InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ So Crazy in Love ❯ An Innocence Lost ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four

An Innocence Lost

Rin sat silently in the corner of the room that she had been brought to. As Naraku watched her, he wondered how such a small and helpless human had gotten under the dog demon's skin. Sending Kikyo to capture the child had been proven useless, as Sesshoumaru had easily thwarted her attempt, and with a surprising protectiveness for the child.

Entering the room, Naraku saw the girl pull her knees to her chest and tremble slightly. Smiling, he began, "Your name is Rin, is it not, child?" He waited for her jerky nod. "And your being protected by Lord Sesshoumaru, are you not?" She nodded again, slightly more trusting as he talked to her.

"Tell me how you came to meet Lord Sesshoumaru. Surely your parents did not wish you in the hands of a demon?" She looked up at him apprehensively, and slowly shook her head.

"Rin's parents were gone when she met Lord Sesshoumaru. He was hurt in the forest when Rin found him. She brought him food. But then Rin died." Naraku raised his eyebrows in surprise at her last statement, thinking the child a fool. When she said no more, he thought he would take his inquiries in another direction.

"What happened to your parents, Rin?" She looked up seeming a little saddened, and answered plainly, "Demon's got Rin's parents."

Naraku was surprised and asked her almost before he could stop himself, "Then, why do you stay with Lord Sesshoumaru, is he not a demon as well?" Rin looked up sharply and shook her head, vehemently enough to cause her hair to fall into her face.

"No, Lord Sesshoumaru is different. Lord Sesshoumaru would never hurt Rin. Lord Sesshoumaru would never hurt anybody." Naraku smiled as he thought of the result of the upcoming confrontation.

*****

Kagome followed behind Sesshoumaru, riding some strange two-headed dragon-like creature. She knew that she had probably made him very mad earlier, and that was the only thing keeping her quiet now. In so doing, she was left thinking about her current situation and Sesshoumaru's sudden interest in Naraku. He had never bothered with Naraku before now, and it was egging at her why he would now. `What could Naraku have done that would make Sesshoumaru resort to taking me, a human, to assist him?' Whatever it was, she knew it couldn't be good.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt the desire to ask him about it, but she didn't want to irritate him even more, which is the reason she kept thinking about it in the first place. It was all very frustrating. Sesshoumaru had said nothing to her since he had told her that she would be riding this creature and following him, and his increased silence worried her, but she doubted anything that he had to say to her would allay her fears. Kagome sighed and studied the scenery around her as they continued on their way.

Sesshoumaru heard her sigh and concentrated his thought on the girl. On their journey he kept feeling her eyes on his back, and had on more than one occasion sensed that she wanted to ask him something. The tension was radiating from the girl and becoming a nuisance to him. "Speak of what bothers you, human."

Kagome's head jerked around at Sesshoumaru's words and she blushed slightly, realizing that her brooding had not gone unnoticed. She held her voice calm as she answered him. "I was simply wondering what horrible thing that Naraku could have done that would have made you turn to a human for help." She mentally slapped herself when he stopped short, realizing that that was not the best way to phrase it. She had just inadvertently slapped his demon pride by stating that he needed a human. Stupid, stupid, stupid! If he wasn't going to kill me before, he is now.

Sesshoumaru stopped in anger at her statement, and gritted his teeth to stop from growling at her. Nonetheless, his voice held a gravelly texture that he knew was very menacing. "He took something from me that I have every intention of retrieving." He glanced back at her over his shoulder and added, "I have no need of you, girl, but your specific powers may allow me to retrieve it faster, and that is important to me." With that he turned and walked away from her again, towards the demon presence that he recognized as Naraku's.

*****

Kagome brought her head around as she felt the familiar tug in her chest. "Sesshoumaru, there's a jewel shard up ahead. But only one, so if it's the place we're going, then you will only be facing one of Naraku's demons, or a demon puppet." Sesshoumaru nodded at the girl and stated simply, "Be prepared, human, I will need you to be able to protect the two of you while I kill it."

Kagome's thought turned immediately to the stupid toad named Jaken that was always with Sesshoumaru, and she winced at the thought of all this trouble to save him. He was horrible and would kill her himself if given half the chance. But she knew that she would do as she was told on the off chance that Sesshoumaru might actually return her if she did.

They approached a building fast and Kagome saw Naraku standing in his human form in front of the door, smiling evilly. She knew that it was just a puppet, but the fact that he looked like a human, and she could sense no demon in him, was very disturbing.

Sesshoumaru could tell that this was not Naraku, but he knew that he was talking through it, so he did not hesitate before addressing him. "Naraku, return her to me and your death will be painless when I find you. And I will find you."

The second sentence was said in a lowered voice and Kagome felt a chill go down her spine. Wait-what?! Her?! She watched in amazement as a small human girl came out from behind Naraku, her eyes widening at the sight of Sesshoumaru. For one frightful instant, she believed that Sesshoumaru intended on killing the girl when she was handed over to him, until she heard the child's delighted squeal and yell of "Lord Sesshoumaru!" Kagome turned befuddled eyes towards Sesshoumaru and the look of rage on his face shocked her.

Sesshoumaru was not sure why Naraku had brought him here, but the look of surprise and eagerness on his face at the sight of Kagome gave him a good guess. He was attempting to use him again, and it made his blood boil, though he didn't let it show. Seeing Rin safe had relieved him, but seeing her in Naraku's clutches had served to push him to the edge. He was losing control over himself and could feel his transformation begin, and quickly stopped it. Having learned to control himself when he was a boy, it bothered him that he had to do that.

"All I require for your human to be returned to you are the death of that woman, and the possession of the jewel shards around her neck. I'm sure that will be a simple enough task for the Lord of the Western Lands." Naraku chuckled, and the sound was the equivalent of a gavel at her sentencing. Sesshoumaru had made it clear that the possession of this girl was important to him, whatever the reason, and Kagome was sure that he would have no qualms about killing her to get the girl back. However, Kagome was still unsure of whether she should allow the girl to be returned to Sesshoumaru. She would never purposely put a child in danger.

Sesshoumaru turned to the young priestess and saw a mixture of fear and concern in her eyes, and recognized that the concern was not for herself, but for the girl that she was looking at. Sesshoumaru knew what he had to do, but hoped that Rin would catch on. He went over and roughly pulled the girl off of Un, and dragged her towards Naraku by her arm. Sesshoumaru was pleased that while he had done this, the woman had not screamed or resisted. Rin seemed to notice that this distraction allowed her the chance to run to her master, and as she did so, Sesshoumaru pushed Kagome towards her.

Noting that the priestess had quickly grabbed the girl and run back towards Ah and Un, he turned his attention back towards a smiling Naraku. Seeing that expression on his face caused Sesshoumaru to bare his fangs as he quickly gashed him across the chest with his claws and drew his Tokijin and sliced the small puppet in half. He turned around and saw the young girl trying to keep Rin from watching, but he could tell by the expression of fear on Rin's face that she had not succeeded.

Kagome realized that Rin had just watched Sesshoumaru, whom she seemed to trust for some reason, slaughter what looked to her like a human man. She looked down and saw the fear and insecurity in the girl's eyes and pulled her quickly to her chest, but she knew that Sesshoumaru had already realized that the girl had witnessed it, and Kagome almost thought that she saw a look of regret pass over his face before it returned to the old emotionless mask.