InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Impediment Between You and Me ❯ The Unbroken Grieve ( Chapter 15 )

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

Reminder

Kagura - Kagura from Fruits Basket (in regular fonts)

Kagura - Kagura from Inuyasha (in italics)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Inuyasha and Fruits Basket nor do I have anything that has to do with these two wonderful animations. They solely belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Takaya Natsuki respectively.

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The Impediment Between You and Me

Chapter 14 : The Unbroken Grieve

Inuyasha and his friends finally arrived at the northern lands. Though to their surprise, there were not many settlements in the area due to the harsh conditions of the cold weather.

"Myouga ji-ji...are you sure this is where Naraku is located? ...This place looks kinda empty to me," Inuyasha, who was feeling suspicious, sent the flea a stare.

"Inuyasha-sama, remember I told you the youkai living here have migrated to other regions? That is why it's quiet here!" Jumping up and down on Kagome's shoulder, the old flea replied and the white haired youkai just continued to stare at him.

After a few moments of exploring, the group discovered a small village near the foot of a small mountain.

"Ano..." Kagome asked, looking at the man who was chopping dry woods. Then Inuyasha stepped up from the group of his friends; Sango, Miroku and Kohaku, and stood beside Kagome.

"Oi, is there a castle around here somewhere?" Inuyasha asked with his arms crossed in front of him. ( JV : Oi - Hey )

"Yo...youkai!" the man yelled in horror and threw pieces of wood randomly at the creature with white hair before dashing into one of the houses in the village. Kagome and everyone just stared at the man, staggered by his reaction.

"...okay...it's reasonable to be freaking out when you see a youkai...BUT WHY THE HELL HE THREW THESE AT ME!" Inuyasha yelled, with a few lumps on his head, feeling really pissed.

"..." The others could do nothing but sweatdropped at Inuyasha's interesting complaint.

"Inuyasha you baka! Look at what you've done! You've just scared him away!" Shippo called, the little fox that Kagome was holding in her arms. "Such a trouble maker."

"What?" holding his fist, Inuyasha stared at Shippo with a creepy glare, wanted to punch the little fox.

"Inuyasha! Osuawari!" Kagome called in a mono tone. And with a bang, Inuyasha laid flat on the ground, making contact with the frozen ground.

"Inuyasha-sama, how does the snow taste?" Myouga asked, the flea that was crawling on the dead form with white hair.

"Shu...Shut up!" Inuyasha got up on his feet. He was boiling even though his skin felt freezing with the touch of falling snow and the cutting of rough arctic wind. Then they were interrupted when a group of villagers emerged from their homes with weapons in hand.

"Youkai! Leave this village now!" the village leader stated, his voice trembled with fear and Inuyasha just growled in response.

"Please don't get confused. We are not here to hurt you," Kagome was pushing Inuyasha to the back, avoiding him to cause more troubles.

"Exactly. In fact, we are here in search for clues to hunt a certain youkai. And even though we have a few youkai here with us," Miroku added while walking over to the villagers, "they have no intentions of hurting anyone, so do not worry."

"Hunt youkai you say?" the village leader was studying the suspicious group, feeling uncertain. Then, believing in the words of the houshi, the villagers lowered their weapons. "Well this village was pretty much undisturbed until you lot showed up. And there weren't any youkai around during these past few months."

'This is just as what Myouga-sama had told us about,' thought Miroku. "Well besides the disappearance of youkai, have you witness any other strange occurrences lately?"

"We have heard that a castle from not too far of here being conquered by a pact of youkai. And yesterday a group of houshi travelled pass here claiming that they were going to demolish those beings up there," the village leader explained while pointing at a castle located at the top of the small mountain. With full attention, Inuyasha and the others look at the castle covered by a strange aura. They have found their destination; Naraku is there.

Then Kohaku who stood behind his sister during the whole exchange, took off to the direction of the castle, startled the group in the area. 'Rin! Here I come!'

"Kohaku! Wait!" looking worried, Sango ran after her brother with Miroku following closely behind.

"Kagome, let's go! We have no time to waste!" Kagome nodded to Inuyasha and gave her thanks to the villagers before catching up to her friends.

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In one of the many rooms of the castle; there stood Naraku, the hanyou that desired revenge on Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha.

"So the silver ring has chosen its owner..." Naraku stared at the three youkai from the Sohma family that were kneeling before him.

"...Gomen nasai, Naraku-sama. By the time we got there, the ring is already in Rin's possession," Kagura apologized while staring at the floor, feeling guilty but also somewhat relieved about the outcome.

"So that means I just lost an opportunity of gaining more power..." Then Naraku casually walked over to Hatori and picked up the katana beside him. Hatori and Ayame just stared blankly at their master, as if waiting for something to happen. Naraku then unsheathed the sword and studied the blade as the image of Rin's sleeping form and the ring appeared in his mind. "That ring...was said to have mystical power of granting its owner with a single wish. But now the girl has it...and this is all because of..." Naraku was disturbed by the existence of this ridiculous error and forgiving the cause was not in his list of option. Then he turned to Kagura and swung the sword at her heavily. Ayame and Hatori turned their attention onto the girl when they detected the sound of the sword cutting through her fresh.

"Kyaaaaaa..." The girl fell weakly on her side with a thud as blood escaping from the deep wound on her chest. For a moment, the two youkai beside her were taken aback by the shocking scene.

"Kagura!" Ayame called worriedly and Hatori got up from his position and stand guard for his two cousins.

"Heh. Placing expectations on others is pointless...I should have understand that earlier. Then things like these would not have happened," showing no signs of any emotion, Naraku said to himself. Then the three youkai suffered tremendous pain as their black earrings on their left ear sent out electric shocks through their body. Naraku smirked at the sight before him "...Inuyasha is almost here. Now go and give him a nice greeting," and he dropped the sword that was dripping with blood in front of Hatori, who was kneeling weakly on the floor. Feeling bored, Naraku decided to finish the conversation and left the room that was in a complete chaos. "Follow them and I don't want to see their faces again...I believe you know what is to be done," the hanyou exchanged his gaze with Kagura who happened to walk pass the room.

"Huh? Me again?" ignoring Kagura's complaint, Naraku walked away and attentively calculating his plans for the upcoming events.

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"Kagura, don't move yet. Your wound needs to be treated first!" Ayame stared at the girl in a blood-stained kimono.

"...We have to go now...We have to...find Inuyasha...Na...Naraku-sama's...order...We must..." Kagura uttered in a whimpering voice while weakly trying to push herself up from the floor. "...We must obey our Lord..."

"I'm through suffering! He's not worth respecting! And a minute ago, he just showed us the worth of our lives. In his eyes, we mean nothing to him. And Kagura, our Lord you say? No...he's not our Lord. The one who we respect had disappeared a long time ago...Even though he is still the same on the outside, his heart...our Lord, Hitomi-sama no longer exist..." in a thick voice, the youkai with white hair expressed while staring straight into the girl's sparkling eyes.

"Kagura, I understand how you feel...but Ayame is right. We can't afford to see you suffer again," Hatori moved over to the girl, trying to treat her wound.

"No don't! ...don't heal me if you are going to prevent me from following his orders," and Hatori paused, confused at the girl's statement.

Kagura who was feeling exhausted and catching her breath, looked away from her two cousins and stared blankly at her own pool of blood before her. A moment later, the uncertainty shown of her face vanished and she turned to Ayame, "...I don't care what it is that we do for him and I don't care how he treats us...I just want to be responsible for him as his servant...that is the least I can do for Hitomi-sama..." Despite the aching from her chest, she declared firmly. Ayame and Hatori on the other hand were surprised by her persistence.

Then Ayame sighed in defeat, "You are still as stubborn as always." Then Kagura and Hatori stared at him as their attentions were caught by the unexpected comment. "Ahhh! Okay fine! Let's go then...But not before we got your wound treated." In response, Kagura's expression lightened up into a warm smile while Hatori quietly let out a sigh, feeling relieved.

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The group was rushing their way up the small mountain and the temperature dropped gradually as they get closer to the castle.

"It seems Naraku didn't even bother to hide his location...This must be a trap," Miroku explained what his instinct was telling him.

"A trap or not, we are still going to defeat him!" Inuyasha responsed naturally, and Kohaku nodded at the youkai running beside him.

"Now we need to hurry before those monks reach Naraku! I don't want anyone to get hurt because of this struggle we have between Naraku…..." Sango added, who was looking into spaces ahead. Then the group came to a sudden stop when three forms appeared at the middle of the mountain trail.

"What do you people want!" Inuyasha called out. The group was studying the three unfamiliar faces and putting on their fighting stance, they were ready for battle.

"We, from the Sohma family are here to give you a nice greeting in Naraku-sama's stead," Kagura declared naturally.

"That bastard! How many more people does he want to get involved into his dirty deeds?" Inuyasha growled and took out his Tetsusaiga.

"Where is Rin?" Kohaku called out suddenly.

"Rin-chan is in the castle with Naraku-sama..." Kagura replied with a frown. "She is safe right now, no need to worry...but I do want to suggest you to go back since there is no point for you to rescue her...Naraku-sama erased her memories...she won't remember who you are. Now you people are no body but strangers to her."

"!" Kohaku and the others were shocked by the heartbreaking news, they couldn't believe what Kagura just explained.

"No...No! This can't be! ...Rin!" Kohaku averted his glaze to the ground. He could feel himself trembling with anger, despair, and fear. And that awful feeling of regret hit him deeply once again. Sango and Miroku looked at Kohaku muted, feeling sympathetic for him and helpless at the situation.

"That bastard Naraku! How could he do that Rin-chan! No, we have got to help her! There must be a way to restore her memories!" Kagome was getting sensitive about the situation.

"That's right! We have to go help Rin and defeat Naraku! Now step aside if you don't want yourself to get hurt!" the dog youkai exclaimed, who was holding his transformed Tetsusaiga.

The three youkai just stood there unmoving with their blank expression. "If you insist on coming, then you leave us no choice...We cannot let you pass," Kagura warned the group and her two cousins drew out their swords.

"Then we'll just have to break our way through!" Inuyasha called and charged at the uninvited group.

High above the ground, Kagura was examining the exchange of the two groups below. "Heh, Inuyasha finally made his way here. It's been ten years since the last battle. Let's see if he got what it takes to fight Naraku." She lowered her feather platform to get a closer look and taking out her paper fan, waiting for a chance to strike as she was ordered by Naraku.

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A group of monks appeared at the main entrance of the castle, searching for the youkai that caused all the turmoil in the Northern Lands. Then they turned their attention onto the male with long wavy black hair, who was sitting at the porch of the front yard.

"You must be the one that attacked the people in the castle. I can feel your youki roaming around the area..." The leader, who was the monk with the highest status among the group, expressed as he studied the malicious being. Naraku simply looked at the group of mortals, uninterested.

Then the monks concentrated their spiritual energy onto their staves. "We must put an end to your bloodcurdling destruction!" the leader stated and the group released their vast amount of holy power at Naraku. But before it reaches its target, Naraku struck out his dark energy at the weak force rushing at him, and crushing it like it was nothing but air. The group of monks were shaken and terrified as they witnessed the power of the youkai come flying at them.

"Foolish human, they should know better than sending themselves to hell," Naraku smirked as he stared at the result of the encounter. And hearing a great blast from the front yard, Rin rushed out of her room to see the source of the noise.

"! What...What happened...?" the girl was shocked as images of lifeless figures flooded her mind. Then suddenly, her vision went blank and tremendous pain struck at her. Somehow, this unwanted pain reminded her of a little girl being chased by a pact of fierce wolfs in the deep forest. Pain struck her continuously as their blood-soaking teeth pierced through her fresh. That feeling was... horrifying and unforgettable... Rin couldn't take it anymore...all that pain, blood, horror and violence...She could feel herself going mad and losing control on her senses. She cried out painfully before her mind went blank again...

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Somewhere high in the cloudy atmosphere, Sesshoumaru detected the scent of blood as he approach a castle on a mountain top which was surrounded with Naraku's youki. A few seconds later, he gracefully landed on the snowy field and saw the opposite area to where he was standing, a complete chaos with piles of dead humans. Then slowly he turned his attention onto the figure that was studying him; that foul being with eye colour and dangerous lust of dark crimson, Naraku. His chest then throbbed with pain as he saw an unconscious girl laying beside Naraku. It was the girl he has been thinking of day and night...

'Found you...Rin.'

Now that Sesshoumaru has finally found Rin, how will he react when he notices Rin's condition? And likewise what will Rin feel when she meets this important someone that was lost in her precious memories? Most importantly, will Sesshoumaru be able to restore her empty heart once again? Even though their situations seem complicated, the mystical silver ring will be the key to Sesshoumaru and Rin's future.

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Japanese Vocabulary

Ano - Excuse me

Baka - Fool / Stupid

Gomen nasai - Very Sorry

Houshi - Monk

Ji-ji - Grandpa/Old man

Kimono - Japanese traditional attire

Oi - Hey

Osuawari - Sit

Youkai - Demon