A Dragon's Fang, a Human's Heart

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

A human with the power of a demon. To many such an idea sounds ludicrous, does it not? Well he's here to prove them wrong. He will journey across time with the love of his life on his journey as he fights for friendship, for honor, for life, and above all, for love. Rewrite of the Rise of a Warrior: Inuyasha.

2. Overcoming Time

(Overcoming Time)

"When the ten Fangs of Ryuhogo reunite after thousands of years, the Dragon Guardian shall at last fulfill his destiny and rid this world of the Jewel that has caused so much suffering, and begin a new era for all."

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500 years in the past, a certain village in the Land of Musashi was in chaos for one reason and one reason only.

"IT'S INUYASHA, RUN!" the villagers were in a panic.

Sure enough, the half demon Inuyasha burst forth from within the woods and tore his way through every trap and weapon the villagers had in their arsenal as he burst into the shrine where his target was being housed, in the form of the Shikon Jewel "Perfect." he burst out of the shrine just as it went up in flames "Finally it's in my hands, what I need in order to become a full blooded demon at last! Now I can finally get what I always wanted, which didn't turn out to be companionship now did it Kikyo?!" he bolted past the Sacred Tree, when…

"INUYASHA!" that was when she arrived on the scene, her being the priestess Kikyo, blood pouring out of her wound, but with all of the strength that she was able to summon, she fired an arrow infused with her spiritual power, pinning Inuyasha to the Sacred Tree and causing the jewel to fall out of his grasp.

"Kikyo… How could… I thought…" that was all Inuyasha could utter before the arrow took effect, and his consciousness soon slipped away.

"And thus our story ends, Inuyasha…" with her strength fading fast, Kikyo dropped to her knees as blood poured from her wound continuously.

"Big sister!" that was when her younger sister Kaede rushed towards her with the rest of the villagers.

"I suppose… this is the price that I must pay… for allowing my emotions… to have control over my actions…" Kikyo slowly picked up the Shikon Jewel "And it was all because of this… the Sacred Jewel, which…"

"You're in pain sister, let someone help you!"

"No need Kaede, I won't feel it for much longer… and so I give this to you… you must be sure to burn the Shikon no Tama with my body… It must not fall… into the hands… of those who would abuse it…" and with that, Kikyo hit the ground with a loud thud as all life fled from her body.

"Sister Kikyo! SISTER KIKYO!"

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Despite the immense pain of loss that everyone was feeling, they carried out Kikyo's final wish and proceeded to burn her body, and the Shikon no Tama along with it.

"I shall take it with me into the next world, and I pray that such an act will prevent its power from being misused ever again."

Sadly, her wish would not be granted, but that is where our story begins.

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the future…

Kagome blinked "Wait a second, Shikon no Wha?"

"Shikon no Tama my girl." Grandpa Higurashi corrected her "The Jewel of Four Souls to be more exact."

"You don't actually think that tourists are gonna buy these stupid keychains do you?"

"Well that would depend." Tatsu gave a shrug "Do they have the same IQ as Arashi?"

"Probably."

"Then yeah I think you're good."

"That is not just a keychain." Grandpa Higurashi told them "Hanging on the end of it is a replica of an ancient jewel which-"

"Happen to make great cat toys." Tatsu pointed to where Kagome was just using the keychain to play around with her cat Buyo.

"...As I was saying, that crystal happens to be a replica of an ancient jewel which-" he was cut off by the cat screwing around with it "An ancient jewel which-"

"Oh hold on a second Grandpa." Kagome's eyes lit up "You do remember that it's my birthday tomorrow right?"

"And I give up, anyway I had planned to wait another day but-"

"So you did get something, hand it over!" so she opened it, and almost instantly her face fell in a comical fashion.

"That my dear is an authentic mummified hand of a water imp which-"

"Hey Buyo heads up." Kagome promptly tossed it to the cat.

"What are you- that's an antique!" and then the old guy started chasing after the cat to get the water imp hand

"Replica this, authentic that, here everything's got a story."

"Everything here is full of history!"

"I'm pretty sure you're the only one who's full of it."

"He's full of something but I'm pretty sure it's not it." Tatsu pointed out.

"Sure every mystical ancient thing lying around the house seems cool when you're a little kid but it just loses its luster after awhile."

"Yeah I know what you mean but he's not entirely wrong, you never know what sort of mystical stuff is lying in wait down the road." Tatsu glanced out the window 'Yeah, all sorts of crazy stuff just lying in wait, whether it be mystical or otherwise. It's been a full week since those guys came and attacked me during my morning workout, but I haven't heard a peep out anything like that since then. I think it's for the best if I don't tell her about it just yet, she'd probably just get worried about me and yell at me for being so reckless and fighting them all on my own. Still though, what the hell did those guys want? I doubt they were the normal sort of guys who came looking for a fight for shits and giggles, so what gives?'

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And now for what gives.

From within the dark room lit by a single row of candles, the man referring to himself as the Guardian looked at a picture of Tatsu he held, then looked to see numerous black cloaked soldiers appearing before him "Well?"

"We have news for you my lord." the leader of this group stepped forward towards him and got down on one knee "The boy apparently has a reputation for being a skilled warrior, training tirelessly to master the ways of the warrior."

"And this wretched adolescent fool is arrogant enough to believe that he can protect the Fang of Ryuhogo from me? That Fang belongs to the Guardian by right, this fool is lucky to have survived up until now with it in his possession."

"Now see that's where I draw the line." this was when another figure stepped into the room, a young man with dark brown hair and black eyes, as well as a black t shirt, his demeanor calm and collected, but his eyes held a hint of malice directed at Guardian "You shouldn't be so quick to assume like that, for all we know this guy probably doesn't even know what it is that he has in his possession."

"...Yakuza leave us, I wish to have a word with this one." this prompted the soldiers to take their leave, and then Guardian turned his wrath on the youth and grabbed him by the neck "Keep your mouth shut when in my presence." he threw the youth to the ground and removed his helmet, revealing the figure of an old man with a thick moustache and gray hair tied back in a long ponytail going down to the small of his back "Have you forgotten what happened to the last person who questioned me in front of my men?"

"I didn't mean any disrespect by that uncle, I-"

"What you meant means nothing in my eyes Raidou. You are weak as you have always been, corrupted by the so-called modern traditions and culture as your mother was. I warn you now, if you question me again and you will join her in the next world." this caused the youth, now known by the name of Raidou, to scowl with rage.

"My mother was of the Asakura bloodline, I am of the Asakura bloodline, but you Shin are anything but, and if you had anywhere near as much intellect as you do ego, then you would try listening to someone else for once in your life."

"I hold the Fangs of Ryuhogo in my grasp, you do not. You are nothing but a child, and worse than that you are a fool. You will never come to understand the meaning of true power."

'...Keep thinking such a thing you old fool, we'll see about that soon enough, and then you'll pay for what you've done to me and to my family.'

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The next day came, and the city of Tokyo was as bustling as always.

Tatsu stood at the entryway to the Higurashi Shrine, a sword strapped to his back, and he was talking into his cell phone "Okay guys so you got the stuff set up for the party later? Okay good, so it's all set. We're gonna through the day, fight of any advances from Hojo and party all night like it's Y2K. Okay see you then." he glanced over to see Sota, Kagome's younger brother, making his way into the Well House "Hey Sota, what the heck are you doing?"

"Uh… nothing." he was lying through his teeth.

"We've been over this, I can read you like the cheap magazines that Arashi keeps under his bed, now what's going on?"

"It's the cat, I think he might've gone down to the well."

"...Yeah it's gonna be one of those days." Tatsu slowly made his way inside as he pulled out a flashlight.

"Hey guys what's going on?" that was when Kagome came into the well house.

"Your brother lost the cat and it looks like he went down towards the well."

"But if Sota lost Buyo then why are you looking for him down there?"

"Because your brother has the backbone of a chihuahua." this was followed by a brief scratching noise that instantly prompted Sota to jump in fear "Exhibit A."

"It's just the cat isn't it? But it sounds like it's coming from inside the well." Kagome slowly and cautiously made her way down the stairs, only to jump when she saw Buyo rubbing against her leg, so she picked him up but the scratching noises continued.

'So that scratching noise I was hearing wasn't coming from the cat, which means the only other place it could be coming from is… Get down!" he shoved Kagome to the ground just as the seal on the well shattered into pieces and from within the well, and an arm reached out of the well and reached for Kagome "Not on my watch ugly!" thinking quick, he drew his sword from the sheath on his back and wasted no time in cutting off several arms, but then several more shot out while he was distracted with the first and began slamming him around while another one grabbed Kagome and pulled both of them into the well and the endless blue void inside of it.

As it turns out, the arms belonged to a female centipede demon "At last I live again, oh to be alive once more! Already I can feel my strength returning!" it grabbed onto Kagome and tightened its grip "You have it don't you? Give it to me, give me what it is that I seek within you!"

"Wh-What are you doing? Let go of me!" Kagome shoved her hand into the face of the centipede demon, but then she ended up hitting it in the face with a blast of pink and purple colored energy.

"Wretched fools, I must have the Sacred Jewel!" and then the centipede demon disappeared into the void.

"The… The Sacred Jewel?"

"What do you think it was talking about?" asked Tatsu.

"The heck if I know, I swear if this is just my grandpa doing another one of his "find your spiritual side" vacation abductions then we're putting him in a home."

"Didn't you try that like a year ago?"

"Yeah I did, and they kicked him out because he kept trying to exorcise the receptionist."

"Oh yeah. That was a fun day."

"The same can't be said for today."

"Hey it's better than last week, at least you don't need an explanation for a mindless beast attacking you, unlike with an army of masked swordsman trying to attack you in the middle of your morning workout."

"Wait back up, what now?"

"Oh yeah, I should probably explain. Like I said, it started last week when I was in the middle of my morning workout."

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One 15 minute explanation later, and then the two of them finally reached the bottom of the well.

"And so when whatever that was about finally came to an end I came back home in triumph, tired and covered in blood that wasn't mine, but alive and triumphant." Tatsu finished his explanation in a very nonchalant way.

"...I officially give up trying to understand you." Kagome looked around "So what do we do now?"

"Well I've got a date with some aspirin, I feel like that centipede demon thing just did to me what the Hulk did to Loki in the 2012 Avengers movie. Either way we're getting out of here and I'm sleeping this off like a bad hangover, hey Sota bring down the ladder and some aspirin would ya?" he received no reply.

"He probably got scared and took off, the little runt."

"You say that like you wouldn't have done the same."

"I would not!" she received a dull look "Okay maybe but still, let's just get the heck out of here already."

"Way ahead of you." the two of them started climbing vines on the side of the well "Hey correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure there weren't any vines on the side of the well last I checked."

"Well I wouldn't know, I never go in this thing and now you understand why."

"Because it's creepy as hell."

"Exactly." they climbed out of the well, only to discover that in place of the shrine was a lush green forest for as far as the eye could see "What the…"

"Well I could be wrong Toto but I don't think we're in Tokyo anymore, or at least not our version of Tokyo. My guess is either time travel or multiverse theory, both of which are major pain in the ass."

"Well what the heck are we supposed to do then?"

"I'm guessing start with that." Tatsu pointed to the large tree in the distance "Figure that's probably the best place to start."

"You think that's the same tree that's on our property? Oh yeah, because I would never mistake that tree for any other tree, because it's too specific a tree!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"...Well let's get moving then."

"Asked and answered." the two of them made their way towards the tree in question, only to stop when she came across the form of Inuyasha bound to the trunk of the tree by Kikyo's arrow, his body now being covered in vines "Okay, so who's this guy?"

"I have no idea."

"Is he dead?" Tatsu slowly approached Inuyasha and pressed two fingers against his neck "No he's still alive, it's weak but I did detect a pulse. The arrow lodged in his shoulder looks pretty deteriorated, if I had to guess I would say that he's been here for awhile." he glanced over to see Kagome simply rubbing Inuyasha's years with her hands "Why do I even bother?"

"Hey you have your quirks and I have mine."

"Fair enough, so what do you suggest we-"

"Get away from there!" that was when several villagers arrived on the scene and proceeded to fire a volley of arrows.

Tatsu quickly fended them off by creating two swords, one made of ice and the other made of metal "Back the hell off idiots, I've got elemental dragon powers and I'm not afraid to use them!"

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17 minutes later…

Tatsu and Kagome found themselves tied up in the center of the village for all of the people to see, the former clutching a certain part of his anatomy in pain "Okay so people in this world fight dirty, duly noted."

"You know you didn't have to tie us up, or kick him in his big dragon." Kagome pointed out, only to be met with lots of muttering from various villagers.

"Okay first of all, big dragon?"

"I know terms."

"I really don't think you do."

"Anyway what's with all of the top knot talk, what is this the Japan of medieval times or something?"

"Actually now that I think about it, it might be."

"...You've gotta be kidding me."

"Why would I start now?"

"Make way for the high priestess Kaede!" this was followed by an elderly woman in a priestess kimono making her way towards them.

"And now this."

"Let's see…" Kaede pulled out a sack and began throwing some sort of powder at them "Demon be gone, demon be gone."

"Okay look, I don't know what you're doing but we're not demons."

"Are ye not, then why were ye found in the Forest of Inuyasha?"

"Because we have no idea where or when the hell we are."

"If you were to be considered spies from another village but in that case ye would be fools, who would invade such a poor village as ours?" Kaede's eyes soon rested on Kagome "Let me have a look at ye. Yes I see, you're a clever girl or ye be a halfwit?"

"To be honest, a little bit of both." Tatsu received a dirty look from Kagome.

"It's there though I cannot say why."

"Come again?" Tatsu and Kagome shared a look, and the former only shrugged.

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Nightfall came, and things had calmed down in the village.

One of the villagers, a man by the name of Rikichi, made his way with Tatsu through the surrounding forests "You'll have to forgive myself and Lade Kaede and the rest of the villagers young one, keep in mind that while we now know that you and your lover bear us no ill intentions these are troubled times of war no stranger is taken in without any doubts bubbling beneath the surface immediately."

"Hey different time, different customs. I get it." Tatsu waved him off "I guess this proves what I had suspected."

"And what would that be?"

"That me and Kagome, not my lover by the way I'm still working on that, are actually from another period of history."

"Come again?"

"I know it sounds crazy but after getting attacked by a lion demon and learning that you've inherited elemental powers from your father nothing surprises you anymore."

"...Fair enough."

"But then again the whole thing about being from the future does raise a few questions, like what does the old woman want with Kagome?"

"Such a thing I cannot say, but I can assure you that with Lady Kaede your companion is in good hands."

"She'd better be or-" Tatsu pulled Rikichi behind a tree and quickly slapped a hand over his mouth to silence him.

As it turns out, a cyclops demon was lurking nearby "I can smell the stench of a dragon nearby, and the stench of a human. Those I can have anyday, but a dragon is something truly rare. Where are you dragon blood? Show yourself!"

"Well since he asked, hang back a second. Don't know about the dragon blood thing, but it doesn't really matter now does it? You mind if I borrow this thing? Thanks, I owe you one." and so Tatsu quickly snatched the spear that Rikichi held, then blitzed above the cyclops demon and promptly brought down the spear on its skull, the force splitting the cyclops clean down the middle. With that out of the way, Tatsu let out a sigh as he handed Rikichi his spear back "Well that's out of the way, but what's weird is that that's the first demon I've ever killed and yet I'm not bothered by it." he soon took notice of how jaw dropped Rikichi looked at the sight of his victory over the cyclops "What?"

"You just cut that demon down the middle with one stroke of a spear." Rikichi was quick to regain his composure "You are a full blooded human are you not?"

"Yeah of course I am, I've just spent years training in the art of battle. As for the spear, any weapon is effective against almost any enemy so long as you know how to use it properly. Take my word on that one."

this was followed by a bell ringing in the distance "What's that all about?"

"It means that the village is under attack, I have to hurry! I hate to ask, but will you help me protect my village?"

"Protecting your home and those you hold dear, you read my mind He Who Has a Terrible Haircut. Let's move."

"Agreed. I'll attack it head on with the others, you maneuver your way around the forest to the back for a surprise attack."

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Meanwhile, in the village…

"What's going on?" Kaede and Kagome both rushed out of her hut, only to find the village in chaos due to a certain demon known as Mistress Centipede.

Kagome was quick to recognize the demon "That's thing that attacked me and Tatsu and pulled us into the well!"

"Give it to me, give me the Sacred Jewel!" Mistress Centipede lunged at both of them in a rage.

"It said Sacred Jewel." Kaede muttered "Tell me child, are ye its till?"

"I don't have a clue what that thing is talking about." Kagome told her "I mean I've heard of the Sacred Jewel before but-"

"I must have it, give it to me!" Mistress Centipede started spinning like a drill and continued tearing through more of the villagers.

'Whatever that thing is or whatever it wants, it looks like it's after me. None of their weapons work against it, what are we gonna do?"

"The only thing we can do child, we must lure it to the dry well." Kaede told her "And do so before it is too late."

"What do you mean the dry well?"

"In the forest of Inuyasha."

'The well that me and Tatsu climbed out of- Wait a second, where is Tatsu? No nevermind I can't afford to wait for him to show up and save the day or whatever. Which way is the forest, it's where the light is shining over there right?" and so she rushed off without waiting for an answer, with Mistress Centipede hot on her trail.

"How is it that she can see but cannot be seen in the Forest of Inuyasha?"

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Meanwhile, with Kagome…

After taking off running, Kagome ran at full speed along the path to the village, her mind racing 'Someone will save me won't they? Grandpa, mom, Sota? Anyone? Tatsu please tell me you're there, I know you get overprotective but please tell me you're coming to save me! Please help me! Also as a follow up though, where the heck am I?!"

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The monstrous roars of Mistress Centipede echoed all the way through to the forest.

These monstrous roars caused something inside Inuyasha to stir, and his eyes suddenly snapped open as a malicious grin made its way across his face "I can smell it, I can smell the blood of the woman who killed me, the woman who bound me to this damn tree, and it's getting closer by the second." he reached for the arrow, but a pulse of energy burned his hand 'Dammit, it reeks of her spiritual energy.'

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Kagome kept running from Mistress Centipede, her mind racing 'Come on come on, what am I supposed to do?!'

"Give me the jewel!" Mistress Centipede lunged at her over and over again "I must have the Sacred Jewel, now give it to me!"

"But I told you before I don't have it!"

"Lies girl, give me what it is that I seek!"

"She said she doesn't have it you skank, learn to take no for an answer!" it was at this moment that Tatsu burst onto the scene, his sword in hand, and then he dealt Mistress Centipede a swift kick to the head, though the force of his blow unintentionally sent Kagome flying through the air and crashing to the ground in front of a tree "Uh… Oh crap, sorry about that."

"You know you could've been more gentle." Kagome pulled herself to her feet and rubbed one of her new bruises.

"Well well Kikyo it seems like you've taken a few steps down if you wasting time with someone like that and playing with some damn bugs." Inuyasha glared down at her with a look of pure disdain.

"Wait a second… you're not dead?"

"Why the hell are you taking your sweet time and doing the whole damsel in distress routine anyway, just do to that thing what you did to me. I've gotta admit that you do look pretty stupid down there Kikyo, I figured that you wouldn't waste any time."

"Okay listen dog guy, I don't know who the heck this Kikyo is but whoever she is I'm not her okay? My name is Kagome so-"

"Whatever energy you can afford to waste ranting at me should be focused on destrying that demon, which by the way is coming right up behind you."

"Wha-"

And that was when Tatsu flew right overhead before crashing to the ground nearby "Oh come on, the Loki treatment twice in one day?! Bullshit!" he charged back at Mistress Centipede in a rage once more and caught it in a chokehold.

"Leave it to him to be the one to save the day, what else is new."

"A lot when it comes to you apparently." Inuyasha let out a scoff "Seriously Kikyo when did you get to be so pathetic?"

"For crying out loud I'm not Kikyo, I don't know who she is or what your deal is with her but I'm not her!"

"And I'm saying that you have to be her because if you're not then there's no way in hell that you could smell so-" Inuyasha paused, then took a whiff of her scent "Oh shit, so you're really not her."

"That's what I've been saying, my name is Kagome!"

"Alright I get it, Kikyo was cuter. Much cuter."

"What the heck did you-"

"INCOMING!" Tatsu once again got hurled to the ground "Shit what is it with this thing, it's like the longer I fight the harder the thing punches."

"Maybe it's just fatigue."

"Then explain why it punches harder."

"Well-"

"Give it to me!" Mistress Centipede grabbed onto Kagome from behind "Give me the Sacred Jewel!"

"I told you I don't have the stupid thing, now let go of me!" Kagome grabbed onto Tatsu by the arm, causing him to growl slightly in pain.

This was when Kaede arrived on the scene with Rikichi, and saw Inuyasha fully conscious to her horror 'How is it that Inuyasha could be revived, the seal should've held him forever!

"Give me the Sacred Jewel!"

"Stop repeating the same stupid line and let go of me!" Kagome suddenly hit Mistress Centipede in the face with a blast of pink and purple energy, blowing it back a considerable distance and blowing a few of its arms off, much to her surprise 'Oh yeah, didn't I do that before when we were in the well? But how did I do it?"

"My guess is that power is tied to your emotions somehow." Tatsu pulled himself to his feet as their eyes fell on something glowing in Kagome's chest "That on the other hand I don't think I can explain."

"Of all the times to not have an explaination, you choose now?!"

"GIVE IT TO ME!" Mistress Centipede caught Kagome in its jaws and pierced Tatsu in the chest with its fangs, causing a certain object to fly out of the new wound in Kagome's chest, that being the Shikon Jewel.

'That thing just came from inside me… Is that the Sacred Jewel?'

"Get back!" Tatsu didn't miss a second as he brandished his sword and ripped off several more of its arms "How do you like that one asshat?"

"Enough showing off, just hurry up and give me the damn jewel!" Inuyasha barked.

"Oh gee let me think about it. Thinking, thinking, nope."

Mistress Centipede took the chance to constrict Inuyasha, Kagome and the wounded Tatsu up against the tree "I had heard that some half demon spawn had been after the Sacred Jewel before."

"So you know my dirty little secret." Inuyasha let out a scoff "Well guess what, half is all I need to kick your scaly ass. Anything more than that would be nothing but a big fat waste of my time."

"Yeah yeah you talk big, but at least wait until you can back it up properly." Tatsu pointed out dryly.

"Well what could that half demon do pinned to the tree like that, or you or the girl for that matter? You're helpless before my might." and then it proceeded to swallow the jewel in one gulp.

"Okay I'm pretty sure that isn't good."

"It is for me!" Mistress Centipede used the power she gained from the jewel to reattach her arms and transform into a hideous more scaly form "At last the full power of the Shikon Jewel belongs to me and me alone!" and then it started constricting them more firmly, causing them to cry out in pain.

Inuyasha glanced down at Kagome "Hey tell me something, do you think you can pull out this arrow?"

"What?" Kagome glanced up at the arrow "What do you-"

"Look can you pull out the damn arrow or not?"

"I… I don't know. And besides what guarantee do I have that you're not gonna kill us all and take that thing for yourself?"

"Don't be stupid, at least with me you've got a fighting chance whereas that thing is gonna devour all of you and the entire village! And what about you and your friend, I'm pretty sure neither of you are ready to die yet."

"I… I don't know okay, I don't know what to do. But then again, given the choice, my choice is to make sure that my friends and these people survive!" and so as she mustered all of the strength that she could, Kagome pulled on the arrow as hard as she could, effictively vaporing it in a dazzling light.

Kaede looked on in a mix of awe and horror "It's gone, the spell cast by my sister has been banished!"

"And we're good to go!" with an overwhelming burst of strength, Inuyasha shattered the constrictions and freed himself and the others.

Tatsu gently set Kagome down on the ground "Stay here, I'll work with him and make sure that thing is finished off."

"Wicked child, hateful mutt!"

"Better a brat and a mutt than some nasty scaly old hag who can't land a man. No offense by the way."

"I've been called worse." Inuyasha told him flatly "Look just stand back human jackass, I've got this."

"Like hell I-"

"Too late! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" with his claws barred, Inuyasha charged at Mistress Centipede at full speed, ripping her to shreds in a matter of seconds, sending bodyparts flying everywhere "You know if that's all the jewel did for you, then maybe it's not such a big deal after all."

"Okay credit where it's due, that's pretty impressive."

"And I've seen worse from a human, more or less. That's the best you're gonna get out of me anytime soon."

"Duly noted. So is it still moving after all of that?"

"Find the part that's glowing and that'll have the jewel, take it out fast or that thing will just keep coming back."

"Good to know. Kagome."

"Already on it." Kagome quickly dug the jewel out of the glowing piece of flesh, causing it to dissolve away, leaving only bones behind "So is it really okay for me to hold it like this, especially considering it just came out of me?"

"It is entire necessary ye who resembles my dead sister Kikyo, for only ye can hold the Sacred Jewel and keep it purified." Kaede told her.

"But how did it get inside my body, why would I of all people have a jewel that so many demons want for themselves?"

"That's the whole point." Inuyasha promptly crushed a bone underneath his foot "Humans aren't meant to have that kind of power so why bother to keep something like that, I say hand it over to someone who can actually make good use of its power, as in hand it over or I'll have to start sharpening my claws on your bones."

"Wait what? So you mean he's not the hero?'

"I've got a better idea." Tatsu stumbled his way forward as he dropped into a stance with his sword in hand "You back the hell way and I won't start bathing this sword in your blood for threatening someone I care about."

'Okay so Tatsu is the hero, that makes more sense.'

"Ready for round two furball?"

"I say if it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get!" Inuyasha blitzed towards Tatsu at full speed.

'He's faster than I thought.' Tatsu blocked Inuyasha's claws with the blade of his sword, the force sending out a small shockwave as the two began trading even blows.

Kagome found herself hanging onto the Sacred Tree for dear life "I thought he would show more restraint, this is totally insane!"

Kaede let out a sigh as she pulled out a set of beeds from her robe "Somehow I knew that it would eventually come to this."

Tatsu backed away from Inuyasha in order to gain some distance and catch his breath "Looks like you're more powerful than I expected."

Inuyasha cracked his neck "I guess you're not a total weakling, but I can tell when someone is holding back."

"I just wanted to see if you were willing to go all out against me."

"Great minds think alike I guess, so try to match this! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" now going all out, Inuyasha charged at Tatsu at full speed with his claws barred.

Tatsu blocked the attack with the blade of his sword and then began using both of them to trade even blows with him, even managing to pierce Inuyasha through his shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards clutching the wound, though the blade of his sword shattered after coming into contact with Inuyasha's skin "Oh fuck, that thing was a gift!"

"Don't think you can let your guard down because of one lucky blow, I'm only just getting started! Blades of Blood!" Inuyasha dug into his own wound and fired off a barrage of energy blades made from his own blood.

"Blade or no blade I'm not giving up that easily!" despite the blade of his sword having been shattered, Tatsu was able to use what was left of his sword to fend of the barrage of blood blades hurtling towards him, and then he found the opportunity to pounce forward towards Inuyasha, and then deal him a solid kick to the jaw.

Inuyasha was sent stumbling back a short distance and wiped the blood from his lip, and then he shot a smirk in the direction of Tatsu "I never expected a human to be able to put up that much of a fight…"

"And I never expected you to break the sword that my brother gave me."

"Yeah well take it from a voice of experience, older brothers suck." Inuyasha cracked his neck and shot a smirk at Tatsu "Not bad though I'll give you that, but now I'm gonna go ahead and take the jewel." he prepared to pounce on Kagome, only to pause when a flash of light engulfed him and he suddenly found a set of enhanced beads around his neck "Okay what the hell are these things?"

"Quickly child, there's little time!" Kaede called out to Kagome "Call the word of subjugation on him!"

"Wait what word?" Kagome cluthed onto the jewel tightly.

"It matters not, your word has the power to hold the spirit of whoever wears the Beads of Subjugation!"

"A word to hold his spirit?" and then Kagome gained a devious grin "Hey Tatsu are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Kind of busy right now!" Tatsu continued blocking Inuyasha's attacks, now being forced to use his bare hands as a result of his broken sword and he was taking a few slashes across his front and torso, causing blood to pour from his wound, eventually taking a claw straight through the shoulder.

"Tatsu!"

"Well it's been fun jackass, but I'm gonna end this." so Inuyasha prepared to finish off Tatsu with another claw, when…

"Um… sit boy!"

Before Inuyasha could comprehend what was happening, he was slammed face first into the dirt with a loud thud.

"Well I'll be darned, it worked."

"What the hell is this thing?!" Inuyasha thrashed and yanked at the beads, but they wouldn't budge "Dammit!"

Kaede made her way over to him "I'm sorry Inuyasha but even you lack the power needed to remove the Beads of Subjugation."

"Shut the hell up you stupid old hag, I'd come up there and finish you off if you didn't look half dead already!"

"...The word please."

"Way ahead of you, sit boy." that word from Kagome was all that needed to be said in order to send Inuyasha crashing into the ground face first, leaving him groaning within the crater in which he found himself.

"Well then, shall we head home then?"

"Well that was easy, I just wish I knew to say that earlier."

"Yeah you and me both." Tatsu pointed out from where he was sprawled out on the ground, blood pouring from his wounds.

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Morning came, and repairs to the village had begun in earnest.

Kaede had finished pathing up Kagome and was now tending to Tatsu's injuries "There ye go, all better now. A series of deep bloody wounds is nothing to today's modern medicine, why ye might actually live through the week. So tell me, does that feel better young one?"

"I heal pretty fast, but thanks." Tatsu glanced out the window "So I guess you guys are focusing on rebuilding after the centipede attack, seems like a real pain in the ass."

"Pain yes, and it is just beginning, especially now that the Sacred Shikon no Tama has returned to this world. I fear that the worst has yet to come and not just demons either, there are humans whose hearts are more evil still and only the jewel has the power to make real their petty grasping ambitions."

"Which raises the question." Kagome glanced over to where a certain Inuyasha was sprawled out on the floor "What the heck are you still doing here?"

"What does it look like genius?" Inuyasha let out a scoff "I'm waiting for you idiots to give me the jewel."

"Why do you even want the jewel anyway? It seems to me like you're strong enough as it is considering you went toe to toe with Tatsu, what power can the jewel give you that you don't already have."

"Like it's any of your business-"

"Perhaps but the thing is child, Inuyasha is only a half demon." Kaede cut him off, only to be silenced by a fist through the floor, courtesy of Inuyasha.

"Okay you know what, I'm sick of hearing some pathetic dried up old hag talk like she knows anything about me."

"So ye don't remember, as much as that is what I expected. I am Kaede, the younger sister to the late Kikyo, she who bound you to the tree."

"Wait a second, you're Kaede? So you're that brat from back then huh?"

"Indeed I am, 50 years have passed since that day and I have grown old."

"And if you're this old then that must mean that Kikyo is pushing 100 by now."

"Actually she would only be pusing around 70."

"Well either way I'm sure as hell glad that I don't have to worry about being some old bag of bones, at least not anytime soon."

"Kikyo didn't have to worry either, mainly because she died. It was on the same day that she bound ye to the tree with the Arrow of Sealing."

"...Oh wow I'm so sorry to hear that, not that I really give that much of a shit in the grand scheme of things. It's one less thing for me to have to deal with."

"I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you just yet Inuyasha, I now know that Kagome here is the reincarnation of my late elder sister."

"Come again?" now this is what got Kagome's attention.

"And it isn't just because you resemble her, but the fact that you are capable of manipulating the spiritual energy inside your body and the Jewel of Four Souls was inside of your body and that alone is proof enough. It is up to ye now child, ye must take over the mantle of protecting it from those who would seek its terrible power."

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A little bit later, with Kagome…

After that whole discussion, Kagome took Kaede's words into consideration as she wandered her way through the village with the Shikon Jewel hanging around her neck 'So it's up to me to protect this thing? Who am I kidding, I don't have that kind of skill.' she glanced over and noticed some of the villagers bowing to her, leaving her red in the face with embarrassment "Okay it's official, I've gotta get the heck out of here." and so she rushed off.

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Meanwhile, with Inuyasha…

At the same time, Inuyasha sat in a tree on one of the branches, his mind drifting with thoughts of Kikyo 'So she really died then did she, and I never knew.' he reached behind his back and caught a fruit being hurled at him "What's this?"

As it turns out, Tatsu was standing below him with a basket of fruit in his hand "I got it from some of the villagers as their way of saying thanks to me for fighting off the centipede bitch last night."

"And me?"

"I think that's still in the air considering you're not dead, anyway do you want some of the stuff or not?"

"...Fine." so Inuyasha leapt down at the ground and started munching on a fruit, keeping a firm glare directed at Tatsu at all times 'What the hell is the deal with this guy? Judging by the scent he's a full blooded human, but there's no way a human should be able to keep up with me in strength, speed and agility, or have that kind of durability and endurance. Look you little bastard, whatever the hell you're up to I'm not buying it."

"What the hell is there for you to buy? Look dog man I think it's safe to say that I hate you and you hate me, but the fact is that I need a decent sparring partner. You might be an ass but you're tough as fuck, I need someone that can give me a challenge during my training."

"And what you don't get is that I'm only after the Sacred Jewel your mate has around her scrawny neck, you're just trying to lure me into a false sense of security!"

"First of all, she's not my mate. Second of all, she's not scrawny. Third of all, I don't give a shit about you being after the jewel. Fourth of all, I really just need someone that I can train with properly. And frankly I would've won that fight last night if I didn't get thrown around like the centipede like a ragdoll."

"Bullshit and you know it, want me to prove it to you?"

"Oh let's go furball, right here and right now." Tatsu bolted to his feet, and then the two of them charged at each other.

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Nightfall came, and things had calmed down in the village.

Kagome lay on the floor of the hut with a pillow and a blanket, her mind drifting 'It's been two days now since Tatsu and I came here. Grandpa, mom, Sota, Kazuma, Moya, Akira, Arashi, all of them must be so worried about the two of us. We have to find a way to get back home one way or another.' and eventually she drifted off to sleep, unaware of a flock of crows with three eyes watching her from afar.

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Meanwhile, with Tatsu…

At the same time, Tatsu wasted no time in scaring off the flock of crows "Damn things must be coming because they were looking for the jewel, looks like the weary get no rest, or maybe that's just in my case I guess. Either way one thing is for sure, I have to become a lot stronger than I am right now, and that means there's only one thing I can do: Practice. Lucky me I happen to be a fast learner."

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Morning came, and everyone was hard at work.

Kagome made her way out of the village and towards the forest 'She said the dry well in the Forest of Inuyasha, it's how Tatsu and I came here after all so it has to have some kind of hint on how to get home.'

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Kaede on the other hand was searching for Kagome in the village "Where could the child have gone so quickly, she must have gone off on her own? We spoke before of those who seek the Sacred Jewel but clearly we spoke not nearly enough of the dangers that come with it."

As it turns out, Inuyasha was listening from atop a nearby hut 'Well shit.'

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Kagome made her way through the forest, unaware of some suspicious figures following her, until she came across the well again 'There it is, that's the well that I came out of. Maybe if I just jump back in or-' and it was in that moment that she got jumped by a bunch of bandits and dragged away against her will.

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Tatsu's head snapped up "Okay getting a bad vibe, better head out and see what's going on before shit hits the fan." and so he put his solo training on hold and bolted off towards the forest at full speed.

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One of the bandits pinned Kagome to the floor of a nearby shrine "Hey boss we got that girl like you told us to, dammit her kimono is shorter than the fat guy's. Not that we're complaining about you going around wearing something like that." he started tugging on Kagome's skirt.

"Hey don't tug on that!" Kagome bolted to her feet, her face now as red "It's sensitive, you'll end up ripping it!"

"Hey what's the matter princess, are our hands too dirty for you? Well how about you marry one of us and we'll buy you a new one."

"Hey quit laughing you sick perv!" and then she laid her eyes on the boss.

As it turns out, the boss of the other bandits was a hideous hulking figure lurking in the corner in a very menacing fashion "Give me the jewel, right now." he stumbled his way over to her and pulled out his sword in order to cut her head off and take it off her corpse.

One of the bandits caught Kagome in a full nelson "Hey go for it boss, and while you're at it why don't you try taking it off in one swing like some kind of goddamn dandelion. Hey quit squirming you little tramp-" but instead of Kagome it was him who got stabbed straight through the head.

"Oops."

Needless to say Kagome and the others were all horrified "Hey what the heck did you do that for, he was one of your own guys!"

"Shut up!" the leader started clumsily swinging his sword all over the place.

"What the-"

"Hey boss what the hell, she's the one you want you know!" one of the bandits attempted to use her as a sort of meat shield.

"Hey hold on a second you idiots, can't you tell there's something wrong with him! You'd better get your butts in gear or it's gonna be all of you next, you got it?!" she quickly ducked under a sweep of his sword "Seriously do I have to tell you guys everything?!" the only answer she received was all of them running away screaming 'So to sum things up, here I am stuck in the Feudal Era of Japan playing Duck Duck Goose with a bunch of bandits with some sword swinging eight foot troll with bad breath!'

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Tatsu stood on a tree branch, his mind racing 'Come on Kagome give me some kind of sign as to where the hell you went, I have to use what Kazuma taught me about sensing out people I can't see or hear. I have to concentrate, let my body take in my surroundings. I have to see with my body, not my eyes.' he closed his eyes and looked around for the energy signature, and his head snapped in a certain direction 'There she is!' and so he took off, but he glanced back behind him as he did so "And here I thought you didn't give a shit."

As it turns out, Inuyasha was following close behind him "As if I care about what happens to that wench, I just don't want any of those idiots to get the jewel."

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"Give it to me, give me the jewel!" the lead bandit continued swinging his sword, causing some of the support beams holding up the roof to come down on one of the bandits, blocking the doorway as a result.

Kagome wasted no time in pulling him out of the rubble "Are you okay? Looks like we're gonna have to go around, do you think you can stand?"

"I want the jewel… give it to me… or I'll kill you where you stand…"

'So he's after the jewel? Why did I have to have this thing? Maybe I should've listened to Kaede when she told me about people who want this thing. But you know what that can wait until later, right now I need to focus on the task at hand.' she glanced back to see the rest of the bandits cowering in fear "Thanks for nothing you cowards, you know what make yourselves useful and take this one." she shoved the injured bandit into the arms of the others and then she proceeded to take the Shikon Jewel and throw it out of the shrine and into the open forest.

"The jewel… give it to me…"

"Guys there's no time try and push out the wall all at once!"

"Right!" so a few of the bandits tried pushing out the wall, to no avail "Sorry boss but we're not having any luck."

"What the heck you- I'm not your boss!"

"Die!" the lead bandit swung his sword at her.

Kagome could only shut her eyes and brace herself as she waited for the inevitable, that is until…

"Get your filthy hands off her you damn dirty ape!" this was when Tatsu burst through the wall and onto the scene with a spear in hand, ripping through the leader's sword and slamming the other end of the spear into his head, which sent him crashing through the opposite wall.

Kagome's eyes snapped open and her face lit up when she saw him burst onto the scene like some kind of knight in shining armor "Tatsu!"

"If you don't wanna end up like the pimp with the sword then I suggest that you guys clear out of here." this was all that needed to be said to send the bandits running "And say what you want about me rushing in to save the day, but you've gotta admit that it works wonders for everyone present."

"Okay okay fine, go ahead and brag."

"He can brag later." that was when Inuyasha came in through the wall "Where the hell is the jewel?"

"...The Jewel?"

"Oh hell no, this better not be going where I think it's going."

"My guess is out that window." Tatsu wandered out of the hole he made in the wall over to where the bandit leader now lay "Hey is this guy supposed to have an ugly ass three eyed crow where his heart is supposed to be?"

"Well that explains the smell of rotting meat, how much do you wanna bet the bird ripped out his living heart and made itself a bloody nest."

"I figured something was wrong with him, judging by that brain dead look on his face I figured he was either actually dead or he was an ancestor of Arashi."

"Carrion Crows don't like to fight on their own when there's dead bodies hand, they're usually pretty weak but they're hella nasty."

"Makes sense." Tatsu glanced down to see the Carrion Crow make its way through the skies in an attempt to escape.

"Are you guys gonna go after it?" asked Kagome.

"Is there really a need to rub salt in that wound? The world is full of monsters and demons way worse than that, killing a bird isn't gonna make a difference."

"Well maybe not but…"

"But nothing wench, if you wanna start doing the fighting then I say you go for it but until then I say-" Inuyasha paushed when he looked outside and noticed the crow taking off with the jewel in its mouth "No, no no no no no no no no no! NOOOOO!" Oh you've gotta be f*cking kidding me, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What do you mean what's wrong with me, go after it!"

Inuyasha grabbed both of them by the arms and bolted outside, but stopped when he noticed a bow and a quiver of arrows lying on the ground nearby "Either of you good with a bow and arrow?"

"Not really." Tatsu gave a shrug "I'm more of a sword and close combat guy myself so they're really not my fortee."

"I guess that means I'm up." Kagome picked up the bow and arrows and hopped onto Tatsu's back, earning some odd looks "What? In case it wasn't clear I don't have the strength of a rhino or the speed of a cheetah like you two do, this is all that I've got."

"And yet you've never used a bow in your life but you still volunteered for this."

"Well I wanna be able to do something, it's not like I enjoy the whole thing about being a damsel in distress."

"Fair enough." Tatsu took off after the crow on foot at full speed "That crow ate out that guy's heart to make itself a bloody nest, if you think that's bad wait until it swallows the jewel in one gulp. Is it bad that now I kind of wanna see that?"

"It's bad that you wanna see a lot of things- Oh god it just swallowed the jewel! Alright fine just give me a second."

"You realize that after we take out the crow Inuyasha is gonna come for us."

"Wouldn't be surprised. Calm down, focus the shot, and fire!' Kagome locked and loaded the shot, and she fired it at the crow… only for the arrow to fall to the ground in a rather comical fashion "Uh…"

"Well all things considered, mainly the fact that you've never used a bow and arrow in your entire life, your aim actually wasn't that bad."

"Thanks for the boat of confidence."

"Yeah well it doesn't help that you suck." Inuyasha pointed out dryly "I mean seriously what the fuck was that?!"

"That was someone who's never fired a bow before in her life trying to shoot a moving target while being piggy backed by someone running at like 20 miles an hour!"

"Neither of you make any fucking sense! I'm gonna get the jewel myself, I'm gonna become a full demon and neither of you are welcome here when I take over Japan! The two of you are both ex-Japanese, you're Canadian now!"

"Canada doesn't exist yet."

"No one cares if Canada exists!"

"...I take back my sacrastic thanks Tatsu, and replace it with an actual thanks for at least trying to be nice about it."

"I try." Tatsu glanced up to see the crow transform into a large monstrous creature "Okay so that's a thing now, let me give this a shot." he blitzed up to the crow, brandished a spear he had taken from one of the villagers, cut one of its feet off and then held it out to her "You wanna figure out where this is gonna go from here?"

"I'm scared of your mindset, but I like the idea." Kagome grabbed the foot, albeit with some reluctance, pulled out a small piece of rope and tied it onto a bow while simultaneously being pulled towards the bird, but she managed to wrap her legs around Tatsu's back to hold herself down, and she prepared to fire the arrow "So our thought is pretty much the same then, if the jewel can the user more powerful then it should be able to heal wounds and regenerate just like it did for the centipede demon before right?"

"Which means that it has a sort of homing feature, which will carry your arrow back to the crow and the arrow will obliterate the thing. But for future reference, if you really want the arrow to hit hard and fast pull it back far and hard."

"Got it." so Kagome pulled the arrow back far and hard and fired it at the crow, hitting it right in its chest and obliterating it in a blinding light, but unknown to them, shattering the jewel into hundreds of shards that scattered across the skies.

"Oh that's gonna be bad."

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Meanwhile, with Kaede…

At the same time, Kaede observed the dazzling lights from within the village "Such lights with a glow that seems similar to that of the Shikon Jewel, I like not the looks of this. I suppose this means that a new era is about to begin, one being a race against time."

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Sunset came, but the situation was anything but calm.

Inuyasha tore through one bush and tree after another "You idiots better not be lying when you said it fell somewhere around here."

"I'm not lying you jerk, I'm… about 60% sure." Kagome looked away nervously "I've still got a bad feeling about that light." then she noticed the head of the Carrion Crow demon lunging towards her, causing her to cower.

"Kagome get down!" Tatsu blitzed in front of her and cut the crow head down using a swift kick to its head, causing a shard of what was once the jewel to fall to the ground "You okay?"

"Aside from the fact that I almost got attacked by a severed crow head, not bad."

"Well in the meantime…" Tatsu knelt down and picked up the jewel shard "I really hope this isn't what I think it is."

"And what exactly do you think it is?" asked Inuyasha.

"If my hunch is right, and they usually are, it's a shard of the jewel that just got blown all the way to hell."

"...WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?!"

"Okay, this is gonna be fun. Not."

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The next morning came, and things had calmed down. Somewhat.

"I don't believe this!" and by somewhat I mean that Kagome found herself having to bathe in a cold lake near the village "How the heck could they not know what a bath is?"

"Probably because of the fact that we're 500 years in the past." Tatsu pointed out dryly from where he was lounging in a tree wearing a blindfold "Seriously all you're gonna do is freeze yourself in there, just give it up already."

"You think I don't want to, but I'm covered in blood and dirt and it feels like my hair hasn't been washed in a week. There are some things in life that just have to be done." and so Kagome dove into the water.

'And yet you have no idea how true that is, especially considering last night.'

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(Last night)

Needless to say, Inuyasha wasted no time in tearing into both Tatsu and Kagome, the latter in particular, over the new status of the Sacred Jewel "What in the name of fuck did you two idiots do to it?! Leave it to you two idiots to wind up breaking it!"

"Okay first of all…" Tatsu whacked Inuyasha on the head with the hilt of his sword, or what was left of it "It was my idea to use the crow's foot on the thing and that's what broke the jewel in the first place, but in any case now it's been shattered into god knows how many pieces."

Kaede nodded "He speaks the truth Inuyasha, and all it would take is one shard in the wrong hands to bring disaster."

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea this would happen." Kagome told her.

"No need to apologize child, it cannot be helped, and now it is in the past. Listen well ye three, only by working together will ye be able to retrieve the shards of the jewel."

Inuyasha shot her a cocky smirk "You won't catch me complaining you old hag, I'm one of the wrong hands you're talking about."

"Aye, that I know all too well. However, while only Kagome possesses the means to locate the shards of the jewel, only Tatsu and Inuyasha possess the strength necessary to take them back from those who would abuse their power."

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Kagome herself was reflecting on this as she bathed in the river 'How the heck am I supposed to do that anyway? It's not like Inuyasha would ever bother to help, and I'm sure Tatsu would get off on this somehow.' she rose up from the water, only to shriek in terror as soon as she realized that Inuyasha was staring at her nude form "Sit boy!" and cue Inuyasha being sent crashing to the ground while she went over to change in a nearby bush.

Inuyasha pulled his head out of the dirt "Dammit I forgot about this stupid necklace, what the hell as my life come to?"

"Serves you right for getting a full view." Tatsu pointed out.

"Shows what you idiots know, the real reason I came here was-"

"To steal the jewel shard that Kagome's keeping with her stuff, which is being guarded by yours truly, right?"

"You must think you're pretty smart you annoying little bastard."

"Takes one to know one furball. Anyway you heard what Kaede said, Kagome's the only one who can track down the shards and we're the only ones who can take them back from those who would abuse that power, believe me I'd love to just throw you in a kennel but I've got a long way to go before I can tangle with heavy hitters like this one lion demon that attacked me."

"In case you didn't realize I'm still here, if it's for the jewel I can put up with anything, even the likes of you two."

"You really do hate both of us don't you?" Kagome pulled herself out of the bush, now clad in a priestess kimono with her long raven locks flowing down her back, leaving both of them stunned by her appearance, Tatsu's being because of her beauty.

Inuyasha on the other hand had more nostalgic reasons 'Kikyo…' he started scooching away from them in a brooding manner, but eventually he glanced over at Kagome "Hey."

"Now what do you want?"

"...Get undressed."

"I have a better idea." Tatsu then proceeded to grab him by the head and smash him into the ground face first.

"Ow…"

"You don't have any concept of shame do you?"

"I didn't tell her to get naked you idiot, I just can't stand seeing her in that outfit! You got a problem with that?"

"You tell me furball, because she looks like Kikyo?"

"...Hey that has nothing to do with it."

'Oh please, my little brother is more mature.' Kagome let out a sigh "Look I don't like this any more than you do, but we have to work together."

"I don't have to do anything, you two are the ones who need me."

"Oh I get it, so you don't care if we just go back home?" she received no reply, and so she went over to pick up her clothes.

"Hey where the hell are you going?"

"What do you even care? I'm going home, so goodbye Inuyasha." she started walking off, which left him taken aback.

"You can't just leave you-"

"My name isn't You, it's Kagome."

"Hold on a second stupid!"

"It's not Stupid either."

"Will you just wait and hear me out for a second?"

"Why so you can try and stop me?"

"No so you can give me that jewel shard you've got hanging around your neck."

"Oh that old thing? Sit boy." and cue the faceplant as she just kept walking away.

"Why you…"

"Her name is Kagome, seriously." Tatsu just walked past him nonchalantly and made his way up until he was side by side with Kagome "So I'm guessing we chalk this up to a seriously messed up three day weekend?"

"I'm just annoyed that he never used my name even once." Kagome grumbled, and then she let out a sigh "So tell me again about how you got attacked by those guys?"

"It's like I told you, I was doing my morning workout and then they jumped me. I came back home covered in blood, and spoiler alert, it wasn't mine. I haven't heard anything out of those guys since then."

"Huh. Well okay then."

"...You don't have any idea how to get us back home do you?"

"Yes I do!" she received a dry look "Okay it's more of a theory."

"I'll take what I can get."

"Good enough for me."

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Unknown to any of our heroes, a new threat was about to rise in the form of a female demon by the name of Yura "I don't believe it, 50 years later and the jewel finally makes its return to this world. I had almost given up hope, but now my time is at hand! It's time for me to make my move."

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As the village continued rebuilding, Kaede was tending to the daughter of one of the village women, only to suddenly notice a strand of hair controlling the girl as she suddenly rose into the air, and she summoned a knife into her hand and attacked Kaede without hesitation.

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Kagome and Tatsu made their way through the thick groves of the Forest of Inuyasha, until they finally came across the Bone Eater's Well "So this is where we came out."

"Which means that by that logic, or lack thereof in this case considering nothing about this makes sense, it should take us back." Tatsu glanced down into the well, only to see a number of bones in there "Okay that's kind of cool."

"Are you kidding, that's horrifying!"

"Agree to disagree, Kaede did mention that they throw the bones of demons in here so that the effects of the jewel can't reach them, and then the bones just disappear. You wanna bet that's how the centipede demon ended up in here?"

"And those are the bones of that centipede demon. No way, I can't go in there now."

"Option B then, you want me to carry you so you don't have to touch them?"

"...Could you?"

"Sure." he gently took Kagome into his arms bridal style and prepared to leap into the well, only to stop when he looked back and noticed something, in the form of needle thin strands of hair covering the entire area "Well that gives a new meaning to finding a needle in a haystack, and only now do I realize how cringeworthy that was."

"Yes, yes it was."

"Just checking."

"Oh my oh me, so you can see it then." that was when Yura revealed herself to the two of them from atop one of the strands of hair "My net of hairs I mean, it's such a pity though because seeing just isn't enough to save either of you."

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Inuyasha made his way through the forest, his mind drifting over Tatsu and Kagome's sudden departure, which pretty much left him brooding 'I say let them go, it's not like I even need either of them. I'm better off without them.' as he reached the village he skidded to a stop when he noticed several of the village women hanging in the air "Well I guess I don't have to ask what all of you are up to." he was answered by several of them raising weapons and ominously floating towards him "Alright now this is what I'm talking about, finally something that won't bore or annoy the hell out of me."

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Yura shot Tatsu and Kagome a condescending smirk "How do the two of you do, I'm Yura of the hair though there's no need for you to bother to remember, mainly because you'll be dead in a matter of moments." and within a mere second she managed to use her threads to snatch the bottle with the jewel shard from within Kagome's jewel "So I'll be having the jewel if you don't mind."

Tatsu tightened his hold on Kagome "This is probably gonna be bad."

"You're telling me, you two shattered the jewel didn't you? You don't want to make me angry, you won't like me when I'm angry."

"Ha. Nice."

"What?"

"Skip it."

"Whatever, anyway where's the rest of it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? And frankly wouldn't the rest of us."

"I see, well in that case I might as well finish off the both of you here and now!" Yura charged at both of them.

"Yeah let me think about that. Thinking, thinking, thinking, nope!" Tatsu quickly leapt down into the well, followed by a flash of blue light.

"Hey no fair escaping like that!" Yura threw her sword down into the well, only to pull it back up a moment later "Well that was weird, there's no blood, but those two are gone and I have a shard of the jewel. Call that one a win I guess."

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Inuyasha dropped his combat stance when he noticed something off "I knew that something was off, I recognize these girls from the village. Okay so is someone gonna tell me what the hell is going on or do I have to start clawing out your eyes, I mean I'm fine either way but don't expect me to pull any of my punches."

"Inuyasha, wait…" Kaede started crawling towards him with a blood covered wound on her shoulder "Do not hurt them… tis not their doing…"

"Kaede… Dammit you look worse than usual, what the hell happened?"

"Must ye always treat an old woman thus?"

"Look old hag about the girls, it's them or us and frankly I choose us."

"But someone else is controlling them… Wait where are Kagome and Tatsu, tell me ye know where they've gone."

"All I know is they said that they were going home, what's the big deal anyway? I can handle this without either of them."

"Nay Inuyasha, ye must not hurt them."

"Your heart is bleeding in more ways than one old woman, but if you actually want a chance of seeing tomorrow, which is actually pretty slim, then we've gotta do something."

"Control the strings and ye control the puppets, if not-" Kaede was cut off by one of the women floating towards them with a butcher knife.

Inuyasha found himself forced on the evasive "Well I don't see you going out of your way to help you old hag!"

"The hair Inuyasha, find ye the hair and mayhap thee will wake!"

"What the hell are you talking about, I don't see any hair!" this was followed by all of the captive women suddenly circling him "What the hell?"

"It be a trap, Inuyasha flee the hair!"

But it was too late, Inuyasha found himself trapped in a thick layer of threads, being forced to narrow dodge attacks from the village women "You know whoever's doing this can't be too smart, even if I'm all tangled up I don't need to see whoever's on the other end in order to drag their ass out!" he attempted to pull Yura out of her hiding place from where she was controlling the hair, only for the strands to be tightened and for him to end up being bound against a nearby tree, ending up in a chokehold because of it at the same time.

"Inuyasha!"

"No… you… DON'T!" with a quick roar Inuyasha ripped the tree right out of the ground and freeing himself in the process, and then he quickly caught his breath "Okay that wasn't fun, I thought I was a goner."

"And ye would be were ye normal Inuyasha." Kaede glanced over to see the men from the village also being controlled by Yura's hair.

"Okay you know what, it hasn't even been ten minutes and I'm already pissed off and sick of all of this crap."

"Inuyasha… save yourself, forget this old woman." and then she fell over.

"Hey spare me the noble act will you- Oh wait this isn't an act. Well thanks a crap load for all of that."

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Yura pulled back the strands of hair that had been cut by Inuyasha, only to notice a single strand of his hair in the mix "Oh my what pretty silver hair, that one is worth keeping an eye on for the time being."

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Inuyasha was now carrying Kaede on his back through the forest "You'd better hang on tight you got that?"

Kaede glanced up and saw a thick net of hair in front of them "Beware Inuyasha, lest ye touch and get caught up in-" she cut herself short when Inuyasha just plowed right through them without even noticing.

"What did you say something old hag?"

"...Nothing noteworthy."

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Yura swung her way across the forest with thoughts of Inuyasha on her mind "Well he's quite the stubborn one but he's quite entertaining, and I must have this beautiful silver hair of his for my collection."

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Sunset came.

Inuyasha laid Kaede down on a bed of a grass in a secluded area "Did I hear you say that you could see this hair or whatever?"

"Aye." Kaede struggled to even speak.

"Well can you tell me where it's being pulled from?"

"Don't be absurd, with me in this condition and assuming I actually did know from whence these strands of hair came… ye must find Kagome and Tatsu…"

"You mean they can see them too?"

"Aye, and in order to defeat this foe ye be needing their power, for without them ye have no hope of triumph." and then her eye closed.

"Well this sucks."

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The sun was setting over the skies of Japan.

Kagome's eyes snapped open and she bolted upright "What the heck, where am I?" she glanced down and nearly freaked to find the bones of Mistress Centipede beneath her "Oh that's right, I'm in the well. Wait a second, where's Tatsu?" and then she started hearing two very familiar voices, as well as two faint images of familiar faces.

"So do you think he's dead?"

"Well if he is I've got dibs on his porn stash, we made that agreement years ago."

"Forget it, the last thing you need is more porn and the last thing that I need is to walk in on you and my sister doing it to La Cucaracha."

"Hey we've gone over this, if you didn't want to see it then you should've knocked."

"You were on the couch in his living room, where the hell was I supposed to knock?" the dark blue figure glanced down the well "Well she's not dead so I don't have to worry about that idiot haunting me."

Kagome slowly and cautiously glanced up "Kazuma, Akira, it's really you guys! Wait a second, where's Tatsu?"

"See for yourself." Kazuma jerked a thumb upwards to where Tatsu was comically launched head first into the ceiling of the wellhouse "In case you weren't aware, and that's actually just being rhetorical, he's never been very good at sticking the landings." he promptly threw a rope down to her.

Kagome wasted no time in climbing out of the well and rushed outside to see the modern day sunset covered skies of Tokyo 'So it's true, we're finally back in our own time…'

"So do the two of you want to explain where exactly you've been for the past three days before or after we pry Tatsu off of the ceiling of the well house?"

this was followed by Tatsu crashing back down through the roof of the wellhouse in a comical fashion "After it is."

'It's not a dream, we're really back…'

"Thanks for waiting for me." Tatsu pulled himself out of the wellhouse and spat out a little bit of rubble "And in case it wasn't clear that was sarcasm."

'We're really home…' with tears brimming in her eyes, Kagome suddenly latched onto Tatsu and began sobbing "That was terrifying, how the heck do you deal with stuff like this?"

"Kagome I've been dealing with crazy and mentally scarring crap for about as long as I can remember, most of which involves the mental scars that come with watching my brother me intimate with the love of his life, and that's numbed me to pain and fear to the point where I wasn't even fazed by being attacked by an army of ninjas last week, or me going toe to toe with some dog guy who doesn't know how the hell to keep his trap shut."

"...I have no response to that."

"Nor do I expect you to."

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the past…

Darkness was closing in over the Feudal Era.

Inuyasha was now digging a hole for the unconscious body of Kaede and then proceeded to begin burying her "There I think this oughta be enough, all things considered old woman I guess burying you would be the least I can do for you."

"You realize that I am resting, not dead." Kaede pointed out dryly.

"Then just think of it as a hiding place, I'll even be nice enough to come back here and dig you back up if I remember."

"Do ye promise that ye won't forget where ye left me?"

"...Yeah I'm gonna go." he started walking away.

"Do not forget Inuyasha."

"I heard you the first time you old hag!" and so Inuyasha took off into the forest, cursing the likes of both Kagome and Tatsu "For the love of fuck, why did those two have to take off right when I need them?"

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Meanwhile, with Raidou…

The night was calm as Raidou stood in front of the line of candles, one held firmly in his hand, his mind drifting 'It's been 10 years since that day mother, but you don't have to worry, I know what my destiny is.'

"Master Raidou!" this was when one of the Yakuza soldiers rushed into the room and knelt down in front of him "Master Raidou I bring news, where is the Guardian?"

"He wanted me to tell you that he doesn't want to be disturbed right now, give me your news and I'll be sure to pass it onto him."

"I… Of course my lord. Our intelligence report states that the Kamikaze youth has returned after having disappeared three days ago, and he has the Fang of Ryuhogo in his possession."

"Good, that's definitely promising news. I'll be sure to notify the Guardian about this as soon as possible."

"Very well my lord." and so the soldier took his leave.

'Looks like things are progressing about as well as I had hoped, despite a few hiccups here and there. I can see it now, he's back in his own familiar environment training himself until his bones crack, showing nothing but unyielding absolute discipline.'

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Meanwhile, with the youth in question…

Tatsu found himself seated behind a desk in a dark room with a lamp being shined directly in his face "Okay I think I speak for the only sane people in this room when I say, you guys are as high as the staff behind Konami."

"We'll be asking the questions you overgrown Bad Dragon toy!" Arashi slammed a ruler down on the desk and adjusted his shades.

"Okay Raidou posted it on his blog time and time again and now I'm starting to believe it, you have a crap load of screws loose. Look I already told you, as absurd as it sounds a demon burst out of that well, grabbed Kagome while giving me the Loki treatment and then yanked both of us down into it."

"It's actually not as crazy as you might think." Kazuma pointed out "Keep in mind that Father Higurashi did mention a legend about that well being used to dispose the corpses of demons, but rather than just dispose of them it's actually acting as a gateway to the future, like a focal point of the space time continuum."

"Which is probably why he's sealing it shut right now. You think it'll work?"

"Well I think there's only one way to find out."

"Yeah in the meantime I'm gonna go take a shower and wash the blood, dirt and potential dog hair off my… everywhere."

"That's probably for the best."

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Meanwhile, within the well house…

'You can't be serious.' the Guardian, clad in the typical black kimono and samurai helmet that obscurred his face, made his way down into the wellhouse and just rolled his eyes at the so called sealing that had been placed on it by Kagome's grandfather 'Covering the well in a layer of wood and fake talismans? It's like you're begging for something to come through and eat you in your sleep.' he then proceeded to unleash a golden light from his fingertip around the edges of the well, welding it shut 'At least this way you have a chance of stopping something before it starts instead of just annoying your enemy through sheer stupidity.'

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25 minutes later…

"Hold on, are you serious?" Kagome glanced up at Grandpa Higurashi "You mean you actually closed off the well?"

Grandpa Higurashi nodded "That I did, we have no need to worry about anymore visitors from there. I even used some of my special spirit wards just to be safe."

"Uh huh."

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Nightfall came, and the moon was shining brightly over the Feudal Era.

"Oh yeah that's those two alright, I'd know either of their scents just about anywhere" following their scents, Inuyasha eventually made his way to the Bone Eater's Well, where he quickly came across Kagome's school uniform "Why the hell did they leave her clothes? They really did it didn't they, they went back to their own world. Through here was it?" and so he leapt down into the well.

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Kagome laid on her bed and let out a content sigh 'It feels so good to be back home in my own bed, but still I can't help but wonder. Were Tatsu and I really there in that weird feudal era Japan, or was all of it some kind of dream? And what about that girl with the hair, I mean it's obvious that she wanted the jewel. I can practically hear Inuyasha just tearing into either one of us for losing that jewel shard. Oh what the heck am I worrying about Inuyasha for?"

"Probably because he's about to come charging through the well like he's some kind of crazed bull." Tatsu popped up in her bedroom window, earning a yelp of terror from Kagome as she nearly fell off her bed.

"You really have to stop doing that."

"I know I should but it's too much fun."

"...Only you Tatsu, only you. Anyway my grandpa went ahead and sealed off the well, how could he possibly get through?"

"Inuyasha's as stubborn as he is an ass, I'm pretty sure he'll find a way, which is why I already asked Kazuma and Akira to keep an eye on the wellhouse and I'm going with them so I can get a rematch with him."

"And again I say, only you."

"Also, your mom wanted me to tell you it's dinner time."

"Now that I can get behind."

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Kazuma sat outside the well house setting up a game of cards, and he looked up to see Tatsu drop down in front of them "So how long do we have exactly?"

"Well that depends." Tatsu gave a shrug "Are you referring to when Akira gets out of the closet that he got stuffed into for pissing off Moya, or when Inuyasha comes bursting through the well looking for us and starts barking like an angry dog?"

"Either one."

"Well I'm guessing Akira won't get out before tomorrow morning, and as for Inuyasha I would have to guess…" this was followed by a loud crash and a very loud "OW! F*CK!" coming from inside the wellhouse "Right about now actually. So where's Moya right now?"

"Back at the apartment. Now if you'll excuse me…" and so he promptly took his leave, which left Tatsu alone in the courtyard of the shrine.

"Yeah, they're totally gonna do it on the kitchen floor.. And he'll come storming out in three, two, one."

Sure enough, Inuyasha stormed his way out of the wellhouse looking mad as all hell and complete with a large purple bruise on his forehead "Oh yeah you really know how to make a guy feel welcome."

"It's a gift."

"And for the record, who the hell told you or the other wench you could go home?"

"A better question is, what blowhard told you that either of us needed your permission to do anything?"

"Listen you little bastard, you should know when to listen to your betters."

"And since when were you my better? Oh yeah, never."

"If by never you mean I proved it when I took you out the night that wench ripped me off the tree."

"Okay this is getting really old really fast." Tatsu didn't miss a beat as he promptly dropped into a combat stance "You wanna go for round two?"

"I've been wondering when I'd get the chance to kill you." Inuyasha's claws suddenly grew even sharper.

"Round two it is, bring it furball." both of them prepared to charge at each other, intent on finishing what they started, until…

"Save your antics for another time." this was when Guardian suddenly blitzed in between the two of them, grabbing Inuyasha by the wrist and nearly crushing it with one hand, and doing the same thing to Tatsu with his other hand "I understand fighting spirit, enjoying a challenge and sticking it to some arrogant blowhard as much as the next guy, but the two of you should keep in mind that Higurashi shrine is private property and if you fight here the results may very well be dire. One of you tends to get caught up in the moment faster than he should, a factor he's going to have to correct, and as for you… he levelled his gaze on Inuyasha "I don't know who or what you are or where you came from exactly, but my business isn't with you so step aside."

Inuyasha quickly forced himself to regain his nerve "And what the hell do you know you arrogant smartass, just cause you stopped some sword? I say you're a way better challenge than that little pest, so I'll just kill you instead! Iron Reaver-" he prepared to attack with his Iron Reaver Soul Stealer…

"Nope." Guardian sent him crashing to the hard pavement covered ground in a matter of seconds with just one blow to the head "I warned you." and then he turned to Tatsu, takine note of the fact that he hadn't exited his combat stance "You maintain your serious demeanor in the face of a potential unexpected adversary, your stance leaves no openings. Impressive in some areas, but in other areas it's as clear as daylight that you know very little of the power that you hold within your very grasp."

"You're pretty knowledgable about me and my fighting style." Tatsu's eyes narrowed considerably "But that still raises the question, who are you and how is it that you know so much about me?"

"All you need to know right now is that your destiny is intertwined with mine. Try and stand in the way of that and you'll die a slow and gruesome death."

"Good to know."

"And you clearly do not take my warning seriously as of yet."

"I wouldn't say that, it's more like I was waiting for an opportunity to do this." Tatsu then blitzed forward and dealt Guardian a surprise palm thrust to the chest, catching him off guard and sending him crashing to the ground.

Guardian picked himself back up in a matter of seconds, though now the necklace that he wore with the three fangs "So you're not taking me seriously and you only see the power that I displayed on your friend over there."

"He's not my friend, you saw how much of an arrogant jackass he is."

"Believe me, I did. Maybe I should try something more direct." he held up the necklace with the three fangs, which definitely took Tatsu off guard "Does this seem familiar to you?"

"That's… like the necklace that my dad gave me."

"I did say that our destinies are intertwined with each other. I wish I could tell you more, but given the limited time I have I wouldn't be able to without being found out. All I can do is entrust this to you for the time being." he removed one of the green colored fangs from his necklace and tossed it to Tatsu "Fasten that to the one you wear around your own neck and its power will be yours."

"You mean these things have some kind of powers?"

"Haven't you realized it yet? Each fang, they're known as the Fangs of Ryuhogo by the way, represents a different aspect of power that surpasses any feasible human limitations, and they come in pairs so there are two of each of them. The orange one is known as the Fang of the Iron Heart, it grants the user enhanced strength, speed and durability, and for enhanced users, the ability to fire off energy blasts."

"Wait seriously?"

"I can't give you a demonstration if that's what you're wondering. All I can tell you is that you have to concentrate, let the energy build until it has nowhere to go but out. The green one is known as the Fang of the Divine Quake, when awakened it allows the user to manipulate the earth around them and anything surrounding them with earthen properties. That one hasn't been awakened yet though, but you should be able to figure it out. We'll meet again soon enough, though I personally can't confirm as to whether or not we'll be on the same or opposing sides when that time comes. But at the same time, I can't have you dying on me just yet, so call these a parting gift. Until then." and so he promptly disappeared in a flash, leaving behind two metal swords where he once stood.

'That guy… this fang…' Tatsu could feel his mind racing as he fastened the new fang to the necklace he wore 'Dad, you told me that these things were a lot more important than they appeared to be. I can't help but wonder, is it possible that you knew about these things and what they could do?'

"Hey Tatsu." it was at this moment that Kagome rushed out of the house "What's going on out here, I just felt the power surge and-" she paused, then looked at Inuyasha, still sprawled out on the ground and apparently unconscious "So… he's not dead is he?"

"Not yet but I'm pretty sure his mouth is gonna get him killed one of these days. And here I though that was gonna happen to me."

"You're not the only one- Wait a second do you see that?"

"You mean that hair the furball's got on his shoulder? Yeah I see it plain as day."

"But what's it doing on his-" Kagome knelt down and picked up the hair off of Inuyasha's shoulder, only for it to suddenly wrap around her hand "It moved."

"That chick with the hair said that normal people can't see her hair, which would mean people like you and Kaede or Dragon Slayers like me and Kazuma."

"But that would mean- Oh no." Kagome rushed into the well house, only to discover to her horror that several long tentacles made of hair were suddenly coming out of the well "Hair, lots and lots of hair."

"Well that's like something straight out of a horror movie."

"So then what the heck are we supposed to-"

"Get down!" Tatsu shoved Kagome out of the way and began cutting away at the hair, only for them to suddenly start growing back and grabbing Tatsu, binding his arms and legs, knocking his sword right out of his grip in the process.

Kagome watched from a corner as the hair strands put themselves back together "Every time it gets cut it just grows back, plus there's so much of it Tatsu can't fight all of it off at once!"

"I can try!"

"And you'll die if you do!" Kagome glanced down at the well and noticed something "Hey check it out Tatsu, there's that one strand poking out of the well!"

"I'm a little bit busy right now!"

"Oh yeah, right." she looked and saw the two swords that Guardian left behind, lying on the ground a few feet away from the entrance to the shrine "I guess I'll have to do it." so she picked up one of the swords, feeling how heavy it was, and she cut the strand of hair, disabling all of the others and allowing Tatsu to free himself.

"You know your form wasn't bad considering you've never picked up a sword in your life before." Tatsu looked down to see the hair pull itself back into the well "It pulled back into the well, which means that she somehow sent it here from that era through the well. I guess inanimate objects can pass through too."

"I don't get it though, she already got the jewel shard that I had so why would she bother to come after us?"

"Probably because she sees us and Inuyasha as threats, and for all she knows we might have even more jewel shards."

"But that was the only one that we had!"

"But she doesn't know that."

"...We'd better get moving."

"I thought you didn't want to have to go back there."

"I don't, but… Tatsu you've been training every day until your bones cracked because you wanted to protect me and everyone else."

"It took you until now to catch onto that?"

"It took me until now to realize exactly how dangerous the kind of things you have to protect us from are, if these kinds of things can come threw the well and come after us then they'll be putting the people I care about in danger."

"Looks like you've got more fire in you than even I gave you credit for, just give me a minute to get ready." Tatsu held up the package that Kazuma gave him before "Looks like my dad knew I'd get into some shit and he wanted me to be prepared."

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3 ½ minutes later…

Kagome glanced down the well 'I guess I'm in for one heck of a ride after all, but I have to do it to keep all of you safe, mom, Sota, Grandpa.' she glanced back "Not gonna lie Tatsu, I like the new look."

Tatsu stood in the doorway to the well house, his new attire consisting of an azure blue colored martial arts gi, black wristbands, a black obi around his waist, white shin guards and a pair of black shoes "You can thank my dad for the new threads, wherever the hell he is, but that can wait for another day. You ready to do this?"

"Do I have another choice?"

"Not really no."

"That's what I thought." and so she leapt into the well.

"And in 3… 2… 1…"

"HEY!" that was when Inuyasha burst into the wellhouse, now sporting a second large bruise on his forehead along with the first one "You've got a lot of nerve just leaving me like that-"

"Quit whining and get in the well." Tatsu promptly threw him in nonchalantly and then jumped in after the two of them.

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Yura lay in a bed of skulls petting a certain specific red skull "They should be back any minute, and we won't let them get away this time. No their hair will belong to me, just like that of all of those that fell before them."

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Kagome poked her head out of the well, with Inuyasha and Tatsu doing the same "Be careful you guys, there's hair inside here too."

"So what you're saying is that she's probably after the three of us?" asked Inuyasha.

"Well yeah, I mean she's already got our shard of the jewel." Tatsu pointed out.

"Yeah I mean she- WHAT?!"

"Oh yeah nobody ever told you, I wonder why. That was sarcasm for the record."

"Yeah I got it, how the hell did that happen?"

"Will you two quit squabbling?" Kagome shut them up "Look I can see a bunch of hair strands in front of us but the only one we have to worry about is the one connecting all of them, so if we follow it then it'll lead straight to her."

"So follow the main strand and we find her." Tatsu took Kagome onto his back "I think we should split up, we'll head towards the East while Inuyasha you head toward the West." and he took off running with Kagome on his back.

"Not like I need either of them to begin with." and so Inuyasha took off in another direction, brooding to himself all the while.

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Kaede lay in the hole where she had been placed by Inuyasha "Hear me Inuyasha, Kagome truly is Kikyo reborn and Tatsu is a Dragon Slayer of legend, yet that will aid ye of mere little if the three of ye cannot work together as one. Kagome need know of her true strength, she needs both of ye's help to find herself. Ye three must work together as one, ye need one another in order to survive and thrive. Forget whatever differences ye may possess for now, and be as one in the heat of battle."

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Tatsu and Kagome happened across a bonfire on their way with the corpses of several men surrounding the place "Looks like she's been through here."

Kagome was quick to notice a distinct lack of something on each of the men "But their heads were chopped off."

"I recognize these guys from the village, I guess Yura jumped them before they were able to react or even know what hit them- What are you doing?"

"Just borrowing something." Kagome picked up a nearby bow and quiver of arrows "If we don't take her down then a lot more people will die just like these men, I figured I should at least be somewhat prepared." and they continued making their way through the forest.

"...Just remember what I said before about your aim, pull the string back further and put more muscle into your shot."

"Alright I get it, I just need some practice."

"I'm not criticizing, I'm advising."

"Suit yourself but I'm serious, I really think that I can."

"I never said you couldn't, now it's all about you living up to the claims that we both have a lot of faith in."

"Leave it to you to be the believer."

"It's what I do." they stopped as they reached the edge of a cliff overlooking the forest, an ominous wind blowing past them.

"They're a lot closer, and I mean a lot closer." this was followed by the strands of hair suddenly ripping apart a nearby tree in an instant.

Tatsu wasted no time in dodging all of the hair tentacles lunging at them "There's no way I'll be able to dodge all of them, I'll have to go on the offensive! Hang on tight Kagome, this part is gonna get messy."

"What are you gonna do?"

"With any luck, end this before it starts." Tatsu didn't even hesitate as he started using the new twin swords he brandished to cut through numerous strands of hair per stroke, each stroke happening in an instant "And that be how we do." he looked up to see a gigantic hair sphere hanging above them "You see that?"

"You think that's where Yura is hiding?"

"I'd have to say-" Tatsu was cut off by several thick strands of hair binding his arms and legs faster than he was able to react, knocking Kagome off his back in the process "The odds are pretty damn good at the moment."

And this was confirmed seconds later by Yura landing in front of him "You know that doggy did have some nice silver hair but by human standards you keep yourself pretty well groomed all things considered."

"Well I condition daily, and combine that with a metric fuckton of blood, sweat and tears and you're in for one hell of a sight."

"And that would explain a few things, the locks of a man who's not afraid to put himself through hell always have such a gorgeous shine to them." this was met with a pissed off look from Kagome "It's a shame I've never been able to add any of it to my collection, so would you like to be the first Tatsu?"

"Thanks but no thanks Yura of the Hair, and how exactly do you know my name?"

"Word going around these lands is that the half demon Inuyasha is going around playing fetch with a human warrior by the name of Tatsu and a reincarnated shrine maiden known to the people by the name of Kagome. Not like any of you seem that bright though, if you do something like this to the jewel." she held up her jewel shard "Once you two here have been wrapped up and I add Inuyasha to my collection, I can go and gather the rest of the jewel shards for myself."

"Yeah I'd hate to break it to you, actually no I don't, but that's not gonna happen, not as long as I still draw breath." Tatsu summoned two metal swords and slashed the strands binding him, easily freeing himself, and then he charged at Yura at full speed.

Yura summoned several more hair tentacles in an attempt to bind Tatsu again.

Tatsu didn't miss a beat as he used his new twin swords to rip through each tendril of hair with surprising levels of ease "I hate to break it to you, but I don't tend to fall for the same trick twice in a row."

"Cute and smart, and with great hair."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, even if it is true." and it was Tatsu's overconfidence that led to him letting down his guard and getting caught by the leg, allow Yura to slash him across his shoulder with her sword, knocking both of his metal swords out of his hands "Fuck!"

"I have to admit I enjoy when my playthings play back, I suppose I should take my time and enjoy playing with you before I cut you into little pieces." she slashed him across the front multiple times, leaving his torso covered in blood, and then prepared to drive the sword into his heart.

This was stopped by an arrow nearly taking her head off, courtesy of Kagome from where she was on the ground "I'm gonna say this once hair raiser, let the cocky boy go or the next one won't miss. How was that for battle snark?" she received seven fingers from Tatsu, his way of saying 7/10 "Oh come on!"

"Well what do you know Tatsu, it looks to me like she wants me to give you back. You two do make such a cute couple." this was met with Kagome blushing bright red.

"What do you- We're not- Uh…"

"I knew it."

"We're not a couple." Tatsu told her flatly, though the light hue of pink across his cheeks gave his feelings away, if only slightly.

"Well then again her hair doesn't seem to be as well cared for as your or the sweet little doggy that is Inuyasha, I guess I might as well take what I can get."

"Not as well cared for huh? What the heck would you know about it anyway, you live in a world where they don't even have shampoo!" Kagome fired another arrow at Yura, only to end up hitting the gigantic hairball hanging in the air and purifying it, revealing the dozens of skulls trapped inside of it "Okay wasn't expecting that."

"Oh now what have you done?!"

"Those must be the guys we saw from the village." Tatsu noted.

"And I'll be stuffing you in there along with them once I separate that pretty hair from that head of yours, it would be wasted on you anyway. One thing to deal with first though, that annoying wench over there has to die!" she used her red comb to launch a blast of fire at Kagome, which engulfed her in an explosion as a result "There, now is that hot enough for you? You'll feel the heat right down to your bones. That one is for emptying out my lair, what goes around comes around."

"Yeah well here's the thing." Tatsu shot her a smirk "Some people I know have a knack for showing up at the last possible second, and as I just learned Inuyasha just so happens to be one of those people." he pointed to where Inuyasha was protecting Kagome with his Robe of the Fire Rat "Plus that thing is fire proof so yay."

"Well the pet should never outlive the master, at least not by much, so I'll deal with those two after I take off your head!" Yura charged at Tatsu and prepared to lop off his head.

"Yeah let me think about that. Thinking, thinking, thinking, nope!" Tatsu brandished both of his swords and swiftly cut himself free before cutting off Yura's right hand "Well like a wise man once said, payback is a bitch and she's back in heat."

"You know I wish you would show some restraint when dealing with a lady."

"Hey I believe in chivalry as much as the next guy but I don't like to show mercy to murderous skanks trying to kill the people I care about."

"Yeah well, heads up!" Yura manipulated all of the skulls tied into her lair to attack Tatsu, as well as the sword in her severed hand "And do be sure to stay still, it's much easier to hit you if you don't move."

"That's the point! Blades of Blood!" Inuyasha unleashed his Blades of Blood barrage, ripping through her attacks "Let me make this clear wench, if anyone is gonna take this idiot down it's gonna be me! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" he followed up with his Iron Reaver Soul Stealer, only for it to be blocked by a shield of skulls and hair and for Yura to stab him in the shoulder from behind using her severed hand and sword.

Yura then proceeded to use her hair tentacles to reattach her severed hand "Half the demon means half the power, and a human who knows his way around a fight is still a human, so in the end I guess it only makes sense."

"You little…"

"What are you disappointed Inuyasha? I'll bet you were using this to become a full blooded demon. Now stand still, if I don't get a clean cut then your blood will stain that pretty silver hair of yours."

"You'd be living in a fantasy if that actually happened bitch!" Tatsu forced himself free of his restraints, brandished both of his new swords and then blitzed down to the ground and cut Yura down with both of them, leaving blood spewing from her X shaped wound across her chest, and in the process he pulled out the bottle containing the jewel shard, but as a result of his own wounds he fell to one knee "Okay that was fun."

"Especially for me." somehow still alive, Yura stomped down on one of Tatsu's hands and then kicked Inuyasha in the face, sending him stumbling backwards "Who the hell do you think you are, a Dragon Slayer that I just met sticking his hand in my chest."

"Which happens to be sagging like hell, also why aren't you dead yet?" Tatsu promptly received a kick to the face.

"I also have to consider the fact that you stole my jewel shard, you've officially gotten on my bad side."

"The feeling is mutual." Tatsu dealt Yura a sharp kick to the face, giving Inuyasha the chance to claw her across her back, sending her stumbling back a few feet 'Come on Kagome, we're on our last legs right now so if you're gonna find something then find it fast.'

Sure enough, while Yura was distracted, Kagome was climbing the skulls and hair while carrying one of Tatsu's new swords in hand towards what she was targeting 'This red skull seems different from the others, whatever it's for she doesn't want either of them to get their hands on it. If they can keep her distracted while I concentrate on this.' she grabbed the red skull and aimed the sword directly at it "This has to be it, this red skulls is what's connecting all of the hairs to her hands!"

"Don't you dare touch that or I'll kill you where you stand you little wench!" having caught onto their little plan, Yura charged at Kagome in a rage with her sword drawn.

Despite knowing of the danger closing in on her, Kagome brought down the sword on the red skull and engulfed it in a flash of pink and blue light, stopping the sword mere inches away from her face and causing Yura to fade away into dust, as well as causing all of the hair and skulls to fall to the ground, and Kagome along with them.

Tatsu caught Kagome in his arms before she hit the ground "Not a bad job of using the seord for a beginner."

"That thing is ridiculously well balanced."

"Yeah well to much weight on any one side of the blade makes you lose power on the stroke so you've gotta even it out, I had to customize that specifically for that during my training to awaken my ice powers."

"Well leave it to you to make something like that overly complicated."

"It's what I do."

Inuyasha dropped down to the ground and picked up what was inside the red skull, that being a red comb "So this is what Yura really was."

"What you mean she was originally a comb?"

"Considering the crap you've seen and pulled since you've been here you can't really be surprised by that, my guess is that its power came from the fact that it was once used to comb the hair of the dead."

"Yura didn't use it so much as it used her." Tatsu picked up the bottle with thd jewel shard "Well we've got what we need now."

"I wonder how long it's gonna take to find the rest of them." Kagome muttered.

"Well another day down and I can already tell where this is heading."

"Yeah you're one of thise guys aren't you?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes "Alright let's get going already Tatsu, Kagome." he received a few odd looks "What?"

"You realize that this is the first time you've referred to either of us by name, and frankly I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing."

"Yeah well don't get too excited, you're weaker than me and she's still pretty useless. Face it, you both need me."

"Yeah whatever let's you sleep at night, oh yeah and one other thing that I had better do before i forget about it." Tatsu slammed the hilt of one of his swords down on Inuyasha's skull.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Kagome commented.

"Why tell you what you already know?" Tatsu let out a sigh "You know it's kind of funny, when I was growing up my dad always said that if you have a gift you should use it to help those who can't help themselves. So you know what that's what I'm gonna do with these powers, I'll hunt down these jewel shards with you guys, kick some evil demon ass and grow way stronger than I am right now, and find my own path in life. And with any luck, maybe somewhere along the way, I'll find out what happened to my dad and find him someday."

"I'll do whatever I can to help you with that."

"Thanks, that really does mean a lot to me." Tatsu gave her a small smile, but then he noticed her expression looking downcast "You got something else on your mind?"

"We both almost died tonight. All of us almost died because of the two of us. Well because of me mostly, it was my bright idea to go back home with this thing. You saved us back there Tatus, you really should think about that. This is really serious."

"What? Oh sorry, I've just got some things on my mind."

"Is this about that guy you told me about? The one that knocked out Inuyasha with a single blow to the head?"

"Yeah that's him, but that's not even what concerns me. This guy, he called himself the Guardian, he had a necklace with fangs on it, just like the one that my dad gave me. The stuff he did, the power he was putting out with it… I don't really know how to explain it. My dad was right about what he said Kagome, he was right all alone and I never realized it. These Fangs of Ryuhogo, I think they really are something more special than any of us realized. And this Guardian had one just like the fang dad gave me, along with two other ones."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, 500 years in the future…

The Guardian stood in a room filled with numerous empty cells, his eyes blazing with triumph and disdain for one of them in particular "I warned you time and again, but you chose to ignore me in your own arrogance. You should've listened to me when you had the chance." he then removed his helmet, revealing the face of Raidou underneath as he looked down into one of the cells with disgust "You know I'm right about this Shin. The Fangs of Ryuhogo are a lot more than just a symbol of power, the Fangs are power. And I'm going to find all of them, and when the time comes that I've made that ambition into a reality, you'll pay for your crimes. I'll make sure of it myself."

A/N:

And with the first actual chapter, we get into the first few episodes of the actual plot of Inuyasha. There wasn't much opportunity to differ from canon, and the overall plot won't that much, aside from the lack of the love triangle between Kikyo, Kagome and Inuyasha. And adding onto that, that doesn't mean that I have anything against them, and to all of the haters, I do not hate Kikyo, so to those who just want to see a Kikyo bashing fic, get out now. This is the only warning you're going to get on the subject.

So yes, the plot about Raidou Asakura, AKA the Dragon Guardian is going to be a sort of subplot in this fic that takes place in the modern era, at least for the time being that is. I wanted to take this opportunity to do something that the original anime never actually tried: An actual long term story arc that takes place in the Modern Era. As for whether or not it's well received, well I guess that would be up to all of you to decide.