A/N: Thank you so much to Euphie-chan and KissaBoony for their reviews on chapter 7, it helps to motivate me into writing more. Thank you! =) I promise that I will try and incorporate more romantic scenes between Inuyasha and Kagome as the story progresses, once I have come further along with this plot idea. =P =D After all this is an InuyashaXKagome fic. ;) Thank you also to anyone who has added this story or it's author to their lists, you will not believe how much moral support that gives me. =)

And now... on with the chapter! ;D

Timeless

Chapter 8 - Starting on another Journey

"I am going!" Sango raged at Miroku.

"But Sango... you're five months pregnant! You can't possibly think that you'll be safe or okay while we're trying to find Naraku again!" Miroku looked just as angry as she did.

"I can still fight!" Sango glared at Miroku with angry sparks in her eyes.

"I never said that you can't fight! I'm just worried that he'll see you as an easy target and try to kill you!" Miroku bellowed back, starting to sound desperate.

"I won't die!"

"You will if you come! Have you ever thought that we might take longer than a few months to find him? What if the baby comes while we're confronting him? What then?"

Sango winced at the anger and logic in his words. It all made sense, it truly did. But she couldn't stay here while her friends and Miroku were travelling around, looking for Naraku. And she still felt hatred towards Naraku. The bastard had destroyed her village after all.

"You can't stop me. I'm going Miroku." Sango said quietly, hoping that it might affect him more. She was going. And that was final.

"I know." Miroku looked resigned. "But that doesn't stop me from trying to keep you safe by hoping to convince you to stay here."

"He killed my family. I won't stay here while knowing that my new family could be the ones who he's killing next." Sango said quietly, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Drat these hormones." She quickly wiped away the coming tears.

Suddenly she found herself in a tight embrace. Miroku held her close to him and rested his chin on her head. After a few seconds of trying to keep up a tough front to make her appear more determinate in her cause, she lost. Wrapping her arms around him she hid her head in his chest and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Fighting with him hurt her just as much as it hurt him but she wouldn't budge on this issue.

"Whenever we are presented with danger you will leave on Kirara instantly. I don't care if it's nothing more than a lizard or weasel demon. You will instantly go to safety. Okay?" He looked down at her, his violet eyes reverberating in concern.

She nodded weakly, happy that he was letting her come along. He had probably figured that if he left her here then she would simply come after them or Naraku on their own. And that was even more dangerous to her and their unborn child.

"Just don't try to pull of any strange stunts or go on ahead on your own. Please promise me that Sango." His plea came from the bottom of his heart.

"I promise Miroku." Sango looked up at him, stray tear rolling down her face as she smiled softly. He lifted his hand up to wipe it away. She reached up with her own and when their hands met their fingers laced together, falling back down to their sides. He bent his head down and their noses touched. They remained in that position, the simple act giving them both the comfort and reassurance that they needed.

~.~.~.~.~

"I wonder how much longer they're gonna take." Kagome looked at the entrance to Kaede's hut, the interest and curiosity clear in her eyes.

Inuyasha snorted. He could smell Sango's salty tears and he had heard their whole conversation. Oh how much he wished to not be able to hear them at times like this. He looked over at Kagome and wondered how she would have reacted had she been in Sango's position. He shook his head in annoyance. Why was he even thinking of such things?

At that precise moment Sango and Miroku decided to come out of the hut. Strangely Shippo was nowhere to be found. Maybe he had run off somewhere to deal with the news of Naraku being back. Hopefully he hadn't run too far away. Inuyasha was in no mood to go and look for him at the moment.

"I'm coming." Sango smiled a watery smile at Kagome who ran forward immediately, hugging her best friend close to her. She somehow knew that it had been hard for both Sango and Miroku to make this decision. Somehow Kagome always knew when people needed to be comforted. It was after all her big heart that they had to thank for getting them all together in one group. Inuyasha doubted that he and the others would have met and then formed a group as they had without Kagome present. She was truly a miracle in person.

He nodded shortly at Miroku and his friend grimaced, understanding that Inuyasha had heard it all. At his peeved expression Inuyasha smirked.

"Don't worry, sometimes I don't want to hear it either." Inuyasha grinned a devious smile at his friend. Realising the implications of that statement Miroku blushed bright red and spluttered a bit- Inyasha chuckled at his friend's embarrassment. It was way too much fun to annoy Miroku to not do it.

"I wonder where Shippo is." Sango looked around herself, still hugging Kagome as tightly as the young miko was hugging her.

"Waaaaah!" Shippo came running out of the forest, another demon hot on his tail. Kirara was behind that demon, chasing it down with her fangs bared. Inuyasha immediately drew his sword. But before anything else could happen, the demon spied Inuyasha and the others and turned tail, running away at full speed, barely even managing to avoid Kirara's snapping fangs.

"I wonder what that was all about..." Kagome trailed off, looking after the demon in confusion.

"Who knows... maybe it got lost?" Sango queried. The others sweat dropped. Yeah, like a demon would actually simply get lost... and chase a kitsune while being chased by a nekomata... Yeah right.

"Well now that you are all here, ye can all go off and find Naraku." Kaede looked at them expectantly.

"You don't beat around the bush, do you Kaede?" Miroku asked, just slightly nervous.

"She's too old to do so." Inuyasha muttered.

"Sit boy!" Kagome's voice rang clear as she stalked off with Sango down the well-worn road that they had travelled so many times.

"Why...?" Inuyasha groaned as he begun to get back up.

"You never learn my friend, do you?" Miroku mockingly patted Inuyasha on the head, happy to get his friend back for the previous statement he had left off. Inuyasha growled dangerously, not happy to be treated like a dog.

"Come on, let's go. Lest we lose our beautiful maidens." Miroku grinned, back to his old self almost instantly. Admittedly, he had missed their days on the road. He had been so used to always travelling, having done so since being but a boy.

"Keh." Inuyasha crossed his arms as he marched off. Shippo grinned as he hopped onto Miroku's shoulder.

"Bye Kaede!" Shippo waved back at the aging miko and she waved back, her kind eyes hiding the turmoil and worry that were deep inside of her. Inuyasha and the others also raised their hands in farewell before vanishing over the hill.

"But why was that demon chasing you?" Miroku turned to Shippo, Inuyasha was still too annoyed to say anything without being insulting. Wisely he kept his mouth shut.

"I don't know." Shippo chewed on one of his many provisions. Kami knew where he got all of them from. "I was just getting some berries when this demon jumped out and saw me. He then froze as if he wasn't sure what to do. I was really surprised too. Then he just mumbled something about me being a kitsune and then he attacked me for no reason at all!" Shippo looked extremely indignant.

"Most demons don't have a reason to attack or to not attack." Inuyasha stated. They had caught up to Kagome and Sango by this time. Inuyasha didn't meet Kagome's eyes and decided to ignore her glare. It was hilarious nearly, watching how his ears were bent back against his head.

"It's still strange." Sango muttered, lost deep in thought.

"Maybe he knew who Shippo was and wanted to prevent him from coming back to us and telling that he had spotted him." The others looked at Kagome in confusion. "Come on now, think about it like this. Naraku's apparently back, right?" The others nodded. "Which means that someone has to have helped him get back. After purifying him I doubt that he could have come back on his own."

"That's true..." Miroku trailed off. "And since the ones who we are presuming are helping him know us to be his enemies they might think that we are still trying to anhilate any of his former demons or supporters."

"And that could have been one such demon. Or an outlook of sorts. They don't want us to know what they are doing and they don't want us to know where Naraku might be. Or what they're planning to do for that matter." Sango looked slightly excited now.

"Inuyasha, could you maybe try and pick up that demon's scent? You never know, he might lead us where we need to go." Miroku turned to his friend.

"Keh. It's worth a try." Inuyasha held his nose in the air, attempting to filter out the pungent stench of that demon from all the others. He knew that it would take some time.

"Didn't Lady Taishou say something about an abandoned village?" Kagome spoke to the other two while Inuyasha tried to concentrate on finding the scent.

"I only know of one village that is abandoned and is almost certain to be left alone." Miroku looked sadly at Sango.

"I hope those bastards aren't where I think they are otherwise-" Sango was cut off by Miroku.

"You will fly off on Kirara as soon as possible." He stood firm against the death-glare that she was sending in his direction.

"It's a start." Inuyasha said. The others turned to him. "If the demon's are near the slayer's village then it'll be easier to find the one that ran away. And if they are there then we can take care of them immediately." He cracked his knuckles. Shippo shivered.

"Come on. Let's go then." Kagome let off a weary sigh as they went down the road that forked left at the crossing, not wanting to think about what lay ahead of them.

~.~.~.~.~

"Naraku, we will have to leave this place soon. Your former enemies have discovered your existance. You are now in grave danger here. You are no longer safe." Midoriko looked up at the man that she had come to serve under. Hisashi may be complaining all he wanted, but Naraku struck true fear within the hearts of the demons around him, they served him without a second thought.

"Why run? If they come then we can eliminate them immediately. I have no wish to run or hide from them as I did in my past life." As always, a look of contempt crossed his features as he remembered his past life. He seemed to enjoy his current life far more.

"Very well my lord." Midoriko bowed and quietly left the chamber which the demons had drilled into the walls of the caves around them. Within the short span of the past two weeks since Naraku had awoken, the demons had managed to create an intricate and complex tunnel system throughout these caves, making it near to impossible for anyone but those who lived there to find their way around it. She could see why Naraku wished to remain, here they were safer than they would ever be somewhere else. The tunnel systems gave them the advantage should someone attack and the demons all felt reassured in their appearingly superior position.

She walked through the tunnels to one of the many entrances to the tunnels and slipped outside. She may be serving these bastards right now but she knew that she would eventually leave them and strike out on her own once again. She had always despised demons, she didn't know why she still remained. Maybe because she had nowhere else to go. Maybe because this darkness in her heart seemed to be growing more and more each day. She truly didn't know.

She sucked in a breath of clean air and attempted to clear her head. Once more the image of the young girl flew to her mind unbidden. Why wasn't she able to get her out of her mind? Why were those large trusting eyes of hers unsettling? Midoriko shook her head in agitation. She had never been one to believe in fate. But something was holding her here. Something was making her think that she had a bigger part to play than just be the servant of some conceited half-demon.

"Stay safe!" The small girl walked away smiling. "See you soon!" She laughed as she hurried along, calling the names of her loved ones. But since when did you call your loved ones 'Lady'? She couldn't remember ever having even felt that girl's prescence near the village as she had travelled through the area numerous times before. Who was she really? Why was she here? And why had that girl helped her and, in essence, saved her from those demons?

Her vibrant green eyes jumped and danced in happiness as she ran off, turning to face Midoriko one last time. She waved and then vanished behind the hills. "Good-bye miko-sama!"

Midoriko needed to get rid of that girl's image. She needed to exterminate some demons to calm her racing nerves. Giving a quick note to a passing demon to give to Naraku and Hisashi she set out, intent on killing and ridding the earth of at least some demons before returning to their nest.

~.~.~.~.~

"Waaah!" The customary shouts filled the air as Kohaku shook his head in resignment and trudged on through the drizzle. They had left his sister's village a few days ago and he and Jaken and Ah-Un had become accustomed to shouts that would echo around ever few hours or so.

Yukari got up with an extremely miffed expression. "Ten metres!" She ranted at Sesshomaru, who was currently attempting to get up without losing any more of his already completely drained dignity. "Ten freakin' metres! What is so hard to understand about that?" She was flaring up again and the others just moved on ahead, not wanting to get involved in the constant spat that the two of them had.

To be honest, it was absolutely hilarious to watch Sesshomaru and Yukari fly across the place every few hours because they forgot the restrictions brought about by the cursed amulet. Not that any of them would admit it though. Sesshomaru and Yukari were both extremely proud people who refused to give in to the other in any fashion or manner.

Kohaku sighed once more. Even Jaken had given up on lecturing Yukari, fearing a permanent head injury should he continue to try and explain to her how one should treat Sesshomaru. Hopefully they would find Naraku soon. Or even any kind of demons. Any kind of fight might relieve the constantly building tension between the two blockheads behind them.

~.~.~.~.~

"I wonder if they'll be okay." Ayumi stared out across the large fields that stretched out below her, Kaede at her side. She had stayed in the village while the others had set out to find this 'Naraku' person. Kaede had done her best at trying to explain to the confused young woman what the history between Naraku and the group were and Ayumi had come to fear greatly for Kagome's safety.

"Do not worry my child. They will be okay." Kaede smiled reassuringly at the young woman beside her. The others had left a few days prior and Kaede knew that they might be gone for months on end. But she had come to trust them all, knowing that if anyone stood a chance against that monster Naraku then it was them.

"Are you sure?" Ayumi looked at Kaede in doubt. She had only been in the feudal era for barely a week but she had already figured that it was much more dangerous here than it was in her own time. It still hurt her but she knew that she couldn't return.

"If it is anyone, it will be them." Kaede looked into the same direction that Ayumi was. The young woman wore a borrowed kimono from down in the village. Kaede wasn't sure what to do with her yet, she had so far proven that she wasn't fit to be a priestess. And they already had Kagome to fill that position once she returned. "Come on, let us find ye something to do." Taking Ayumi's quivering hand she led her back down to the village, knowing that worrying and fretting would not help the young woman at all.