InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tangled Ambitions ❯ Return ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer- I do not own InuYasha or any of the original characters; they are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation for personal and shared enjoyment of true InuYasha fans that I hope is up to the quality of the real series. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

To LadyOrion:Thanks for your great reviews. Yes…that was very evil of me.Stopping in the middle of the fight was very wrong. I just stop when the chapter 'feels'done.Gomen…and here ya go!…InuYasha Rocks!!

Chapter 8: Return

Kagome cries out when she hits the ground and she grabs the abused hank of hair to lessen the painful pulling on her scalp when she hears a deep throated growl and the piercing screech of twisting metal accompanied by a blinding flash. She looks up to see a transformed InuYasha, his face distorted with rage, burst through the broken wall of the Cage. He barely touches the ground to leap over her head and she instinctively brings her arm across her face in defense and ducks.

Kazuha looks up at the tortured sound of the bars' destruction and sees the Hanyou's murderous visage barreling towards him. He screams in fear and, releasing the girl's hair, he stumbles back, reaching for the sword at his side…

Kagome hears a second scream that is cut off abruptly and she twists around automatically. Her eyes widen in horror as InuYasha topples over sideways, curled around the sword that protrudes from his back, to lay next to the lifeless Kazuha.

"No…" she gasps and flips to crawl hastily the few feet to him, the long hem of the Kimono a hindrance, "NO!" Staring at the grimace on his face, his normal face, she lays her hands on his arm but is afraid to move him. She glances at the sword and realizes it's, "Tessaiga! But how…?" She glances over at Kazuha with a questioning frown, then quickly away at his obviously dead form. Reaching for the hilt, her hand hesitates, "I…"

InuYasha's eyes open to stare blindly for a moment, blinking away the haze of coming back to himself to focus on the torn throat and bloody flesh in his immediate view. Comprehension brings disgust, "Damnit!"

"InuYasha?"

He turns his head to look up at her, "Kagome…" and sighs with relief, `…I didn't…' The slight movement jostles the blade and he winces, looking down at handle of his own sword and chuckles at the irony, "Keh!"

"Kagome-sama!"

She turns to the wonderful sight of their friend running up to them, robes swishing and staff jangling with a look of concern on his face. "Miroku-sama!"

He stops a few feet away, only a little out of breath, and takes in everything in a glance, including the recently deceased and shakes his head. Looking at the impaled Hanyou, he drops his staff and removes the bow and quiver from his shoulder, handing them to Kagome. He steps around and bends down to grasp the sword's hilt, looking into the pain-filled golden eyes, "Gomen…" he pulls it free in one smooth motion.

InuYasha gasps and Kagome grabs his arm when he moves to sit up, helping him. Both are careful to not look at the mangled remains nearby. She frowns at him, "Are you alright?"

He nods, "Ah." He takes the Monk's offered hand and stands up with a grunt, straightening cautiously. He sighs deeply and steps over to the corpse, bending to remove Tessaiga's sheath from the man's belt. Upright again he glances at his hand, at the mingled blood on his claws, bows his head in resignation and holds the hand out to the side without looking; a silent request for his sword back. The handle touches his palm and his hand closes around the familiar weight.

Kirara `meows' urgently from the nearer doorway and all three turn to look. Kagome stands, wrestles off the long kimono and drops it in the dust, kicks it away and shoulders her quiver of arrows, "Miroku-sama, where is Sango-chan?"

The Monk picks up his staff and starts walking towards the twin-tailed cat, "We must hurry! She's fighting Akunin…" he pauses and looks over his shoulder at them, "I don't think…that she can…"

InuYasha wipes off his sword and nods, "Let's go!" He trots forward with Kagome close behind and they leave the grizzly scene to the deepening shadows.

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Biting on the leash leaves a metallic taste in his mouth, but Shippo hardly notices. Watching Sango fight that awful man has him in a tizzy and the fast paced duel shows no sign of slowing. The constant ringing of the clashing blades is deafening and the identically dressed combatants are a visual blur as each one tests the other's endurance and skill, pushing for more than was thought possible to give and then pushing for even more.

Sango uses her speed once more to avoid being overpowered by the stronger Akunin. Forceful blows are deflected aside instead of straight-out blocking them and nimble feet and watchful eyes take advantage of every opening…there aren't many. She feels the sting of yet another cut, this time across her thigh, as she spins out of harms way, feeling her blade connect with flesh as well.

They separate and face each other, circling the empty space in-between and neither dropping their guard. Sango is satisfied to see that he is breathing just as heavily as she is and she straightens, assuming a falsely casual posture, "I thought you were done playing?"

He also appears to relax, adjusting his grip on the shorter second blade in his other hand and smiling. He wipes at a trickle of blood from a shallow cut on his jaw with the back of one hand, "Maybe it's more fun this way-" He throws the shorter blade aiming for her foot.

She jumps automatically to one side that he anticipates, and has to hurriedly bring up her left arm-guard to block the deadly swing of his katana. She moves with the force of the blow to lessen the impact, but it still has enough to jolt her arm as she continues to back away.

He ducks under one of her swings and retrieves his recently thrown blade, coming back up with a complicated two angled attack that occupies both of her weapons, forcing them aside and delivering a vicious kick to her midriff in the sudden opening he created.

Her breath comes out in a whoosh with the force of the blow and she is knocked backward, off balance and falling. Her training allows her to tuck into the fall and roll out of it, flipping onto her feet with both weapons up and ready. She blinks, trying to regain her breath and is assailed again. The ferocity of his new attack is dizzying and difficult to keep up with; instinct takes over.

She takes a chance and, beginning a particular move that is normally followed by another, breaks the cycle and swings down instead, marking his leg before spinning past, blocking a return stroke from behind with her left guard and pirouetting out of reach.

Facing each other they circle the designated battle ground again, the surrounding crowd nonexistent and irrelevant in this life-or-death struggle.

Sango breathes heavily and flexes her grip on her sword, `I'm not hitting him hard enough…' The dozen-or-so blows she had managed to land were not accounting for much. She wishes she dared to spare a glance looking for her friends and renewed her vow to buy as much time as she can. One eyebrow rose tauntingly, "Getting old?" She tosses her head to flip her hair back over her shoulder, "Let me know if you need a break…"

He digs one foot securely into the dirt, "Not if you don't." Akunin rushes in with a wide swipe that she dodges, turns sideways around the return thrust to avoid the razor edge of her blade and, stepping in close, he slams his shoulder into hers, knocking her to the ground.

She glares up at his grinning face and hooks her foot behind his knee, pulling it forward and tipping him over, rolling safely away as he lands on his backside. Jumping to her feet, she hides a wince at the pain in her shoulder, ignoring it and warily watching him.

He stands and matches her stance, his smile finally gone, "Last chance…"

"You're the only one who thinks so," she said with contempt.

He shrugs, "Have it your way!" He comes at her again, his rapid blows severely taxing her waning defenses.

With eyes wide, Shippo watches everything. Including Sango's growing weariness that causes her to stumble once too often and how sluggish her arm has become after that last fall. `No!' He sees Akunin grin and redouble his attack. Shippo bares his teeth in anger and glances up at Narushi still holding the be-damned leash. `I don't care…I need to do something!'

Fueled by his fury, he focuses on the hem of Narushi's robe and yells, "KITSUNI BI!" Blue-green flames shoot across the short distance to ignite the fragile silk; the flames quickly turn yellow and red, climbing upwards, spreading and consuming.

Lord Narushi jumps up with a high-pitched scream and, dropping the leash, begins to flail around. His retainers look on in shock and back away for fear of burning themselves.

Shippo turns his back on his success and runs toward the combatants without hesitation. Jumping up, he chomps down on Akunin's upper arm with his small fangs and sinks them into the man's flesh.

Akunin grunts and drops the shorter blade in his left hand in surprise. He spares a quick glance at the shaggy-haired Kitsune latched onto his upper-arm and bangs the hilt of his sword down on Shippo's head in retaliation.

Sango steps back and yells anxiously at the foolishly brave little youkai, "No Shippo! It's too dangerous!"

Her distracted cry signals the opening he'd been waiting for and, ignoring the irritation clinging to his left arm, Akunin administers a powerful blow to knock the sword from her hand and, twisting his swing back, he thrusts his blade through her shoulder.

Sango grabs at her disabled arm and, with her mouth open in surprise, takes a step back, tripping on his dropped blade. She gasps and lands hard on her back, the pain spreading and getting worse with each heartbeat.

Still gripping Akunin's sleeve with his hands, Shippo involuntarily pulls back, removing his fangs, and calls out her name.

Akunin makes a snarling sound, switches his sword to his other hand and grabs the dangling leash, hauling Shippo into the air to spin freely.

Sango blinks away sudden tears and sees Akunin raise his sword in preparation to strike the helpless Kitsune who is clawing desperately at the strangling collar, and tries to sit up, "NO!"

Akunin glances down, places a foot on her wounded shoulder and presses down to force her back, causing her to scream in pain. "I'll deal with you in a moment." He looks back at the red-faced Kitsune and raises his sword again, "I warned you…"

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The hallways are deserted as the Monk, Hanyou and girl follow the tiny cat-youkai through every twist and turn, running to keep up.

They pass through the empty chamber where he and Sango had confronted Akunin not long ago and Miroku calls over his shoulder to the other two, "We're almost there!"

They turn a corner, see reddish-light from the setting sun streaming through the open doorway ahead of them and hear Sango's cry.

Kirara growls and transforms, leaving the others behind as she leaps ahead to the outside and hurdles over the obstacle of people between her and her target. With no warning, she crosses the space in a flash to tackle Akunin and bear him down to the ground. Seizing the back of his neck with her gleaming fangs, she crushes the life out of him with an audible crunch.

Shippo lies in the dust a few feet away, coughing and gasping while Sango has rolled over to stare at her beloved pet still holding her prey in her massive, blood-drenched jaws.

The others arrive in the courtyard after pushing past screaming people yelling, "Fire!" or trying to escape from the, "Youkai who's going to eat us all!" Many shocked guardsmen drop their weapons and disappear just as quickly.

Silence returns to the all-but-deserted courtyard except for Kirara's low growl and the stench of burnt flesh overlays all. Miroku hurries to the Taijiya's side and drops to his knees next to her while looking with concern at each visible mark from the wounds that she has endured, "Sango!" He puts his arm behind her to help her sit up and to support her. He frowns at her gasp and tries to pull her bloody hand away from her shoulder to better examine it.

She resists and shakes her head at him, "It's not that bad-"

He narrows his eyes in suspicion, "Then let me see for myself."

"No," she says stubbornly and looks up with a pained smile to see her friends. "Kagome-chan! InuYasha!"

Kagome rushes over to kneel on her other side, dropping the bow and taking her friend's hand carefully in hers, "Sango-chan!" Tears roll down the young girl's cheeks, "I'm so glad to see you!"

InuYasha watches the happy reunion for a moment before his eyes slide back to the still-growling Kirara and his grip tightens reflexively on Tessaiga. He glances over at the smoldering heap on the far side of the yard and approaches the angry Cat-youkai cautiously, understanding the raging bloodlust that held her. He sheathes his sword and raises both hands up to show his peaceful intentions.

She makes eye contact with him, flattens her ears and growls. He stops, still holding both hands up and waits for her to calm down.

After a few tense minutes, her ears come forward and she drops the lifeless form with a feline grimace. Kirara turns her back on the dead thing to saunter over to the trio sitting on the ground, `whuffing' and `whining' in the back of her throat. She plops down and lays her head on Sango's leg to stare up at her mistress.

InuYasha continues to stare down at the corpse, feeling cheated. `You got it easy.'

Kagome has unfastened the neck of Sango's form-fitting top and is applying pressure to the shoulder wound with a folded pad of cloth that Miroku had produced upon request while the Monk tears up another piece of material to tie the pad in place. She suddenly blinks and looks up to scan the courtyard, asking, "Where's Shippo?"

The others join her in looking around but the Kitsune is nowhere in sight.

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Huddled miserably in his hiding place, Shippo hears his name being called over and over. He feels the tears start again and curls up with his hands covering his ears, hiccups making him shake. `I did it again…I made things worse…' He draws a shuddering breath, trying to be quiet, `I just get in the way.'

He closes his eyes and doesn't see the dog-eared head appear in the opening of the empty barrel to look down at him.

InuYasha stares at the ball of hair for a second before turning to wave at the others and motioning them to be quiet. Kagome rushes over followed by Sango supported solicitously by Miroku with Kirara bringing up the rear.

They all look into the barrel then back at each other in confusion. Kagome lays her hands on the rim and looks down at the shaking Kitsune with a worried frown, "Shippo?"

His head pops up with a gasp and he stares up at all of them, cringing back against the wooden side of the barrel with a cornered look.

Her frown deepens, "What's wrong?"

His lip trembles and more tears roll down his dirty little face and he yells, "Leave me alone!"

Kagome leans back in surprise and he jumps out, startling them all, and hits the ground running.

He is brought to a sudden halt by the collar still around his neck, yanking him off balance and flat on his back. He sits up, grabs the damn thing and turns his head to look at InuYasha's foot standing on the end of the leash. He hisses and pulls desperately at the leash but he can't free it. He finally gives up and sits with his head hanging, not looking at anything.

Kagome shares a concerned look with InuYasha. He shrugs and watches her crouch next to Shippo. She gently touches his untidy-mop of hair making him flinch. "Shippo…why?" His silent tears are more serious than his usual loud whining.

He hiccups and wipes at his eyes with his sleeve, still not looking at her, and whispers, "You're gonna hate me…"

"What?!" She sits back on her heels in shock. "Never!"

He finally looks up at her through his loose hair, "But-"

She looks at him and says in a firm tone, "You could never do anything to make me hate you!"

He blinks at her absolute statement and cries, "You're here because of me!"

"Baka!"

Everyone turns to look at InuYasha as he walks over to break the collar easily with his hands. "Of course we're here because of you!"

Shippo stares at the silver-haired Hanyou in shock, while the others just stare.

Sango whispers to the Monk at her side, "Tactless as ever." Miroku nods in agreement.

Kagome moves behind the shocked Kitsune, puts her hands on the tiny shoulders and glares over his head at InuYasha, "How can you say such a thing?"

InuYasha straightens and folds his arms, "Keh!" He turns his head to stare over the wall surrounding the grounds, "It doesn't matter what you think you might have done, Shippo. We would still be here." He glances sideways at the Kitsune still staring at him, "Understand?"

Kagome eyes soften and she reaches into her pocket to pull out a bright blue ribbon, holding it out so Shippo can see.

He glances at it and looks tearfully up at her questioning look and nods. He faces forward and she gathers his hair to tie it up with its usual jaunty bow.

"There," she says with satisfaction, "good as new."

Shippo sniffles and turns to leap into her arms, crying like a baby, "Kagomeee!"

She hugs him and rests her cheek on his hair, smiling up at InuYasha.

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The night is peaceful under the trees, stars twinkle overhead and the rustling leaves whisper like the breath of the forest. The campfire crackles comfortingly, keeping back the dark from the small circle of sleepers.

The Taijiya, with her arm tied in a sling, is leaning against the large Kirara. The Monk is next to her with his right hand resting on her left one lying on the ground between them. The small Kitsune clings tightly even in his dreams to the young girl wrapped snugly in a borrowed red Haori.

And up in the tree sits a silver-haired Hanyou with white dog-ears on top of his head, watching over them and fingering a small scrap of green cloth, his golden eyes somber.

- - The End - -

Next Story: Dumb Luck

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