InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When there is a full moon ❯ The sheild that protected him ( Chapter 3 )

I do not own Inuyasha

The Shield that protected him

Sesshoumaru's eyes travelled to where her arrow was pointed. Could she know?

The arrow flew towards his left forearm, but he was too quick for it.

"Kagome, aim for his heart!" Shippo advised from behind Miroku.

"No Shippo! If I can just take out the Shikon jewel, he won't even be able to wield the Tessaiga."

So she did know! But how? And how, how was she able to undo Tessaiga's transformation? Another arrow shot towards him. But this time, he was prepared.

He caught the arrow between his fingers, melting it with his poison. He took to the air, heading towards the miko.

Kagome saw him coming, but knew she had barely enough time to even blink before he reached her. She could barely even see him.

Inuyasha, with desperation, tried to intercept him with his claws. He was just in time, and even managed to scratch Sesshoumaru right over his own natural stripes

Sesshoumaru stayed back, and smirked coldly, "You're fast when that girl is involved."

"Inuyasha," Kagome said quickly, "the shard is in his left forearm. That's why he can wield the Tessaiga!"

Sesshoumaru kept from showing his annoyance at the girl's accuracy. How does she know?!

"Good, thanks Kagome!" Inuyasha said over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off of his brother, "for this and the arrow! Now, go!"

Kagome hesitated for a moment, she had not heard of Inuyasha thanking anybody, let alone her! She nodded her head, as though signalling her own thanks, and ran back to Miroku.

Miroku, meanwhile, had captured Jaken, and was questioning him. "It's funny, but I'm quite sure we've never met before. But those bees of yours seemed to have been brought just to block my kazanaa." Jaken shifted nervously under Miroku's piercing gaze. "How did you come across them?"

"H-he gave it to us," he answered reluctantly.

"Who?"

"The same bastard who gave Sesshoumaru-sama the Shikon shard."

"Alright, toad," Kagome spat at him. She'd reached them, and had picked up the toad's abanoded staff along the way. "Spit it out, or I'll break your precious stick right here and now!" she'd come across Jaken before and knew full well that without his master, the staff was the youkai's only means of protection.

"Alright, alright! I'll talk, you stupid dirty wench! He was wearing a baboon skin so I couldn't see what he looked like. But he called himself Naraku!"

"Naraku!" the three breathed with shock.

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha called to his brother. "You should keep your eyes on your eyes on your opponent." Sesshoumaru turned his cold eyes away from the human girl and stared haughtily at his brother. "So that's how you did it. I was wondering about that. But no matter, you have a Shikon shard. Now I can kill you," he cracked his knuckles menacingly, "and get the jewel shard. It's two birds with one stone!"

That said, he launched towards his half-brother, and dug his claws straight through Sesshoumaru's left shoulder.

He kept from wincing, but silently reprimanded himself for allowing Inuyasha the opportunity to attack. Taking the offensive, Sesshoumaru dug his poisonous claws into Inuyasha's back, and allowed some of the poison to seep through. He felt Inuyasha tense as he gasped with pain. He drew out his hand.

Inuyasha, however, pulled down and twisted the torn tissues until the arm came free. He retreated quickly with Sesshoumaru's left arm still holding the Tessaiga, barely able to breath for pain.

Sesshoumaru kept from showing his pain, but his eyes were turning red as his anger seeped through his stoic mask. Inuyasha freed the sword from the severed arm's grasp. He transformed it back into a fang, but had no hope of saving his friends and Kagome. The poison was taking its toll on him, and his vision was blurred. All he could see was his brother's red glowing eyes. He allowed the sword's tip to fall onto the ground and dig in as he fell to one knee, no longer able to stand without support.

Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo rushed towards him, abandoning the toad youkai in their haste.

"This doesn't look good!" Miroku said as he examined Inuyasha. "Can't you do something about it, Kagome-sama?"

"I can only try," Kagome responded, her usually soft voice etched with worry. She knelt down in front of Inuyasha, and lifted her hands to his wound. She thought she heard two soft 'oomph's, but did not give herself the time to turn and investigate; she had to help Inuyasha as soon as possible. But before she could even tap into her miko powers, someone grabbed both of her wrists in a bone crushing grip. She yelped in pain, but refused to give in.

She dipped into her small well of miko powers. She felt Sesshoumaru's grip tighten on her arms and a low and dangerous growl emit from his throat to show his disapproval over her insistence.

Her anger flared about her, as did her miko aura. She looked around for help. She knew that Inuyasha had fallen into unconsciousness, but so had Miroku and Shippo (Jaken had snuck up to them and taken his revenge while they were distracted).

Sesshoumaru lifted the wench with ease, so that her toes were just brushing the ground. As she looked at his red eyes and growing fangs, her anger was immediately replaced with pure fear.

"Y-you're t-transfor-forming!" her voice was just above a whisper. Her eyes were wide with fear, and her body frozen stiff. "Onegai…"

"Naño onegai?" he growled, ready to crush her.

Kagome tore her eyes away from his, trying to keep back her tears. "Onegaiitashimasu…don't kill them! Let them…let them live…"

Sesshoumaru stared at the pathetic human that he held in his arm. She begged for their lives?!

He threw her hard against the ground at his feet. She flinched but did not look up, waiting silently for her death. She's supposed to be begging me to spare her life! What is wrong with this slip of a human being?!

But before he could say or do anything else, he was interrupted. "Kikyou?!" He heard the voice of the bastard, Naraku. And sure enough he stood on a tree branch, the baboon skin covering his features.

The girl's head snapped up with surprise at the word. Sesshoumaru who knew full well who this Kikyou was, looked around to see where she was.

Kagome, however, had suddenly become aware of the presence of a lot of Shikon jewel shards. She turned and looked at the source where their energy flowed from. On top of a tree branch, not too far away, stood a man wearing a baboon pelt. Something clicked in her mind, as she realized who this new intruder could be. "Naraku!" she breathed.

Naraku stared down at the girl-miko. She looks so much like her. But her scent, her scent is all wrong. He jumped down gracefully enough from the tree branch and landed beside Sesshoumaru. One of the bees flew to the torn arm on the ground, tore out the Shikon shard from within and brought it to Naraku.

After grabbing the jewel, Naraku bowed down in front of the taiyoukai, who stared coldly down at him. He had stopped his transformation.

"It seems as though you are almost done. I must say you have done a good job."

"These weaklings," said Jaken disdainfully, "was no match for my lord!"

"Of course!" Naraku replied silkily.

Kagome took one cautious step away from them towards Inuyasha. They seemed to have forgotten about her and she wasn't about to lose her opportunity.

"What are you doing here?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"I simply came to retrieve the shard that I'd lent you."

She was almost there, just one more step and she would be home free.

"Is that so," he reached out and grabbed Kagome's hair and yanked her back. She gave out a small 'eep' of surprise, and stumbled back towards him. She cursed him silently, her anger trying to find its way to the surface. She crossed her arms in front of herself stubbornly and turned her attention back to the two of them.

Sesshoumaru kept his hand in the girl's raven coloured hair, telling himself he wanted to make sure she didn't try to escape again. He did notice something then; Naraku had his eyes locked onto her form, a scent of arousal coming from him. And it seemed that the girl had noticed this too.

She gave an involuntary shiver and took a step closer to Sesshoumaru; between the two of them, she'd rather take her chances with Sesshoumaru. At least he wasn't radiating with vileness like Naraku was.

"How is it that you still live, Kikyou?" Naraku asked, his eyes glittering malevolently.

Kikyou?! So he thinks I'm Kikyou? Kagome almost laughed with relief. "I'm not her!" said Kagome, surprised to know her voice sounded so indifferent.

Naraku lifted his hand to his hood and lifted the baboon's head, thus revealing his face for the first time. Long black hair flowed free and fell to his waist, and almost red eyes looked onto Kagome's face.

Kagome felt Sesshoumaru's grip tighten on her hair. She turned slowly and looked at him. He was looking menacingly at Naraku, his nose almost wrinkled with disgust. He was still bleeding, and yet refused to show any sign as to even acknowledge that his arm was missing.

"A hanyou," he spit out the word. "And you dared to come this close to me."

Kagome almost rolled her eyes; his problem was Naraku's heritage? Come on!

Naraku ignored him, and continued to stare openly at Kagome. She didn't like how his eyes seemed to take in her whole form. Please wake up Inuyasha! I need you! Her eyes darted towards her bow and arrow which lay on the ground, conveniently just out of reach.

Having had enough of the hanyou's rudeness, Sesshoumaru struck. In one fluid motion he let go of Kagome and clawed Naraku across the chest.

The man in the baboon skin jumped away, but not before serious damage had been done. The look that he turned on Sesshoumaru was one of pure venom. Kagome shivered even though it was not directed at her. Sesshoumaru, she noticed, stood as serenely as ever, as though he was in fact bored with the situation.

"So you chose to work against me," he said in a voice of steel, but that wasn't what was scaring Kagome. Her eyes were glued to Naraku's chest, where the wounds were disappearing before her very eyes. "A fake and a fool. You shall both die."

At his words, the wind picked up around them and began to travel in a circle. This was no ordinary wind, everything it touched melted, and it was a light shade of purple. Kagome knew that if the wind touched her or any of her friends they would die a painful death.

"You won't hurt them!" the girl said determinedly, although more to herself than to Naraku. The weak creature that had been begging for mercy just a few minutes ago, now had a face of set determination and great anger. Sesshoumaru, knowing that he could escape this poisonous whirlwind at any given moment, remained to see exactly how the girl thought she was going to protect her friends.

She dived for her bow and arrow, and Sesshoumaru almost sighed in disappointment. Even with his keen senses, he could not spot the hanyou through the poisonous wall. How could this slip of a girl ever hope to shoot him if she was shooting at random?

Kagome, however, had a plan. She notched an arrow and aimed. She could feel the jewel shards; it followed logic that wherever they were was where Naraku was.

She flared with power, her face set with concentration. Pathetic how far desperation could take humans, Sesshoumaru thought. He was aware of Jaken who was clutching his pants as the whirlwind closed around them, but still he remained to see what the girl would do.

As if on cue, she released the arrow. It flew forward at a speed that could easily match that of his, glowing brightly. It shattered the whirlwind, and Sesshoumaru was surprised to see its aim was true. It hit Naraku in the stomach, destroying the hanyou's lower body part upon contact.

She already had another arrow notched, and released it so that it destroyed Naraku's left arm and shoulder.

Shock was eminent on Naraku's face. How…? No matter, it was time to leave. He released a wave of miasma, and took to the air.

Almost instinctively, Kagome put up a shield, covering her friends and even the well.

Sesshoumaru was about to take to the air in order to escape the miasma, but found there was no need. He was inside the miko's shield!

Not stopping to think, Kagome rushed to Inuyasha and quickly revived him. There was a sharp intake of breath as he came back to consciousness.

Inuyasha opened his eyes to come face to face with Kagome. She was knelt down in front of him, worry clear on her face. As soon as she saw him look back at her, she threw her arms around him and sobbed with relief. "Yougata…yougata," she repeated in his ear.

Looking beyond her, he saw that they were inside a shield charm almost as large as the field. Miroku and Shippo lay unconscious on the ground a short distance away. The ground was far more scarred than before he had blacked out, and to his surprise, his brother was still there, inside the shield. He had the oddest look as he quietly watched at Kagome.

"Kagome, you baka! If you're gonna put up a shield, you're not supposed to keep the attacker inside it!"

"Huh?" Kagome asked looking up. Only then did she realize that she had protected Sesshoumaru as well. "Oh, I didn't mean to…I was trying to cover the well as well…"

So that was why, Sesshoumaru thought, putting his mask of indifference back on as his half-brother got to his feet.

"But Inuyasha, he wasn't the one who did the attacking," Kagome informed him hesitantly.

That got Inuyasha's attention. "What?" he exclaimed sharply.

"It was…Naraku," her voice hardly a whisper, but it echoed in the silent forest. She realised that the shield was still up, and she dropped it. As it fell to the ground it healed everything completely. Miroku and Shippo stirred awake, and even Sesshoumaru's left arm stopped its consistent bleeding.

"Naraku," Inuyasha growled, his knuckles tight around Tessaiga's handle. "He was here? And he attacked?"

Kagome only nodded.

Inuyasha shook his head and turned towards his brother. "Well, that doesn't matter for now. We have other things to take care of." He lifted his sword and pointed it in the taiyoukai's direction.

Sesshoumaru allowed a cold smirk to curl his lips. "Manten Inuyasha!" the girl interrupted, inching closer to Inuyasha and slightly hiding behind his back. "I think your fight is pointless…"

Sesshoumaru raised a delicate eyebrow. Inuyasha, on the other hand, nearly fell to the ground in shock. "WHAT?!"

The girl laughed nervously. "Well, it's not like he can take the Tessaiga anymore, he needs a shard for that. Plus, I have a feeling that Naraku made another enemy tonight. The more people on our side, the better our chances. And what's the point of putting your life and those of others on the line if there's nothing to gain. I say we wait to see what his next move is, then we act."

Sesshoumaru did not know whether he was mad at the human for her assumptions about him, or to congratulate her for being so logical. Either way, he kept his face blank, and decided that now was not the best time to retrieve the Tessaiga.

Jaken, on the other hand, was seething. "How dare you, you insolent human! How dare --,"

"Jaken," his voice was as unwavering as ever. "We are leaving."

With that said, he called forth the ethery cloud that he traveled upon and mounted it. Jaken, looking highly disconcerted, followed.

Together, they disappeared into the night.

Inuyasha made a move as to follow them. "Oswary!"

WHAM!

"Oww! Kagome!" he said through gritted teeth, "You're letting him get away!"

"Ma ma Inuyasha," she said, smiling nervously. "He's gone, and let us live--,"

"But only for now. Trust me, he'll be back."

"Well, we'll just have to deal with him then. It's not like we can kill him now. Might as well use our time to become prepared, so that next time you don't lose your sword as easily as this time."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to retort something but the monk interrupted. "Kagome-sama is right. We need your brother --,"

"Half-brother!" Inuyasha grumbled angrily.

"-to fight against Naraku. Don't take him lightly, Naraku is a powerful foe."

"Yeah," Shippo piped up, jumping into Kagome's arms. "You couldn't even beat Sesshoumaru." This earned the little kitsune a hard knock on the head.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said with rage, hugging the now crying Shippo closer to herself. "Honestly! Shippo, you should know better."

"Keh, whatever."