InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Road to Remembrance ❯ A Marked Man ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The gang, with the help of some unexpected allies, defeats Naraku. But why does Inuyasha seem desperate to hide his injuries from his friends?

Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 06.16.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 565 | Status: Completed

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, etc. Obviously.

Chapter 1

The battle was fierce, drawn out and draining, but they won. It had taken the combined efforts of Kouga, Sesshomaru, and Kagura along with their group to finally defeat Naraku. Kagura had turned her back on Naraku halfway through the fight, as soon as she had seen a glimmer of hope that he could be defeated. Kouga was there since the beginning. He had brought along the majority of his wolf tribe for support but most did not survive. Sesshomaru was the biggest surprise, having jumped in during the last half hour of the battle. It was him that turned the tides. With their aid in holding down the many parts of Naraku, the combined power of one of Kagome's sacred arrows and Inuyasha's backlash wave managed to hit the core of Naraku—his blackened heart—and pulled him down into the abyss of hell. But he did not go down without a fight. An explosion of sorts occurred, tentacles flying in all directions, grasping, clawing, for a piece of anyone they could drag down with them. A few wolf demons along with Kanna were caught and pulled to their death. One managed to hit Inuyasha as well. But this was different than the others, though no one noticed since they were preoccupied with escaping the tentacles themselves. It was darker and still had Naraku's pulsing atmosphere around it. It had targeted Inuyasha, striking him in the back before he could jump away.

The moment it touched him, Inuyasha knew something was wrong. It never tried to grab onto him or drag him down. It simply struck him, right in small of his back, spreading a horrible burning sensation that reeked of evil down his spine. And then the tentacle was sucked into the ground as suddenly as it had shot out, deleted from humanity forever, but the burning sensation still lingered.

A short silence followed the downfall of the creature that had one way or another victimized them all. Then came the eruption; screaming, laughing, cheering, hugging. The survivors celebrated their victory, savored their triumph. Sesshomaru simply stared on impassively before turning on his heel and leaving the site. Rin and Jaken followed obediently. No one saw Kagura leave, but it could only be assumed it was in whichever direction the wind was blowing. Sango immediately ran to her freed brother, hugging him and checking him for wounds, and then began tending to Miroku. Kagome went to help Kouga first, seeing as he was the closest to her and currently suffering from a large hole in his side where he was stabbed viciously by a stray tentacle.

Much to Kagome and the other's confusion, Inuyasha refused to let her look at his wounds, insisting that Kaede did instead. A little hurt by it, Kagome assumed it was because she treated Kouga's wound's first and came close to sitting him, but decided that as long as he would be treated it was fine.

Kaede was surprised as well when Inuyasha staggered into her hut, bloodied and weary and absolutely alone.

“Where is Kagome?” she asked, setting down the ladle she was using to stir a pot of stew.

“Treating the others,” Inuyasha said gruffly, swallowing a mouthful of bile. Whatever hit him was causing him to feel revoltingly sick.

“Do ye need me to treat thy wounds?” she asked kindly, seeing he was in pain. Inuyasha nodded mutely and sat down on the ground. Kaede raised her eyebrows at his unusual display of compliance but said nothing. Instead she helped him remove his fire rat coat and pealed it away from his blood-soaked body. She gasped as his back was revealed, dropping the article of clothing.

“What is it?” Inuyasha asked filled with dread. Ever since he received it, his instincts were screaming that it was no ordinary wound.

“Your back is badly burned,” Kaede said, tenderly touching the burn, but stopping as Inuyasha winced.

“What? What is it?”

“It looks like...a spider,” Kaede made out, squinting at the charred flesh. Inuyasha felt his hear sink and a cold feeling spread throughout his body.

“I have some salve that should heal this up nicely,” Kaede went on, lifting herself slowly up from the floor and walking to one of her many shelves filled with medicines. But Inuyasha didn't hear her. His thoughts were focused on the spider shaped wound on his back. It felt as if Naraku was inside of him, lurking around in his subconscious, mocking him. Despite what he wanted to believe, something inside told him that this wouldn't heal like other wounds he's had. It would scar. He would forever bear spider shaped scar on his back, marked by his enemy as a constant reminder, never letting truly move on from the pain he caused in his life. He felt no joy in defeating him, for in his mind, Naraku had won. He had the last say after all.

Kaede came back and treated his wounds as carefully as she could, being extra mindful of his burn.

“Ye have a dark aura on this wound,” Kaede stated as he stood and pulled on his fire rat coat.

“Yeah,” Inuyasha said tiredly, figuring as much. He stood and exited the hut and began walking in the direction he knew his friends would be in. Sure enough, not twenty feet away from him was Kagome, walking towards the hut, most likely here to check on him, and flashing him a beautiful smile.

“Where's that wimpy wolf?” he asked before he could stop himself. Kagome stopped walking suddenly and gave him a hard look, the smile falling off her face.

“He left to check on the rest of his tribe for your information. And you should be more grateful to him for helping us!”

“Feh,” was Inuyasha's reply. Kagome sighed and shook her head, knowing it was pointless. She reached into her bag and pulled something out.

“Umm...Inuyasha...” Kagome trailed, holding out her hand. She uncurled her fingers to reveal the completed jewel, sitting innocently on the palm of her hand. Inuyasha stared at it, allured and repulsed all at the same time. Fifty years ago he would have snatched that glass orb and ran off as fast as he could to become a demon. But now the desire to have power, to have respect, was gone. The jewel was meaningless to him now. He didn't want to change anymore; he wanted to evolve on his own.

“You keep it,” he said somberly, grabbing her hand and wrapping her fingers back around the jewel. He left his hands around her's, much to Kagome's pleasure.

“But...I thought you wanted to become a full demon more than anything?” she asked thoroughly confused. Inuyasha shook his head and smiled at her. For one brief moment Kagome felt like everything could work out between them; that Inuyasha would stay with her. And then the presence of dead souls surrounded her and she suddenly remembered her competition.

“Are you going to hell with Kikyo?” she asked, biting her lip.

The question caught Inuyasha off guard causing him to drop her hand and look away from her silently. He had indeed been thinking about this for a long time now, more often than not as they got closer to defeating Naraku. He had already made his decision in his mind, and he hoped it was one he wouldn't regret.

“Inuyasha I need to know!” Kagome said somewhat desperately. She knew it was now or never to settle this, “Please. I can't go on like this. I can't keep dragging myself back here if you're only going to run off to Kikyo. I have a life back home, Inuyasha! Please, just let me know now. Am I more than just a shard detector to you?

“I as well think it is time you chose, Inuyasha,” Kikyo stated, gliding up next to Kagome who looked shocked at her sudden appearance. Inuyasha vaguely wondered where she was during the battle and if she was hiding out while they fought. Her cold, inexpressive eyes bore into his, “do not forget, you have promised to go to hell with me.”

Inuyasha closed his eyes, dreading the confrontation that was about to come up. He took a deep, calming breath and began to speak.

“Kagome, you are more than just a shard detector to me, you know that, and I care about you a lot,” Kagome smile at this, “Kikyo, I know I promised to go to hell with you, and I know that I loved you very much when you were alive,” Kikyo had a wistful, ghost of a smile at these words as though she were remembering better days.

“That is why this was such a hard decision to make—I think I love you both—but I decided to choose...”

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