InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nigatsu no Hoshi (Stars of February) ❯ Disfavored Alliances part 1 ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: he WILL be mine…

Suteki: hey, your authoress here, going on the third chapter, I'll be trying to make this one longer for yalls. I understand that it's moving pretty slow, so ill try to squeeze more stuff into this one. I'm desperate to know what people think about it. So please, if you could only find it in your hearts to post a review…don't make me sick inuyasha on you! box in the corner rattles with growls coming from it. Haha, down boy! Okay then, read and enjoy!

Chapter 3: Disfavored Alliances part 1

Inuyasha waited patiently for kagome to come back. He had perched himself on the limbs of one of the trees that shaded over the well. He focused on the sky, the birds and other harmless creatures, just taking it all in…anything to avoid thinking too much about the upcoming battle. True, he had faced Naraku before, and foiled many of his schemes. But he just was not getting a good feeling about this one in particular. No more than 10 minutes had passed when he felt the memorable tingle up his spine as the magic of the well was activated.

`She's back already? That was fast…'

He looked down and saw her form materialize at the bottom of the well, and he fluidly jumped down inside next to her. She was still staring at the ground, not bothering to look up when she felt him near her.

"Kagome? Did everything go alright?" she looked up almost startled, as if she didn't know he was there, "nani? Oh, yes, everything went great, they wish us luck. Oh yeah, and Souta wants you to sock Naraku one just for him" she smiled when she was finished, and inuyasha laughed a little when he thought of how Souta still thought of him as his `hero'.

"Well, shall we Miss?" he said as he bowed slightly. She laughed at how silly he looked pretending to be a gentleman, and she grabbed onto his shoulders as he bounded them out of the well, and onto the ground outside.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back in the hut, the group sat contemplating what to do next. Inuyasha sat cross-legged against the north wall, sword propped against his shoulder, as kagome sat on the east wall that faced the doorway with her knees pulled close to her. Miroku and Sango both sat on the west wall across from kagome watching both her and inuyasha waiting for one to say something. At the moment, they were both just staring into the flames in the fire pit located in the middle of the room. Myouga hopped into the hut from under the straw doorway, and jumped onto Inuyasha's knee.

"My Lord, what action do you suppose we take?"

"Well there's not much we can plan out, I say we just head towards the western lands and hope that the bastards actually there." He replied in a low and slow voice.

"Inuyasha's right, there isn't really much we can prepare for, if we don't know what to expect in the first place."

"I agree with Sango-sama and inuyasha, lets just go, hopefully we may gather more information on the way there. What do you think kagome-sama?"

Kagome nodded her head `yes'. She too couldn't think of a better plan than to just `wing it!'

"Okay, its settled then…we leave at dawn."

~*~*~*~*~*~

In the morning, they packed up what little they had and might need. Some food supplies, sleeping bags (kagome bought Sango and Miroku one), and their weapons. They told the villagers they were leaving for a while, so to protect the village well. And then they were off.

Kagome watched as the scenery flashed by her as she rode on Inuyasha's back. She loved the way Feudal Japan looked so, virgin compared to modern Tokyo. The land was untouched by cement, and all she could see for miles were trees, mountains, lakes and streams, and that was it. "Shouldn't we take a break inuyasha? We've already reached the boundary of the western lands. You've been running like this for nearly two hours, you need to conserve your strength. And I'm sure Kirara could use a break too. I'll make you guys some lunch too"

"Oi Sango!" inuyasha yelled to his friend who was flying above them on Kirara.

"Aa Inuyasha!?"

"you guys want to take a quick break, kagome thinks we should stop to eat."

"yeah, sounds good." With that she patted Kirara on the head and she started heading for the ground. Kagome saw Sango do this, so she patted inuyasha on the head and said "down boy", inuyasha growled at her in reply, but even he has a sense of humor, "yes master." Kagome giggled, this was fun.

The group settled down next to a small stream and ate the ramen kagome made for all of them. They all had finished, and were getting ready to depart again when Inuyasha's ears perked up, gaining the attention of Kagome and shippou who was on her shoulder.

"inuyasha?"

"shit! Not this soon. Why'd he have to find us so damn soon?"

"Oh no, its not Naraku is it?"

Before anyone could answer Miroku's question he saw kagome and inuyasha look up at something in the sky behind him, so he turned around and gasped in shock.

"Well hello…Little Brother…long time no see. Its so nice of you to visit." Said the cold and solid voice.

Inuyasha growled. "Sesshoumaru…"

"Inuyasha, be nice to Sesshoumaru-sama. I thought you guys gave up on fighting some time ago."

"We have, but my brother is too stubborn to let the past stay in the past. I understand you do not like me inuyasha. But, I understand that you are here for Naraku…"

Everyone's eyes went wide, `so the rumors WERE true'.

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. Do you know where he is?"

"Of course kagome, these are my lands, I know of everything that transpires here." He said almost annoyed.

"Then why haven't you destroyed him yet?"

"Because, I understand that this is your battle, not mine. I have left him to you…but, I too wish to destroy that damned hanyou. How dare he think he could come into my territory and believe he would be safe…"

"Sesshoumaru, just tell us where that bastard is, that's all we need from you."

"You never did have very good manners inuyasha, seems some things of you haven't changed. I can lead you to the boundaries of his domain."

"Why are you helping us, if I may be so bold

, Lord Sesshoumaru."

"Monk, it is simple. For one, I hate Naraku almost as much as you do, he's taunted me one too many times, and I have developed a measure of respect for all of your braveness. To think a, group of lowly humans, and my hanyou brother could get that far. You have also assisted me in saving Rin numerous times," he glanced towards Kagome personally for that one, "you deserve this small reward."

Without saying another word, he turned around and his cloud of mist appeared underneath him as he took off into the sky. If the group didn't know him as they did, they'd say he almost looked beautiful…actually he did look beautiful.

When the group saw him leave they took it that they should follow, so they quickly finished packing they're things. Sango, Miroku, and shippou got onto Kirara; kagome walked over to inuyasha who had his arms crossed over his chest and was mumbling something about his brother being an obnoxious pompous ass. "Inuyasha, leave it. He's taking us to Naraku, we have to follow him, or we'll never get to Naraku in time."

Inuyasha glance at her from under his bangs, sighed, and got down on his knees so she could get on. "Thank you inuyasha, that's very mature of you."

"Feh! Don't expect it to become a regular habit, it's just, the sooner Naraku's dead the better."

Inuyasha jumped on top of the trees and quickly caught up with Kirara and could see Sesshoumaru up ahead.

They followed him for a very long time and Inuyasha's legs were screaming at him to stop, he could feel the plummeting of his powers, and his senses where weakening also. The sun was already going down, he couldn't go on anymore.

"Hey bastard!" inuyasha yelled, but Sesshoumaru pretended not to hear him, and kept focused on the horizon.

"Don't ignore me jackass!…" but he still refused to acknowledge him.

"Don't make me use your pet name" inuyasha said just low enough that the only ones that could hear him, were Sesshoumaru and maybe Kagome, and a malicious grin slowly crept over his features.

Sesshoumaru's back went rigid, but before he could say anything in protest, inuyasha yelled out at him as loud as he could, "FLUFFY! Wait up!" he tried to make himself sound like a whining child. Everyone tried not to laugh, all succeeded but shippou who nearly fell off Kirara but luckily, Miroku grabbed a hold of him. `Fluffy??!!!'

Sesshoumaru's ,more often than not, emotionless mask broke for a second as he abruptly looked over his shoulder, to face the hanyou's smirking face. "don't you ever call me that again! You're lucky I don't kill you now!……what the hell do you want?" by the time he was done speaking, his face was vacant of emotions again, but kagome could tell from his eyes that his mind was somewhere else. Unfortunately, the hint of reminiscing was spent as quickly as it came.

` I can't believe inuyasha actually remembers that…'

flashback

there was a young boy walking along a watercourse, he looked to be about 8 years old. He had on clothes that signified him to be of an honored class, and silver/blue hair that went down to his waist. He heard a voice behind him and he turned to see a little boy running at him crying. The boy looked about 4 or 5 years old, his clothes made him look almost like a peasant, no class at all. But the boy looked a lot like the elder one, he too had long silver hair and golden eyes to match the other's, but he had…dog-ears on the top of his head.

"inuyasha?" The older boy said.

"sess, sesshou…Why'd you leave me, I was lost and I was scared!"

the small inuyasha ran and clasped onto the side of his brother.

"its okay inuyasha, I didn't mean to leave you behind." He was still crying into his shirt, so Sesshoumaru sat him down and wrapped him in his tail to comfort him, "umm, Fluffy…" and he quickly fell asleep, tired from crying and happy to have found his beloved brother. So, he carried him back home, still wrapped in his tail.

end flashback

`that's right, he couldn't pronounce my name back then, so he called me that because he loved the feel of my tail'. As he thought this, he involuntarily stroked his tail once. But he quickly shook those thoughts from his head, ` my brothers despicable, how dare he call me such an insolent name…"

"Fluffy, we need to take a break. You forget that you're with a group of humans, and although I'm half demon, I can't fly like you. So can you just tell us how to get there from here and we'll camp for the night?"

"pathetic brother. Alright then, I'll let you and your friends rest."

They stopped on the ground and inuyasha dropped to the ground with a `huff'. Sango, Miroku and kagome were all stretching their unfortunate muscles, which were aching from staying in one position for so long. Sesshoumaru eyed them for a moment. Once they were all focused on him again, he told them how to get to the whereabouts of their prey and took off into the sky.

"why'd you want to stop so badly inuyasha?" shippou asked curiously

"I'll give you one guess, do you know what night it is tonight?"

"Ohh, it's the new moon isn't it?" inuyasha nodded to Shippou.

"Bingo, we have a winner" he said under his breath and a tad bit aggravated. He wasn't mad at shippou, but he didn't think it at all convenient that TONIGHT, of ALL nights had to be the one he had to turn human. He was also a tad bit uncomfortable, being so close to Naraku and all.

Inuyasha walked off into the forest, planning to change out of sight, he always was a little humiliated when he changed. No one really understood why though, he was fine most of the time he was human, but it was like the transformation was something that made him unclean, and he shouldn't be around other people so that they wouldn't catch it as well.

Kagome hated watching inuyasha wonder off like this every new moon. He almost looked like a sick animal leaving to find a secluded place to die. So she got up and followed him, she didn't like the thought of him being alone in such a dangerous place. She knew she wouldn't need them, so she left her bow and arrows behind.

"Must be Inuyasha's `time-of-the-month'…Poor inuyasha…why does he always have to look so depressed before he changes? It brings me down to see him like this so often."

"I know Sango. I don't like it either. But, we are lucky enough to have Kagome-sama with us to cheer him up after he transforms."

"That we do. He's fortunate to have such a close friend as kagome-Chan. We all are. I don't know what we'd do without her…"

"Best not to fret over such questions my dear Sango, the fact is that we're all here together, and we are also about to fulfill our quest. So we might as well make good use of this, since it might very well be the last night we will be spending under the stars as a team…"

"Why do you say such depressing things Houshi….sama, why are you looking at me like that?…" she looked at Miroku who had an insatiable smile on his face as he looked over Sango, one hand starting towards her backside,. "No! even if it's our last night as you said, NO! get back you Hentai!"

Miroku had a strange glimmer of hope in his eyes, thinking that his sappy expression would be enough to get her to show some affection towards him. But he got the wrong kind of emotion in return he realized, as he was soon lying on the ground, face throbbing.

"Oy, and you have the nerve to call yourself a monk…how could someone like you be allowed to have spiritual powers at all"

while inuyasha walked through the trees, he could feel his senses dim increasingly. But he could still sense a presence behind him so he slowly turned around, partially knowing what to expect. Yep, he was right, Kagome followed him. So many times, he had told her to just stay behind, that he'd be fine. But he couldn't blame her for being worried.

"Kagome, you know I like to do this alone, why can't you just except that?"

"inuyasha…I just don't want Naraku to find you, he's probably got his minions all over this place. And his poisonous insects spying out the area waiting for us to show up. Besides, you've never let me see you transform before, why?"

"because I don't like the thought that it happens in the first place, I don't want to make a big deal out of it. Kami, I hate being hanyou…"

kagome frowned, she hated it when inuyasha put himself down for having human blood in him. `He couldn't still be thinking about a way to become all demon is he? This boy needs a serious self-esteem boost, that's for sure,' she thought.

"come on inuyasha, let's settle down…" (she was always careful to avoid saying the "s" word on accident) she walked over to him and hooked her arm through his and walked him over to the riverbank and sat down. They sat in silence as they watched the final rays of the sun go down, and she clasped his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together and setting it in between them.

Inuyasha felt calm being next to kagome, he almost forgot about transforming. She certainly had a way of finding beautiful places, he would never have even noticed this place before. They sat on the small grass covered hill, small patches of wild flowers were all around them. The stream was soothing as it rushed over the smooth silt base, and past a few rocks in the way.

Kagome looked over to inuyasha as she saw the sun finally disappear completely. She was a little scared to watch him, she almost felt like she shouldn't since it might make him uncomfortable. But as she was about to turn her head away, she noticed that he started to glow faintly, and his hair started to turn from silver to an almost purple shade of black, starting from the roots down. He stared at the stream as he transformed, almost as if he didn't know it was happening. She looked him in the eyes as she watched them flash once then they were flooded with violet, almost like a liquid dye was being poured into them. Her gaze advanced to the top of his head, up to see his ears fold back against his skull and then slowly morph down to the side of his head where they formed into almost human looking ears, but slightly pointed. Then she watched the hand she was holding, as she felt the claws that were pressed against the top of her hand, pull back into his fingernail bed.

Inuyasha felt the change come on, and wished kagome wasn't watching him so intently. He felt her eyes wonder over his body as he morphed. Unbeknownst to her though, he felt his strength leave him considerably, and he felt as if the life was being sucked from him. He almost felt like he was dying, as though his vitality was slowly being ripped from him.

Then the change was over, and the subtle glow left him. He lifted his eyes to meet Kagome's awestricken ones. When she noticed the worried look in his eyes, she guessed that he had taken the look in her eyes the wrong way, so she quickly smiled at him. "does it hurt, inuyasha?", her eyes showing a bit of concern now.

"no, it doesn't hurt. But it definitely isn't a pleasant feeling…"

kagome squeezed his hand a bit and smiled again.

"I wish you didn't have to see that, I must have looked really strange."

"no, you didn't, not at all. I think it was quite stunning actually."

He turned to her with a shocked look. `stunning? That's a new one. I was taught that this was a despicable and horrible thing, not…stunning…but then again, she always did have a way in seeing the good and beauty in everything. ` he smiled back at her.

They had lain down on the grass after a while of staring at the river below them. Now the stars had become visible, and Kagome, as always, adjusted her position so all that was in her view were the celestial bodies above her. "I think this has to be one of the most beautiful nights in the year. The February stars on a moonless night, doesn't get much better than this. Aye, inuyasha?"

"Aye…it is remarkable"

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, Kagome?"

"What should we do with this when we're done?" she lifted up the half of the shikon no tama that she wore around her neck.

"I don't know…I think we should do something that we all agree on. Something that would help all of us if possible. We all worked and suffered equally to get this far, it's only fair."

`Wow, he didn't even mention becoming a youkai…I'm sure its still his dream to have such power, but now he's willing to give that up for others happiness. He's become so different since I first met him…and especially now that he's human tonight, he's like a completely different person, its almost scary…I'll ask him just in case though, no hurt in that'

"So, you've given up on becoming full youkai, inuyasha."

Inuyasha continued to stare up at the sky, lost deep in thought, and the small content smile he held slowly disappeared. " I don't know kagome. You know it wouldn't be that easy to just forget something like that. I would jump at any opportunity usually, but in this case, I need to remember that there are others around me. And I know for one, that you don't want me to become a youkai…am I right?"

"I don't know inuyasha, I don't really know what that would entail. I don't know if you'd be more like your brother, or become what you are when your demon blood takes over in battle." A picture of him slaughtering youkai's ruthlessly came into her mind, it was from when he had last transformed. He had slaughtered the threat, then some of the frightened villagers nearby, and then any other small youkai or animals within a half-mile radius. It had scared the hell out of all of them.

"Neither do i…and I know that if I were to become the heartless beast I've turned into before, id be putting you and the others in danger…and I don't think that would be worth it."

Inuyasha closed is eyes and sighed heavily. Then turned his head over to kagome and just looked into her eyes for a moment, trying to guess what she was thinking. He stood up and turned to her, lending a hand to help her up. "Lets go back, the others are probably wondering where we are. And I don't think that it's fair that you left Sango with Miroku for so long."

"Oh no! Sango-chan!"

They started on their way back; they weren't that far from camp so it wouldn't take long. "Arigato"

"for what, kagome?"

"For sharing that with me, I'm glad you didn't run from me again."

"Its not like I really had a choice now is it?"

"Ha, I guess not" kagome smiled at him and reached out for his hand, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

JAPANESE:

Aa: yeah

… I think that's all the new ones I used…

Suteki: so, youz like? I tried to through in a little fluff in there, to keep everyone entertained until I can get to the battle with Naraku. And don't worry! That's coming some time within the next 2 chapters.

I wasn't able to put everything in here that I wanted; I wrote too much and I didn't want to bombard all my readers with a really long chapter. So I'll put this one up, and then probably by tomorrow I'll have part 2 up!

Next time: the group takes a break in a nearby hotspring, to calm their nerves. More development on what they plan on doing afterwards (mainly Sango, Miroku, and shippou since I've been mean and have left them out a lot) then we get a visit from Kouga-kun! Yay! then they get ready to face Naraku. And, I'll say it again, incase you forgot, R/R please! I know people are reading, bur no one listens to my cries for help…its pretty discouraging sniff sniff. Alrighty then, see you in chapter 4 - disfavored alliances part 2: Kouga to the rescue!