Tales of the Western Lands(PG-13)

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Info: The battle of the legendary priestess Sakura and the evil shadow demon Orpheus, who's the ruler of the Shadow World. All this and the love for the demon lord of the western lands. Sesshomaru never thought he could fall for a human. But here he is, head over hills in love with, Rin's older sister. SesshomaruxOC

A/N: Be warned! This part is a major spoiler of what is to come at the end of this story. Read at your own risk. Sorry, for the shortness, but it's just the introduction part to the story. This is the only part that will have 1st person view in it. I normally don't write first person at all. I normally write only 3rd person view. There are two view points in this part. It jumps from 1st person, suddenly into 3rd person, close to the end of this part. You'll see why, if you read it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sesshomaru or any other cannons on the anime, or manga. They belong to there respected owners. This is just written for fun.

Note: Thank you, Lady1Venus for beta reading.

Introduction

I never thought it would come to this. Here I was face to face, with the demon who would take my life. Was I scared you ask? No, I wasn't. It was very honorable to die for the one you love, after all. The shadow demon leered at me, and I leered back. I lifted my long Shikon wings, and flew holding my priestess sword in my hand. It glowed with a bright golden light,"I won't let you destroy everything I've come to love in this world!" I yelled.

"Ha! A measly human dares to challenge me! The great shadow demon lord Orpheus. This world will come to an end and you along with it, Priestess," Orpheus smirked at me. He flew at me. I looked down at Lord Sesshomaru, as he looked up at me, the hurt, and sadness showing on his face.

"I'm sorry," I said, tears streaking my face. I turned back to the battle at hand, as I took my sword focusing all of my powers into the blade and flew at the demon, running him though,"I won't let you destroy this world I've come to love! I'm taking you down with me!" I yelled.

"NOOOOO!" He screamed. His body started turning to stone and mine along with it. The last thing I heard before the blackness of death overtook me was Sesshomaru yelling my name and my younger sister, Rin crying. Unknown to me, it was not over though. Orpheus, the demon had just begun to fight.

"Ha! You sacrificed your own life for no reason," said Orpheus, breaking out of the stone Sakura had put him in. He then flew off. Although, Sakura did not kill the demon, she'd weaken him a great deal. It would take him hundreds of years to recover his strength. About 500 years actually, in which he would appear in the present time.

Right after Sakura turned into a stone statue though, there was a bright flash of light. What! Her powers were out of control and sending everyone to the present time,"What is this light?" Inuyasha wondered, shielding his eyes.

"I don't know!" Kagome yelled over the flash. Right after they all vanished in a bright light, the well vanished. Where they were going to to wind up, they would have no way to get back home.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Prologue

"Rin, could you help me with the laundry!?" Called the voice of a woman. She had shoulder length black curly hair, green eyes and her bangs were spiky. She wore a priestess kimono that was white and red like a normal priestess kimono. And she wore sandals with socks on her feet.

"Coming mommy!" Cried a little girl. This girl was known as Rin. She was a four year old child. She wore a dark red colored short yukata with a black slash tied around the belly area. She was bare footed and had long black hair with some of it tied to the side in a tight ponytail and she had spiky bangs like her mother and brown eyes. She ran up to her mother,"Mommy, where's Sakura?"

"She was called away again, on a long trip. You know your older sister, Rin. As a priestess she's often called away to help sickly people," Rin's mother grinned. Rin helped her mother fold clothes. Whenever her sister was away this was something, Rin often did to help her mother out. She adored her mother very much. The woman was very sweet and often spoiling her and her 12 year old sister, Sakura.

"And where is daddy?" Rin questioned, as she was handed a pair of underwear and just sit it in the basket. The two were removing the clothes from the clothes line, as they were dry now and needed to be put up.

"Away, hunting for dinner," the lady told her daughter. The girls' father was often going into the woods hunting often. It was also his job as well. He hunted down dangerous demons and killed them, to protect the village. The family was also a poor family. They had very little money. So, the only way they could get by was by living off of the land. They couldn't afford to go into town and buy things.

The family even made their own clothes. The only toy Rin actually had was a tiny doll, she'd had ever since she was born. It wasn't really much of a doll, but Rin loved it anyway. It was the only toy she had, ever gotten from her parents. So it meant a lot to her. It was just a brown colored looked ragged doll without much features to it. All it had was a balled head, arms, legs, three black buttons for the eyes and nose, and a string that was black sowed on for a mouth.

Rin was actually holding the doll in her hand right at this moment, by its arm. She'd always took the small doll everywhere she went. She never went anywhere without that doll. She was always seen with it. The doll was like Rin's trademark.

But it wasn't like Rin was the special daughter or anything, like that. Her elder sister, Sakura had a special something from her parents as well. It was a sword passed down from her mother, from her mother's side of the family. The sword was given to Sakura when she was eleven years old, coming of age to be a priestess. In their village a woman was allowed to become a priestess as soon as she turned eleven years old.

It was a sword that was said to belong to their ancestor, a legendary priestess by the name of Midoriko. It was said she died 500 years ago, in an ancient battle with a shadow demon of incredible strength. The demon's name was known as Orpheus and he had tried to destroy the world. Seeing as it was the only way to stop him, Midoriko forced her own soul out of her body, also making all her powers drain into the sword that now belongs to Sakura.

It is unknown who actually won the battle, but after the battle it's said Midoriko's body turned to stone. But she had already given birth to a son, a few years ago. After she had died the father, Midoriko's husband raised the child all by himself. And it then went on though the generations until coming to Sakura and Rin, each new generation passing the sword of Midoriko onto the oldest daughter, when she turned eleven years old.

That wasn't all though, that Sakura knew. Her father had also trained Sakura to hunt, since they didn't have a son. Normally it was the oldest son, who was taught how to hunt. But since they had no son, it was taught to Sakura. She hunted with a bow and arrow and was pretty good at it as well. She could turn her arrows into scared arrows, being a priestess and all. So, when she went hunting, for food, she had to hold back her powers, so she'd only shoot a normal arrow, not a scared one, less the demon turn to dust.

"Thanks for helping out, Rin," her mother smiled, interrupting her daughter's thoughts. Rin snapped her head up noticing, while she'd been deep in thought all of the clothes had been taken off of the clothes line and put into the basket below her,"Let's go inside."

"Ok." Rin took the small basket and her mother grabbed the larger one and she followed her mother into the house. The woman and her daughter, went and put up Rin and Sakura's clothes into the girls' room. Yes, Rin and Sakura shared a bedroom, since the family didn't make much money the house wasn't that big. There was two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and living room that was connected as one room. There wasn't even any hallways in the house. Everything was all jumbled up together.

"What time will daddy be home?" Rin asked her mother.

Her mother checked the time,"He should be back, any minute now," she told her eager daughter. The two of them then finished putting away the clothes in both bedrooms and Rin's mother took Rin into the living room and told the child a story. It was an enchanted fairy tale about a frog prince and a princess who kissed the frog, turning him into a man, where the two were married and lived happily ever after. By the end of the story, Rin had fallen asleep.

The child woke up hours later to talking. They were talking about what to have for dinner. Rin looked up at her father. He was a tall man, with short black hair and a mustache. And he wore a blue yukata and also like her mother wore sandals and white socks on his feet,"Ok, so she'll be home by morning then," said Rin's mother.

Rin leaned up as she noticed her mother had wrapped a blanket around her when she had fallen asleep. It was late in the evening, at about 5:00. She turned to her parents, getting up, carrying her doll with her as she walked over to them both,"Excuse me, but who?" She asked.

"Your sister," said Rin's father.

"Oh! You mean Sakura's coming back?" Rin asked, getting excited. She couldn't wait to see her sister. The two sisters had always been pretty close ever since Rin was born. Her sister had always looked out for her ever since then. Unlike most kids, Sakura had actually been excited by her sister's birth and agreed to always be there for Rin no matter what.

Rin and her sister had always played a lot of games together, mostly hide and seek. Rin would go somewhere, hide and Sakura would look for her. Although, Rin had always known the best hiding places, so Sakura was never able to find her sister, whenever they played. Either that, or Sakura just let her win all the time. Whenever Rin would ask Sakura about it, the girl would just get a huge grin on her face and deny that she was letting her win.

That wasn't the only thing Rin did with her sister. The two sisters would sometimes go fishing as well. That was something the girls liked to do together to help their parents out, with gathering food. Sometimes their father couldn't go hunting, so the girls would gather fish to eat. Sakura was pretty good at fishing, but Rin was just naturally better at gathering fish then Sakura was at it.

The two sisters would make a game out of it as well, to see who could catch the most fish within a certain amount of time. Rin being good at catching the fish, most times she was the winner. Though there were a few times where she'd let her guard down and Sakura would actually collect a few more fish then she did. But most times, no it was Rin who won that contest between the two of them.

But there were actually a few things that Rin wasn't very good at. One of them being using a bow and arrow. Even though, like Sakura, she's also descended from Midoriko, she had never been very good at using a bow. Her sister had tried to teach Rin how to use a bow, but Rin had, had trouble picking up on learning how to use the bow. As a matter of fact, Rin was actually still trying to learn, but she still had trouble with it.

Rin couldn't even pull the string back far enough to let the arrow fly. The child had actually cut herself on the arrow a few times during training, when Sakura would try to teach her. As a matter of fact, Rin had hurt herself with the arrow so badly at one point that Sakura was going to give up training her. But Rin had begged her, tears in her eyes to keep trying. Rin really wanted to learn. She felt it was very necessarily to learn. After all, one day soon, as soon as Rin turned eleven she'd become a full priestess just like her sister.

Using a bow would also help Rin to protect herself if she was ever in any danger. Right now Rin had no way of protecting herself if any danger were to ever fall upon her. She didn't really want to hurt anyone either. But at the same time, Rin didn't want to be a burden to others. She didn't like it, that her sister had to always protect her from everything. She wanted to be able to protect herself, even though she's only four years old. Rin didn't care. To her, age didn't matter when it came to life or death.

The family sit down to dinner after it was fully ready. Rin couldn't wait for her sister to get home. She got lucky. This time Sakura wasn't away as long as she normally was. There were times, her sister was called away on long missions. When that happened, she could be gone for weeks. Rin hated it when Sakura had to be away for long periods of time. But she knew it couldn't be helped. She was a priestess after all. And as a priestess it was her duty to help the sick and injured whenever possible, and those with other problems as well,"How was your day, daddy?" Rin asked him.

"It was fine. How's your training going, sweetie?" Her father questioned.

"Still having trouble. There's not much training I can do, without Sakura here," Rin told him.

"You shouldn't rely on someone else for your training Rin. I'm sure you could train yourself as well, if you put your mind to it. There are other things to being a priestess besides using a bow and arrow," her father explained.

"Really?" Rin asked.

"I'm sure your mother could show you a few things after dinner," he told her. Rin's mother looked up from her meal, smiled and nodded at her daughter, agreeing with her father. Rin smiled happily, and went back to eating her dinner. She'd always loved her mother's cooking. Her mother was a very good cook and could cook a lot of good things. She could take an organary fish and turn it into a masterpiece.

Rin was too young to really do any cooking of her own yet. Though every now and then, her mother would let Rin, make a sandwich. And she'd also help her mother pick vegetables in the garden, sometimes as well. She'd even helped her mother mix up a salad at one point, though Rin wasn't allowed to use any of the knifes, she got to mix everything up all together in a big bowl.

The family finished dinner and Rin went to help her mother wash the dishes. Then she took Rin out into the garden to show her a neat trick. She'd found a squirrel with a broken leg and pushed Rin's hands onto the squirrel's leg,"Focus on your powers Rin. Priestesses have healing powers and can heal the sick and wounded."

Rin nodded as she closed her eyes, focusing on the task at hand, trying to get her powers to emerge and heal the poor animal. But as much as Rin, tried nothing was happening,"I can't get it to work, mommy," said Rin.

"Don't worry about it sweetie. It takes time. Heck, your sister didn't even get it, until she was ten years old. You need to calm down Rin. See, the problem is, you're trying too hard. You just need to let loose, relax and it'll happen naturally," her mother told her. Rin tried it all evening until it was time to go in and retire for the night. Rin kissed her parents goodnight and went to her room to go to bed.

Later during the night she was awaken to a noise,"Who's there!?" Rin called out to the blackness of her room.

"It's just me, Rin," said a familiar voice.

Rin blinked a few times,"Sakura?"

"Ya, it's me, Rin," said Sakura. She went up to the child's bed and sat next to her, putting her arm around her sister, in comfort,"I didn't mean to scare you, Rin. It's morning, but it's still very early. You should go back to sleep." So, it was morning already, but it was still really dark out.

"Guess, daddy never actually said the exact time you've be back, just that you've be back by morning. And well, I guess it's morning, even if it is early," Rin smiled a bit,"Did you travel all night sister? You must be exhausted."

"I'm fine. I had to fight a demon on the way home, that was attacking a village," said Sakura.

"Really? What happened? Are you OK?" Rin asked, sitting up in bed, worry in her voice. Sakura would of seen the worry written on her face as well, if it wasn't so dark in the room.

"Don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep, Rin," Sakura told her.

"Ok," Rin nodded, as she laid back down, pulling the blanket back around herself and closing her eyes, letting sleep take her.

Sakura sighed, after Rin fell back to sleep,'Good thing she's asleep. I don't want her to know about this.' She used her priestess powers to make some light, so she could see. It wasn't enough to bother Rin, just enough for her to see by. She ran her hand along her arm where it was bloody, there was a huge gash where she was injured. She had gotten hurt fighting a demon on the way back into town.

Sakura sighed and got up heading into the bathroom, where she cleaned out the wound and bandaged it with the first aid kit. When she got in, Sakura could of woken up her parents and gotten them to help her, but it was about 2AM in the morning and she knew they would both still be sleeping, she didn't want to wake them at this early hour. Plus, Sakura didn't think the wound was that serious anyway. But it was bad enough that she didn't want Rin to worry about it.

Sakura kinda moaned a bit in pain as the cold water touched her skin, as she ran the water in the sink. She was trying to keep the noise down as much as possible,so as to not wake Rin, who was in the next room over, sleeping. It wouldn't be good if she woke up, came into the bathroom and found Sakura like this.

Sakura sighed again, as she wrapped the bandages around her injured arm. She then changed into a sleeping yukata, hoping that Rin wouldn't notice her arm and question her about it. She threw the bloody kimono into the clothes hamper.

As she walked out of the bathroom she remembered, the fight clearly. That demon had put up one heck of a fight with her. No wonder she was injured. She had actually gotten off pretty lucky considering the demon she was fighting, was one of the most dangerous types of demons. It was the type that takes on the appearance of a human. It was just a raccoon demon, but it was very strong for what it was.

The demon had been attacking an innocent village, trying to sneak away with a young woman. Sakura had then been called upon to save the woman from the demon. And during the rescue attempt she had been injured. But she'd still managed to save the woman. Once the demon was shot with one of her arrows that was all it took to bring the beast down.

She wished she could of used her sword, then maybe she wouldn't of gotten injured in the fight. Sakura had been trying to learn how to use the sword, but had trouble learning. She was no sword master after all. That was for sure. Sakura didn't even understand how to wield a sword, much less fight using one. So she just stuck with her bow and arrows to fight the demon. Which of course was a bad idea.

To win the fight she had to make out like she was weak and pretend to surrender to the demon. As he had walked up to her to kill her though, thinking she could no longer move, Sakura had pulled out an arrow without him knowing it and waited until he cut her in the arm before pushing her powers into the arrow, stabbing it straight into the demon's chest, killing it, saving the poor woman. After thinking about all of that, Sakura climbed into her bed and like Rin, she let the darkness of sleep over take her.

The next day, Sakura was trying to once again teach her younger sister how to use a bow. Once again, Rin was doing it all wrong. She was actually trying to hold onto that doll of her's while trying to aim the arrow at the round target that Sakura had placed onto the tree for her,"Rin, if you want to shoot the arrow your going to have to put the doll down."

"But why?" Rin questioned her. She gripped her doll tightly, to her chest not wanting to put it down.

"You don't want it to accidently get ripped do you?" Sakura questioned back.

"I guess you're right," Rin sighed, placing the small doll down at her feet. It flopped over on its side as she sat it down. She then tried again with the arrow. Once again the arrow just fell from the bow at her feet, not going anywhere.

"Maybe you're just not cut out for this Rin," Sakura sighed.

"But..I am! Please! I can do this if I keep trying," said Rin, begging her sister, to keep helping her. Sakura sighed and kept training with her sister until it was time for lunch.

As the two ate someone came up to them,"Are you Priestess Sakura?" He asked.

"Yes I am. What can I do for you?" Sakura asked him, back.

"Please, my wife is very ill. I need your help," said the man.

Rin sighed,"But Sakura, you just got back."

"Please, I just live, in the next town over from here," the man begged. Sakura sighed and promised Rin, she'd be home soon. After she ate she left with the man. They both headed to his home.

Sakura was then invited inside. She went to the woman's bedroom and looked her over,"She's not ill. She's only pregnant," said Sakura, after looking her over.

"Pregnant? Really?" The man was shocked to hear this.

"You mean you didn't know?" Sakura asked him. She then turned to the woman,"When was your last period?"

"Two months ago," replied the ill woman.

"Yup, you're pregnant. That is why you are ill. Here, take these. They should help you," said Sakura, pulling a bottle of pills out of her medical bag.

"Thank you so much," said the man.

He reached out to pay her,"No, I don't need money. This wasn't really anything much that really required my attention, in the first place. So, keep your money," Sakura told him. He thanked her again, and Sakura left his house, heading back home.

Unknown to Sakura though, while she was away, her house was being attacked by demons. It was a group of them. They were actually bandits, but they were also demons. Demons who took up a roll as bandits and broke into people's homes like any other bandit would. Rin was coming out of the bathroom just then and smelled smoke,"Rin! Get out of here!" Her father yelled.

"Daddy!" Rin yelled in fear, showing a frighten look on her face.

"Get her out of here!" Her father yelled to her mother, as he fended off one of the bandits, trying to keep him away from Rin. There was fire and smoke everywhere around in the room. Rin coughed as she inhaled some of the smoke.

Just then she saw her mother come running at her, where she then grabbed her and ran to the door. Right when they got to the door, Rin's father yelled bloody murder as one of the bandits ripped right though his chest, out the other side. The man fell over dead, and Rin yelled for her father to get up, tears in her eyes. But it was no use. The man was dead. Her mother then jumped out the window with Rin in her arms, getting cut by the shards of glass. But she didn't care. All that mattered to her was her child's safety.

"Mommy! Look out!" Rin cried.

She pushed Rin away from her,"Rin, run! Find Sakura and get to safety. Please! You must do it, for me," her mother begged her.

Rin squeezed her doll tightly to her chest, as the tears ran down her eyes and she shook her head, no. But just as she was about to try and pull her mother away from the burning house another bandit came up and stabbed her mother straight though with a sword. She saw her mother die in a pool of blood right before her very eyes.

Rin yelled at the top of her lungs as she stared at her mother's dead body and looked towards the burning down house, where she had just witnessed her father's death as well. Rin backed away in fear, clutching her doll in her hand as the bandit approached her getting ready to kill her.

Just then a scared arrow flew passed Rin, hitting the guy straight though, killing him on the spot as his body turned to dust,"Get the f**k away from my sister!" Rin heard Sakura yell.

Rin turned and saw her sister. She ran up to her, hugging her. But Sakura was in too much of a rage to really hug her back. She continued yelling at the bandits, suddenly sounding like she'd lost her mind,"You're going to suffer a very slow, painful death for what you've done! ALL OF YOU!" She actually took out her sword as she sped at all the bandits slashing and cutting like a man woman. A few villagers who had nothing to do with this at all came up to help and in her crazed state, Sakura cut them up killing them with the blade as well.

Rin didn't even know what to do. Her whole body was in shock at seeing the blood fly everywhere, soaking her sister's kimono to the bone,'Please! Stop!' She wanted to scream at her sister. But no sound would come out of her mouth. She was so shocked and frighten, she couldn't even speak.

But then suddenly right after killing the last villager, Sakura got knocked on the head by a flying rock, making her drop her sword. It seemed like the sword had something to do with her massed craziness, as after the sword was dropped Sakura snapped out of it. She noticed the fire was getting closer, so she grabbed the sword putting it back into its holder and grabbing Rin, who was sobbing, holding her doll, turned and ran away from the burning down village, as it burned until it was no more.

After Sakura got Rin to a safe place she sit the child down,"Rin, are you OK?" Rin looked up at Sakura scared as she backed away in fear of her sister,"Rin! Why are you scared of me? You know I wouldn't hurt you. I'm sorry you had to see that. I...I don't know what came over me. It was like I couldn't control myself."

Rin hugged her sister sobbing, not saying a word, just crying,"I'm sorry Rin. I know this must of been hard for you. It'll be ok. I'll take care of you. I promise," said Sakura. She picked up her sister into her arms and carried her off until they found a place they could stay. However, the villagers hearing about what had happened would not allow them in the village, so they had to stay in a cave, nearby the village. Ever since their parents died Rin refused to speak.

Sakura figured maybe Rin had just lost her voice from the fire and smoke. Not only did Rin inhale a lot of smoke, she had also been so scared Sakura figured the child had gone mute from fright. She'd get Rin talking one day, she figured. She just had to be patient is all. Just be patient and wait.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 1

Rin was at the river with her sister once again. The two girls were trying to catch some fish for dinner. Ever since the attack that killed their parents about four years ago, Rin hadn't spoken a single word. Sakura had even forgotten what she had done that day. The only thing her sister remembered was grabbing Rin and carrying her away from the burning down village. Nothing else seemed to register at all.

Ever since then the girls had went from village to village, traveling around. They couldn't stay in one place for too long. Sakura who was only twelve years old at the time, had to grow up earlier then what she should have, so she could care for Rin. She now felt responsible for her younger sister's well being. It was like she was a mother now, with how much she had to care for the child, even though she wasn't.

Sakura was now sixteen years old and Rin, eight years old. Rin actually still had that little doll that she had always carried around with her everywhere she went. It was somewhat damaged from the attack but still in tack somewhat. There was a tiny rip in one of its arms and a few burnt places along its belly. But Rin still kept it anyway. It was damaged but she liked it because it was a gift from her dead parents.

After the attack it had taken Rin about a year to completely trust her sister, again. Sakura had to prove to Rin how much she cared about her and earn the child's trust back. But eventually she did earn it back. Now the sisters were as close as they've been before their parents had died. But Rin still refused to speak though. And Sakura was starting to get very worried. It had been four years, and Rin still wouldn't talk to her. The only thing Rin did that was somewhat like talking was when she was hurt or sick and she cried.

Rin had even given up on trying to learn how to use a bow and arrow. Ever since she lost her parents Rin would never even touch a bow or any weapon at all. It was like she was too scared to. But Sakura was still using a bow though, fighting off demons wherever they went. Although she never took Rin with her when she'd do her priestess duties. She figured it would be too stressful on the child.

Also, ever since four years ago, Sakura hadn't touched her sword at all. It was like she was scared to use it. Like it had something to do with what had happened four years ago. Even though it didn't. Sakura still felt that way though. However, instead of throwing the sword out, she still kept it anyway, as it was a gift from her parents. So, like Rin with her doll, Sakura treasured this sword, just because it was given to her by her parents who had died. She always kept the sword strapped to her side, in its sheath.

Sakura was starting a fire, while Rin was at the river catching the fish, so they could cook the fish and eat them. They would also save the bones from the fish to use to make tools and other equipment they've need, as well. Right now Sakura was carving a few sticks with a knife, to sharpen them for the fish, so they could be poked into the fish and grilled next to the fire.

The girls were unable to collect fire wood though. So they had to go though the woods gathering up as much sticks and pine needles as they could and use that. Sakura also knew how to make a fire by hitting two rocks together. It was a trick she'd learnt from her parents a long time ago.

Rin then came up to her sister tapping her from behind on the shoulder. Sakura jumped, startled to death. She turned around,"Oh! Rin, it's just you."

Rin gave her a,'I'm sorry for startling you,' look. She handed her a basket, that Sakura had actually made herself from the tree bark from trees. It was filled with six fish, flopping around in the basket, trying to get out.

Sakura smiled,"Wow! That's way more then enough. Great job Rin. You've always been very good at catching fish." Her sister closed her eyes, smiling happily at her sister. Sakura took just a few fish out of the basket, sticking the sticks though them, sitting them standing straight up in the dirt beside the fire, to cook. Then using her priestess powers, froze the other fish in the basket and took the basket storing the fish inside their little cave they lived in.

This place the girls lived in, was actually very close to town. The people there hated the girls as well. Like all of the other villages they tried, this one wouldn't accept them either. Like the others they had heard about what had happened in the girls home village and wouldn't let them in. A lot of people thought that Sakura was crazy in the head and didn't want her in the village. There were a lot of bad rumors floating around that Sakura killed her whole family and had kidnapped Rin from her's. It was a mean crude joke, that pissed Sakura off whenever she heard it. She knew it wasn't true but it still made her angry to hear it.

There were also a few times Sakura and Rin had to sneak and steal things from the village. There were tools that Sakura actually didn't know how to make, so the girls had to steal them from the village as they had no money. Sakura didn't feel it was right to charge people to help them with their problems after all. She felt it was her duty to help people, not her job, though she didn't get many people seeking her help anymore.

She then went back out to the fire where the fish was done. Rin had gathered a few cups and a bowl of water, while Sakura was in the cave. The woman sit next to her younger sister, next to the fire and took the fish off the fire, sprinkling them with some seasonings, she had came up with herself, after DE-skinning and cutting the fishes' heads and tails off, and sticking them back onto the sticks. She handed one of them to Rin, who smiled and started eating. Her smile was her way of thanking Sakura for the food.

Sakura poured her water into the cup,"Rin, later on there is somewhere I must go. I know I've been leaving you alone a lot, but you'll be OK won't you?"

Rin smiled at her sister and nodded her head up and down, meaning she was telling her,'Yes, I'll be OK.'

Sakura sighed as she continued eating, her fish. Like her mother, Sakura was also a pretty good cook as well. Rin totally adored Sakura's cooking. It reminded her of her mother's home cooking. Well, Sakura had actually learnt how to cook from their mother after all. Which was probably the reason why her cooking was like her mother's.

Of course fish wasn't the only thing Sakura was good at cooking. Sometimes Sakura would go out into the woods hunting, using her bow and arrows, bringing back very nice things to eat. Like the time Sakura actually killed a huge bear with an arrow and brought the animal back, carrying it on her back, like it weighed nothing, which impressed Rin greatly.

Sakura was very strong, after all. The two had eaten on bear meat all week long as there was a lot of it for just the two of them. They also used the bear's fur to make blankets and clothes, while its bones were used for making tools. Sakura didn't believe in only using some of the animal when you killed it. She didn't like the idea of killing these poor creatures, so when she did, to make up for killing the beast, she'd make sure to make use of every part of it.

After the girls were done eating, they cleaned up, washing all the dishes, putting out the fire and putting the dishes up after they were cleaned. They then went down to the lake to bathe,"Tag!" Sakura giggled splashing Rin with water, after the two girls were both naked and in the water, bathing. Their clothes were sitting on the shore. Sakura giggled as Rin chased her throwing up water trying to get her sister back.

Rin ended up catching up to Sakura, splashing her in the face, as she laughed,"Oh ya, take that." Sakura splashed Rin some more. The two kept on splashing each other back having a fun time, throwing water on each other,"I know!" Sakura giggled,"Let's play Mar..." She stopped before she could finish what she was saying, realizing Rin couldn't play Marco Polo. The game required talking, which Rin couldn't do, any longer.

Rin, knowing what her sister had been about to say, stopped splashing water at once, looking kinda disappointed,"I'm sorry Rin. I shouldn't of said that," Sakura sighed. Rin just turned away from Sakura, walking a few feet away from her, and started washing herself. Sakura hung her head in defeat. She had really goofed up big time with that suggestion. They both then finished their bath, and got out, getting dressed.

Rin, didn't pay any attention to Sakura all afternoon and pretty soon it was time for Sakura to leave for her mission,"Rin, I'm leaving now. I may be gone for quite awhile yet. But I'll be back in a few days," Sakura told her. Rin just sighed, showing she was listening. Sakura frowned and turned, leaving Rin alone in the cave by herself.

Rin just laid there a few hours until she heard something far off that sounded like an explosion,'What was that?' She thought, getting up out of bed. And being the curious child that she is, Rin just had to go check it out. It was late in the evening now. The sun was just beginning to set making the sky look an orange color.

Rin walked farther and farther into the woods until what do her very eyes see but a person laying down on the ground injured. Rin came up to get a closer look at the man. But just as she walked out into the clearing, he suddenly woke up, his eyes turning red, turned and growled at her. Rin gasped, backing up a bit in fear realizing this was a demon.

But, he didn't seem like he wanted to harm her in any way. Plus he looked like he was injured and needed her help. So taking the risk, Rin gulped somewhat and stepped out, up to the demon showing no fear on her face. This demon was pretty good looking, from what Rin could tell. He was a dog demon, and took on the appearance of a human. He had long silver hair, golden eyes, red lines on his cheeks and a purple crescent moon on his forehead.

The demon, was wearing what appeared to be a kimono of very high status,'He must be of royal blood,' Rin thought, as she also noticed he had a white Mokomoko on his shoulder, that was real long and furry, also fluffy.

Unknown to Rin, this demon was known as Sesshomaru. He was the lord of the western lands. He had just had a fierce battle with his half brother Inuyasha, who was a half demon. Inuyasha was half demon and half human. Inuyasha also wielded the Tetsusaiga, a sword that was passed on to him from their father, Lord Inutaisho.

Sesshomaru had wanted the Tetsusaiga for himself, but his father only passed onto him a sword known as Tenseiga, which to Sesshomaru was very weak. It was a sword of healing and couldn't cut anything at all. Although, when he had fought Inuyasha just now, he was sure that he should of died when the power from Tetsusaiga hit him. But he did not. He couldn't get what had happened. It was like, the moment he was hit, he was teleported elsewhere.

He then looked over, noticing then he wasn't alone. He growled again at the little girl. But she didn't leave. In fact she leaned down to sit down in front of him, on her knees, her arms in her lap, holding a weird looking doll in her hands,"Girl, what do you want of me?" Sesshomaru asked her, not really paying much attention to the doll she was holding. The thing didn't interest him in the least.

Rin just blinked up at him, smiling at him,"What's the matter? Cat demon got your tongue? Speak up when I talk to you. You can talk can you not?" Sesshomaru questioned her. Rin shook her head, no she couldn't speak,"Oh, so you can not speak then. Another question, child. I am a demon you know. Why aren't you scared of me?"

Rin just smiled at him again. She got up then and ran off into the trees,'Where is she going?' Sesshomaru thought. He leaned back and closed his eyes to rest. It would take him awhile to recover his wounds before he could leave from this spot. Right now he was stuck here, too injured to move at all.

Rin, ran back to the cave and got a jug of water, pouring it in a container, for the demon. She then hurried back to the demon. When Rin got back, she noticed he was sleeping. She had also brought the first aid kit with her, noticing he was injured. She sat the water next to him. The sun had already sat an hour ago, so it was dark out. Rin went to care for Sesshomaru's wound,"I don't need your help," Sesshomaru mumbled with his eyes closed, as he felt Rin touching him.

Rin kinda backed away a bit, and went into the bushes, and came back out, sitting a few mushrooms on a leaf, beside the water, then she turned to walk off, when Sesshomaru interrupted her,"Your generosity is wasted on me. I don't eat human food." Rin just turned around giving Sesshomaru a weird look, as the girl walked back over to him, sitting down on the ground next to his side where his shoulder was bleeding though his clothes, opening the first aid kit, taking a few things out,"I told you, I don't need your help. Now go, leave me."

That was the wrong thing to say. Rin looked hurt by his words. She looked Sesshomaru, in the face, as a few tears started coming out of her eyes, at the harshness of what he just said to her. After all, she was only trying to help him. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't let her bandage up his wound,'What's wrong? All I wanted to do was help,' Rin thought, with a sob.

Sesshomaru sighed, giving in after seeing the child's tears,"Fine, just be careful." He couldn't believe he was allowing this to happen. He was actually going to let this human touch him, and perform first aid on him. He didn't really need it, he figured. He'd actually be healed in a few days time and could leave this place anyway. But if he really didn't need it, then what harm could Rin possibly do, to make it any worse? She was just a human after all.

Sesshomaru kinda slumped down a bit lower, so Rin could reach the wound. His Mokomoko then slid off of his shoulders. Rin, gently pulled down, his yukata, where the wound was at, inspecting it,'That's a very deep injury. He's lucky to still be alive,' Rin thought. She pulled out some wet wipes and begun cleaning the wound of the blood. Then she took out a long bandage wrap, and wrapped it around his wound. The bandage covered, Sesshomaru's whole shoulder. After she was done, she pushed his yukata back up, gathered up her things, waved to Sesshomaru and turned, heading for home.

----------------------

The next morning Rin got up bright and early, an idea striking her thoughts,'Maybe he eats animal food,' she thought,'He is a dog demon after all.' She sneaked into the village. For some odd reason, the lake had ran dry, so she needed to catch fish elsewhere. She sneaked into the preserve, and over to the water trying to sneak and steal some fish, for Sesshomaru, thinking maybe he'd eat that. A voice of a man startled her,"Stealing fish from the preserve, huh Rin."

Rin turned around and gasped, seeing a few villagers walk up to her,'Oh no!' She thought. She turned to run away, but she was cornered and couldn't get away.

"Too late to be sorry now. You do the crime, you're going to be punished for it," said one of the men. They all grabbed at Rin, hitting her, beating her with sticks. Rin eventually managed to struggle free. She fell a few times injuring her leg and her right eye. She then limped away, weakly as the villagers just stood there watching her leave.

"What a freaky child," said a villager, watching Rin stumble away.

"Did you know she was actually kidnapped by Sakura, taken away from her mother and father, when she was only four years old," someone whispered.

"Really?" Said another.

"Yup, that's the rumor anyway. Sakura went mad killing everyone in her village, expect for Rin. She then kidnapped the child," said the other villager.

Rin ignored the talk and looks she was given from the villagers as she walked off. She found some special grasses that are actually good for eating. Deciding that was the best she could do, she picked it and took it to Sesshomaru, thinking maybe he'd eat it. She walked over to him, seeing he was already awake. She sat the weeds on a leaf, and tried handing them to him,"No thanks," Sesshomaru told her.

'Oh come on! Please take it,' Rin thought to herself. She got closer trying once again to hand it to him.

"I said I don't need anything from you!" Sesshomaru was starting to get angry at this human child contently bothering him. Didn't she have somewhere else she could be, besides pestering him all the time? But just then as he looked Rin over, he noticed,"How did you get those bruises? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

'He does care!' Rin thought. And even with one eye sealed shut, her face broke out into a huge happy smile. She then giggled happily.

Sesshomaru got pissed off again, at seeing that,"What are you smiling about!? I was only asking. I don't care or anything. I'm just curious, that's all."

'He's lying,' Rin thought to herself, as she smiled at him again, showing she was missing a tooth. Rin then checked Sesshomaru's wound and gasped. It was almost fully healed. There wasn't even anymore blood. There was just a huge scar there. She was shocked by this. Normally a wound that deep would take months to heal this much. But Sesshomaru had healed this much within one night.

"Are you surprised? I told you I didn't need your help. I'm a demon. I heal faster then a human. To a demon, a wound like this is nothing. Now, be gone with you! I will be leaving within a few hours," said Sesshomaru. Rin sighed as she got up, walking away. She looked back at Sesshomaru one more time before vanishing into the trees. Yes, he would be fine now. And keeping to his word, a few hours later, Sesshomaru got up, grabbing his Mokomoko and left.

-

While elsewhere,"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken called out from Sesshomaru's two headed trusty beast, Ah-Un,"Lord Sesshomaru! Where are you!?" He looked towards the ground below as he continued calling out,"Please answer! Please answer me!"

A thought then struck him,"Is it possible that Lord Sesshomaru was cut down in battle when he went to fight Inuyasha? Speaking of cut down, why should I care if he was cut down or not! He used me as a guinea pig in his sword experiment! And hit me with the Tenseiga to see if it would cut me though or not! He said he was testing the sword, but I'm sure he was just teasing me!"

Jaken pulled on Ah-Un's reins and as he started heading down into a field of flowers he said,"He wouldn't of struck me if there was any doubt that I would be revived." Ah-Un, then landed onto the ground. Jaken got off and the beast laid down to take a nap. Jaken picked a daisy and sit next to Ah-Un starting to pick the petals as he mumbled out loud,"He was testing....he was teasing....he was testing....he was teasing....he was testing....he was teasing." Then suddenly he was down to only one petal and gulped in fear,"He was testing....HE WAS TESTING!"

Jaken then got angry as he jumped up onto Ah-Un's back yelling,"Lord Sesshomaru, would you have really risked my life to test your sword! You ungrateful dog!" Just then a rock came flying up, hitting Jaken in the back of the head, making him fall off, of Ah-Un's back. Jaken yelled as he fell off, waking up Ah-Un who looked around in wonder, of what just happened.

Jaken then jumped up, back onto Ah-Un, getting onto the beast's head, spotting Sesshomaru walking up. He guessed it was him, who threw the rock just now,"Lord Sesshomaru, before I continue in your service, were you actually testing your sword on me!?"

Sesshomaru sighed in respond,"I expected a warm welcome from you, Jaken. Not an interrogation."

Jaken turned pale at that as he laughed a bit,"Oh right! I'm glad you're well. I thought you might be dead."

Sesshomaru picked up another rock throwing it at Jaken again, once again hitting the poor toad demon, in the head making him once again fall off of Ah-Un. Sesshomaru was about to go over and kick Jaken, when a familiar scent assaulted his nose,'Blood, and the smell of wolves,' he thought to himself. He then gasped,"I recognize this blood."

Jaken got up,"Y...You do!" Sesshomaru turned as he started walking away from Jaken,"Milord! Wait for me!" He yelled following after Sesshomaru's retreating form, leaving Ah-Un there, where the beast just fell back to sleep. The two came upon, Rin laying down on the ground, where she was dead,"Uh oh! She's a goner that's for sure. She must of been attacked by wolves." Jaken walked up to Rin, looking her over,"Look at the teeth marks. Do you recognize this pathetic human?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer Jaken, just stood there as a flash of Rin smiling and giggling at him with one tooth missing, entered his mind. Just then he felt Tenseiga pulsing at his side. All too curious, Sesshomaru pulled it out,"Sire, what are you doing!?" Jaken gasped.

Sesshomaru, ignored Jaken as he held out the Tenseiga and started mumbling to himself out loud,"Interesting," he said, as some weird underworld beasts appeared around Rin's body. They were wrapping chains around her body, getting ready to drag her away to the afterlife,"I can see them. They are from the underworld."

"Uh..you can?" Jaken questioned, confused by what Sesshomaru was saying. He looked and didn't see anything at all.

Suddenly Sesshomaru mumbled,"I'll do another test. I'll use the Tenseiga."

Jaken gasped,"Another test! What are you doing sire? What are you doing!" He watched as Sesshomaru swung his sword down onto Rin's dead form, killing the creatures from the underworld.

Sesshomaru then leaned down, as he pulled Rin into his one arm, and waited to see what would happen next. Both him and Jaken gasped in shock, as Rin moaned and opened her eyes,"Y..You saved me!" The girl gasped, actually talking, tears in her eyes.

'She's spoken!' Sesshomaru gasped in his head.

Jaken was shocked,"She's come back to life!" As he said that, Rin wiggled free out of Sesshomaru's arm. Her injuries she had gotten before she died was also all healed up. It was like she'd never gotten a single scratch on her. She grasped her doll in her hand by its arm as she stood there,"Lord Sesshomaru, you resurrected this human girl, with the power of the Tenseiga?"

Sesshomaru sighed, ignoring Jaken,"What is your name?" He asked the kid.

"Rin," said the girl, gripping her doll, in her hand,"I have an older sister, Sakura who's at the next town. Could..you..could you take me to her?" She gripped her doll, as she gave off a hopeful look. Sesshomaru sighed as he just nodded, his head, agreeing to Rin's request. He then got up and started walking away.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken questioned,"Lord Sesshomaru, saving a human child is surprising enough. But more importantly, didn't Lord Sesshomaru just say he was going to test the power of Tenseiga once again? T..T...That means I was cut down with no guarantee for survival! And to think, I devoted myself to you all these years!"

As Jaken started mumbling wondering how Sesshomaru could do that to him, Rin gripping her doll by one arm, ran ahead of him, following after Sesshomaru, catching up to him and walking beside him,"I just don't understand it!" Jaken kept sobbing. Then he noticed he was being left behind again,"Wait Lord Sesshomaru, I'm coming!" Jaken gasped following after Rin and Sesshomaru.

'Tenseiga, you compelled me to save a human life today,' Sesshomaru thought, as he looked down at Rin, walking beside him. She grinned up at him giggling again. The tooth that had been missing before was back in her mouth,'And now I must take her to her sister. It's too dangerous to leave her here. Why I'm even bothering, I don't know. But I will find out.' The group of three walked on as Sesshomaru thought this.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 2

"Ah!" Sakura screamed in pain, as the huge bulky demon attacked her, sending her flying towards the ground. She had been to visit a sickly man and had just been about to head for home, when the town complained about a demon attacking their village. And Sakura, being the kind priestess that she is volunteered to take care of the demon. Right now though she was in a bit of a pickle. Her arrows weren't working on this demon at all. She kept getting knocked around by the huge beast a lot.

Sakura jumped up to her feet spitting blood out of her mouth,'I need to finish this up and get back to Rin,' she thought. She went to grab her sword deciding she had no choice but to take the risk and use the sword of Midoriko, but the demon jumped at her, pinning her down to the ground where she couldn't move.

"It's over human!" The demon cried out. It leaned its head down to Sakura, getting ready to eat her. She yelled in fear, thinking that this was it. This was where it all ended. She'd die right here and never get the chance to see Rin again. A few tears came out of Sakura's eyes as she cried, thinking of her sister, living all by herself, having to live without her.

"Inuyasha! Do something!" Yelled an unknown voice suddenly, that Sakura didn't know at all. She couldn't even see around the demon's body to see who it was who cried out just then.

"I'm on it Kagome," said a voice who Sakura assumed was Inuyasha, answering the first voice, calling her Kagome. Inuyasha ran up to the demon that had Sakura pinned down to the ground, crying out to the demon,"Hey! Why don't you chew on this!" He swung his huge sword, cutting into the demon's body, making it let go of Sakura.

"Out of my way half-breed!" The demon yelled at Inuyasha,"I saw this human first. Go find your own meal!"

"You're not eating anyone today pal!" Inuyasha yelled, attacking the demon. It was then that Sakura got a good look at him. He was a half demon alright. He had long silver hair, dog ears on top of his head, golden eyes, wore a red yukata, that looked to have white underneath the red and he didn't wear any sandals on his feet at all. And around his next was a set of pray beads.

"Are you OK?" Sakura heard the voice of the girl Inuyasha had called Kagome run up to her, helping Sakura to sit up. She stared at up at the funny looking girl. She wore very odd clothing. It wasn't any type of outfit she'd ever heard of before. She had on a short green skirt, with a white shirt that had some type of green thing wrapping around the top part. And she had a red ribbon tied around the chest area.

Sakura then looked up at the girl's other features. She had long black hair that was tucked behind her ears and behind her shoulders. She also had bangs that were just as spiky as her's and brown eyes. And on her feet she wore odd black colored shoes and long white socks and her top which she had already noticed earlier was long sleeved. She stared up at her,"I think so," said Sakura.

Kagome helped her up and gently led her over to her friends. There was a man who looked to be a monk. He wore a black and purple yukata. He had black hair tied in a ponytail in the back of his head. His bangs were somewhat spiky, but not too much. He wore this weird glove on his hand. Sakura didn't know why he wore it though. And he carried a staff around.

Then there was a huge cat demon with them. It was white with a few black lines on its fur here and there. It had black ears. It had two long bushy tails. Then there was a black mark on its forehead. It also had red eyes and very long fangs.

Sakura then felt like her heart was going to flutter at what she saw next. There was a tiny fox demon. He was so adorable. He had the cutest tiny fox feet, a blue yukata, with white specks on it. There was a tie on the belly area and he wore a fuzzy vest. He had dark eyes and orange hair pulled up in a very high puffy ponytail. But what caught Sakura's attention most of all, was the cute white, fluffy fox tail, he had.

Her hands suddenly reached out uncontrollably and grabbed Shippo, cuddling him,"Hey! Let me go lady!" The fox cried out.

"I'm sorry, you're just so cute I couldn't help myself," said Sakura.

"Well, keep your hands to yourself," said Shippo.

"Oh come on Shippo, she didn't mean any harm," said a woman running up. She appeared to be a demon slayer. She had long black hair tied in in a high up long ponytail. And she wore a black colored demon slayer's outfit. Unknown to Sakura, this was just her fighting clothes. She had a kimono she wore as well. It was light pink with red and green patches on it. When Sango wore that, she'd always keep her hair down in a low ponytail.

She had brown eyes and wielded a huge weapon, that Sakura figured was called a Hiraikotsu,"Oh fine!" Shippo sighed turning away from Sakura, trying to put as much distance from him and her as possible, so she couldn't grab him again.

Sakura then remembered the fight. She turned back to Inuyasha, who was still fighting the huge demon,"Inuyasha duck!" Kagome yelled, firing a scared arrow. The arrow bound off the demon, doing nothing.

"That won't work," Sakura told Kagome,"I already tried it."

"Inuyasha, move out of the way!" Miroku cried out. Inuyasha knowing what Miroku was going to do jumped as far back as possible. The monk then cried out,"Wind Tunnel!" Sakura watched as the demon was pulled into Miroku's hand. But only about half of it was pulled in as the demon was too big for Miroku to completely suck into his hand.

"Wind Tunnel?" Sakura questioned.

"I'll explain later," said Kagome.

Sango then jumped up swinging her huge weapon as she cried out,"Hiraikotsu!" It hit the demon cutting into it and with a roar Kirara flew at it, finishing the demon off. It now laid in a huge blood of blood where it was dead.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Said a villager coming up to Sakura. He took out some money to pay her.

"No, keep your money. I didn't do much anyway. You should be thanking them," Sakura pointed to the group. The man thanked them, then headed off. She then turned to the group,"Ok, who are all you people?"

"We should be asking you that," said Inuyasha, putting away Tetsusaiga.

"I don't have to tell you, demon!" Sakura demanded.

"What was that! I save your freaking life and this is how I'm treated!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Inuyasha! Sit!" Kagome cried out. Inuyasha fell flat onto his face,"Can't you see how shaken up this poor woman is? Show a little bit of sympathy, will you!" Kagome turned to Sakura,"Please tell us who you are. I'm Kagome."

"I knew that already. I heard, Inuyasha call your name. I'm Sakura," said the woman.

"Well, that's Sango, Shippo, Kirara, and that..." Kagome was interrupted while pointing everyone out.

"I'm Miroku, it's a pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman as yourself. Would you do me the honor of baring my children?" The monk asked as he gripped Sakura's hands in his.

"Miroku!" Sango yelled. She went to slap Miroku, but Sakura beat her too it, by removing her hands from his and punching Miroku in the face, sending the monk flying.

"How dare you even suggest such a thing! You dirty pervert!" Sakura yelled,"I should kill you for that!"

Miroku suddenly got real frighten,"I'm sorry!" He cried out, very quickly.

"Can't say you didn't deserve that one," Shippo sighed shaking hi head.

"That's better," said Sakura,"Now what is this about a Wind Tunnel?"

"An evil demon called Naraku. He cursed my family a long time ago with this Wind Tunnel. Each new generation is born with the curse. It eventually will swallow me up, and kill me, unless I kill Naraku," Miroku explained.

"Who the f**k's Naraku?" Sakura asked.

"An evil demon, not to be messed with," said Inuyasha,"One day, I'll kill him! He turned me against, my mate Kikyo, making us fight, and he killed her too." Inuyasha sounded angry as he talked about Naraku.

"What happened?" Sakura asked,"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Inuyasha begin his story,"I'll tell you. Naraku, disguised himself first as me, then as Kikyo and attacked the both of us, turning us against each other. Then I went to the village to steal the Shikon Jewel."

(Begin Flashback)

"Inuyasha!" The villagers screamed in terror, as Inuyasha ran though the village. He just smirked at the villagers as he jumped though the trees above them. He attacked anyone who dared to get in his way, on his hunt for the Shikon Jewel.

He busted though the roof of Kikyo and Kaede's hut. There was a odd sensation of smoke in the room, he jumped into. It was to ward off any demons, who would dare to try to steal the jewel. However, it didn't seem to affect Inuyasha very much, because he was half-human. He covered his mouth with his kimono sleeve, and ran as he grabbed the jewel. He then jumped out of the hut just as it caught on fire, he started running off, jewel in hand,"Finally! A way for me to become all demon at last!" He smirked to himself.

As he ran trying to get out of the village though, Inuyasha heard a voice behind him cry out in anger,"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha turned around looking up at the top of the stairs where he had ran down, just in time to spot the love of his life, Kikyo shoot a scared arrow at him. It hit Inuyasha in the chest sending him flying into a tree that was in the forest surrounding the village. Inuyasha screamed in pain as he was pinned to the tree, the shikon jewel falling to the ground at his feet. He then looked up at Kikyo, mumbling to her,"K..Kikyo...I thought..." He never got to finish his sentence. He then reached for her, as everything went black.

Kikyo then stumbled down the stairs holding her bleeding shoulder, dripping blood everywhere, as she reached down, picking up the shikon jewel into the palm of her hand. She winced in pain, leaning down on one knee, still holding the wound.

A tiny kid ran up to her. She had long dark, hair tied up in a low ponytail, the same way as Kikyo did. She also wore a yellow kimono with black poker dots on it. And one of her eyes was covered with a bandage. She had also been injured as well,"Sister Kikyo!" The kid panicked running up to her, with a few of the other villagers.

"Lady Kikyo! That wound," said one of the male villagers, in a worried tone of voice.

"You're hurt really badly," the kid said, tears falling from her uninjured eye.

"I won't feel it longer, Kaede. I will be dead soon. So I have one request of you. Here, take this. The shikon-no-tama, which you must burn with my body. It must not be allowed to fall into the hands of those who would abuse it," the woman explained to her sister, handing the jewel to her.

Kikyo winced in pain, one more time before falling down onto the ground, where she then died,"Sister Kikyo!" Kaede yelled, seeing her sister die right in front of her very eyes. However she decided to do as her sister requested of her.

The next day she had her sister's body burnt, along with the shikon jewel. Kikyo's spirit felt a warm feeling as she felt herself crossing over to the afterlife, taking the jewel with her.

(End Flashback)

"The rest of the story after I was pinned to the tree is what her sister Lady Kaede told me," Inuyasha explained.

"Well anyway, thanks for the help you guys." Sakura turned to leave. Inuyasha's story touched her very deeply. She hated anyone breaking up love, even if one of them was a demon.

"Are you leaving already?" Sango asked her.

"I'm sorry, I just don't feel comfortable around demons. And I have to be getting back home to my sister anyway," Sakura told them.

"Will you be alright, heading home?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine Kagome, thanks." Sakura walked away from the group, starting to head back to her and Rin's cave. As Sakura walked on, thoughts of Naraku entered her mind. With a dangerous demon like that lurking around, she was scared for her sister's safety. But as Sakura got close to home she suddenly thought she heard Rin's giggling,'What the hell is she doing all the way out here?' She wondered. She walked and peeked out of a bush, spotting Rin with a small group of a few others.

"Rin, get back here and take your bath!" Jaken yelled at the girl. Rin just giggled, running around, trying to avoid Jaken. He sighed,"Why do I put up with this child?" He also didn't understand why Sesshomaru had agreed to help Rin find her sister, in the first place. To him it was just more trouble then it was wort.

Speaking of Rin, the girl was now dressed a bit differently then she had been the other day. Her ripped and bloody red kimono was replaced with a long orange and white checkered one, that had a green colored tie around her stomach. She held her doll in her hand as she ran around playing, refusing to take her bath.

"Rin, stop this fooling around and take your bath," said Sesshomaru walking up. He had went to check on something and just got back. Whenever Sesshomaru went off somewhere, he always left Rin with Jaken and Ah-Un, leaving Jaken to watch the child.

Rin stopped, snapping to attention at once,"Yes, my lord."

Sakura gasped at seeing Sesshomaru,'She's with demons! That large one with the silver hair and the Mokomoko on his shoulder, he must of kidnapped her. Well, he's not getting away with it, that's for sure!' Sakura drew her bow and arrow, jumping out at Sesshomaru, yelling at him,"Hold it right there demon!"

Sesshomaru turned his head to the woman,"What do you want? Go away, unless you want to die."

"You're the one who will be dying today! Not me!" Sakura yelled. Rin was at the river bathing and didn't notice what was going on.

"So, you really wish to die then. So be it." Sesshomaru pulled out his whip and begun fighting with the priestess. Sakura dodged the whip of light, doing a dodge roll, rolling around like a ball.

"Show that weak human what for, milord!" Jaken called out, standing on the sidelines, watching the battle, next to Ah-Un. The beast was laying down sleeping.

Sesshomaru was pretty impressed. This human was dodging all of his attacks. He'd never knew a human could be this good at fighting,"Impressive. You're managing to dodge all of my attacks. But let's see if you can dodge this one." He mumbled to his Mokomoko. And it jumped off of his shoulder speeding at Sakura.

"I don't think so!" Sakura cried out. She went to dodge the thing. But as she dodged it, Sesshomaru came up from behind her grabbing her neck. He then held her up in the air by her throat. His claws were poised with acid, as he got ready to kill her. Sakura glared down at him in hate, showing no signs or fear, nor pain.

Rin, was singing at the river as she bathed. She then went and got dressed. But just as she did, she noticed what Sesshomaru was doing,'That...that woman! She's my sister!' Rin gasped in her head. She ran up to Sesshomaru just as his claws, dripping with acid were about to go into her neck,"Lord Sesshomaru! Stop! That's my sister!" She cried out, running up to him.

"Your sister?" Sesshomaru at once retracted the acid back into his claws and released Sakura to the ground, letting the woman down gently, being careful not to damage her.

Sakura punched him in the gut, just then, actually getting a gasp of pain from Sesshomaru,"You're not getting off the hook that easily pal! You f**king kidnapped my sister! I'll kill you for that!" She was in too much of a rage to notice that Rin had just spoken. Sesshomaru jumped out of the way dodging Sakura's attacks. Now he wasn't attacking her back any longer, just dodging her attacks.

"Stop it sister!" Rin cried, tears in her eyes. But Sakura wouldn't listen and kept attacking Sesshomaru who kept on dodging her attacks, one right after another.

Having enough of this fooling around Sesshomaru ran at Sakura, distracting her with his Mokomoko and then pinning her down to the ground,"Now, you listen here, I did not kidnap your sister. She came with me of her own free will." He was very angry right now. Angry with himself, for having almost killed Rin's older sister. He was also angry with the woman, herself for standing up to him, making him look like a fool.

But at the same time, he was very impressed with her. This was the first time any human being had stood up to him and lived to tell about it. But this human was getting on his last nerves. If she didn't stop annoying him so much, he'd have no choice but to kill her, whether she's Rin's sister or not,"Let me go! You're lying!" Sakura yelled, trying to struggle free out of Sesshomaru's grasp. It was no use. He had her pinned down pretty hard, even with only one arm.

"Please! Listen to me Sakura." Rin ran up to her,"Lord Sesshomaru didn't kidnap me. Actually he saved my life. I was killed by a pack of wolves and he brought me back to life, with his Tenseiga."

Sakura gasped,"Rin! You've spoken!"

"Yes, if it hadn't been for Lord Sesshomaru I never would of spoke at all," Rin explained.

Sesshomaru let Sakura up,"Do not attack me again human, or I WILL kill you, whether you're Rin's sister or not."

"Ok, I won't attack you. But I won't let my sister stay with you either. I'm taking her back home, where she belongs," said Sakura, getting up off the ground.

"If you want to take her, go ahead. I'm not stopping you," Sesshomaru told her.

"But Lord Sesshomaru, I don't want to go. I want to stay with you, Master Jaken and Ah-Un," Rin begged.

"Rin, go with your sister," said Sesshomaru.

Rin sighed, hanging her head down low,"Yes Lord Sesshomaru."

The two girls were about to leave when Sesshomaru smelled a demon approaching,"Don't move!" He yelled out. Yelling wasn't really something he did, but he needed to get the girls' attention, to let them know how serious this was.

Rin stopped moving at once, staying completely still, but Sakura wouldn't listen,"Don't tell me what to do!" She yelled at him. She regretted it though, as a giant flying bat looking demon flew down and grabbed Sakura with its claws on its legs and carried her off, making her drop her bow and arrows to the ground. So, now there was no way for her to defend herself. Sakura yelled in panic.

"Sakura!" Rin cried out, tears in her eyes.

Sesshomaru sighed. Why should he even bother? That human woman made him look bad and tried to kill him. But when he saw Rin's tears, he closed his eyes and shook his head,'I don't know why I'm about to do this. I know I'm going to regret it,' he thought, taking up to the sky, chasing after the demon, that was carrying off Sakura.

She looked back and saw Sesshomaru flying after her, his Mokomoko blowing in the wind as it sat on his shoulder,'Just great! I'm being kidnapped by one demon and rescued by another demon. This is just not my day,' Sakura sighed.

The demon took Sakura to its den which was a cave on a very high up ledge on a mountain. There was no ground around the cave, just the cave. The only ground was inside the cave. The den was shaped like a huge pillar sticking up out of the ground. The demon then laid Sakura on its nest in the cave and held her down with a clawed foot, digging in its claws causing the woman to scream in pain. It then leaned down getting ready to eat her when a voice cried out,"I'd release that woman if I were you. If you don't, I'll have to kill you."

Sakura turned her head towards the voice,"Sesshomaru!" She cried out in pain as the demon stomped its foot down on her head next, trying to quiet her down.

At her cries of pain, Sesshomaru ran ahead at the demon at lightning speed flexing his claws with acid as he attacked, trying to get the demon to back away from Sakura. The woman jumped up, trying to keep out of the way of the fight. But as she was trying to stay out of the way, she kept getting pushed back farther and farther to the cave's entrance. Sesshomaru who was distracted by fighting, didn't notice though, until it was too late, and he heard Sakura scream as she fell out of the cave down to the ground below.

Sesshomaru tried to get to her before she hit the ground, but the huge flying demon got in his way, blocking his path. Sesshomaru's eyes turned red in anger,"Out of the way," he ordered. But the demon refused to move. It was then too late, as Sesshomaru then heard a crunch of bones breaking as Sakura hit the ground hard, and died. Now he was very angry. His eyes turned very dark red with the pupils purple. He then transformed into his true form.

Sesshomaru growled in anger as he jumped at the demon, attacking it. Both him and the other demon ended up being pushed outside, into the open air, where they then had an air battle. As they fraught, Sesshomaru looked down at the ground, to see Sakura's body, all mangled up laying in a pool of her own blood. It wasn't a very pretty sight, that's for sure.

Sesshomaru flew at the demon, attacking it. It flew back at him attacking back. As they fraught images of Sakura entered Sesshomaru's mind of her defying him. He didn't know where this woman got off, hating and disrespecting demons the way she does, but he figured maybe there was a reason for it. And he wanted to find out what that reason was. And in order to do that he'd have to win this fight at all costs, so he could bring Sakura back to life and get some answers from her.

'You will not stop me from getting the answers I seek,' Sesshomaru thought to himself, with a growl as he continued attacking the beast. He released some poisonous acid from his teeth into the other demon as he bit into its fur. It howled in pain as it bit Sesshomaru back. He took one of his clawed legs and scratched the demon as it bit into him. It was literally like a dog fight, even though the demon Sesshomaru was fighting wasn't a dog demon, like him.

The fight went on for a long time, until Sesshomaru finally won. His poison took effect and the demon turned to ash. He was somewhat scratched up from the fight, a lot and was bleeding in a few places where he'd been bitten by the demon, but it wasn't too serious. He'd be ok in a day or so.

Sesshomaru flew down to the ground where Sakura laid at, turning back into his human-like form. He then took Tenseiga out of the sheath before it even had a chance to pulse at all, and swung it at Sakura's dead body, cutting down the minions from the underworld. He then pulled the woman into his one arm after putting Tenseiga away. He didn't even care that he was getting blood on his clothes as he did that. He wouldn't of bothered holding her up like that, but he didn't want her chocking to death on the pool of blood and dying again, so soon after being brought back. He then waited for a response from her.

Sesshomaru didn't have to wait long, when Sakura's eyes fluttered opened. She just stared up into his golden eyes for a few moments, blinking her green ones up at him. She was confused as to why he had helped her, after she had insulted him, been mean to him and tried to kill him. She just couldn't understand it at all,"Y...You saved me? Why?" She questioned him.

"I have a few questions for you, Sakura." It was the first time Sesshomaru was using her name,"And I can't get those answers if you are dead. Plus, Tenseiga would of compelled me to bring you back anyway."

"Tenseiga?" Sakura questioned him. She then struggled free, out of Sesshomaru's arm, getting up to her feet. She failed to notice that not only was she back to life but the wounds she'd gotten from the demon were gone as well.

"It's the sword I used to bring you back to life with. I used it on Rin the other day. Unlike most swords, this one does not cut. It can only bring the dead back to life. Now, explain to me, why is it you made me look like a fool and were rude to me? Does it have anything to do with your dislike for demons? Why do you dislike demons? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Though, I am curious to know why you insulted me and made me look like a fool." Sesshomaru then stood back, waiting for answers.

"Well you see, I misunderstood. I'm sorry. I thought you had kidnapped my sister," Sakura sighed.

"If I had kidnapped her like you so claim I did, would I really have given her back so easily?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"That's a very good question," said Sakura,"And I guess you do have a point there. Also to answer your other question, the reason I don't like demons is because they killed me and Rin's parents and burnt our whole village to the ground."

Sesshomaru gasped,"You're that Sakura?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked him.

"I heard the rumors flying around about your village. They say you're the one who did all the killing and then kidnapped Rin from her parents," he told her.

"I know," Sakura said,"Those rumors are a crude joke and very hurtful. Let me tell you what really happened, that I can remember."

(Flashback from the Prologue)

Rin yelled at the top of her lungs as she stared at her mother's dead body and looked towards the burning down house, where she had just witnessed her father's death as well. Rin backed away in fear, clutching her doll in her hand as the bandit approached her getting ready to kill her.

Just then a scared arrow flew passed Rin, hitting the guy straight though, killing him on the spot as his body turned to dust,"Get the f**k away from my sister!" Rin heard Sakura yell.

Rin turned and saw her sister. She ran up to her, hugging her. But Sakura was in too much of a rage to really hug her back. She continued yelling at the bandits, suddenly sounding like she'd lost her mind,"You're going to suffer a very slow, painful death for what you've done! ALL OF YOU!" She actually took out her sword as she sped at all the bandits slashing and cutting like a man woman. Suddenly it was like everything went black. When she came to all the bandits were dead along with all the villagers.

Sakura then noticed the fire was getting closer, so she grabbed her sword putting it back into its holder and grabbing Rin, who was sobbing, holding her doll, turned and ran away from the burning down village, as it burned until it was no more.

After Sakura got Rin to a safe place she sat the child down,"Rin, are you OK?" Rin looked up at Sakura scared as she backed away in fear of her sister,"Rin! Why are you scared of me? You know I wouldn't hurt you. I'm sorry you had to see that. I...I don't know what came over me. It was like I couldn't control myself." She realized that she must of done all that killing and Rin was shocked by it.

Rin hugged her sister sobbing, not saying a word, just crying,"I'm sorry Rin. I know this must of been hard for you. It'll be ok. I'll take care of you. I promise," said Sakura. She picked up her sister into her arms and carried her off until they found a place they could stay. However, the villagers hearing about what had happened would not allow them in the village, so they had to stay in a cave, nearby the village. Ever since their parents died Rin refused to speak.

Sakura figured maybe Rin had just lost her voice from the fire and smoke. Not only did Rin inhale a lot of smoke, she had also been so scared Sakura figured the child had gone mute from fright. She'd get Rin talking one day, she figured. She just had to be patient is all. Just be patient and wait.

(End of Flashback)

"Now this is the first time Rin has talked in years, since our parents died. And I guess I have you to thank for it. Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru. I'm sorry I was rude." Sakura ran at him and hugged him tightly as she cried, getting his chest soaked with her tears. He didn't seem to care that she was hugging him though. He didn't hug her back, but he wasn't stopping her from hugging him either.

Eventually, Sesshomaru pushed her away though, not wanting her scent on him,"Now that's enough. Stop that at once." He was meaning her tears. Sakura at once dried up her tears and stopped crying. It was like she'd never cried in the first place. Sesshomaru then continued talking,"Now, Rin wants to continue traveling with me. What are you going to do? You can either take her with you and leave, or travel with me, to make her happy."

Sakura sighed,"Looks like I have no choice. If Rin really wants to be with you, I'll have to let her and travel with you as well. Plus, I was wrong about you Lord Sesshomaru. I may hate demons, but you're not like other demons. You're kind and very sweet. You brought me back to life without expecting anything in return. I will trust you." She went to walk over to Sesshomaru, when suddenly she felt weak from all the blood she'd lost as everything went dark.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 3

When Sakura opened her eyes, she found herself in an unknown room, that she didn't recognize at all. It was a huge room, Sakura noticed the room was very fancy looking as well. There was a balcony, with fancy royal looking white curtains hanging down from the ceiling which was very high up. So high in fact that a dog demon could be in its true form in here and fit.

She looked up at the bed she was laying on. It was a vanity bed, with curtains along the big bed. There was a lot of blankets piled on the bed and a few covering her body as well as a fluffy pillow that she had been laying her head on. There was a huge wardrobe off to the side next to a private bathroom that was connected to her room,'Where am I?' Sakura wondered to herself,'This must be Sesshomaru's palace. Did he...did he carry me back here, while I was unconscious?' She figured he must have as there was no other way she could of gotten here.

Just then as she was thinking that, Sesshomaru came in to check on her,"Oh, I see you're finally awake. It's about time you woke up."

"About time I woke up? What do you mean? I wasn't out that long was I?" Sakura asked him.

"You were out for four weeks," Sesshomaru told her,"Your sister was beginning to worry."

"Four weeks! You're kidding right!" Sakura yelled out in shock. She threw the blankets off of herself noticing she was in a fresh new priestess kimono, instead of her old one that had been ripped and bloody from the attack. She guessed Sesshomaru must of had his servants bathe her and dress her. She then jumped out of bed weakly and almost fell over, but Sesshomaru caught her in his one arm.

"You were weak because you lost a lot of blood. My Tenseiga brought you back to life, but it can't put the blood back into your body that you've lost," he told her. He moved the woman over to be sitting back on the bed. He was actually real gentle as he moved her back over to the bed.

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru," says Sakura.

"Now, just lay back down. I'll have the servants bring you some breakfast," Sesshomaru told her.

"Ok, fine," Sakura sighed, as she actually did what he asked of her. She leaned back and laid back down onto her back, looking up at the ceiling.

Sesshomaru sighed and left the room. Minutes later, Rin came running in and up to her sister,"Sakura, you're awake. I was so worried." The child wrapped her arms around her sister in a hug.

"Sorry I worried you Rin," said Sakura.

"Lord Sesshomaru was worried as well. After he went after you we waited for him to come back. And he was carrying you, when he came back to get us and told us we were coming back to the castle to rest up. I expected him to place you down on Ah-Un, on the way here, but he carried you all the way to the castle and up to your room here. It was so sweet," Rin explained, with a giggle.

"Really? Lord Sesshomaru did that?" Sakura asked.

"Yes he did. I think Lord Sesshomaru is in love with you," answered Rin.

"No, I don't think so, Rin. I think he's just impressed that I stood up to him is all," Sakura told her sister. She sighed. Where did Rin get this stuff from? What would make her even suggest that Sesshomaru was in love with her? As she thought that a maid came in with a tray of food. Sakura thanked her, sitting up in bed and taking the tray onto her lap.

On the tray there were things like, sausage, bacon, eggs, hash browns, a few small pancakes and some apple juice, with a biscuit on the side. This was a lot of food. What the heck was Sesshomaru doing! Was he trying to fatten her up or something?

"Uh...sister that's a lot of food," said Rin.

Sakura gave her a look,"I...KNOW!" She told her nodding her head, at Rin stating the obvious.

"I guess Lord Sesshomaru figures after being out for so long you must be starving to death," Rin told her, smiling up at her. As she said that Sakura started chowing down on the food. It seemed Rin was right. Sakura was starving to death. Well, she hadn't been able to have anything but broths while she was unconscious after all.

"Can we play after you're better?" Rin asked her.

"Maybe later Rin," said Sakura in between bites of food. She then finished eating her breakfast and shooed her younger sister out of the room so she could take a bath. She left the tray for the maid to come pick back up. She wasn't used to being pampered like this. Where her and Rin had been poor their whole lifes until now that is, they had always took care of everything themselves.

Sakura wasn't used to having everything done for her. So it felt somewhat weird for her, having her food brought to her on a tray, in bed. Plus, she had just eaten things she'd never had in her whole life. Even when her parents were alive she'd never had food this nice before. The family had been broke and had to hunt for their own food all the time. So, this was quite a change for Sakura. A change she didn't know if she'd be able to get used to or not.

"Hmm, I wonder." All too curious Sakura walked over to the huge oak wood wardrobe and opened it. Inside were tons of matching red and white priestess kimonos,"I knew it! I so knew it!" She said,"I knew he'd have a lot of them placed in here for me." Up above the kimonos were two tiny drawls, one side filled with underwear and the other with bras. And below that was a huge drawl with sandals and socks filled in it.

"It seems he's very well prepared," she grinned, grabbing a change of clothes and going over to the bathroom.

A servant came in taking the tray,"Lord Sesshomaru wishes to speak with you after you freshen up," said the servant,"He's waiting for you in his room. It's just across from yours."

"Tell him I'll be there in a bit," said Sakura.

"As you wish." The servant bowed in respect and took the tray, leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Sakura sighed as she went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She sat her clothes down and started running the warm water in the huge tub. Of course she had to pour water into a pipe to get the water to start running first though. Where she then turned a gear which made the water begin to pump out into the tub. She waited for the water to fill completely into the tub before turning the pipes off.

She then undressed, letting her sleeping yukata hit the floor and removing her underwear also letting it hit the floor as well. She then climbed into the warm water,"Oh...ooo...ahhhhh," Sakura moaned in pleasure. She had gotten the water a bit too warm, so it took a few minutes for her body to get used to the temperature of the water. A lot of thoughts raced though Sakura's mind as she relaxed in the water.

Like for starters, why did Sesshomaru bring her and Rin here? He was a demon after all. Don't demons normally just eat humans? Sakura didn't know of course that Sesshomaru didn't eat humans, like most other demons did. As she thought this she picked up the sponge and soaped it up with soap and started washing her body parts with it. She then ducked her head into the water getting her long hair soaked.

When Sakura came back up she took the same soap and washed her hair with it. She then dipped her head back into the water washing the soap out of her hair. Then she leaned back to relax, deciding to keep Sesshomaru waiting a bit longer. She was too relaxed in the tub to get out just yet. Back at home where her and Rin lived in the cave, they didn't have a bathtub and had to wash in the river all the time. So, she was pretty lucky to be in a castle with a huge tub in it.

Sakura then started thinking as she laid back in the tub deep in thought,'He's a demon, but he's actually kinda cute,' she thought with a blush,'Wait! What am I thinking?! He's a demon! A demon! I can't be attracted to a demon. It was demons that killed my parents.' She blushed some more without realizing it, as she continued to think over Sesshomaru's looks. After thinking and wondering for a few more hours about why Sesshomaru was letting her and Rin stay here, Sakura got out of the tub.

She drained the water out and dried herself off with a towel and got dressed into her priestess clothes. She then dried and brushed out her long hair. Brushing her hair took another two hours, as Sakura had always had real thick hair. So sometimes it was hard to brush. She then slipped on her sandals and went to see what Sesshomaru wanted. As she knocked on the door she heard him say,"Come in, Sakura." Like he knew it was her. He must of smelt her scent at the door.

Sakura walked in,"What did you want of me, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"There is a few things you need to know. Have a seat," said Sesshomaru. Sakura sat on his bed and he continued,"First, now that you're back with your sister you will watch her and be responsible for her. Is that clear?"

"Oh course! I was watching her long before she even met you, you know," Sakura told him.

"Secondly, I'm sure you've noticed a huge tower from your window. You're to stay away from it, no matter what noises you hear. Is that understood?" Sesshomaru questioned her.

"But...why?" Sakura asked him.

"Do not question me human! Just do as I say. Stay away from the tower room. If you are spotted even going in that direction, you and Rin will be threw out of my castle," Sesshomaru told her.

"Ok, fine, whatever. But I do have a name you know. All of this,'human' crap! Why can't you just call me by my name. How would you like it if I called you,'demon' huh?" Sakura questioned.

"You wouldn't dare," said Sesshomaru in a calm voice,"Know your place human."

"Whatever you say...demon," said Sakura. She turned to walk away, when Sesshomaru grabbed her, pinning her to the wall by her neck.

"You dare to speak to me that way. Would you like to die?" Sesshomaru questioned her. His claws that were pressed to her neck, punctured her skin somewhat drawing blood.

"Ah! Let me go!" Sakura cried out, kicking, trying to get loose.

Sesshomaru pushed Sakura out into the hallway, pressing her up against the wall, where he then let her slide down to the floor in a heap. He then turned and walked back into his room mumbling as he went,"Worthless human."

'Jerk!' Sakura thought, shaking her head, getting up in time to have the door slammed into her face. Then she heard the click of the lock on the door. She guessed he wanted to be alone now. She decided to just get up and find Rin then. First she went and took care of the bloody scratch on her neck,'Gee, what is Lord Sesshomaru's problem!?' She yelled in her head.

After she cleaned and washed her neck she put a bandage onto the wound and went to find Rin, hoping she wouldn't question how she'd gotten hurt. She found Rin outside in the gardens singing,"In the mountains. In the breeze. In the forest. In my dreams. Lord Sesshomaru where are you? Master Jaken is serving under you too! I will wait for you, on my own. Please return to me. Waiting all alone."

Sakura grinned, a cheesy grin at her sister's singing. Rin was sitting on a huge rock in the garden as she hummed the song. She then walked up to Rin after the song was over,"That's very pretty Rin. Where did you come up with a song like that?"

"You really think so? I just made it up on my own," said Rin, turning towards Sakura, her eyes full of happiness at her sister commenting on her singing.

"You mean you just thought that out of your head? It's very good. Why not sing it in front of Lord Sesshomaru," Sakura grinned.

"Oh, I couldn't. What if he doesn't like it," said Rin.

"Of course he will! You can catch him at dinner and sing it to him," Sakura told her.

"You really think so?" Rin questioned.

"Sure, I'm sure," her sister smiled at her with her eyes shut. The sisters then played, all day. They were playing one of Rin's favorite games which was hide and seek. Sakura was a bit too old for that game, but played it with Rin anyway, to make her happy. She was never able to find her sister and eventually it was time for dinner.

The sisters washed up and went to dinner. Sesshomaru was already there with Jaken, sitting at the head of the table, with Jaken on his left. He motioned for Sakura to sit on his right side, with Rin next to her. Sakura sighed and sat down, with Rin next to her. But just as the group were about to eat, Rin thought this was a good time to sing her song for Sesshomaru and climbed up onto the table standing in front of him, almost standing on top of the food as she sang,"In the mountains. In the breeze. In the forest. In my dreams. Lord Sessho..."

"Rin, get down from there," Sesshomaru interrupted her song.

Rin sighed,"Yes, my lord." She then climbed back down off of the table, sitting back into her chair.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Sakura yelled jumping up from the table, yelling at him,"That was very mean! She thought up that song just for you!"

"Hn," Sesshomaru sighed, not paying any attention to her what so ever.

"Hey! You can at least answer me! I'm talking to you, you know. You weakling!" Sakura yelled.

Sesshomaru at once jerked his head up, towards Sakura at what he just heard. He then jumped up from the table and faster then anyone could blink he once again had Sakura pressed up against the wall, holding her up by the neck, his claws digging in. He then dropped her and took out his whip and whipped her with it,"Disgusting human! Out of my sight at once!"

Sakura yelled in pain as the whip made contact with her body,"But I haven't..."

"NOW!" Sesshomaru yelled. Sakura scrambled to her feet running from the room and up to her bedroom, away from Sesshomaru. Rin, sat there blinking her eyes not understanding what was going on. It looked to her like Sesshomaru was playing with Sakura.

A few hours later Sakura came down the stairs. Sesshomaru came up to her from one of the other rooms,"Where do you think you're going?" He asked her.

"I'm leaving! I'm getting as far away from you as possible. You did say to get out of your sight!" Sakura yelled at him.

Sesshomaru grabbed her,"You're not going anywhere."

"Let me go!" Sakura screamed, jerking her arm, trying to pull it out of Sesshomaru's grasp. But he was to strong for her and it ended up being a wasted effort. Sesshomaru, then let go of her slapping Sakura across the face, leaving behind three bloody scratches. The poor woman cried out in pain as she laid curled up on the floor in a heap.

"As I said, you're not going anywhere," said Sesshomaru. He picked Sakura up throwing her over his shoulder her bag dropping to the stone floor. He then carried Sakura up to her room her struggling the whole way up there, which was pointless. Sesshomaru opened the door and threw her down onto the floor.

"Hey!" Sakura yelled out at him, running to the door as Sesshomaru closed it, but found it locked,"damn!" She cursed out loud. She then turned and went over to her huge bed and curled down onto the bed, sobbing in pain, from her wounds that Sesshomaru had inflicted onto her. She couldn't understand Sesshomaru at all. What had she done to deserve this kind of treatment from him? Sure she called him a weakling, but was that really just cause to beat her to a bloody pulp like this?

She laid on the bed sobbing for hours, until she heard a turn of the lock, and a maid entered her room,"The lord asked me to bring you some food," she told her.

"Where is Lord Sesshomaru now?" Sakura questioned.

"He left. Said he'd be gone for a few weeks," the maid told her, handing her the tray with food on it.

"Thank you," said Sakura, taking the tray, just now realizing how hungry she was.

The maid saw her face just then, spotting the blood and scratches,"What happened? You're bleeding!"

"Lord Sesshomaru hit me. But it's nothing," Sakura told her.

"What do you mean it's nothing? Why would the lord do something like this? He's never hit any of us before. He must just be in a stressful mood. Here, let me clean you up a bit," said the maid. She went and got the first aid kit out of the bathroom and came back into the room moments later. Sakura sighed as she let the maid clean up her wounds and bandage them. She thanked her again and went to eat her food from the tray after she had left.

As Sakura sat there eating her food she wondered why Sesshomaru would take off so suddenly like that and not even bother to tell her, or Rin or even Jaken where he was going. And normally he took them with him when he had to go somewhere away from the castle. What was so urgent that Sesshomaru felt he had to go away alone for?

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 4

Sesshomaru was gone for two whole weeks. Sakura remained curious about what was going on. Every night she kept hearing moans coming from the tower room. She had no clue what was going on around here,'I'll ask Sesshomaru when he gets back,' she decided. She went and cut on the warm water in her huge tub and stripped off her clothing, stepping into the water, thoughts on her mind about where Sesshomaru could of gone.

She heard Rin out in the hallway running around and Jaken chasing after her,"Get back here child, at once!"

"No!" Rin cried out, clutching her doll as she ran up and down the hallways. Sakura kinda giggled at what she was hearing. Rin could be a handful sometimes. She actually felt a bit sorry for Jaken. But only a bit. It didn't concern her in the least.

"Put some clothes on!" She heard Jaken call out. Rin had left her room in just her nightgown and was running around the palace, half dressed.

'Geez! Can't a person even take a bath in peace around here!' Sakura cried out in her head. She was starting to become annoyed. She got out of the tub, wrapped a robe around her and exited the bathroom, into her bedroom, walked over to her door, opened it and walked out into the hallway, catching up to Jaken,"Will you shut the hell up already! I'm trying to bathe!" She kicked Jaken across the hall, where he bounced around like a beach ball, then she headed back into her room, into her bathroom to finish her bath.

Rin sit there laughing, as Jaken came to a stop in the middle of the hallway landing on his face,"Girl! What's so funny!?"

"You are," Rin giggled.

Jaken was about to say something more when a servant came up to him saying,"Lord Sesshomaru has returned."

"Huh? Lord Sesshomaru's back?" Rin blinked. She then ran over to Jaken, grabbing the kimono he was trying to get her to wear and ran back into her room, which was actually right next to Sakura's room. She hurried, bathed, brushed her teeth and fixed her hair. She wanted to look nice for Sesshomaru. She was wearing the same yellow and orange checkered kimono that she always wore all the time. She pulled her hair into a side half ponytail and exited her room.

By the time Rin had left her room, Sakura was already heading down the hallway as well, towards the stairs. She was hungry and was heading down to the breakfast hall. She didn't care that Sesshomaru was back in the least. He had left them for two whole weeks, not even bothering to explain where he was going or what he was doing. So, instead of going to greet him, she went into the breakfast hall to get something to eat. She was in her normal priestess kimono that she always wore. White top and red bottoms, with black slip on shoes. She also had her bow and arrows strapped to her back, her sword at her waist.

"Sakura," said a voice.

'Oh shit!' She looked up to see that Sesshomaru was actually in the breakfast hall having breakfast as well,'Just my luck!'

"Lord Sesshomaru! Welcome back," squalled Rin as she entered the room right behind her sister. Sesshomaru just nodded in her direction as he turned back to his food.

"Hey! She just said something to you! Least you can do is answer her!" Sakura yelled,"Don't be such a..."

Faster then Sakura could blink, Sesshomaru had her pinned to the wall again, just like he had done a few weeks ago,"What was that you were about to say to me? I told you, know your place, human."

Sakura just glared at him and spit in his face,"Go on! Do something! I dare you!"

Sesshomaru didn't say or do a thing. He actually just let her go, after leaving just a few bloody scratches on her neck. What! He let her off easy this time. What's going on here? Normally he'd hit her for her insults to him. But this time he just let it slid.

"Lord Sesshomaru, can I play too?" Rin asked him.

"Rin, we're not playing a game," said Sakura,"We're fighting."

"Ya, can I play too?" Rin smiled.

Sakura shook her head.

"Why?" The child questioned.

"It's not a game for children," Sakura explained,"Now, go have your breakfast before it gets cold."

"Ok." Rin went and sat down next to Sesshomaru and started eating. Sakura glared at Sesshomaru, as she grabbed a small trap of food and took it up to her room to eat. She was obviously angry at him and didn't want to be near him right now.

'I can't believe him! He's so heartless. I don't know what Rin sees in a bitch like him. He's kind to her but treats me like trash. I can't stand him!' Sakura kicked the wall on her way up to her room. In her room, she sit on her bed, reading a story from a scroll as she ate her breakfast, trying to take her mind off of Sesshomaru's stubborn attitude.

She continued mopping around in her room until a servant popped her head into the room telling her,"The Lord wants you down in about an hour. He's about ready to head out now."

"I'll be down in a bit," said Sakura. She handed the empty food tray to the servant, went and gathered some things into a knapsack, that she'd need while on this journey. She then grabbed a few more bags and packed things into them as well. She didn't know how long she'd be gone and wanted to be prepared for anything. She'd just get Ah-Un to carry most of her things anyway. She was probably being a bit harsh on poor Ah-Un getting him to carry this much, but she didn't care. He was strong. He could handle the weight.

As soon as she was ready she had the servants help her carry her things downstairs, out of the castle where Sesshomaru, Jaken, Ah-Un and Rin were waiting for her. Ah-Un stared at all the bags of stuff and gave a,"You've got to be kidding me!" look.

"Oh, come on Ah-Un. You're a big strong demon. You can handle it. Do it for me," Sakura pleaded to the two headed beast. She petted him on his mane and he nuzzled into her neck, convinced to do what the woman asked of him. Suddenly though, she felt a tug on her kimono. She looked down at Rin,"What?" The child pointed out that Sesshomaru was leaving,"Crap!" She picked up her sister, placing her onto the beast's back and hooking her bags to Ah-Un, she started pulling him along after Sesshomaru's retreating form.

"Hmm, I wonder why Lord Sesshomaru wants to leave so suddenly after just getting back," Jaken wondered, not noticing the girls and Ah-Un passing by him to catch up to Sesshomaru,"Hmm, it's a real mystery. I wonder..." notices he's suddenly all alone,"Hey! Wait up! Wait for me!" Jaken then strambles to catch up to the others.

They caught up to Sesshomaru,"What's your problem, huh! You could of at least waited while I attached my bags to Ah-Un, you know! You're so...AGUH!" Sakura was even more angry now.

"There is no time to wait. We need to get going. We have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall. If you slow me down I won't hestitate to leave you behind," Sesshomaru said, with no emotion in his voice.

"You're such a jerk!" Sakura yelled very loudly. Sesshomaru didn't even answer her after she said that, just mumbled a bit as he continued walking.

However, Jaken was listening to her,"You dare to speak to milord that way, you human wrench!"

Sakura turned to face Jaken, glaring at him,"What did you say?" She had an evil look on her face as she glared hatefully at the toad.

Jaken turned very pale,"Uh...n...nothing." Sakura's look scared him and he didn't wish to feel Sakura's wraph right at this moment.

"That's what I thought." Sakura took Jaken's staff of two heads from him, beat him over the head with it and threw it back down at his feet, then got up onto Ah-Un's back with Rin as the beast continued walking.

'That woman's a monster!' Jaken thought, picking up his staff and starting to walk again, rubbing his head where Sakura had hit him at. The group walked on until nightfall. Rin had fallen asleep on top of Ah-Un's back by then. And Sakura who by now had forgiven Sesshomaru for eariler was now walking beside him and Jaken was pulling on Ah-Un's reins.

Sakura suddenly let out a huge yawn, covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned. It had been a long tiring day of travel. She just wanted to sit down and relax for the rest of the night. Sesshomaru was right about wanting to make tracks before nightfall. The group had traveled all day long, not stopping once. It was a good thing Sakura had packed a few sandwiches in the bags Ah-Un was carrying, so that her and Rin would have something they could eat on the road without having to stop and cook anything over a fire.

Sesshomaru noticing her yawn suddenly stopped in his tracks,"We shell camp here for the night." And Sakura being too tired to argue with him simply nodded.

"I'll go collect firewood," she told him.

"Jaken, go with her," Sesshomaru ordered.

Jaken sighed,"But why do I have to be the one to..." He saw the way Sesshomaru was looking at him and strembled quickly to his feet,"Yes! Yes, right away milord." He ran to catch up to Sakura's retreating form, though the darkness of the trees ahead.

Sesshomaru sighed as he sit down at the base of a tree and stared up at the sky. The group was in a huge forest full of trees. Which is where they had decided to stop for the night. Rin was still sleeping on Ah-Un's back as the huge beast laid down. He was very tired after the long day's journey as well. Well, after being loaded up with so much of Sakura's stuff who could blam him. However the beast liked Sakura and didn't want to show it in front of her that it was somewhat of a strain carrying so much stuff. The priestess adired Ah-Un's strength and he wanted to keep it that way.

Not long afterwards Sakura and Jaken came back with the firewood. Sakura sit it down and started the fire. It wasn't really cold. It was actually quite a warm night. The fire was just so they could have some light to see by and cook their dinner. Sakura took some dried meat out of a bag attached to Ah-Un. As she was removing it though, she had woken up Rin,"Good timing. I'm about to fix dinner," she informed her sister.

Rin slid down from Ah-Un's back,"Ok." She sit there clutching her doll as she watched her older sister cook the food over the fire. She cooked it in a pot she had actually managed to bring with them. Unknown to her, Sesshomaru was actually looking over watching the priestess cook the food as well. He seemed to be quite intridged by the woman. Well, it wasn't only her cooking that intridged him. It was also the fact she had the guts to stand up to everything he said and did. What was with this woman? Didn't she know he was a very powerful demon that could kill her in an instant, if he had so wanted to that is.

'What is it about you that interests me so?' Sesshomaru questioned in his head. He continued to watch Sakura cook as thoughts of the woman flowed though his mind. He seemed to be very attrached to the priestess,'Stop it!' He told himself shaking his head as he rubbed his fingers along his chin in wonder,'She's a human. A human! You can't be attrached to her! Besides you don't have emotions like this. They are beneath you.'

Suddenly his thoughts were interuppted by Sakura saying,"Lord Sesshomaru, you hungry?" She had finished cooking the food which was ham, potatoes and carrots and was offering him a plate.

"No thank you," Sesshomaru replied. He got up from where he was sitting, not bothering to say where he was going and left camp.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Sakura questioned as he walked off though the trees not answering her back,"What is with him?" She wondered scratching her head and went back over to sit down with Rin and Jaken to eat.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 5

When Sesshomaru came back from his walk, he had a demon arm in his hand and was eating it. So, that's where he had gone! Sesshomaru never really ate human food. He just went out and killed other demons for food when he was hungry. Most demons actually ate humans, but not Sesshomaru. He thought eating humans was gross and very sickly. So, he just settled with eating other demons. He didn't even care that he was eating his own species either. That was why he hadn't told Sakura where he was going. He was kinda embarrassed about her knowing what he ate.

Sakura was sleeping already when he'd gotten back, next to the camp fire. Rin was sleeping as well cuddling her doll to her, curled up against her sister's stomach. The two were both laying on their sides facing the camp fire. Sakura's bow and arrows, along with her sword were resting against a tree close by to the fire. And there was a blanket draped over both girls as they slept. Ah-Un was laying a few feet away from the two on his stomach, asleep with Jaken laying up against him, sleeping sitting up, holding his staff of two heads in his hands as he slept.

Sesshomaru sighed as he went and sit down next to the girls, watching Sakura as she slept. He ran his fingers though her long dark hair without thinking. He didn't even know he was doing it either. There was something about Sakura that seemed very familiar to him, but he couldn't place it,"That's right," he said to himself,"Your ancestor is Midoriko. You're so much of a reminder to me of her." What! Sesshomaru knew Midoriko? Just how old was he anyway!?

(Flashback)

"So, you've rather be with that human priest then with me?" Sesshomaru questioned Midoriko.

"Y..You don't understand Sesshomaru. He could give me something you could never give me," she told him.

"And what might that be?" Sesshomaru asked her.

"Love," said Midoriko.

"I have given it. Tons of times," he told her. He lifted up Midoriko's chin looking her in the eyes. He had this warm look on his face. A look of love. But Midoriko didn't seem able to notice this.

"Let go of me, Sesshomaru. You could never understand my feelings! You have never once told me directly that you love me. And how can you show me love when you're away all the time?" She questioned, pulling herself out of Sesshomaru's grip.

"What's going on here? Midoriko where have you been? Our son's been asking for you for hours," said a man with dark hair and green eyes walking up to the two of them. His hair was short and very thick. And he wore a kimono that had a white top and blue pants.

Sesshomaru turned and growled at the man. So! This was who stole his Midoriko away from him, while he was away for a long time. His eyes turned red in anger and he pounced at the man attacking him,"NO! Please stop!" Midoriko begged, tears in her eyes. But Sesshomaru wouldn't listen. He killed Midoriko's husband right in front of her,"NO!" She ran at Sesshomaru trying to attack him. But he just grabbed her wrists tightly into his and pulled the woman into a very bruising kiss.

"Now, no one's in our way," he told her, in-between kisses.

"No!" Midoriko pulled away from Sesshomaru and slapped him across the face,"I hate you! I hate you! You will never understand a woman's heart Sesshomaru! I hope that some day you will learn from your mistakes and find someone who can stand you. But it won't be me! Good bye Sesshomaru. Stay the hell away from me!"

She turned and ran off, Sesshomaru just standing there letting her go. She had no clue how much she'd hurt him when she ran off on him like that. Sesshomaru actually had tears in his eyes as he watched the love of his life walk out of his life. It wasn't until a few days later when he went to try to make things up with her that he found out she had died. She had turned to stone fighting a demon, a shadow demon and had released her soul from her own body to stop the evil being, which became known as the Shikon Jewel.

Sesshomaru was very sad that day. He walked away from Midoriko's grave site in tears,"Never," he said to himself,"Never again will I open up my heart and allow it to be crushed again. Never again." He then walked away showing no emotion on his face. A demon jumped out attacking him and he just took out his whip, killing it without any remorse at all. From then on, Sesshomaru harden his heart, became quiet and emotionless. He would never let himself fall for a human again. He would harden his heart against them and kill all humans who approached him,'They must all die!'

(End Flashback)

"Maybe this time.." he went to rub his fingers across Sakura's cheek,"No." He shook his head, pulling back away from the woman,"She is her descendent. No, I can't." Sesshomaru went and laid at the base of a tree leaning his head back against the tree to rest and think things though. His heart had already been broken once before. He wouldn't allow it to happen again. Although he was beginning to start to trust humans again. And it was all thanks to Rin that he was.

The next morning the group packed up and left,"Just where are we going anyway?" Sakura asked Sesshomaru as she walked next to him.

"..."

"Fine! Be that way!" Sakura was getting angry again. It seemed since meeting her that Sesshomaru never spent too much time looking her way as well,'What's his problem huh! Why can't he look at me!?' She backed off and decided to question Jaken. Maybe he'd know what was going on around here.

"I don't know, where we're heading. What made you ask me?" Jaken told Sakura as soon as she questioned him.

"Well, I just thought you would know, Jaken. You ARE Lord Sesshomaru's retainer after all," Sakura told him.

Suddenly though,"You two! Don't move," said Sesshomaru. At this Sakura and Rin stood frozen to the spot. Sakura knew from what happened last time she was told this she'd better stay still this time. For her own good.

Suddenly from behind a tree a woman with her hair up in a somewhat bun came out. Her hair was just as dark as Sakura's and Rin's. And she had two feathers pinned to her hair. She was also wearing a pale pink kimono with red lines here and there and wore sandals on her feet and seemed to be holding a fan in front of red eyes. When she lowered it, Sesshomaru could see beads hanging from her pointed ears,"Who are you? What are you doing there?"

"So, you must be Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's older half brother. My name is Kagura," she told him, as she lowered her fan all the way down bending it into a long stick form.

"You know Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked her.

"Oh yes, we have met the other day and he mentioned you, Lord Sesshomaru. And I must say you're a lot more interesting than what I heard," Kagura told him.

"Is that why you were watching me?" Sesshomaru asked her.

"Why else?" Kagura grinned,"Also I can see that human priestess from here. You can't hide her from me, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Crap!" Sakura sighed,"What was the point of me standing still then if she could still see me?"

"Sakura! Stay where you are," Sesshomaru told her as he noticed her start to walk towards him.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to attack anyone. I'm just passing though. It was interesting meeting you Lord Sesshomaru. I hope we meet again some time." Kagura took one of the feathers from her hair, enlarged it and flew off.

'That woman. She had Naraku's scent on her,' said Sesshomaru in his head. He was very confused as to why Kagura smelt of Naraku. His scent was so strong on her it was almost as if she WAS him.

"Lord Sesshomaru, you OK?" Sakura tapped him on the shoulder. She noticed he seemed somewhat in a trance like state. He didn't answer her so she stepped out in front of him where he could see her, hands on her hips,"Hey! I'm talking to you, you know!"

Sesshomaru sighed,"Oh, ya, fine. We need to get moving." Rin climbed back up onto Ah-Un's back and begin playing with her doll, as the group walked on. They soon came to a town.

"Yey! A town. Finally, a warm bed to sleep in tonight." Sakura stared at Sesshomaru. She stared at the look of discomfort on his face,"Oh come on! The villagers won't bite."

"I'd rather not," he told her. He turned to Jaken,"It's getting late. Take the girls into the village and find an inn for them to stay in tonight."

Sakura gave Sesshomaru a look of concern,"But..."

"Come on sister, let's go. Lord Sesshomaru will be fine." Rin tugged on Sakura's arm, pulling her into the town, with Jaken following them. Sesshomaru just went and sit town against a tree that was nearby the village. He hadn't wanted to go in. He'd always been very uncomfortable in a human village and would rather not be around a lot of humans.

A few hours later, Sakura and Rin were in the hot springs at the local inn. Sakura was sitting in a corner of the spring, her head leaning out of the spring sitting on her arms that was crossed below her head. She was deep in thought. For some reason, the thought of Sesshomaru out there all alone didn't sit right with her,"Rin. I'm going to go sleep with Lord Sesshomaru, OK."

"OK," said Rin. She was already out of the spring sitting on a bent, drying herself off.

As Sakura dried off, got dressed and went back into the lounge Jaken came up to her,"I heard what you said woman! Surly you're not going to..."

She slapped him up side the head,"Pervert! That's not what I meant!" With Jaken knocked out on the floor Sakura marched out of the room hatefully, not realizing it was a cold night and she just walked out in a thin yukata. It was the type that was used for wearing around the house right after bathing if you wanted to get dressed quickly. Plus she hadn't grabbed any blankets on her way out either and was bare foot. Sakura left town and up to Sesshomaru still by himself, leaning against the tree. It was already night time out and it was getting late,"Lord Sesshomaru."

He looked over at her turning his head to face her,"Why aren't you at the inn?" He questioned.

"Just thought you might like some company," she smiled.

"I don't need any company," Sesshomaru told her.

"Awww, come on. Let me stay," Sakura begged.

"Fine," he sighed, giving in. He slid over a bit and Sakura sit next to him, looking up at the stars in the sky.

"Hey, look that one looks like a dog. And that one's a horse. And that's a bird." Sakura kept pointing up at the stars connecting the stars to each other to make a picture. Sesshomaru just nodded to show he was listening, but didn't answer her. She was too tired to argue with him though, so she just laid her head back closing her eyes, falling asleep.

Sesshomaru a few hours later heard some moans coming from next to him. He stared at Sakura noticing her shaking real badly. She was cold. He motioned for his Mokomoko to keep her warm. But it was then it decided not to obey him. It jumped from his shoulder climbing up into the tree, refusing to come down,"Why are you disobeying my orders?" He questioned the fluff. It refused to answer him.

He then heard Sakura moan even louder. He then started having a two way conversation with himself, trying to convince himself to do what he had to do. Sakura would freeze if he didn't do something. The Mokomoko wouldn't obey him and he couldn't show up in town. So, that left only one thing he could do. He took the shivering woman into his arms holding her close to his warm body with his one arm wrapped around her, keeping her warm. With her snuggled into his lap he leaned back against the tree to relax.

Elsewhere, unknown to Sesshomaru or any of his companions, they had been being watched by Naraku, when they had met Kagura. Naraku was a demon not to be messed with. He had been at war with Inuyasha's group for quite some time now. Plus he also wanted to take Sesshomaru's body as well. For years he had been posing as the lord of the eastern lands but none of his guards had realized yet that he wasn't really Kagawaki, but a demon called Naraku. Kagura had gotten back as she felt something wasn't quite right. She felt pains in her chest and felt like it was pulling her towards Naraku's castle. She ran in and up to Naraku,"What are you doing to me!?"

"This," he told her as he held up something in his hand that was red and slimy. As soon as he squeezed it Kagura fell to the floor gasping for breath, clutching her chest. "This, is your heart. If I squeeze it any harder you will die. Think about that next time you decide to betray me, Kagura," he smirked.

"Naraku, you bastard!" Kagura yelled in hate.

"However you did find me some useful information. So, I will let it slide this time," said Naraku. He stopped squeezing her heart and put it up into a case, for safe keeping.

"What information?" Kagura questioned the man.

"Why, that priestess woman of course. Didn't you know she's descended from Midoriko?" He told her.

"Midoriko? Who's that?" Kagura wondered.

"Why, my dear you have no clue do you? She's the creator of the Shikon Jewel of course. Therefore her descendent must have all of her powers. I failed once to get those powers used for me, but I will not fail again." Naraku had tried to get Midoriko to use her powers on him to make him powerful, so powerful no one could beat him, but she had refused him, stating he was evil and didn't derserse her help.

"What do you mean?" Kagura asked him.

"I am going to get this dear priestess to make me a new shikon jewel," he told her.

Kagura just had to ask him,"How is the jewel made exactly?"

"The user pushes out their soul of course," he told her.

"But...wouldn't that kill her?" The woman asked.

"Exactly! Lord Sesshomaru will be so grief sadden by her death that he will come to me attacking in a rage making careless mistakes and then that will lead to his downfall," Naraku smirked,"So, Kagura I want you to kidnap this woman and bring her to me."

'I must warn Lord Sesshomaru!' Kagura yelled in her head. She jumped up running towards the door but then collapsed to the floor again as Naraku was once again squeezing her heart.

"Oh, don't get any ideas about betraying me Kagura. Next time I may not show you any mercy. I may decide to just kill you," he informed her, giving her heart a hard squeese.

'damn!' Kagura yelled in her head, realizing that Naraku knew what she was up to,"I...I'll go in the morning."

"Good girl." Naraku put her heart back into its case. As for Kagura, she got up and left the room. She didn't care what happened to Sakura, but somehow, some way she'd have to warn Sesshomaru before it was too late, without Naraku finding out and crushing her heart. Perhaps he could help her get her heart back if she helped him. With that decison in mind, Kagura started making plans.

As she sit making plans though a thought struck her,"Wait! How does he know who that woman is descended from?" Then she realized, he must of been checking in on her a lot before. Naraku after all, did send the Samiyosho everywhere. So it was no suprise he knew a lot of things he shouldn't. Kagura then went back to planning out her freedom. She'd get her freedom one way or another.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 6

Sakura woke up to noises of a bird chirping, as she was opening her eyes, she heard Jaken's voice faintly saying,"Lord Sesshomaru! What do you think you're doing?" Sesshomaru kinda gave Jaken one of his serious looks and he gulped in fear, backing away very quickly,"Uh...never mind. It's none of my business."

"Huh? What's going on here?" Sakura opened her eyes and noticed she was curled up very tightly in Sesshomaru's arm. She blushed very brightly, pulling away from him, getting up to her feet,"What the the hell do you think you're doing!?" He was silent, not answering her. "Will you at least give me an answer for once?"

"How dare you insult milord! Apologize at once!" Jaken yelled.

"Jaken!" Sesshomaru suddenly interrupted.

"Uh...yes, milord?" The toad questioned.

"Shut up," Sesshomaru told him.

"Yes milord." Jaken suddenly went quiet. Rin giggled at Jaken.

"Sister, you left your stuff at the inn." Rin handed Sakura a bag.

"Thank you Rin," she grinned. She went and got dressed and bathed and then she pulled out her bow and arrows,"I'm going hunting. Be back in a bit." She went out into the forest, trying to find any animal she could kill for food. Suddenly she heard the bushes behind her rustling. Quickly she turned around, attaching an arrow to her bow and pointing it towards the bush,"Who's there? Come out or I'll shoot!"

Out of the bushes came a man, with dog ears on top of his head. He had long silver hair, wore a red kimono and had a sword attached to his hip,"I thought, I smelled Sesshomaru. But I guess not."

Sakura lowered her bow,"Inuyasha, it's you! What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. You have my brother's scent all over you," he told her.

"Hey! That's none of your business, you know," Sakura told him.

"Why are you so defensive? I was just wondering why you reek of Sesshomaru!?" Inuyasha demanded.

"If you must know, I'm traveling with him. Now will you leave me alone?" Sakura turned to walk away.

"Leave you alone?!" Inuyasha blurted. "It's not my fault you smell like that bastard!"

Suddenly out from the bushes, came Sesshomaru as he attacked Inuyasha. From where he was, he was able to smell Inuyasha was in the area. She turned around,"Lord Sesshomaru, what are you doing?"

Sesshomaru ignored her as he flexed his claws getting ready to attack, while still in mid air. His target, Inuyasha.

"Ha! This again, huh?" Inuyasha pulled out Tetsusaiga just in time to block Sesshomaru's attacks. Inuyasha knew the demon's speed and had a two second window, which he used to his advantage. Whenever the two seen each other, they always had to go at it. It was a never-ending battle between the two of them, each time. Lately thought the battles have been about Tetsusaiga personally as Sesshomaru felt the sword should have been his not his filthy half brother's.

"Take a taste of my poison claws," stated Sesshomaru as he attacked, hoping this time to finally do away with that annoying half breed.

Since this was always the way his brother attacked, Inuyasha smirked avoiding the claws once again. However with the speed Sesshomaru possessed, Inuyasha managed to get away just in time, avoiding him. The acid burnt into a tree, causing the tree to crash to the ground, nearly falling on top of Sakura.

"Hey! Watch it!" The woman yelled in fright, as she jumped out of the way, just in time. She couldn't believe the two. They hadn't been in the open area for more than two seconds and they were already attacking like they were about to kill each other. "Why are you two fighting anyway? You're not fighting over me are you?"

"This has nothing to do with you!" Inuyasha barked, dodging another attack, this time by this brother's glowing whip.

"It has everything to do with her," Sesshomaru replied with a cold calm. "I don't want someone around me who has this half breed's stench on them," he told her.

"Ha! So that's why. Well, you're not beating me!" Inuyasha yelled as he allowed this moment to finally attack, seeing an opening. But he knew the opening wasn't going to last for long. Sesshomaru was quite smart and very sharp. Always on his toes and with just a slight miscalculation, could be the end of the world for him and that was something he wasn't going to let his brother get the pleasure of seeing, at least not today. "Normally, you're after this sword!"

Sesshomaru's eyes had adverted towards the human woman for a second, which Inuyasha used. His eyes quickly drifted back to the battle just in time for him to ball his fist, punching the blade away from his face. The force of the blow forced Inuyasha back a little, giving ample time for Sesshomaru to counter.

Sakura gasped, afraid of what Sesshomaru was going to do when she saw acid dripping from his claws. She jumped to stand between the two fighting, wanting to stop them in their tracks. "You two! Stop this useless fighting at once!"

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. If she was going to get in his way, so be it. He wasn't about to let a human get in his way of killing his brother. Even if that human happened to be in his company. Then again why was he allowing her to stay with him… of course that stood to reason. Her sister saved his life and he too returned the favor.

"You idiot!" Inuyasha snapped as he reached forward, grabbing Sakura, pushing her out of the way just in time to take a swipe of his sword, causing Sesshomaru to jump back. "If anyone should back down, it's him! Sesshomaru's the one who started it."

Sakura rolled on the ground out of the way but she wasn't going to let that stop her from trying to stop the two. "I don't care who started it!" she rushed out.

"As I said before," Sesshomaru stated. "I will not allow anyone around me with that scent."

"If anyone stinks around here, it's you, you bastard!" Inuyasha lifted his sword with both hands, aiming it in front of him, getting ready to attack. He was getting ready for another round when the scent of blood eluded his nose. He recognized the scent as being Kagome's. What the hell just happened? He had only left her alone a few minutes ago. "Kagome," he whispered before turning his gaze to his brother. "Fine!" He re-sheathed Tetsusaiga. "I don't have time for this." He turned, taking a huge jump into a nearby tree, rushing off towards the scent.

Sesshomaru had smelt the human blood at the same time as Inuyasha had. He knew the scent belonged to that strange human girl who wore strange clothing. He wasn't sure what bothered him more, the girl's idea of clothes or her fiery spirit to actually challenge him. He would never forget how she pulled out Tetsusaiga from it's resting place when he nor Inuyasha could pull it out and he would never forget how she was able to damage his armor that time when Naraku gave him the human arm.

Kagome stood up to him in the same way as Sakura stood up to him. Expect Sakura had actually frought with him one on one. He could remember all too clearly when Sakura was fighting with him when they had first met. The woman had put up a pretty good decent fight as well. It had actually impressed him to see a human could actually be that strong. She frought him with the strength of a full demon. And her sword held a lot of power in it, as well. Her strength and guts to stand up to him was what led up to him letting her and her sister Rin travel with him.

"That was really weird. Lord Sesshomaru why did..." She noticed he was walking away,"Hey! Don't just walk away without answering my questions!" She ran to catch up to him.

As she followed after him, Sesshomaru still didn't answer her. He just mumbled,"Hmm," as they both walked back to camp.

"Fine! Be that way! See if I care!" Sakura was angry. Even though she said she didn't care, if she really didn't care, why was she getting angry?

'Because, you like him, just admit it,' said a voice in her head.

'I do not! Sesshomaru means nothing to me!' Sakura yelled at the voice in her head.

'Then why are you getting angry about it?' Questioned the voice.

'I'm not angry, just frustrated,' said Sakura,'Just who are you anyway?'

'I'm you Sakura. I'm the part of yourself that you've hidden away from the world for far too long. The part that knows how to open up to people and have fun.'

'I don't have fun,' Sakura sighed.

'Of course. It's cause you've forgotten how,' said the voice.

"Uh...hello? Sister are you ok?" Rin was suddenly pulling on her kimono trying to get her attention.

Sakura never even realized they had gotten back to camp,"Oh, uh...ya? What is it Rin?"

"You were kinda in a daze there. I asked what did you bring back to eat?" Rin grinned.

"Crap!" Sakura realized she was supposed to bring back food and had forgotten. That little run in with Inuyasha had distracted her and made her forget. She then ran back out into the trees with her bow and arrows.

As she sneaked around the trees, out popped a huge deer. It was male too, so she didn't have to worry about if the deer had a baby or not. He was a pretty large deer at that, too. He was large and brown, and hard very long antlers on top of of his head. He was very beautiful. She hated to kill such a pretty creature, but she had no choice. She needed food after all.

She attached an arrow to her bow. The deer noticed her just then and tried to get away. But it wasn't fast enough and she let the arrow fly, catching the deer in the side as he was in mid jump. He had been trying to jump into some bushes to get away, but hadn't gotten away fast enough. His limp body then fell over dead, onto the grass.

"Got you!" She placed the bow back around her back, then walked over to the dead animal, lifting it up onto her shoulders, walking back towards where they were all camping out at. The group ate and headed out. As they were walking it was getting hotter and hotter. Sakura wipped her brow as she sighed,"damn, it's hot."

Sesshomaru suddenly stopped in his tracks,"I smell water," he told her.

"Really?" Sakura panted in the heat.

"You and Rin can go cool off in the river, but be quick about it," Sesshomaru pointed out. He then went and sat down against a tree to relax until the girls got back.

"Ok, come on Rin." She took her sister by the hand and led the sweating child in the direction Sesshomaru had pointed her out towards. In the child's free hand she held her doll, as she walked with Sakura towards the river.

"Ahhhh, much better," Sakura sighed as her and Rin drank the nice cold water and ran it though their hair and over their bodies. As they were doing that though, Rin suddenly screamed. Sakura looked up,"What is...ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Back at the campsite, Sesshomaru suddenly jerked his head up, where he had been dozing off a bit. He jumped to his feet and ran in the direction of Sakura's screams. By the time he got there he was too late. Sakura was gone and Rin laid on the ground unconscious,"Rin!" Sesshomaru cried running to the girl's side. He lifted her up into his one arm.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Rin mumbled, opening her eyes,"She took her. A woman with dark hair took my sister away, on a feather. It was Kagura."

"I know. I can smell her from here. I can also smell Sakura's blood." As Sesshomaru had said that, Jaken walked up,"Jaken take care of Rin."

"Yes, milord," said Jaken, taking Rin from him.

Sesshomaru took to the sky following after Kagura. Unlucky for him though, Inuyasha's group had came across Kagura first,"Let her go Kagura!" Inuyasha yelled jumping up at her, on Kirara's back,"Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!"

"Be careful, Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, from down on the ground. Her head was bandaged up and she had a small bandage on her left cheek. She had been hurt by a demon earlier which was when Inuyasha had stopped his attack on Sesshomaru and went to help her.

"Stay back Kagome! You're still hurt," Inuyasha told her.

Sango jumped to her feet throwing her hiraikotsu at Kagura,"Hiraikotsu!"

Sakura screamed as she fell to the ground. Miroku opened up his Wind Tunnel to pull her towards him. Then at the last second closed it and grabbed the woman in his arms. But as he grabbed her, his hands just HAD to touch her bottom,"Hey!" Sakura punched him in the head,"What do you think you're doing!?" And before Sango even had a chance to notice, Sakura slapped Miroku hard across his face, as she struggled out of his arms.

"I was just making sure you were ok," says Miroku.

"Ya, right! I know a pervert when I see one." As she said that, Sakura fell over in pain. She actually WAS hurt, after all.

"Seems you really are injured. Let me help you. I am a monk," Miroku pointed out. As Miroku tended to Sakura's wounds, Inuyasha, Sango, Kirara and Shippo continued fighting Kagura.

"Dance of Blades!" Kagura cried out, her attack hitting Sango, who cried out in pain.

"Sango!" Inuyasha yelled, crying out the woman's name as Sango was sent flying backwards by Kagura's attack.

"Sango!" Kagome cried out. She got up to her feet, from where she had been laying in her sleeping bag that she'd brought over from her time,"Kagura! You'll regret that!"

"No, Kagome! Don't do it!" Inuyasha told her.

Kagome felt a bit light headed, as she pulled out her bow, attached an arrow to it and fired at Kagura, who dodged her attack, but as she dodged Inuyasha came up from behind Kagura slashing her across the back with his sword. But as he cut into her kimono a surprise awaited him. There was the spider mark imprinted on Kagura's back, like how it was on Naraku's back,"What the!" Inuyasha was shocked at what he saw. That of course gave Kagura the chance to get away, before Inuyasha could question her about it.

Kagome fell to the ground holding her head in pain, dropping her bow. She felt like her whole world was spinning out of control, as her head hurt like crazy,"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried, running to her side. He held her in his arms.

"I'll be fine, Inuyasha. Check on Sakura, ok," Kagome weakly requested.

Inuyasha helped Kagome to sit against a tree, and he went over to Sakura,"Hey, you ok?"

"Nice to see you all, again," Sakura coughed.

Kagome panicked,"Inuyasha! Grab my bag. Inside is a bottle of pills. She's to swallow one with water."

Inuyasha nodded and went over to Kagome's bag, pulling out the bottle of pain pills. He gave Sakura one pill with a cup of water,"What's this?" She questioned him.

"It'll help. Just take it." Inuyasha held Sakura's head up as she took the pill, helping her take it. Miroku had already taken care of her wounds and they were all bandaged up. The pill made Sakura dozy and she dozed off to sleep.

The group laid Sakura in Kagome's sleeping bag as she slept, taking care of her. Course then Sesshomaru just happened to come up,"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha took out Tetsusaiga. But Sesshomaru just ignored him, as he lifted Sakura up from the bag, and walked away, carrying her off. Inuyasha was shocked beyond belief as for once Sesshomaru wasn't trying to fight him. He just came to collect Sakura and be on his way.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 7

Far into the future, 500 years to be more accurate, four young girls attended the same junior high school as Kagome. They were known as Keiko, Rachel, Saki and Kelly. The four were long time friends and felt they were more like sisters than best friends. They did everything together. No one could understand why the girls were always like 'joined at the hips', but if they knew the real reason, chaos would probably ensue. The girls were not the average teenage girls with normal teen behavior.

Beneath their young looks was something inhuman. They actually were not human by any means. All four of them were demons but well hid themselves as in the world they lived in was not like the world their ancestors lived in. Back 500 years ago, demons and humans lived side by side but often had conflict with one another. Now it wasn't like that. Humans 'ruled' the world and demons lived amongst them, posing as humans. They did quite well in masking their demon aura from people who still had a strong sense of feeling strange auras.

It had been a few days since the four girls found out something about their past and the piece of information they were informed was about a threat that could wipe out their entire family. Well all expect for Kelly's. Unlike the other three she didn't have a family. She had no memory of her family, making her an orphan. Her first memory was being found in the woods by her three friends, after being unconscious. Ever since then the friends helped each other out whenever possible.

Since learning of this pending threat, the girls had decided to do something about it. They were going to find a way to the past and correct the mistake before their families were to be destroyed. Kelly was going to go along to keep them company. But how were they going to get there, that was the big question. Each one, after school, would try and figure a way and finally a way was found when Keiko went up and told them to pack up they were leaving that night.

"How are we getting there again?" Kelly asked, repacking her things after getting to Keiko's home and stuffed her bag with other things from her friend's home.

"Through the well in Kagome's shrine of course," Keiko grinned.

"Her well? But isn't it just a well?" Saki wondered.

"Nope," Keiko said. "I've been doing a little gigging and have learnt Kagome isn't actually sick like her grandfather keeps saying. I sense demon aura around the well and last night overheard the old man talking with his grandson and daughter about when Kagome will be home next. While listening, I overheard them say it's a transportation to the past."

"That doesn't sound quite right," Kelly said, a little nervous as she stuffed her bag.

"Well according to a guy I came across right when I tried to leave, he confirmed it to me."

"How? And what did he look like?" blinked Saki.

"He dropped something down the well, which disappeared in a blue aura. He wouldn't tell me who he was. He wore a cape and had his face covered," Keiko explained.

"Also..." Rachel looked over at Kelly. "Why are you packing so much stuff, Kelly? We aren't going to be there for months?"

"I want to be well prepared. You never know what could happen out there," she grinned. She got up but then fell over onto her back, looking like a turtle that fell on the back of their shell. It would appear her pack was too heavy.

"Told you, you were packing too much stuff," Rachel told her as she and Saki helped her up.

"Ok, fine," Kelly sighed. She removed her bag, with Rachel's help; from her back and started removing some of the less important things they've need.

Rachel's eyes were full of wilderment, seeing what the teen was pulling out. They had no need for all that junk. Just as Kelly went to re-zip her bag, Rachel used her demon speed, pulling out a Nintendo DS and then gave her a questionable gaze.

"What?!" Kelly snatched the game back. She pouted for a moment as Rachel crossed her arms, tapping her foot, giving the 'I'm getting impatient' look. "Awww, can't I take my Nintendo DS at least. I still need to beat Pokemon Black 2."

"Kelly!" Rachel yelled, stomping her foot.

"Ok, ok I get it." Kelly sat her DS on the coffee table, "I'm going to miss you so much my cute little pink DS." Then she kissed the screen and sat it back down, getting a strange look from Keiko, who then just shook her head.

Once all packed, the girls then grabbed their bus passes and left Keiko's house heading down to the nearest bus stop that would take them to Kagome's block. It actually was for that reason the girls met up together at Keiko's as the bus stop was just a block from her and the bus would take them directly to Kagome's home.

Arriving at the stop, there was a bench for them to sit at to wait. They knew they had some time to spare. Keeping up with the appearance, the girls kept their school uniforms on, indicating they went to the same school as Kagome. Unfortunately they had to wait nearly thirty minutes, before the bus finally pulled up, letting them in. Each girl showed their bus pass to the driver before walking to a seat.

A young boy with a couple of his buddies looked at the girls and began to wink at them. The girls rolled their eyes, pretending to ignore them.

"So where you cute looking girls off to?" one of them asked.

"Higurashi shrine," Keiko told him.

"Mind if we join you?" another asked.

Kelly swiftly around, glaring. "Not unless you want me to cut your balls and feed them to the pigs?" she snapped.

The young boys suddenly lost their humor as the first boy sat back, closing his mouth in a hurry. "Sorry we asked."

Kelly turned, giving her friends a smug look. "And that's how you shut boys up."

The three remaining girls snickered into their hands. "Kelly, you really need to slow down the temperament," replied Rachel.

"Speaking of temperament," said Saki. "Did you guys see the latest episode of Bleach?"

"damn, that was amazing," Kelly said. "Byakuya sure showed that Espada a thing or two. Besides, I still say the best character is Byakuya."

"Are you kidding?! Jushiro could crush him if he wanted to that is," said Saki. "I mean he is 'far' older than most of the Captains."

"Why do you always fall for the white haired guys?" Kelly asked.

"Jushiro's hair isn't white, it's bleached," Rachel argued back.

"It's not bleached, he has an illness and he's totally hot! And Jushiro's gentle side is to die for," Saki replied, getting a dreamy look on her face.

"White, bleached, it's the same thing," Rachel told her friend.

"Oh please," Kelly rolled her eyes. "The tall, dark and handsome are the dreamiest ones. And Jushiro hasn't even shown his Bankai. At least Bya's has and his Bankai is soooo awesome."

The two continued to argue about who was cuter until the bus stopped at their stop. The four of them grabbed their bags and wanting to be courteous, they thanked the driver as they stepped off the bus. It only took them a few moments to arrive at the steps, leading to Kagome's family shrine. However the climb up was tough.

"f**k! How high up is this place? I'm getting tired," complained Kelly.

"We're almost there," said Keiko.

"Why don't we just use your demonic powers?" offered Saki.

"Because, people will then think it's strange and probably freak out," retorted Rachel.

Kelly felt wiped out by the time they had reached the top. The other three didn't look so bad, but were a bit tired. Normally a climb like that would not be a problem, but they were all wearing backpacks, which weighed them down more. Keiko, taking a quick look around saw no one was around.

"Ok guys, let's move!" she hissed, then using her demon speed to the well house, not wanting to get caught. The other three were quick to follow.

Reaching the small house, Keiko opened the door and quickly shut it as quietly as possible before the four descended the steps leading to the well.

"You mean to tell me, this tiny thing will take us to the past?" blinked Kelly

"Of course it will. Watch." Keiko jumped onto the lip before jumping into the well first. There was a bright light and she vanished.

"Keiko! Where did you go!?" Kelly called down into the well. There was no answer.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Said Rachel. Saki nodded to her friend and the two of them jumped in together, leaving Kelly to go last.

"Hey, wait for me!" She cried out, jumping into the well after her friends. Her feet only made a soft touch down landing when a sudden scream above her, brought her to her attention. Those screams, she knew, came from her friends. They needed her and fast. "What the hell!"

Kelly jumped from the well, arriving in a field in the middle of a forest known as Inuyasha's forest. There was no city around her, only lush green of leaves and grass. The air was even fresher than she ever thought was possible. Ignoring that, her sensitive nose picked up something that was completely foreign and frightening.

There before her was a large demon attacking her friends. The demon was like no other they had ever heard of before. It was huge and scary to boot, resembling that of a horse. But unlike a real horse, this thing was giant, with two heads. There was only one thing Kelly could do, join the fight. With the need to join, she would be able to put her demon powers to proper use as they were in a time and place where demons were often more supreme and humans feared them.

"Get away from my friends!" Kelly yelled, attacking. As she attacked some purple smoke exited out of her body. Unknown to Kelly or her friends, the smoke was actually known as miasma. A very powerful yet deadly substance for both humans and demons. As she attacked, the purple smoke touched the demon, killing it nearly immeidately upon touch. For normal users though, they would only release a minimal amount, but for Kelly, she released a lot. It only left a huge pile of bones behind, leaving all that remained of the creature.

Over nearby a tree, demon in a bamboo pelt stood, watching with intrigued interest. The moment the fight was over, he smiled, bringing out his hands to clap in slow, mocking manner. "Well done. I congratulate you, on destroying that demon so easily." His eyes was staring at one of them in particular. Kelly.

Kelly alerted her gaze to the man, "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Oh my, Kelly. Don't you remember who I am?" He asked her, surprised, but kept that quietly to himself. He finally found her.

"No, who are you?" She asked him.

The man known as Naraku smirked, 'She doesn't remember being my incarnation. This means she doesn't remember what happened either.' His mind drifted back to a memory of the last time he saw her.

(Flashback)

Inside of Naraku's castle, there were noises coming from inside a room where a woman was mixing some potions together to be able to test them on some bugs called Saimyosho, for Naraku. Kelly was testing some powerful potent green liquid on the insects to see if she could make them bigger. Working on trying to be careful, Kelly was doing her best to be sure she didn't put too much in or there would be an explosion.

Unfortunately, just at that same time, Naraku decided to enter the room, unannounced like he often did. He never needed to announce himself. He was the Lord of the castle.

"Kelly!" Naraku called.

The sound of his voice startled her, causing her body to react, which was not normal for her to do. As she jerked, too much was poured in, creating an unstable substance. She could feel the jar she was holding, slowly vibrating, which wasn't good.

"Master," she said, sounding completely serious. "Get out. This is going to explode."

His eyes widened, looking to the jar in her hand, seeing it visibly shake. "Release it!"

"If I do it will explode," she pointed out. "But she knew it was going to explode and she wanted to save his life above her own.

In a move faster than she thought, he was right beside her, trying to get it out. But the second his hand touched it, the vibration was too much and the glass exploded, creating a blast. He was knocked back, against the door while she went sailing in the other direction.

Unfortunately for Kelly when her body hit the wall, she caused another chain reaction. Her back smashed into a shelf of other potions, shattering all the jars, combing all the liquids, creating a second explosion.

Naraku had just enough time to look up in time to see Kelly shielded her eyes before he was forced to as well. As the explosion occurred, the entire room lit in a white light. For a split second, he thought he saw a flash of light that looked a bit like the Shikon Jewel.

After the explosion Naraku looked everywhere. But Kelly was nowhere to be found, at all. With no body, he believed Kelly must have died in the explosion, leaving nothing left. Naraku sighed, now he'd have to make another incarnation to replace Kelly, if he could, but that would take years.

(End flashback)

'I wasn't able to make another until recently after gathering shards of the shikon jewel,' he thought. 'For 50 years, I tried but failed. I have Kanna and Kagura but never could become what you were and now I have you back. My best and loyal servant. That explosion had transported her somewhere and from her clothing, to where ever Kagome comes from. But she doesn't remember me.' Naraku decided to be truthful to her, "I am known as Naraku. You are my incarnation."

Rachel blinked. "Incarnation?"

"Oh I know this!" blurted Keiko.

"What?" Kelly gasped. "Wait a minute. I studied that in school. Incarnation means a body was made by the tissues of a donor." Kelly asked him.

"And according to him," Saki thumbed in his direction. "You came from him."

"That's right," said Naraku. These girls were pretty smart.

"What do you want?" Keiko demanded, getting the attention of the other girls. The four immediately went into a defensive position, ready to defend themselves if Naraku were to attack them.

"I am not here to fight you, merely to warn you." He reaches out, grabbing Kelly before the others could blink.

"Hey! Bastard!" Rachel cried out, running in to attack the guy, but some purple smoke got in the way. It was the same fog Kelly had released a short time ago.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. My miasma could kill you," said Naraku's voice from deep within the miasma. "As you just witnessed with that demon Kelly just killed."

"But what about Kelly?" Saki asked.

"As we've already established, she's my incarnation. This miasma, has no effect on her. Now do as I say or your friend here will come to a sticky end. Meaning of course, I will have to kill her," Naraku ordered. He of course wouldn't really kill her. Kelly was his best incarnation after all. But they didn't need to know that.

Kelly tried to scream out for help, but couldn't. Naraku had a very tight grip on her with his hand covering her mouth, making it impossible to cry out. Where she was completely engulfed in the miasma, her friends couldn't see her. Tears ran ran down her cheeks as she thought, 'Oh no! What am I going to do! He's going to use my friends to do his dirty work. I..I'm scared! What is he planning to do with me?' Naraku's grip was tight enough, she barely could breath, eventually causing her to pass out from lack of oxygen. Her unconscious, Naraku was able to lift her up into his arms, bridal style, hands resting on her belly.

"Fine! What do you want us to do?" Keiko asked the man, very angry. And she had every right to be so. There weren't many things that made her angry. But this was one of them. When her friends were threaten that was Keiko's 'pissed off' button.

"I want you to get rid of two people for me who are in my way, ruining all my plans. One of them is a half demon known as Inuyasha. The other is his full blooded demon half brother, Sesshomaru," he explained.

"And how are we to find them?" Rachel wondered as she questioned him.

"Inuyasha is with a group of three humans and two demons. One of the humans is called Kagome. She is wearing an outfit very much like what you three are wearing. She can sense out jewel shards." Naraku threw one over to Keiko, "If you are holding one, the group will seek you out."

"Kagome!" Rachel blurted. She was in the past?

"I've heard of the jewel in class," said Saki, remaining calm of hearing about her classmate.

"So have I," said Rachel. The jewel had been mentioned in the girls' history class.

"And how do we find Sesshomaru?" Keiko asked him.

"He's with a little girl called Rin and a priestess by the name of Sakura. Both girls have long black hair. There is also a huge two headed demon with them known as Ah-Un and a toad called Jaken. Now you should be able to carry this out." As he said that, the miasma vanished. After it was completely gone Naraku was nowhere to be seen. He had vanished without a trace with Kelly.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 8

“Why do you want another sword for? It seems to me like you’re strong enough already,” Sakura told Sesshomaru as the group walked on. Earlier that morning she had woken up to find herself back with Sesshomaru. She guessed he’d found her and had brought her back. She was still a bit injured but wasn’t as hurt as she was.

Sesshomaru gave her a look and blinked a few times before turning away from her, walking on. “Hey! I’m talking to you, you know!” She yelled out.

“Mind your manors human. Lord Sesshomaru rarely answers anyone and likes to have me talk for him,” Jaken told her.

“Ya, well, I’m getting the answer from him not you, one way or another.” Sakura ran up to the demon lord, grabbing his arm, pulling on it. “Hey!”

Sesshomaru jerked his arm out of her grasp and turned around to face her as he stopped walking. “Touch me again and I’ll kill you,” he told her, not really meaning it. He was now just trying to push her buttons, just looking for an excuse to piss the Priestess woman off even more so than she already was at the moment. He found it amusing to keep pushing her buttons this way.

“Hey! Quit threatening me already and just answer the damn question!” Sakura yelled out at him. She reached out to slap him and Sesshomaru thinking it would be amusing decided to let her do it. There was then a loud slapping noise of flesh hitting flesh as Sakura slapped him hard across the face.

“Human wrench how dare you!” Jaken cried out. He had no idea that Sesshomaru had actually allowed this to happen. As always Jaken was clueless as to what Sesshomaru was doing. He never got what his lord was up to and was always questioning everything. Sometimes it got pretty annoying and pissed Sakura off as well. And this was one of those times.

Sakura was about to yell at Jaken when Rin spoke up, “Please Sister, don’t pick a fight with Lord Sesshomaru. I don’t want you to get hurt.” The girl looked like she was about to start sobbing. Even she could tell when things were about to get serious and the child didn’t want a huge fight to break out right in front of her. She loved her sister and Lord Sesshomaru and couldn’t stand seeing the two of them fight all the time. Sometimes some of the fights Sesshomaru and Sakura got into seemed kinda pointless to Rin and really a kind of silly thing to be fighting over.

Sakura looked from her sister and then back to Sesshomaru. “Fine! But I don’t care who he is. No one ignores me like that and gets away with it! It’s very rude not to answer someone when they’re talking to you!” She glared at Sesshomaru as she said that.

Sesshomaru sighed and actually answered her although he thought it was none of her business in the first place. It seemed to him like Sakura wasn’t going to let this one slide until she got an answer from him after all.


“This sword is useless,” he told her. “I need a new one.”

“Why? What’s wrong with it? It looks fine to me,” Sakura told him, thinking Sesshomaru was being quite stubborn about the whole thing and just throwing out a perfectly good sword.

“This sword was a memento from my father when he had died, but it is useless to me. It doesn’t cut anything at all,” Sesshomaru told her, taking out his Tenseiga and looking it over. The sunlight shined off the blade as he looked it over, holding it in his hand. “Unlike the sword he gave to Inuyasha. He got the Tetsusaiga and I was stuck with this sword that doesn’t cut.”

“It doesn’t cut? Are you sure? Perhaps you’re not using it right,” she wondered, her finger rubbing across her chin.

“Are you calling milord weak!?” Jaken demanded angrily, once again jumping the gun on something he didn’t understand at all.

“No, I’m just wondering if he’s using it the right way is all,” says Sakura. “And you should mind your own business you know!”

“That goes double for you, human!” Jaken growled at her. The two of them both glared at each other.

Sesshomaru decided he’d have to prove it to her that the sword can’t cut anything at all. He turned to Jaken. “Jaken, come here for a minute.”

The toad trembled and started walking towards him afaird of what he was getting ready to do to him. “Yes, milord?” He questioned after he was standing right next to him.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Sakura cried out, seeing Sesshomaru lift up his sword and bring it down onto Jaken, cutting him with it. Her eyes widen in shock at what she just saw. She then yelled out in a panicked voice, screaming at the top of her lungs and tears started coming out of her eyes at the sight she had just witnessed right before her very eyes.

“Stop that at once Sakura. He’s fine,” Sesshomaru ordered her.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Sakura demanded, angrily. However she had stopped her yelling. Even her tears were starting to dry up as well. Or maybe her eyes were drying out and that was what had stopped her crying.

But as they were arguing Jaken got back up from where he’d been knocked over from where Sesshomaru had used Tenseiga on him. There wasn’t a single scratch on him at all. Sakura at once quit yelling at Sesshomaru as she turned around to face Jaken. “How can you still be alive? He just cut right through you.” The expression on the woman’s face was one of complete and utter shock. She couldn’t believe what she had just saw happen. It made no sense at all to the woman. By all logical sense Jaken should be dead right now, but he wasn’t. “How is this possible?” She shook her head. Who was she to question how the world worked after all? The world was quite a mysterious place after all.

“Now, you see for yourself that this sword is rather useless to me,” Sesshomaru told her. “It can not cut. It only brings the dead back to life when I cut through them destroying the minions of the underworld that only I can see. This was how I brought you and your sister back to life when the two of you had died.”

“But why? If your father gave it to you, shouldn’t you treasure it for his memory? And I think bringing the dead back to life is a great power,” Sakura told him. She grinned a bit at that thought. She thought bringing people back from the dead was a wonderful gift and he should treasure what a special power he has after all. ‘It’s like playing God,’ she grinned to herself from ear to ear at the thought, picturing Sesshomaru going around as an agent for justice and helping people.

“What are you grinning about?” Sesshomaru asked her.

“Oh nothing,” she giggled.

“It can’t destroy your enemies,” he then told her as he re-seethed his sword.

“But...” Sakura started but stopped as the demon lord turned, starting to walk away. That basically meant the conversation was over for now and he didn’t want to discuss it farther. “Hey! Quit walking so fast!” She cried out, grabbing Rin by the hand and running to catch up with him.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Jaken cried out, also running to catch up with Sesshomaru noticing once again he was being left behind. This was something that always happened to him. Jaken was starting to think that perhaps Sesshomaru did it on purpose after all cause he loved seeing him struggle trying to catch up to him.

“Who’s going to make you this sword anyway?” Sakura asked him when she’d finally caught up to him. She didn’t know of any sword smiths that made swords for demons after all. So she had no idea who Sesshomaru was going to get to forge his new sword for him.

“Kaijimbo,” Sesshomaru told her. He never looked at her as he answered her, but did stop walking to talk to her though.

“Who the heck is Kaijimbo?” Sakura asked him. She’d never heard of anyone at all by that name. This was new to her.

“You don’t need to know who he is. He’s just a demon who forges swords made from demons. Although he may not do it. He is after all very strict about who he makes swords for and often the price he asks for is very high. If he refuses me I’ll have to force him to do it,” Sesshomaru explained.

“There you go again, being rough with others. Can’t you for once in your life be nice to someone?” She asked him. She was starting to get fed up with Sesshomaru. Sometimes he was quiet while other times he was rude and mean. She just didn’t get him at all.

Jaken answered for Sesshomaru before Sakura could stop him, “Oh, believe me he doesn’t need your sympathy. I heard he’s a crazy old evil man who quite enjoys the taste of human meat.”

Sakura shook somewhat at that. She actually felt cold chills run up her spine at what Jaken had just told her. “Ewww gross!” She gadded, looking like she was going to throw up.

“Jaken, I want you to go find him and order him to make me my sword,” Sesshomaru ordered.

“If he can be found. He moves around a lot,” Jaken said. He saw the way Sesshomaru was looking at him. “Y...Yes! At once, right away milord.” Jaken scrambled away, rushing off to find Kaijimbo and tell him about Sesshomaru’s request to have a sword made.

“You’re making him go by himself? What if something bad happens to him?” Sakura questioned Sesshomaru.

“He’ll be fine, let’s go,” said Sesshomaru, starting to walk off.

“But...” Sakura started but seeing as he was leaving she shook her head, her and Rin following him along with Ah-Un. She had no idea how Jaken was to find them again if they were moving around and not staying in one place. But she guessed maybe he’d just sniff them out and find them. Or at least she sure hoped so.

Suddenly Rin spoke up, “I smell something sweet.”

“What? Really?” Sakura asked her. The child giggled and ran ahead. “Hey! Come back here Rin!” She ran trying to catch up to her sister. Rin had always been very fast when she wanted to be. And this was a time where she was very quick on her feet. Sesshomaru followed right along with her, not really interested much in the least about sweets.

Rin had her mouth hanging wide open, drooling at something when Sakura and Sesshomaru caught up to her. “Look,” she pointed out.

“What do you...Oh my gosh! A house made out of candy!” Sakura gasped, as she looked ahead at the open field of sunflowers. Right in the middle of the field was a small gingerbread house with a few trees surrounding it on either side of the house. Rin giggled and started running towards the house. “Hey Rin, wait up!” Sakura ran after her, a bit excited about the house herself.

‘Something about this doesn’t seem right. Why would something like this be sitting out in the middle of nowhere. Unless...it’s a trap!’ Sesshomaru gasped as he ran to catch up to the girls. “Stop at once!” He cried out.

Sakura turned, “Hey! Who told...”

“AH!” Rin cried out as something long and slimy that looked like a giant tongue flew out of the opened door to the house pulling her inside the opening.

“Rin!” Sakura cried out. She ran ahead trying to get to her sister when Sesshomaru pulled her back. If she wasn’t careful the house would swallow her as well. She looked up at him, seeing him shaking his head no. “But...my sister.” A few tears fell out of her eyes.

“It was a trap. It’s a lure, to lure humans in to be eaten by the demon that lives inside,” he informed her. “If you get any closer you’ll just be pulled in as well.” Sesshomaru pulled out his whip and ran forwards while Sakura stayed back.

“I’m not about to just sit back and watch you know!” She cried out. She stood very far away and pulled out a scared arrow. She attached it to her bow and fired at the house which was actually a demon. The house blinked at her once and morphed itself into a huge tower.

“You think that’ll stop me?” Sesshomaru said. He took to the air and started flying up towards a small opening in the side of the building.

“Sesshomaru!” Sakura cried. She grabbed onto him before he could get too high up. Suddenly the opening got bigger and the two of them were both swallowed up into it. Sakura cried out in terror as she felt both her and Sesshomaru being pulled inside of the beast. “What are we going to do!?” She gripped onto the demon lord very tightly, panicked stricken. How would they ever get out of this mess?

“Stay still and go with it,” he answered her. He pulled the woman up tightly into his embrace so she wouldn’t get hurt. Sakura suddenly cried out in terror and pain then, as everything around her went black as she blacked out in the demon lord’s embrace.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 9

“Sakura! Wake up! Sakura!” She heard someone calling out her name but didn’t quite hear the voice clearly enough to know who it was.

“WA...what?” She mumbled, opening her eyes. Her vision blurred a bit and then came back into focus. She stared up into Sesshomaru’s face and rubbed her eyes a bit. From her perspective, he seemed to have a look of concern on his face for her, but that couldn’t be right. Then again, the two had been getting close, which meant her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, she actually was seeing concern on his face.

She noticed they were in what appeared to be a dark room with no doors or windows. With minimal light filtering through, the walls were dark pink in color and were slimy looking. It almost looked as if they were in the belly of a beast of some kind. With a turn of her head, she noticed the floor, she was lying on, looked a bit slimy as well, but not as wet looking like the walls and ceiling were. She went to move but Sesshomaru stopped her. 

“Don’t move!” he ordered.

“And why not? Why shouldn’t I? Rin’s in here somewhere, I need to save her,” she snapped. Not wanting to listen to him, she went to move again. Once again, Sesshomaru, who was quick to move around her, pinned her to the ground with his one arm and one of his legs, preventing her from moving. “Hey! Move!”

“When we were swallowed into this place, your wounds from yesterday reopened. I had to work to re-close them again. Moving now will reopen those same wounds,” he explained. 

She blinked, slightly confused for the moment but then remembered what happened yesterday. She was indeed wounded yesterday, which explained why he was stopping her from moving. He wanted to prevent her from injuring herself further.

“You mean that...” she began but stopped and gave a small quiet gasp. With him so close to her, she finally took a good look at him. Sesshomaru’s chest was more noticeable than before and both sleeves were torn, leaving the sleeves in several tears. His right arm, well lack there of, nearly was showing the stump where his arm was cut off. ‘Did...did he actually rip his clothes to make bandages for me?’

“So you’ve noticed,” he replied a bit too dryly. “With the amount of blood seeping from your wounds, it was getting rather annoying. I had to care for your wounds before you bled to death or else I would have needed to use Tenseiga to bring you back to life again.”

If she hadn’t known him already, she would have taken insult to his retort about her blood was annoying. However, she knew he had a strong sense of smell and from what she could tell, he didn’t like seeing her injured, which meant the insult was referring to the point he was worried about her dying on him. 

With a nod of understanding, she relaxed her muscles, showing she wasn’t going to fight him. “What are we going to do now? We’re trapped in here, and Rin could be killed any minute now,” she wondered, in a panicked voice. Sakura was scared her sister had already been killed and perhaps eaten alive by the demon that they all were inside of.

“We’ll get her out,” he reassured. He was not acting like himself at the moment. It was probably due to him being just as worried as she was for Rin and even themselves. Knowing Sesshomaru, he wouldn’t openly show his anxiety and would easily hide behind his emotionless mask.

Sakura was easily able to see through the mask and knew Sesshomaru was just as worried as she was for Rin. Even though she hadn’t known Sesshomaru that long she could already read him like a book. Which was something special in itself, as Sesshomaru barely ever showed any reactions at all. Sakura was the only one who could tell what he was feeling. 

Seeing she wasn’t going to fight anymore, Sesshomaru removed himself off her. With a sigh, Sakura very carefully sat up before weakly climbing to her feet. A moan of pain escaped her lips as her body protested the movement, forcing her to remember, she was still injured after all. Doing what she could to ignore the pain, she walked over to the demon lord and wrapped her arms around his tattered clothing, giving him a hug from behind. 

“You’re worried aren’t you? There’s no need to deny it, I can tell. Don’t worry though I won’t let Rin die. You have my word as a priestess. It’ll be fine, Sesshomaru,” she assured him.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes for a moment actually enjoying having the woman’s arms around him, fingers touching his skin where his clothing moved to reveal his chest. He lifted up his arm, touching her hands that were around him, actually giving them a gentle squeeze. He didn’t even understand why he was enjoying her arms around him so much. He just was and there was no way to explain why she was making him feel this way. There was just something about her that always seemed to get very strong reactions from him. Sometimes Sesshomaru didn’t like how Sakura made him feel. It made him appear weak to have those feelings that he was always showing around the Priestess woman. 

With a quiet sigh, he then nearly scowled. “Why are you up? Lay back down, now.”

“You know I can’t do that. My sister needs me to rescue her. Please! There must be something you can do,” she begged him. “And me laying on this…whatever ground this is, is not going to get us any closer to Rin. I’ll just have to be extra careful.”

He nodded, knowing she was right. “There is one thing I could try. It’s something I learnt after father passed the sword to me. I don’t think even Totasai knows it. Tenseiga also has another unique power, the power to heal wounds. However, it will be a very painful progress and you may not be able to stay still while it is taking place. And if you move around too much the progress will fail.”

Taking the hint of what he wanted to do, Sakura laid back down. “How is it done?”

He swiftly turned to her, surprised she would allow him to use his suggestion. Showing no emotion, Sesshomaru reached to pull Tenseiga out as he explained things to her. “I stab Tenseiga into your wound while at the same time ejecting my poison into you. Which is why I said it will be painful as it deals with using my poison claws on you.” He had been told about this power from his father before being given the sword, which was how he knew about this power it held. It was also so far the one thing Sesshomaru was able to out do his father with. His father never could master the power and yet Sesshomaru did.

Sakura gulped in fear, now knowing what to fully expect. She took a few quivering breaths and made a decision. It would have to be done. That was the only way to save Rin. If she was injured she’d just be a burden and in the way of saving her sister and there wouldn’t be anything she’d be able to do, to help. “Do it,” she told him.

“Are you sure? If your body jerks, I may end up missing the right spot and cause you to get poisoned. My poison is very deadly to humans and can kill on contact you know,” he warned her.

She clenched her eyes shut. “Just get this over with already so we can go rescue Rin!” She demanded.

“If you say so.” He watched as Sakura braced herself for the pain that she knew would come to her. With Tenseiga fully unsheathed, he leaned down to her level. “Are you ready?”

Sakura took another few in takes of air before nodding her head. Yes, she was well prepared for it. She still had her eyes clenched shut very tightly awaiting the coming pain. Sesshomaru allowed acid to flow from his claws as he held the weapon by the blade part of it. With the blade not being able to cut anything there was no risk to him, but that was the only way it could be done at the moment, as he only had one arm. He was sitting on her as he did that in hopes to hold her down enough so she wouldn’t be able to move. Without another warning or thought, he then stabbed Tenseiga and his poisoned clawed hand into her wound at the same time.

“Oh dear lord!” Sakura yelled bloody murder as she suddenly felt her whole body burn with pain. It actually felt like her whole body was on fire and she was burning from the inside out. Tears were quick to form and ran down her cheeks as she sobbed with pain. Then on impulse her body went to jerk up automatically.

“No!” Sesshomaru demanded. “I told you not to move. The poison will enter your blood stream if you move and poison you badly.” Sesshomaru tried desperately to keep her from moving. He then said something not like him at all, “I know this is painful for you. It’ll all be over soon I promise.”

Sakura sobbed as she gripped Sesshomaru’s clothed leg. After he was finished healing her wounds he put away Tenseiga and actually leaned his hand down to her face wiping her tears away. Her heart, still thumping from the extreme pain, started fluttering in her chest at feeling his gentleness. ‘I don’t get it at all. Most times he’s rude or quiet but other times he seems very gentle towards me. I don’t understand it. Sesshomaru, what is your true personality?’ She wondered as darkness overtook her body once again.

Sesshomaru rubbed her bandaged cheek before gently laying her fully back down onto the floor. From her painful jerks, she had twisted her body, leaving her in an uncomfortable position. “Why do you make me feel this way?” He said out loud, knowing no one could hear him. He knew the moment she fell unconscious and was slightly relieved. Now she could rest and when she would wake, they would leave. He then actually sat down and pulled the woman's head onto his lap and waited for her to wake up. Later when she woke, fully healed, the two would leave to save Rin.

The child in questioned was currently somewhere else, tied to a wall as a humpback demon was boiling some water in a pot. No wonder this demon caught prey, using traps and didn't appear to look very strong. Rin knew what was going to happen to her. She was going to be boiled alive! Scared, she began to cry, tears flowing out of her eyes. 'Sister, Lord Sesshomaru, where are you,' she thought with a sob.

“Just you wait! Lord Sesshomaru will rescue me!” The girl yelled out suddenly. The demon stood and got in Rin's face before roaring, showing off large sharp teeth and revealed an ugly breath. Its breath was also very bad. Rin looked like she was going to be sick on her stomach. “Ewww,” she moaned out, grossed out by the smell.

The demon then turned away from the girl and continued with his cooking by boiling water in the pot. There were some things next to the pot, which the demon every now and then would reach down and pick something up, adding it to the pot. It was no brainer to know what the demon had in mind and it literally made Rin sick to her stomach just thinking about it. The demon was planning to make a meal out of her by turning her into a stew. And it wasn't because she was to be the stew; it was the idea being cooked alive that got to her.

Rin remembered a time before her parents died when she would not like stew and they always tried to get her and her sister to eat stew. Rin would be a sneak and pour the stuff out when no one was looking, pretending like she'd eaten it. Then when offered a second helping she'd act like she was full. Then later on she'd go out into the woods and pick berries to eat.

Her sister had been fond of the stuff though. Sakura had always asked for second and third helpings. She'd stuff down at least five bowls before being full. It had made Rin feel ill to see something like that. And she'd always excuse herself from the table, which was when she'd go pick the berries in the woods. But then after her parents died, Rin had no choice but learn to like stew as sometimes it was all that she could eat when sometimes some villagers would give her food.

“It's almost ready,” said the demon in a cackling voice, interrupting Rin's reminiscing. 

“So, you can talk,” replied Rin.

“I didn't think it was worth talking to you, human,” he stated, turning to her. He then turned back to the boiling pot continuing his work, thinking it a waste of time talking with a human girl.

–------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura and Sesshomaru were looking for Rin and heard sobbing in the distance. “Rin!” Sakura cried out, running ahead. Sesshomaru was right with her. The two didn't even realize they were running into a trap.

Rin was tied to a wall and she was sobbing when they found her. “Sister. Please, help me.”

“Don't worry Rin. I'll get you down.” She started untying Rin from the wall that she's tied to. The child came loose from the wall and Sakura held her sister in her arms. “Everything's going to be alright now Rin.”

“Sakura, I'm scared,” Rin trembled.

“Shh, it's alright.” Sakura ran her fingers gently through the girl's hair. While she held Rin, Sakura felt something wasn't quite right about this. 'This was almost too easy,' she thought. Where was the demon at? It wouldn't just let them take Rin and leave would it?

“Sakura. Rin. Let’s go,” Sesshomaru stated. He started walking and Sakura followed him, Rin in her arms. Or what she thought was Rin. The group walked for hours until Sakura finally complained, “My feet hurt!”

“Wait, we've been walking in circles,” Sesshomaru’s eyes arrowed. Something was wrong.

“Huh? How can you tell?” Sakura questioned him.

“Look.” He pointed, showing the wall Rin was originally tied with. They were back where they started.

“What!” The priestess woman gasped in shock. She then took a look around as things were beginning to fall into place. “You're right! I suspected as much. We've walked right into an illusion.”

“Be careful.” Sesshomaru went on the alert, waiting for anything to happen and Sakura went to sit Rin down, so she could pull out her bow and an arrow. But right before her eyes Rin turned to slime. “So, a fake Rin huh. I suspected as much.”

“Ewwww, demon slime,” Sakura cried, trying to get it off her. She then pulled out a bow attaching an arrow to it. With another look around, she could see a tiny patch of light. 

Sesshomaru saw something from the corner of his eye and looked to see the same tiny patch of light.

“Okay, I'll aim right there.” She aimed her arrow at the tiny glowing spot and let it fly. It hit right on and the surrounding area around the two shattered like glass. There before them was the real Rin and she was tied to a wall. In front of her was the demon. 

It panicked as it saw the two of them and ran over to Rin. “Not a step closer or she dies!” He held a knife up to Rin's throat.

“Oh no! Rin! What are we going to do!?” Sakura wondered, in fear for her younger sister.

Sesshomaru’s one hand flexed as his eyes narrowed. “Pitiful.”

Just then, faster than Sakura could blink Sesshomaru used his demonic speed and rushed over to the demon, pushing him away from Rin, straight into a wall. “Die!”

Sesshomaru then raised his poisoned claws and killed the demon right there on the spot before the weakling could strangle a gasp. Not wanting to be near the vile creature, he turned away and walked over to Rin, cutting her down, carefully, from the wall, using his claws. 

“Lord Sesshomaru, thank you,” Rin smiled at him, happy to see his handsome face once again. But her smile faded as the whole place began to crumble. 

“What now!?” cried out Sakura.

“Another illusion,” Sesshomaru stated calmly just as everything disappeared and they found themselves outside in the sunshine.

“Oh, that's right! The demon was destroyed so its place goes with it,” stated Sakura, figuring it out. She smiled then, seeing her sister was now free. Even though her legs were tired, she found herself running over to her sister, pulling the girl into warm hug, glad the child was okay.

“That demon was going to eat me,” Rin whimpered, happy too but still scared in what was going to happen to her if Lord Sesshomaru and her sister couldn’t get to her on time.

“It’s normal for demons do eat humans,” replied Sesshomaru. “However, I’d rather find something else to eat. I don't eat humans.”

“I already knew that,” said Sakura, sarcastically. “Speaking of eating I'm getting kinda hungry. Rin, let's eat.” They turned to see Ah-Un was tied with both heads had their mouths tied, preventing the demon from escaping.

They went over to him, pulling down the bags of food left on the dragon. Sakura started a fire and began cooking food for her and Rin. She at first, offered to give some to Sesshomaru but he declined.

When it was almost done she asked him again. “Are you sure you don't want any?”

“I said no,” Sesshomaru repeated. He actually just wanted the girls to hurry and eat so they all could be on their way. He wanted to cover more ground before nightfall and get away from the pace they were all trapped at. He had planned on taking a trip back to his castle. He heard his mother, Usha was stopping by for a visit soon and he wanted to be there to greet the woman.

“Gee, you have to eat something sometime,” Sakura told him.

“I am fine,” he stated. He pulled what appeared to be a demon foot out of his clothing and began eating it.

Sakura stared at him as he ate the raw demon foot, 'Ewwww,' she thought. She was grossed out for the second time today.

As the two got ready to eat the stew Sakura had made, Jaken came running up to the group and up to Sesshomaru. “I found Kaijinbo milord. He says he'll do it, but there is a cost.”

“What does he want?” Sesshomaru asked.

“Oh, not in the way of payment. It's what he needs to make the sword. He needs a demon fang to forge it,” Jaken mentioned.

“Then a fang he shall have,” said the demon lord. “Come, my mother's coming by to visit and I need to be at the castle to greet her.” The group got ready and left, heading to Sesshomaru's castle in the Western Lands.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 10

The group was traveling by air. For some odd reason Sesshomaru was carrying Sakura. He didn't even know why he wasn't making her ride on Ah-Un. He just had the overwhelming urge to carry her. Although, Ah-Un already had quite the load on him anyway with having the rest of their food supplies plus, Jaken and Rin, which left very little space for Sakura. Also with Sesshomaru being the type of demon he was, wouldn't appear very flattering if he were to carry a human on his back when Jaken had a hard enough time as it was holding on without falling off. That left only one option, for him to carry her bridal style, though with only one arm she had to have her arms wrapped around his neck, so she wouldn't fall. Even though, if she were to slip out of his grasp, the demon lord would be fast enough to dive down and catch her before she hit the ground.

The group had been away from home for some weeks now and Sakura was starting to miss it. At the rate of speed the group was going it only took them a few hours to get to the huge castle. Sakura couldn't wait to get back to the castle. Until meeting the demon Lord, she really didn't have a place to call home but now she did. To her his castle was home.

With Sesshomaru flying in front and Ah-Un, neither human nor demon noticed Rin had fallen asleep on Ah-Un's back on the way home, however Jaken knew. The little toad like demon was sitting in front of her, but he could sense she was sleeping and he wasn't the only one. Ah-Un too sensed her body was sleeping so he was flying in a gentler manner. In his hands was the staff of two heads.

Once the castle came into view, Sesshomaru sped up and were quick to approach before descending. As Sesshomaru began to land, with his two-headed dragon behind him, they saw a woman walking towards them.

"Is that your mother?" Sakura questioned.

A woman somewhat resembling Sesshomaru, walked up to see Sesshomaru holding a human in his one arm and looked disgusted. Many referred to the woman as Usha, Lady Mother of the Western Lands. She'd always hated humans even worse than Sesshomaru did. "Sesshomaru! Put that human down this instant! You don't know where it's been. It might make you sick."

Sesshomaru snorted slightly. "Concerned as always mother," he replied dryly. "Jaken, take Sakura and Rin inside. I wish to speak with my mother alone."

"Yes, Milord," Jaken replied, getting over the shock of finally meeting his Lord's mother. He was quick to wake Rin and push her to be inside, leaving the two demons and human alone.

"You allow a human child and woman with you? Why?"

"No! Wait!" Sakura glared at Usha, pulling out her sword. "If anyone around here is sick it's you!" She raced at the woman.

"The scared sword!" Usha gasped, she had no idea a human ever could possess such a weapon. She went to move out of the way but Sakura managed to corner her quickly. With one swing of the sword, the demon woman was wounded. It greatly surprised the human would be able to get such an attack in so easily. "N... no one has ever cut me before! Least of all a human."

"Good. No one talks to me like that! Fight me now!" Sakura yelled.

"You wish to fight me human? Fine, come meet me in the training room and we'll settle this. And I'll see if you can master that sword or not," Usha told her. With a glare Sakura followed Usha into the castle.

Sesshomaru silently brought up the rear only to come across Jaken and Rin just inside. He looked down at her. The situation Sakura had just put herself in may or may not be good but he wasn't going to intervene. "Rin, go to your room." He didn't wish for Rin to watch something so gruesome.

"Yes my Lord." Rin left the area, heading off in a different direction where she knew her room was while Sakura, Sesshomaru and Lady Usha went in another direction.

As the girl left, Sesshomaru gave one little glare to Jaken. The little demon cringed and was quick to rush off after Rin. He knew what Lord Sesshomaru wanted. He wanted Jaken to be sure Rin stayed in her room, which meant he was babysitting her, again. With Ah-Un no longer needed, the two-headed dragon jumped into the air and flew off somewhere to relax after have all the supplies removed from his body.

Sesshomaru, Sakura and Usha entered the training room. Sesshomaru stood back while the two women moved to the center of the training room to fight. He was very impressed in how Sakura stood up to his mother and wanted to see how this fight would turn out.

Once in the center of the room, Sakura turned to Usha, "I'm ready to fight you now. Defend yourself!" She screamed and charged at the woman swinging her sword wildly at her.

Usha, just then, brought out a sword from within the robes of her kimono and deflected Sakura's sword, which once belonged to Midoriko. The strength of the block forced Sakura to be pushed back against the wall.

"Ready to quit already, human? I barely even started," stated Usha with a glare, holding out her sword at Sakura.

Sakura spit out a small drop of blood onto the stadium floor. "In your dreams!" She snapped, smirking. "I'm just getting warmed up here!" She then charged at Usha once again with her sword, swinging at the demon woman. Before she could get too close to her opponent, Usha shot out lightning from her sword straight at Sakura, who screamed in pain, being knocked back against the wall, again, this time back first. Colliding into the wall caused her clothes to tear but she paid that no mind. It was a good thing they were both women, but with Sesshomaru in the room, it really didn't help matters. Anymore of those attacks and Sakura could easily end up with no clothing.

Sesshomaru slightly gasped. "Sakura!" He exclaimed, not sure why he was concerned for her.

"I... I'm fine Sesshomaru," Sakura threw back, spitting out a few more drops of blood. She got back onto her feet. She was far from out. She refused to give up.

Seeing she was indeed all right for the moment, Sesshomaru gave a small smile, which no one witnessed. Once again she impressed him.

"Is that all you got, human? Come! Show me how you wield that sword," demanded Usha. She shot more lightning at Sakura. Sakura growled in anger, as she held the sword out in front of her body and blocked the lightning attack, sending it back towards Usha, who dodged the attack, making it hit the wall.

"I'm not backing down from this battle! And I'm not running away, either! So, give me everything you have! Attack me like you want to kill me!" Sakura swung her sword in anger.

"Are you sure about this? I mean I could end up killing you," Usha stated as she dodged the blows, a few of them actually hitting her, cutting into the demon woman's face.

"Don't take me lightly Lady Mother. I bet you can't kill me, even if you try too!" Sakura challenged, and then made a mistake saying. "You're weak!"

Sesshomaru gasped again. 'This isn't good. Now, mother's going to go on a rampage. I wish she hadn't of said that. That would even get me angry. Though, it has already.' Sesshomaru remembered before when Sakura had called him weak. He'd totally lost it and had hit her for saying such things. Now he felt pretty bad about all those times he'd hit Sakura. She didn't deserve that type of treatment after all.

"How dare you!" Usha cried out in anger.

"Huh?" Sakura said in confusion, stopping her attack at once.

"Never, EVER call a demon weak!" Usha demanded. "You worthless human!" She then started transforming right in front of Sakura's eyes into a large dog, her true form, further proving she was indeed Sesshomaru's mother.

"Oh shit!" Sakura shouted backing up and staring at the large white dog in front of her. She backed up until her back was touching the back wall. She gulped somewhat in fear. She had never seen anything like this before. So this was an idea of what Sesshomaru's true demonic form was. Taking several deep breaths, she worked up her courage to face this new challenge.

Taking a good grip on her sword, she brought it up and in front of her in a defence position and shouted in what was her best defiance tone as she could muster. "You think I'm scared of you! Well I'm not!" The large dog howled at Sakura and started releasing acid out onto the floor. A mist of poison started filling up the room.

"Sakura, watch yourself! Don't breath in the toxin. It's poison!" Sesshomaru informed her, speaking out of character. Normally he was calm and collective but at the moment, he was worried for the well being of Sakura as he saw the poisonous gas coming out of his mother.

But it was a bit too late to warn her. Sakura had taken some of the toxin into her mouth, forcing her to cough as she inhaled the poison into her lungs. "Hey! *cough, cough* No fair!"

Usha ignored her son, knowing he could easily breath in the toxins considering he had the same power himself, and jumped at Sakura, intending to take the human's life for her insult. Sakura tried to dodge but couldn't get out of the way in time.

"AH!" She cried out painfully as Usha jumped at her, grabbing the Priestess woman into her mouth before she had time to dodge out of the way. She gasped realizing that Sesshomaru's mother intended to break both of her legs, so she'd no longer be able to move and dodge her relentless attacks.

Getting an idea, Sakura stabbed her sword into Lady Usha's mouth straight into the gums. She howled in pain, dropping Sakura down back onto the ground. A shriek of pain escaped Sakura's throat as she fell, very hard, onto her back with a noisy sickening crack, which came from her back. It was a no-brainer to know what happened. Sakura's backbone had snapped.

Sesshomaru easily was able to hear the woman's back bone break and his eyes widen in fear. Even he knew the sound of bones snapping wasn't a good sign. With a fearful sigh, he shook his head, realizing after this fight was over he'd probably have to use Tenseiga on her again to fix her broken bone in her back, just like he had done when they were trapped in the illusion when they were trying to rescue Rin.

With Sakura's back now broken she was unable to move just the way the Lady Usha had planned it to happen. With Sakura helpless like this it gave her an unfair advantage over the priestess woman. Sakura then dropped her sword painfully, as she gave a cry of pain, tears trailing down her cheeks, from the pain in her broken back and from the poison that was now working its way into her bloodstream. She was now fully poisoned and no longer could fight back much longer. Usha jumped at Sakura to finish her off.

"Looks like it's over," stated Sesshomaru as he watched. He moved getting ready to jump in and end the fight, planning to stop his mother from killing Sakura. He didn't even understand why he was going to stop the fight either. The thought of Sakura being killed by his mother did not really appeal to him. Before meeting Sakura, he wouldn't have even batted an eye at a human being killed, but thanks to Sakura and Rin, Sesshomaru seemed to have more patience with humans and though he hated to admit it, he was beginning to like Sakura, though the question was, how much did he like her?

Her spiteful attitude to stand up to him even when he beat on her impressed the demon lord. Plus, she reminded Sesshomaru of something he'd lost a long time ago, which was compassion for humans. Thanks to Sakura and Rin who cared about him, his compassion for humans was now returning. Knowing this, he couldn't let Sakura die. Not again. Not ever!

As for Usha, it wasn't her intention to kill the human, but her words sent the former demon queen into a rage. She was so pissed at Sakura for calling her weak that she wanted to kill the girl. She figured Sesshomaru could just bring her back to life with Tenseiga, not knowing he had already used it once on her before. However, just as she landed on Sakura, something odd happened. Her eyes blurred out like she was being controlled by something and jumped away from her.

Sesshomaru was quick to see what was happening and it completely shocked him. "What!" he breathed but then gasped. "Sakura!" But it was no use, she wouldn't answer him in the condition she was in right now. Or perhaps she couldn't answer him.

'Oh no!' Usha had no more time to think as Sakura's wounds began to magically heal themselves. Her sword could heal her? Within moments, it was like Sakura was never injured at all. As if something was controlling her, no longer did she have a thought or care, as she then grabbed Usha, throwing her across the room like she weighted nothing, almost as if she were a demon, but how is this possible? She was human.

'What, how did she...what's with her eyes!?' Usha wondered to herself as she stared at Sakura's eyes that had turned blood red. Sakura then flew at her at lightning speed, so fast she couldn't even see her. Usha turned around trying to do a counter attack but didn't see the human anywhere. 'Where'd she go?' She wondered, having no idea that the sword was controlling her.

"AGUH!" Sakura screamed in a rage, blood coming out of her. Whatever power she now possessed was injuring her own body. Sakura grabbed onto the back Usha's left leg and bit down very hard, like a wild animal, even though she wasn't one.

"So, you're being controlled by the sword to act like a blood thirsty demon, huh," Sesshomaru pointed out, figuring it out. The whole time he could smell her human scent but there was a mixture of demonic and it was more coming from the sword.

Usha actually howled bloody murder from the attack as she shook her leg, trying to shake Sakura off of her. Or at least get her to loosen her grip on her. She then reached around to bite the girl back, but missed as Sakura released her making the demon woman bite herself in the leg. Another howl escaped the female dog demon. But Sakura didn't stop in her relentless attack either, as she jumped at her and attacked her again with her sword, next in the face, leaving bloody scratches there as well.

Weaken, Usha de-transformed back into her humanoid form. "Calm down Sakura! You win. I give."

"Aguh!" Sakura screamed, out of control, not listening. She ran at her and swung at her again and again with her sword, making contact with her every time. Usha screamed in pain, at the ruthless way Sakura was fighting. Just like a blood thirsty demon.

"Please! Stop Sakura! Are you trying to kill me?!" Usha panicked, now knowing the sword was controlling the human. She kept backing away from Sakura, who kept on approaching her attacking and attacking.

"Enough of this!" Sesshomaru jumped over to Sakura, grabbing her hand that held the sword. Sakura kept jerking and growling like an animal, trying to get out of Sesshomaru's grip on her. Right away Sesshomaru knocked the sword out of Sakura's hands.

All at once Sakura's attack ceased and her body nearly went limp. Her eyes went back to her normal human color. Sesshomaru saw this and removed his hand from her allowing her own will to move again.

"S... Sesshomaru?" Sakura mumbled, as she slowly turned to him.

"It's all right now, the fight's over. Calm down, now," Sesshomaru ordered, taking his one arm and pulled her back against him in what seemed to be an embrace to help calm her down, acting out of character again. He didn't know why he did what he did. He just felt compelled to embrace the woman, letting her know everything was fine now. Before, he wouldn't have even bothered. He just would of called in a healer and left her where she was laying after knocking the sword away from her. 'Why do you make me feel this way?' He wondered to himself, not understanding why he felt he had to do the things he always did with Sakura.

The woman then collapsed into him. Sesshomaru held her tightly in his embrace. He then turned to his wounded mother. "You should have your wounds looked at. I'll take Sakura to have the poison removed from her body."

"I'm impressed. She fights like Midoriko," said Usha.

"She's descended from Midoriko," Sesshomaru simply stated as he turned and left the room, Sakura in his arm.

'Interesting,' Usha thought as he left. She then collapsed to the floor from her wounds that Sakura had inflicted upon her. Some healers then came into the room to care for her wounds. Unknown to either one of them Usha knew Midoriko in the past before she'd died. Midoriko had impressed her. Now so did Sakura. She'd have to have a talk with the woman later about this. But for now she'd have her wounds taken care of first, while Sakura had the poison removed from her body.

[Neo Lady Serenity]

Chapter 11

Sesshomaru took Sakura to her room and right away worked on removing the poison from her body. All he did was touch a single claw to her neck and draw out the poison into his finger tips. Usha then came into the room, her wounds were all healed up. "If you've like I can sit with her until she wakes up. I'd like to talk with her anyway."

"Yes, that would be a big help," replied Sesshomaru.

"I was wondering, Sesshomaru. Why do you keep these humans around anyway?"

He turned, looking at his mother. "They amuse me," he simply stated.

"Why?" The woman asked. There must be some reason why the two humans amused Sesshomaru. Before he'd have nothing to do with humans at all and actually took pleasure in making them suffer. Yet, here he was now with two humans hanging around him. There had to be a reason for it.

"They do not fear me. Sakura stood up to me and fought me even though she knew I could very well kill her if I wanted to. She knew that but still stood up to me anyway, unafraid of my power."

"You and Sakura had a fight?" Usha questioned.

"Yes, she thought I had kidnapped her sister Rin when I hadn't. So it was under a misunderstanding. But still... she fought me and never backed down. She was trying to protect her sister." Sesshomaru explained how he'd met both sisters at different times and how both of them showed no fear at all in his presence.

"Sounds like she's a determined little human." Usha was quite impressed by this human woman. Never has anyone ever been able to stand up to her son before and live to tell the tale. Then there was the fact she'd stood up to her as well. Her of all people. The great Lady Mother of the Western Lands. She was going to need to have a long talk with Sakura when she woke up.

"Well, if that's all I need to go check on Rin," he told her. Sakura's fight had shaken up the child pretty badly and Sesshomaru wanted to inform her that everything was fine. Though he couldn't understand why he even wanted to bother with that. He should just forget it and let the child deal with her own problems. But he felt like he couldn't do that. It was like he felt compelled to go speak with Rin about the matter.

"Checking on the girl?" His mother asked him.

"Why do you ask?" Sesshomaru had just turned around to leave when his mother asked that of him and he turned back around and answered her.

"Just wondering. I think she saw my fight with Sakura and got scared," said Usha.

"Hmm," was the demon lord's answer as he turned around and left, leaving his mother alone with the sleeping priestess woman.

As she watched her son's retreating back she thought, 'You've changed Sesshomaru. You're not as cold as you once were. It's a nice change. If it lasts.' She then turned her attention back onto Sakura as she sat there, waiting for when the woman would wake up.

---

The healers had been in to heal Sakura while she slept. It wasn't until late evening when she woke up. She noticed Usha by her bedside and right away went on the alert, glaring at her. She thought the other woman was here to finish her off.

"If you're here to finish what you started I'll have to kill you!"

"Calm down Sakura. I just wish to talk," Usha informed her.

The woman's eyes went very huge just then in shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. TALK! She wanted to just talk?! That didn't sound quite right to her. With her having wanted to kill her eariler Sakura found this a bit hard to believe.

"Talk? TALK! You tried to kill me! And you threaten to kill my sister! Why should I calm down!?" Sakura yelled out. Seemed she was way beyond pissed off at Usha. And she was actually more angry at her sister's life being threaten more so than her own life. However unknown to her, her yelling and panicking so much was a mistake. Her throat was injured from the fight and she begin coughing and choking a lot as her throat burned like crazy.

"Did you think I was actually serious? I just wanted you to fight me at your best. After all, I don't need my son traveling with a weak human. I wanted to see if you were worthy to be in his presence," the lady mother told her. It seemed she'd only been looking out for her son's well being when her and Sakura had, had that fight eariler.

"Worthy to be in his presence?" Sakura calmed down a bit. She had a look of confusion on her face, not understanding one bit. She relaxed back into the bed realizing now that Usha meant her no harm at all and begun to listen to what she had to tell her. However she still didn't trust her one bit after what happened but she figured the least she could do is hear her out first, then she'd decide what to do after. If she even suspected for one moment that she was being lied to she'd kill her.

"You are the second human who has impressed me. The first one was Midoriko," Usha told her remembering what had happened a long time ago.

"Midoriko? You knew my ancestor?" Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her ancestor had knew Sesshomaru's mother. How could that be? That meant that Usha's really old. Her eyes suddenly went wide as she realized that. "Oh my god! How old are you anyway?"

"Way older than you could ever possibly imaninge. I have lived eight hundred of your years," answered the woman.

Sakura gasped, shocked by this, her eyes as big as saucers, "E... eight hundred!"

"Yes, and I'm still quite young actually," she told her. Though Sakura didn't think being eight hundred years old was still young. "On another note, you have fought hard. Not many humans can stand up to me. I also heard you fought with my son as well. You have my respect. I'm sorry I was rude, but you must understand. I was doing it for the sake of my son, however wrong I was for doing it that way. Now you and your sister may remain here as long as you like."

"I understand and thank you Usha," she thanked her, deciding to believe her for now. "How do you know Midoriko?" Sakura wanted to know this. As Usha knew her ancestor she wanted to know exactly how she knew her. She also wanted to know all about her ancestor as well and felt that Usha would have all the answers for her.

"At one point my son was interested in her, but she left him to marry someone else and Sesshomaru felt like he'd been betrayed by the one he cares about the most. He felt like she'd led him on. But then he heard that she'd went off and died at the hands of the shadow demon Orpheus. Though the rumor is they both took each other out. And when Tenseiga could not bring her back to life Sesshomaru closed his heart against all humans."

"That's awful!" Sakura had a few tears in her eyes. She then thought and said, "Wait, I've heard that story before. You mean it's a true story after all."

"Every bit of it is the truth. However, no one really knows for sure if Orpheus is really dead or not. The story goes that one day her decendent will raise to take down the evil demon."

"Wow!" Sakura went on listening as Usha switched the conversation back to Sesshomaru.

"However Sesshomaru never knew that Midoriko had, had any children. I think that's why he gets so rough with you. He sees Midoriko in you and it makes him angry. Angry at himself mostly, for being unable to save her," Usha explained.

"That's so sad. But hey, I'm not Midoriko. She may be my ancestor but I'm nothing like her." Sakura found this totally unfair that she was being blamed for the acts of her ancestor.

"I can see that, but know this, not only do you act like her you look a bit like her as well. Did you know that Midoriko also beat me, much in the same way as you did." Usha could remember it like it had happened only yesterday. Her and Midoriko had gotten into a fight and Midoriko had won. But instead of taking her life, Midoriko had allowed her to live. "Please, don't blame Sesshomaru for how he's acted. He's just had his heart broken."

Sakura nodded. "I'll remember that." After Usha had said everything she needed to, she left the room, leaving Sakura to get some more rest. The very next morning Sesshomaru and his companions would be heading out again.

---

The next morning Inuyasha and his friends were up bright and early, once again looking around for jewel shards. They didn't have very many more shards left to collect before the jewel would be whole once again. They had already had breakfast that morning, which is why they were already out and about looking for more shards. As they walked, Kagome stared at the large shard around her neck and thought to herself, 'I wonder how much longer it'll take to complete this thing. We shouldn't need too many more pieces.'

Sango walked up to Kagome and could tell the other girl was deep in thought. "What's on your mind?" She asked her friend.

"Oh, just thinking," she took a pause before continuing, "Wondering when the jewel will be completed is all." She continued staring at the half finished shikon jewel as she said that.

"Wait," Inuyasha suddenly said as the group stopped walking, turning around to look at him.

"What is it Inuyasha?" Kagome asked him.

"Watch out!" The half demon suddenly cried out, grabbing Kagome just in time as a fist came crashing down towards the ground where she'd been only a second earlier. As the fist then crashed into the ground, it sent dirt and smoke flying up into the air. Inuyasha sat Kagome down on the ground. He then and looked her over. "Kagome, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Thank you Inuyasha," Kagome answered. The group looked up and saw a huge demon was attacking them. It was very big, way bigger than any of them. It was purple, not a dark purple but not a real light purple either. There were two huge horns growing out of the demon's head. The wind blew through it's long shaggy white hair as it stared down at the group, eyes glowing red.

Inuyasha smelled the air again and caught a faint whiff of Naraku coming from the demon in front of him. "You! You reek of Naraku. Are you one of his incarnations?!"

"My name is Goshinki. I've come on Naraku's orders to take the jewel," he told him.

"In your dreams pal!" Inuyasha yelled. He pulled out Tetsusaiga getting ready for a fight. As he did that Kagome reached for one of her arrows while Sango and Miroku prepared to fight as well. Shippo was actually hiding behind a tree, scared out of his life and Kirara growled, growing to her huge size.

"You think a sword can beat me half demon? Think again!" Goshinki attacked Inuyasha with his claws, sending him flying.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out. She pulled out an arrow and shot it at the demon. Goshinki just caught the arrow in his palm like it was a toothpick.

"You think this arrow can hurt me?" Goshinki laughed. But then he yelled and dropped the arrow to the ground as he felt the thing heat up, burning his hand. He then stared at his palm, staring at the burn mark the arrow had left behind. He blew cold air onto his hand, trying to cold down the burning sensation that was now running all through his body. "damn you!" Goshinki jumped towards Kagome.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled, throwing her weapon at the demon. He grabbed it and just broke it in two, throwing both of the pieces aside. "My Hiraikotsu!" She gasped in shock at what just happened to her favorite of her weapons.

"Sango, Kagome! Stand back," Miroku told the women. He went to open up his Wind Tunnel as both girls backed away, both realizing what Miroku was about to do.

"I wouldn't do that monk if I were you," the demon warned. Various Saimoysho suddenly appeared all around Goshinki's body. This meant if Miroku was to use the Wind Tunnel he'd suck up all of Naraku's insects with Goshinki and end up being poisoned just like he'd been before.

"Don't do it Miroku!" Sango cried out. "You'll be poisoned by the Saimyosho's poison." Realizing she was right, Miroku closed his Wind Tunnel back up with a sigh. It looked like this battle wasn't going to end as quickly as Miroku had hoped it would after all. They've have to find some other way to beat this demon. But what could they do? Goshinki didn't seem to have any weaknesses at all and was blocking all of their attacks.

The demon went in for another attack when Inuyasha jumped in. "I don't think so!" He went to try and block the demon's attacks, trying to protect his friends. He turned to Kagome. "Does Goshinki have any jewel shards on him?" While at the same time pushing against the demon with Tetsusaiga, trying to hold the demon beast back as best as he could.

"Yes, two in the forehead," Kagome answers.

"That's all I needed to know." Inuyasha attacks Goshinki with Tetsusaiga. However, in that one moment something unexpected happens. Inuyasha pushed against Goshinki so hard that his sword broke! The blade snapped in two and went flying out of his hand. Just as his broken sword went flying, Inuyasha himself was also sent flying by a powerful attack from Goshinki.

"No! Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, running towards the fallen half demon. But something wasn't quite right with Inuyasha. He growled at Kagome and had his claws extended out. He also had large demon fangs, his eyes looked very bloodshot and he had purple marks on his cheeks. "Inu... yasha?"

"Kagome! Back away! There's something not quite right about Inuyasha," Miroku warned her. She looked towards him and nodded, stepping back a bit for now. They all watched as Inuyasha growled very loudly and jumped at Goshinki, taking the demon out in one hit. He then started going on a rampage, out of control.

"Inuyasha! Stop! Please!" Kagome cried out. She started running towards him. "Please Inuyasha, it's over!"

"No! Kagome! Inuyasha's out of control. Come back!" Miroku called.

"Inuyasha would never hurt me no matter what." Kagome grabbed onto Inuyasha from the front. She started sobbing. "Inuyasha! Please! Listen to my voice and come back to me. It's over. You've killed Goshinki." However, Inuyasha wasn't listening to her and kept jerking around, trying to jerk himself out of her embrace.

"Kagome! Be careful!" Sango called out.

Inuyasha clawed her back a bit and Kagome cried out in pain as his claws ripped her school uniform a bit, leaving behind three bloody scratches. "Inuyasha, I know you're in there somewhere," she sobbed. She then gulped as she knew what she'd have to do. She closed her eyes and leaned up towards his mouth until her lips were pressed very tightly to his in a kiss. 'Please! Snap out of it Inuyasha, for me.'

Inuyasha suddenly froze as he stopped struggling and his eyes went back to their normal golden color. 'What? Kagome?' He wondered to himself. But instead of thinking things through he just pressed his lips against hers kissing her back.

Soon, the two pulled out of the kiss and Inuyasha embraced her lovingly. "Kagome, I love you." She'd already gotten the shards from Goshinki's body before running over to Inuyasha. But as Inuyasha confessed his love for Kagome she felt herself losing consciousness from the wound on her back, until everything went black. "Kagome!" Inuyasha cried out.