A/N: So this is my first fanfiction on Inuyasha. I have been working on this for several weeks now and have decided to post the first Chapter online to see if it strikes any interest. I am rating this MA because I have intensions for graphic content in the future. I currently have only done 10 Chapters but i'm still revising them constantly and changing them. I hope this is something that could intrigue some people. I do apologize as updates may not be all too frequent. I like to be mostly happy before I post as I have made mistakes in the past by not doing this so even though I have multiple chapters written, I want to make sure it's all fitting well enough before posting a new chapter. So if you're interested in this and want to follow the story, I ask for your patience. Also, comments, friendly critique and suggestions are more than welcome! I would love to hear your thoughts! X

Also, I'm not great with titles so the story title thus far is just to get it online lol. I had not yet established a title yet.

Now, to get on with it. XD Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. The characters and some memories are the work of Rumiko Takahashi.

XX

Chapter One

Naraku loomed high above Inuyasha and Kagome. Although the form was a mere demon puppet, it was just about a perfect replica of its master. The demonic aura was lesser in strength than if it had truly been Naraku in front of them, but nevertheless it was still incredibly potent. Thick tendrils of stolen demon flesh, sporadically attacked from multiple directions. Kagome was standing back on the edge of the small clearing trying to stay out of reach, with her bow at the ready, and an arrow notched in place. Inuyasha was leaping and bounding all over the field, slicing multiple tendrils only for more to grow back in a perfect imitation of a hydra. For almost every tendril Inuyasha would slice through, at least two more would replace it. Naraku's maniacal laughter echoed through the field as his long onyx locks wisped wildly in the wind. His red eyes resembling the fires of hell glared down at his enemies.

Something in Kagome stirred and she felt her stomach knot as her instincts whispered warnings. Something was not right.

It was just the two of them and they were a fair distance from the village that they had ventured from. This would mean that Sango and Miroku would not have been able to sense the demonic aura from that distance. It was almost like Naraku had waited in the shadows for the pair to be alone to attack. It was a calculated move and although all Naraku's tactics were strategized expertly, there was something seemingly more sinister in this attack.

Inuyasha dodged and jumped striking tendrils whilst chuckling with his usual confidence. For a dog demon he seemed to lack the deeper instinct that told him all was not as it seemed. Either that or he just chose to ignore said instincts. His long silver tresses flicked around him unceremoniously as he continued to strike Tetsusiega offensively, littering the ground generously with severed limbs.

"Be careful, Inuyasha!" she called out to him.

"Heh." He scoffed. "Just a pathetic puppet. Too afraid to face me personally Naraku?" he baited toward Naraku.

Naraku merely responded with a devilish snicker as his velvet hues narrowed in and watched humorously. He had no distinctive pupil but there was knowledge and certainty behind his stare that made and icy chill crawl vigorously up Kagome's spine. He watched on as if he had already won. His stares telling of a deeper agenda that Inuyasha was readily and foolishly purchasing.

Something glided with a spiritual elegance in the corner of Kagome's eyes. She flicked her eyes to the interruption and gasped quietly. The all too familiar soul collectors elegantly glided through the air and the eel like insects glowed incorporeally. Kikyo.

Kagome's heart suddenly doubled in weight.

"So kind of you to join us, Kikyo." Naraku sneered like he was a school yard bully baiting his victim as the young Miko strode into view. Her expression was as solemn as it normally was and her mahogany orbs met red.

Inuyasha hesitated as his bare feet returned gently back to the earth's floor despite the height he'd leapt from. He was a brash person but he tended to land like a feather on the wind. His golden eyes gaped open as they located his first love and a fierce protectiveness seared heatedly through his veins as he whispered her name.

Kikyo paid no attention to Inuyasha or her successor Kagome as she stared intently and dangerously into her enemy's cold and amused gaze.

Kagome could do nothing but watch the scene play out before her. She looked to Inuyasha as his eyes beckoned for Kikyo to acknowledge him. To look back into his begging eyes. She didn't.

Kagome's heart tripped in her chest with a pang as the familiar ache surfaced at seeing the way he looked at her. It pained her but the ache was not entirely for herself, but for him as well. It pained her to see the confliction and agony in his own heart. The despair of a tragic love story reflected in his auric irises.

It was like time slowed down when Kikyo emerged. Like the universe felt the need to emphasize her presence. A breeze scurried through the field and her habitual loosely tied low ponytail was wisped out in front of her gently, carrying fallen leaves around her figure in a Pocahontas-like manner. There was a deafening silence radiating the field for a few moments. Those few moments stretching out into the depths of the universe.

Kikyo drew her bow and notched an arrow, her expression never changing. In the silence you could almost hear the stretch of the string as she pulled back tightly. Naraku's gentle sinister giggle, although was quiet, broke the silence in the field. Several tendrils shot outward with immaculate speed, reaching around the figure and collecting her in a vice like grip. Kikyo's arms were pinned to her sides as the life was attempting to be crushed out of her. Or least whatever life could be crushed from a dead girl.

In one swift movement the tendril launched the dead Priestess back towards the outlying forest with such force she was thrown yards away.

"KIKYO!" Inuyasha screamed after her. His face twisted into ferocious determination and his fangs bared as his animalistic instincts of protection kicked in. Inspired to put an end to this pointless battle expeditiously, he turned towards the puppet, savagely swinging Tetsusiega with such force and expelling a powerful wind scar. Naraku exploded into pieces of demon flesh and was reverted back into a simple wooden peg that split in two, signalling the defeat and ending the connection with the real Naraku who was safely in hiding.

Inuyasha turned on his heel in the direction Kikyo was thrown and ran after her, leaping from the clearing.

He didn't even look back at Kagome. She stood watching from where she stood as Inuyasha turned away from her. Silently she reached her arm toward him, as though that would stop him.

"Inu…yasha…" she whispered to herself.

She was struggling to breathe. Her body began to heave, trying to expel her stomach contents. An agony in her abdomen flared up and she wanted to cry out in pain, but nothing escaped. She tried to gasp for breath and when none came she began to panic which only proved to encourage her stomach to heave again. She felt herself choking. Her eyes wide as she tried to understand why she couldn't breathe. Inuyasha tranced off after Kikyo frequently. Yes, it had always hurt, but not quite like this. She had never been rendered breathless. She could feel the blood rush out of her face. Blood… she recognised the metallic taste in her mouth, but where was it coming from?

Heave. Agony. Heave.

She tried to call out but her body betrayed her. Something was blocking her airways.

Heave. Agony.

What was hurting so much in her stomach? Why did she feel so cold suddenly? She felt so drained of blood and breath. So…wet?

Kagome directed her attention to her abdomen. If she could locate air, she would have gasped in shock.

There, protruding from her stomach, was one of Naraku's tendrils. Blood was running out from the edges of the limb like a slow running waterfall encasing a rock. So that's where all the blood was going. It was abandoning her. Just like Inuyasha. She glanced towards where he'd run off, hoping to see him coming to her aid. He wasn't there. She tried to find breath from somewhere to try and call out for him but none came. Her arms had dropped down and encased themselves over the wound as if to hold herself together. As if holding her body would cease the pain and the bleeding. The blood soaked into her sleeves and the smell of rusty metal assaulted her nose. There was so much that even her insensitive human nose fell ill to the intense smell. It pooled in her mouth and she realized she was going to choke on her own blood. Her knees quivered weakly beneath her tiny frame and she was unable to hold herself up any longer, allowing herself to collapse on her knees to the dirt beneath her. Salty tears leaked from her eyes as she still watched the direction Inuyasha had gone in even as her vision began to blur. She struggled to hold on. If only for a few more moments, then Inuyasha would return and help her.

Darkness…Blur…Darkness…Blur…

She fell sideways, her head connecting heavily with the ground and unconsciousness grasped her tightly. It swirled around her like a vortex and engulfed her, swallowing her whole.

Darkness won.

…

There was blood thick on the air. Not only blood, but Naraku's scent. In the blink of an eye, the tall demon Lord entered the clearing. Long silver hair stretched down his back over his white kimono and black armour, his mokomoko that adorned his shoulder barely touched the ground at his feet. Golden orbs analysed the display before him. He could smell his brother's scent. If he were the type, but of course he wasn't, he would roll his eyes. He spotted the little wooden peg that meant it was just a mere demon puppet.

"Lord Sesshomaru, wait for me!" Jaken came scampering into the field chasing his master, never far behind. Sesshomaru ignored him. The little green kappa stopped at Sesshomaru's feet and followed his master's gaze.

"Ah!" he gasped. "What is this?" his yellow eyes widened as he observed the gory mess.

"It would seem my little brother was here. Always leaving such mess in his wake." He drooled with his usual nonchalance as he turned to exit the clearing. He stopped a moment, smelling something familiar. His nose followed the heavy scent of blood and found its source. It was Inuyasha's human. She was splayed out on the ground in a pool of her own blood and part of a tendril protruding from her gut. Her eyes were open but empty. Void of any life.

"It would seem Inuyasha's human did not survive." He said disinterestedly. Ah-un landed by him with a small Rin on his back.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" the small bubbly eight year old beamed. Her bright smile faded as her chocolate hues settled upon the dead girl on the floor in recognition.

"Oh no. That's Kagome. She was nice to me and looked after me." She added sadly, a tear making its way gently down her fair human cheek.

Sesshomaru did not respond. He just eyed the girl at the ground.

"Hn." was all Sesshomaru had to say on the matter. He began to walk away, when –

Pulse.

Tenseiga?

There was an almost desperate pulse at his hip. He looked down to the sword at his waist trying to communicate to him. It was willing him to use it.

"I do not understand."he expressed out loud toward the sword.

Why would he use it on the half-breeds wench? What purpose would it be to revive her? Why would Tenseiga wish him to save this human girl? He stared from Tenseiga to the dead priestess curiously. What reason would the Tenseiga have to want him to save this Miko from the netherworld?

"What is it Milord?" Jaken asked.

"Tenseiga wishes me to revive this human." He enlightened whilst staring at the dead, bloodied body of Kagome.

"What?" Jaken squawked, pointed mouth agape.

"Oh Sesshomaru! She was ever so good to me." Rin chimed in, obviously preferable towards that option. Her bright, innocent smile had returned as she stared at Sesshomaru with pure adoration.

"Hn." He walked over to her lifeless body and hovered above her, staring into her empty dark irises. The once blue colour had turned into a navy, verging on black.

Why wasn't his half-breed brother here anyway? He had done everything to protect her in the past, so why wasn't he here protecting her now? He sniffed the air. Without having been present during the battle he knew the events based on the scents. His gaze followed the scents from where they had initially entered the clearing, for which he could tell because it was slightly more faded. He followed as the scents grew stronger and he could almost see his brother leaping around the field. The Miko had stood where she now laid dead. Then the smell of bones, clay and graveyard soil entered.

Ah…

He understood. The dead priestess. The one who had sealed the hanyou to a tree fifty years ago. She had been, sniff, thrown from the clearing. Inuyasha bounded after her, leaving this Miko vulnerable.

Foolish mutt. Why should he have to be burdened with the responsibility of remedying the consequences of the half-breed's negligence?

Tenseiga pulsed harder and more persistently at his waist. Urging him, beckoning its wielder to unsheathe the blade and cut down the adversaries of the netherworld. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at the sword, as if hoping to receive an explanation for its ridiculous request and demanding its silence. He could ignore the blade at his waist. He could keep walking and let the Miko rot away in the soil. He could proceed in his own endeavours and never think of the girl again.

Pulse.

Sesshomaru placed his clawed hand to the handle. His blue markings glinting in the slowly fading sunlight.

"You're going to save her?" Jaken screeched in complete shock, jaw agape and his scrawny green arms hanging expressively at his sides. As if the demonstration would snap his Lord back to reason.

Sesshomaru ignored the Kappa as he unsheathed Tenseiga and before him appeared the impish messengers of death that were vigorously chaining the girl's soul, preparing her to be dragged into the depths of the netherworld. With a quick flick of the blade, he sliced through the minions that had surrounded her, the chains shimmering into non-existence. The tendril that had impaled her abdomen was expelled from her gut and the wound sealed over. There was a deep gasping of air and life filled her cerulean eyes that moments ago held nothing within them. Her pale fair skin was regaining colour as her blood warmed.

Sesshomaru sheathed Tenseiga.

Kagome sat up and squinted. Her vision was returning and the darkness that so strongly held her began to dissipate. Her arms automatically went straight to her stomach and her eyes began to focus. She looked up and blue eyes met fierce gold. However, not the gold eyes that she had expected. No, the gold eyes in front of her did not hold fear or concern. They did not show relief for her well-being. They did not show love or friendship. Instead, they were cold and careless and something else that Kagome couldn't discern.

They were not Inuyasha's...they were Sesshomaru's. Her breath hitched and her heart skipped a beat before it accelerated.

She looked down at her abdomen, remembering her wound. There was a gaping tear in her shirt and the revealed flesh beneath was unblemished and unharmed. There was no scar and no evidence that she had previously been impaled.

Kagome's eyes had found their way back to the cold yellow ones still looming over her, eyeing her as if she were alien. As though his gaze intended to pierce her flesh to reveal something that he could not see.

Something clicked in Kagome's head. Like a puzzle she hadn't realized she was piecing together until they connected dramatically into place. She had died.She could remember darkness and then an icy chill. She remembered the spiral as the crashing waves of death rolled over her and pulled her under.

That meant...if she was here now...and he standing in front of her...that he…

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She stared up at the fearsome Daiyoukai in bewilderment and uncertainty.

"Close your mouth, Miko." Sesshomaru ordered casually, his voice his customary dissolution. She did as she was told, but then opened it again to speak.

"Thank –." she started, at least not wanting to show a lack of appreciation.

"Silence." His gaze still hadn't left her crumpled form. His features blank like a fresh canvas.

Yep. He was still a jerk. Regardless, she waited quietly for him to speak. She didn't mind. It gave her a few private moments to organize her thoughts. She needed the time to collect herself. She needed a moment to process the realization that she had died. Inuyasha had left her…and she died. She felt her heart break and her throat tighten. She swallowed hard in the hopes it would swallow the pain crawling up in her chest. She fought back tears as her eyes began to ache.

How could this have happened? She felt like her world was crumbling, her mind was scattered and she was unable to settle her mind on a single thought out of the many that currently plagued her. She could not concentrate on one particular thing and suddenly her head felt like it was splitting into copious pieces and threatened to implode. She cringed at the headache as it threatened to break her. As it promised to constrict her. Was she having a breakdown? In front of Inuyasha's brother?

Crap! Why is he still standing there?

Sesshomaru still stood statuesque in front of her. Like some godly creature descended from the heavens to inspect the inhabitants of earth to study them. But Kagome knew he was no creature of the heavens. Kagome knew he was a force to be reckoned with.

Sesshomaru was lost in his own intense cognition. Despite the fact that his honey orbs were locked on the human girl at his feet, his gaze was staring straight through her. Why did Tenseiga want her restored?He attempted to percolate his thoughts to find meaning to the swords desires and his hasty whims to accede them. He desired answers. He craved knowledge and understanding. Not because he cared, but because this was now the second time the sword had urged him to restore a human life and now it bid his occasional insatiable curiosity to surface and bubble beneath his ironclad skin.

"You may follow." He told her flatly with surprisingly little deliberation. He heard Jaken's usual gasp and garble, and wanted to kick the little green Kappa. He refrained and instead chose to walk forth in his original direction silently.

If she followed, then she followed. If she didn't, then so be it. He didn't care either way but there would be a higher probability of deciphering the mystery that was Tenseiga if she were around. Well, she could at least care for Rin better than Jaken could. Jaken, despite being as old as he was, was still childish himself, and lacked the appropriate insight in caring for a human child. As did Sesshomaru. Perhaps she could prove to be pragmatic yet. Besides, if the predicament grew tedious beyond his tolerance, he could simply dispose of her.

Jaken was scrambling after his Lord with a squawk whilst Rin had remained behind, sitting atop Ah-Un, and gazing down at Kagome with a warm and bright smile. Her smile was like sunshine showering over a stretching field of green for as far you could see with wild flowers blanketing the surface. So warm and so comforting. Kagome couldn't help but to melt like butter before her.

Kagome looked in the direction that the Inu-youkai had walked, then looked to the direction Inuyasha had run off. Her heart punched her ribs, warning her that it could not yet endure the inevitable turmoil that seeing him would surely bring. Her eyes drifted back to the still beaming Rin and she smiled back. She didn't know what compelled her, and she didn't know where the path ahead would carry her, but she found herself trailing in Sesshomaru's direction. Walking blindly toward the most powerful demon she had come across since falling into this era. The demon that had tried to kill her.

The demon that had just returned her life.