Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

"Here's the cup of water that you asked for Kikyo." Kagome said, handing the older miko the cup full of liquid, as she sat down. "Fresh from the river."

"Thank you Kagome." Kikyo said, smiling as she took the cup. "I really appreciate it."

Watching as the older miko drank the liquid and quickly finish it, Kagome sighed as she moved the bucket full of water that she had gotten for a nearby river to the side just in case the older miko wanted more. "Wow Kikyo, you must be really thirsty."

"Well I am drinking for two." Kikyo calmly replied, putting her hand on her slightly round stomach, as she gave a downcast gaze to it.

"No, no I didn't mean it like that." Kagome immediately said, giving a nervous smile, as she waved her hands in front of her as if to clear up any misunderstanding. "I was just surprised that's all. I'm sorry if it sounded like anything else. I didn't mean to offend you."

"No, it's quite all right." Kikyo sadly said, "I guess I'm not myself these days since…you know, Inuyasha died."

Kagome nodded as she as gazed down at her lap, "Yeah, I know what you mean." Understanding how the older miko felt. "I'm sorry."

Kikyo absently rubbed her belly in silence, as she reflected on her memories with the InuHanyou, "Perhaps if I just had not said anything, he would still be alive."

Kagome shook her head in disagreement, "No don't think that. It's not your fault, it's Inuyasha's. If only he had taken responsibility and had not ran away, then he wouldn't have been killed by Naraku."

"But even so." Kikyo quietly said, her heart still aching in grief for the InuHanyou.

"Don't worry about it anymore. Just forget about him." Kagome said, trying to cheer the older miko up. "There's nothing that you could've done to change the outcome. Please forget about him for the sake of your child."

Getting only silence as a response from the older miko, Kagome felt guilty for even mentioning the question in the first place. 'Maybe I just shouldn't have said anything.' Kagome thought as she sighed, taking the empty cup and refilled it with water from the bucket.

'Huh?' Kagome thought, turning her attention away from what she was doing as she looked at the entrance of the hut. 'Jewel shards?' Narrowing her eyes to perceive better, she quietly gasped, 'And there's two of them! But why would they be…'

"Kagome?" The older miko asked, drawing the school girl's attention back to her, "Is there something the matter?"

Meeting the worried yet concerned eyes of the older miko, Kagome shook her head, "No, there's nothing wrong." Glancing back at the hut entrance, "I'm just a little curious, that's all."

"Of what?" Kikyo asked, "What are you curious about?"

"H-Huh?..."Kagome said, a little taken back by this, as she turned her attention back to the older miko. "You mean, you're not you sensing it?" The confused yet worried look didn't leave the older miko's face. "You're not sensing the presence of the jewel shards, Kikyo? Is something the matter?"

"H-Huh?" Kikyo said, before a look of realization dawned on her face, "Oh, that. Do not worry, nothing is wrong, Kagome." She said, shaking her head as if to clear up the misunderstanding, as she took a hand and placed it on her slightly rounded stomach. "It's just that, perhaps the child that I carry is affecting my ability to sense jewel shards. Since it is part demon."

Nodding her head in understanding, Kagome agreed, "I see, so because that child is part demon, it's messing with your ability to sense the jewel shards. Yeah, I understand."

Kikyo gave Kagome a small smile and asked, "May I ask, what it is about the jewel shards that you're curious about?"

"I was just curious why jewel shards would be coming here." Kagome explained. "But now I realize that it could be Kouga coming back to check on us." Getting up to greet the approaching wolf demon, Kagome excused herself, "Wait a while, I'll be right back. Just call my name if you need me to get you something, alright?" The older miko nodded her agreement, as Kagome made her way out of the hut.

Once she stepped foot outside, Kagome sighed as she continued walking away from the hut, 'Poor Kikyo, being pregnant is really taking a toll on her health.Especially now, since Inuyasha is gone.' Softening her eyes in sadness at the thought, Kagome brought a hand on her aching heart. 'Inuyasha…'

Suddenly before she could ponder on that thought anymore, a gust of wind came and blew against her followed by other rough winds, as a mini whirlwind finally approached her. "Hello Kagome," Kouga greeted, coming forth from the whirlwind as soon as it dispersed. "How sweet it is of you to come out to greet me, I'm touched."

Pushing away her sadness, Kagome shook her head as she smiled, "Oh, it's nothing, what you're doing for us is sweet Kouga. Thank you."

Giving the young miko a sincere smile, Kouga said, "It's not a problem Kagome, since I'll be staying with you guys for a while."

Slightly taken back by this, Kagome asked, "You're going to stay with us?" Watching as the wolf demon nodded, "What about your tribe? You're their leader, aren't you?"

"Yeah I am." Kouga replied, the smile not leaving his face, "But I talked to them about it and explained the situation to them and they were ok with it. Besides it's only for a while."

"How long is a while?" Kagome asked, hoping that it would be until the spider demon's death. For as much as she didn't like to think about it, now that the Inuyasha was no longer with them, it was too risky for them to go and fight against Naraku. For now there stood the possible chance that they could die during one of the battles with the spider demon.

Fortunately her wish came true as Kouga replied, "Until Naraku is defeated, but once in a while I'll you leave guys to go back and check on my tribe, to see if they need anything. Is that alright with you, Kagome?"

"Of course that fine with me." Kagome happily said, relieved that the wolf demon was going to stay with them. "And I'm sure that the others will agree, since-"Kagome stopped as she realized what she was about to say. 'Inuyasha is not with us.'

"Inuyasha's death is still bothering you, huh?" Kouga said solemnly, already knowing what was bugging the young miko. Kagome nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that I'll ever get over his death." Kagome said, averting her eyes from the wolf demon. "It's stupid right?"

"There's nothing stupid about it, Kagome regardless of what he did." Kouga replied, as he reflected on his own memories of the Inuhanyou. "I don't blame you, I still can't get over it too. But I can't believe that he's really dead." He paused, as he looked off in the distance, "It keeps bothering me but, I feel that Inuyasha is still alive somewhere, but I'm not too sure about it."

Too grieved to say anything, Kagome stayed quiet and gazed off in the distance, lost in thought.

"I'm sorry." Kouga said, seeing how sad the young miko was. "I shouldn't have said that."

Looking back at the wolf demon, Kagome shook her head, "No, it's alright Kouga. Although I am still saddened by Inuyasha's death, that's not what's bothering me. I'm actually worried about how Kikyo is handling his death."

"Kikyo?" Kouga asked, watching as Kagome nodded. "How so?"

"Well, it's just that ever since I told her about Inuyasha's death, she's been drowning her pain and her sorrows in water." Kagome began, "She keeps on drinking cup after cup of water, and says that she's thirsty but the amount of water that she drinks, makes it hard to believe her. She just drinks too much of it and as strange and ridiculous as it sounds, it's not safe. It's just not safe."

"It's not safe, huh?" Kouga said, not completely understanding what she meant by that. "Maybe it's her way of coping with grief."

"Yeah but," Kagome said, "I still can't help but be worried about her, you know. Every time I'm around her, I feel sorry for her and what she's going through. And I just wonder how she's handling it." With a downcast gaze, Kagome put a hand to her heart. "Poor Kikyo, she's probably keeping it all in."

Deciding not to say anything to that, Kouga kept silent and just continued to watch the young miko. 'Kagome…' He thought, for he knew what was going through the young miko's mind.

Feeling her heart ache at her own thoughts and worries, Kagome clenched her hand a bit before turning her attention back to the wolf demon, "Oh, I'm sorry Kouga." She apologized, "I guess that I'm just a little out of it today."

Kouga shook his head as he gave the young miko a small smile, "It's alright Kagome, I don't mind. Besides we all have those days."

Gratitude showed on her features, Kagome returned the smile and opened her mouth to say something, but a sudden voice cut off what she was about to say.

"Kagome!" Shippo, the owner of said sudden voice, called out, as he approached the young miko and wolf demon from the hut. "Kikyo asked for more water. She said she's thirsty."

"Already?" Kagome asked in disbelief, "But I left her with a bucket full of water, how could it be gone that fast?"

Shippo replied, "Well it's not exactly gone yet, but it's close. Very close, and that's why Kikyo asked for more water." And added, "She must be really thirsty."

"Yeah, I guess she is." Kagome sighed, before she turned back to the wolf demon, "I have to go now. Thanks again Kouga, we really appreciate your help." And with that, she went her way back to the hut.

Strangely bothered by the short conversation between the fox demon and young miko, Kouga watched Kagome disappear into the hut, before he bent down besides Shippo.

"Hey runt." Kouga said, causing the fox demon to flinched a bit at the name. "How much water did you say that Kikyo drinks, again?"

"Well, I didn't say how much she drinks, since it's hard to keep count, you know?" Shippo answered, as he turned around and faced the wolf demon. "But if I had to say the exact number of how much she drinks, I would say about 3-4 buckets of water per day, which is kinda a lot if you ask me."

"Yeah, it is." Kouga said, bringing a hand on his chin in thought.

'She keeps on drinking cup after cup of water, and…the amount of water that she drinks…is just too much.'

'Already, but I left her with a bucket full of water, how could it be gone that fast?

'It couldn't be…' Kouga thought, as he watched Kagome come out of the hut and head towards the direction of the nearby stream with an empty bucket in her hands. Glancing back at the hut, Kouga narrowed his eyes in suspicion, 'Could it?'

"Ahh!...Haa…Haa...N-No..."Inuyasha whimpered, turning his head to the side, as he tried ignore the waves of pain that passed through his body. "I-It hurts…so much…"

"Well maybe it you stop moving, it wouldn't hurt so much!" Kagura harshly said, as she wet another washcloth and put it on the InuHanyou's exposed flat belly, only for it to slide off once more. "UGH!…what did I just say?" She growled in frustration, as she glared at the InuHanyou writhing in pain.

"I-It hurts…Ahh… Ahh!" Inuyasha cried out, squirming even more than before as he desperately tried to find a position that lessen the pain that was experiencing, much to the dismay of the wind sorceress. "…Hurts…so much…Ah!"

Flexing her fingers, Kagura growled in frustration as she wanted to strangle the whimpering InuHanyou. "Stay still you annoying half-"

"Kagura." Naraku coldly said, silently warning the wind sorceress with his voice, "You will be quiet and finish the task that I assigned to you with no complaining, understood."

Kagura glared at the spider demon, wanting to give him a sharp retort but seeing the stern look that he gave her that held no room for arguments, she pursed her lips and went back to her assigned duty at the moment. "Che, whatever."

Naraku gave the wind sorceress one more glance before turning back his attention to his captive. The pain that Inuyasha was experiencing was something that the spider demon expected after he had successfully had gotten the InuHanyou pregnant. It was something that was required that helped aided a bearer demon in a birthing of a child.

Watching as his pale incarnation quietly wet another wash cloth and put it back on the InuHanyou's flat belly, while replacing the one that she had earlier put on his forehead, Naraku decided that now was the perfect time to approach his captive and made his way towards the InuHanyou.

Sensing the spider demon approaching him, Inuyasha opened his eyes as he observed his enemy take a seat on the floor beside him, staring at him with blank look on his face.

"Inuyasha, the pain that you're going through right now, is necessary in order your female parts to form." Naraku said solemnly said. "I believe that I have already told you this already."

Despite being in so much pain at the moment, Inuyasha managed to give the spider demon a deadly glare and spit out, "Fuck you."

"Still feisty I see." Naraku said, not surprised one bit by the InuHanyou's behavior, nor by his choice of words. "Glad to see that you have some strength left in you Inuyasha, you'll need it after all."

"F…Fuck off Naraku!" Inuyasha harshly bit back, "Whose fault do you think it is that I'm like this in the first place, you fuckin-Ahh!...Ahhh!" He cried out, rolling on his side, as he hissed in pain. "I-It…hurts…"

"I've noticed." Naraku said, ignoring the glare that he received from his captive as put a hand on the InuHanyou's exposed abdominal. "Does this feel better?"

Wanting to rip the Naraku's hand away from his abdominal, Inuyasha got up but immediately paused. Strangely feeling a little better down there. "…Y-Yeah…" He replied, blinking a few times in confusion as he looked at where the spider demon's hand was and then back at the spider demon. "What did you do?"

"Why, aren't you seeing it with your eyes?" Naraku asked, in a taunting tone much to the irritation of the InuHanyou. "I just simply put my hand on your body, there's nothing else that I could've done."

"There's nothing simple about what you just did Naraku." Inuyasha growled, annoyed with the spider demon. "Because there's no way in hell that just a simple touch of yours would easily ease away most of the pain that I've been lying down experiencing over here for three days now. So stop playing around and just tell me what you did!"

"Ah, you still have a few more days to go." Naraku said, looking away as he ignored the InuHanyou. "Such a pity too."

"What was that?!" Inuyasha demanded, giving Naraku a heated stare until he realized what the spider demon had meant by that. "Wait…A few more days? You mean I still have a few more days of hell to go through?!"

"Oh, you didn't know that?" Naraku asked amused, "Such a shame, you don't seem to know anything about your kind, do you?" Enjoying the annoyed looked that his captive gave him, "In order for your new parts to form fully and for your body to adapt to it, it takes exactly six days for it to do so. Meaning you only have three more days until you'll feel like yourself again. That is, if you don't mind being part female."

"Fuck you." Inuyasha harshly said, hating the spider demon even more than before for adding that last part.

Not bothered at all by the InuHanyou's attitude towards him, Naraku gave an evil smirk as he removed his hand and coldly watched as his captive instantly fell back to the futon, writhing and crying out in pain. "You want to know how I'm doing it? How I strangely have the ability to take away your pain and bring it back, even though I'm not the one causing it?" Naraku paused, watching as the InuHanyou desperately turned to look at him with eyes full of agony. "It's because I am the master of your body, so for that reason, I can use my demonic energy to help take some of your pain away."

Inuyasha just stared at his enemy, too shocked to believe what he just heard, as he ran the spider demon's words through his mind once more, "The master of my body? What the hell, since when?!"

"Since I marked you the first night I took you, remember?" Naraku replied with a smug look on his face. "Or perhaps you don't since I took you many times that night."

Vividly recalling that night, a chill ran through Inuyasha's body as he suddenly realized why the spider demon back then had a fascination with his neck. "Y-You marked me with the mark of possession didn't you?"

Giving the InuHanyou an evil smile, Naraku said, "My, my, so you do know some things after all. I must say, I'm surprised that you even knew that."

Horrified at the news the he just received, Inuyasha could only look at the spider demon in shock. To be marked with the mark of possession meant that you belonged to the person that marked you, it was a one sided bond that a master had over his slave. Meaning through the mark, the one who is the master had the ability to punish his slave with just the desire to. "Th-That's how you were able to inflict punishment on me without even touching me, because you marked me…You fucking marked me."

Smiling wickedly, Naraku nodded, "That's right with just the desire to, I can cause you to cry out for mercy, begging me to forgive you without laying even a finger on you. And you know what the best part is? It doesn't affect the child at all, because it is only meant for you. Meaning I can punish you in the harshest way, but the child along with its health will still remain unharmed. But don't worry, I'll only do that to you if you betray me again."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Inuyasha looked down and finally noticed his enemy's hand on his thigh. "No…don't touch me you bastard!" He yelled, taking the spider demon's hand off his body, but instantly fell back down to his futon, squirming as he felt the lower region of his body ache in pain. "N…no…Mmm…Haa… Do-Don't…Don't you ever touch me again, you-Ahh… Ahh!"

"Oh, don't worry, I won't." Naraku said, coming closer to the groaning InuHanyou. "Because soon you'll be begging for my touch, to the point that you'll be craving for it." Saying the last part into Inuyasha's furry ear, causing the InuHanyou to whimper in response.

"N-No…"Inuyasha whimpered, trying to fight the waves of pain that relentlessly continued to pass through his body. "Th-That's-Ah!...Haa…haa… N-Never going to…Ah!...H-Happen…Argh… I'll m…make sure of…it-Ah!..Ahh! Ahhh!"

"Is that so?" Naraku asked, clearly amused as he observed the InuHanyou writher around in agony, "Well then, we'll just have to wait and see, now don't we?" He finished as he got up and walked towards the door. "Kagura, Kanna stop what you're doing and come, your job here is done." He said as walked out of the room and went his way.

Breathing heavily, Inuyasha watched as the two incarnation immediately stopped what they were doing and followed after their master, without sparing the InuHanyou another glance. "Go on…L-Leave, I don't need you, I can-Ah!...Ta-Haa...Take care of myself!" Inuyasha shouted out after them, despite feeling the lower part of his body ache at the pulses that ran through it. "Da…Damn Bas…tard…Mmm!…"

Inuyasha pounded his fist on the ground as he bit his bottom lip, trying to overcome the painful pulses that persisted in bothering him. He even tried putting his chained arm on the affected areas, hoping that the cool metal would soothe his pain. Yet that didn't work as well. As much as he hated to admit it,he wanted Naraku's touch. He wanted the spider demon's cool hand to touch his cramping belly…his sore lower back…Hmm and even hold his aching hips… Mmm, he could feel it right now. "Ah…Naraku…"

As quickly as his enemy's name left his lips, Inuyasha immediately covered his mouth with his hands, mortified. What the hell, Inuyasha could not believe that he just said that. He could not believe that he said, no…moaned that bastard's name. The same bastard that was responsible for his predicament in the fucking first place. The hell? Was he that desperate for the bastard's damn touch? 'Damn him to hell. I don't need that jackass.' Inuyasha thought…well more like chanted to himself, as a way to get rid of the mentality that he wanted the touch of spider demon. 'I can handle it. I can definitely handle this.'

Inuyasha took a deep breath, as an attempt to clear his mind from his aching lower body. 'I can do this. I can do this.' As he did that, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen that expended all the way down to his groin. "Ah!...Da-Damn…it…Mmm…!" Biting down on his bottom lip, Inuyasha tried to endure the pain, but it wasn't working. And even if he were to try something else, he had a strong conviction in him that else would work either. He wanted…no, Needed Naraku's touch. He needed it so much, that he would do anything for it. "D-Damn you Naraku…"Inuyasha cursed, pounding his fist once again on the ground, "Damn you to hell!"

Alright guys this is half of chapter 9. The other half will be out as soon as I complete chapter 10. Sorry for the long wait, my laptop screen decided to break, so it was hard and still is to work on the new chapter. I'm not gonna be able to get a new laptop anytime soon, but I'm working on the next chapter to get it out as much as I can despite this problem. Hopefully it won't be too long.

As a side note, the pain Inuyasha is feeling is equivalent to menstruation cramps that a woman feels during her cycle.

Thanks for reading my faithful readers. Please review and I'll see you in the next chapter!