avoid screaming in her agony, tears streaked down her face as her head lightened with the over whelming pain that was coursing through her. She heard growling and she looked up, he was waiting as if he thought she had more in her.

She stood shakily and licked her bleeding lip; she leaned against the wall and breathed heavily. He wasn't done with her and she had no intention of making it easy for him. She stood and got into a defensive position the best she could with a broken arm, which lay useless by her side.

Unknown to her was that the demon in front of her was surprised at her actions, he had growled thinking he had hurt her too much. Then she stood and got ready for more, most humans would have stopped at the shattered arm. It was even more of a surprise when she attacked tears re-staining her face with each movement.

Her powers were raising coming to her aid without her call, he noticed the diming of her eyes as she lost herself in instinct. She was sloppy, but she managed to land some decent hits while he was still too surprised to move. He attacked back slicing at her with his claws, but she ignored them biting into her skin and continued forward.

It was a few hours later when the battle finished. Kagome was on the ground unconscious supporting more injuries then Inuyasha ever took in a collective of three battles. Along with her broken arm her other shoulder was dislocated. Her back was bleeding soaking the floor and the rest of her clothing, she supported other cuts along her body.

Itoe-sama looked down regretfully hoping that the girl would actually survive this first battle she had a lot of potential. If she was actually trained he doubted even Sesshomaru would be able to stand up to her, after this training would be easier. He knew what he had to focus on and what could be greatly approved on, in a year she would be the best fighter known in the past and present.

He called for his healer and some servants, and then left the dojo to find Sesshomaru who seemed angry, which might be a result of the blood in the air. He wasn't looking forward to this meeting and might end up with more injuries then the burns that were trying to heal, without much effect.

"WHAT?" His bellow was louder than the first that had woken Kagome, but she didn't wake this time. She was unconscious trying to speed up the healing process, and it was unlikely she would wake up to anything before a week.

Sesshomaru broke through the door and glared at Susuki who was re-applying Kagome's bandages; she stood and bowed respectfully before uttering an apology and leaving. He growled loudly as he looked over the miko, he had never seen her that injured not even after Naraku. He walked forward and kneeled beside her, running his hand over her hair and forehead watching his claws carefully.

"Miko," he muttered under his breath before leaning down and kissing the side of her mouth.

There you have it I hope you enjoyed it now I'm off to work on the nineth chapter, thank you all for reading.

Until next time. :D