Chapter #5

Ugh! It feels like it's been so long since I last updated! Sorry about that! Busy, busy, busy... From now on, I'll try to update faster! Oh, and thanks so much to those of you who have been reading and reviewing my chapters! Appreciate it!

Ok, now on to chapter 5!

"I have come to reforge tenseiga into a weapon."

"Reforge tenseiga?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"Yes. I'm here because Tenseiga has summoned me. Your father was a clever one. He was able to foresee your reactions to certain situations and thus, manipulate your intentions. I would imagine your father mentioned to you about the abnormal changes going on inside your heart."

He suddenly paused to look at Kagura.

"I now know what he meant."

'Though if you ask me, it doesn't seem like Sesshomaru has changed much at all. Still as cold-blooded as ever, I'd say.'

He sighed.

'But that's not my decision to make,' he thought.

Totosai extended his arm out to Sesshomaru.

"Alright, hand it over," he stated calmly.

Jaken, who was listening intently to the conversation, was very suspicious of Totosai.

"Do you really think we can trust him, mi'lord? Suppose it's a trap?" he asked.

"If it is, I'll kill him." Sesshomaru simply replied.

Totosai gulped.

Sesshomaru pulled the tenseiga from its sheath, which rested at his side, and handed it over to Totosai. A relieved look fell across Totosai's face as he grabbed the sword and inspected it closely to note any damages. Then, he sighed as he walked over to his ox to grab the appliances he needed to repair the sword. He reached for an iron hammer and placed the tenseiga on a small, iron board before he commenced striking the sword continuously with the hammer.

All was quiet now except for the occasional clanging of the hammer striking the sword and the sound of Totosai blowing fire. The hours seemed to go by very slowly. Off to the side, Kagura was leaning very casually against a tree. It was visibly noticeable that she had just about all she could take with waiting. It was almost as boring as being a servant to Naraku and she was not a patient woman.

'This is ridiculous. Just how much longer do we have to wait here before that old man is finished forging Sesshomaru's sword?"

She looked around at her surroundings until her eyes fell on a little girl cuddled up against a two-headed dragon. Rin had fallen asleep on Ah-Uhn.

'Hmph! She's got the right idea' Kagura thought, smirking.

Jaken had been meaning to ask Kagura the question that he had been mulling over within the depths of his mind.

Kagura noticed the green imp making his way over towards her, but she wasn't in the mood.

"What?" she demanded.

Jaken noted her detached tone, but proceeded with his question, "By the way, Kagura, what exactly were you and mi'lord doing while young Rin and I left to eat. I recall your hair looking a bit…disheveled when you came here."

He sniffed the air for a moment.

"In fact, you even carry his scent!"

Kagura recalled the mental image of Sesshomaru's red eyes and their little moment together and smirked. "Why don't you ask him over there? I'm sure he has an answer."

Sesshomaru didn't seem bothered at all. He was sitting on a rock that was facing the ocean. His eyes were closed while maintaining his usual, stoic composure. Jaken's eyes however, went wide when he heard this. He was aware that it was mating season, but surely his master wouldn't allow such a thing. Not with her.

Jaken retaliated. "Wench! Lord Sesshomaru would never waste time on the likes of you."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?" Kagura countered. "Well, perhaps you don't know Sesshomaru as well as you think."

Jaken was flabbergasted; he couldn't believe that Kagura would suggest that he, who had been traveling with Sesshomaru for years, did not know his own master. Why, he of all people should know that Sesshomaru was the primary example of self-control when it dealt with members of the opposite sex.

"How dare you! I'll have you know that I've been with Lord Sesshomaru well before you even came along and he would never go for a second-rate demon like you!"

"In any case, it's none of your business. It doesn't even concern you so why would you care?" Kagura said, highly offended.

She pulled a white feather from her hair.

"I'll be going now. I have better things to do than to listen to an imp lecture me about the people I'm with and watch some pathetic, old geezer complain about his back issues."

Totosai instantly turned around, flailing his arms angrily and yelling, "I ain't old!" in protest.

However, all that exertion caused him to snap his back in the process. Tears of pain rolled down his cheeks.

He sighed, saying, "Oh, am I going to feel that in the morning…."

Watching the scene of events, Kagura laughed to herself. "Whatever. If you need me, I'll be somewhere far away from here."

With that, she hopped on her feather and took leave of them.

Jaken called after her feverishly, "Now wait just a minute you! You can't just-"

He was cut off by Sesshomaru's voice.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru stated calmly.

Jaken was caught off guard by his lord's sudden call for attention.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, mi'lord?" Jaken asked, a bit flustered.

"Let her go," was Sesshomaru's only answer.

"But…but…" Jaken stammered.

Without a word, Sesshomaru glared at Jaken out of the corner of his eye, as if daring him to continue. Jaken didn't have a death wish. After being on the receiving end of one of Sesshomaru's deadly glares, it didn't take long for Jaken to get his act together.

He frantically bowed numerous times while saying, "Oh! Forgive me, mi'lord! What was I thinking?"

He let out a sigh when he saw that Sesshomaru was no longer glaring at him.

'Oh, why can't I learn when to keep my mouth shut? Anymore of this and I'll be the one who's pushing up daisies…'

Jaken cringed when he heard his lord's voice.

"Totosai… you're lagging," Sesshomaru commented.

He was referring to the amount of time that it was taking Totosai to reforge his sword. It was almost daybreak now and the sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains. Totosai, who was still recovering from that incident with Kagura, immediately picked up the pace as he effortlessly swung the iron hammer at a faster rate.

"Alright, alright…hold your horses, I'll be done soon," he said reassuringly.

'Geez, what's the rush? I could be home right now. Hmm…maybe I can sneak out of here somehow...' he thought while he discreetly looked around for an exit.

He lost all hope when he realized that his plan would never work.

'Oh, but that Sesshomaru would beat me to a pulp if he had the chance. I don't care much for him…'

He sighed and continued to work until he was finally finished an hour later. By this time, Rin had already woken up and was playing a game of tongue twisters with Jaken, which Jaken wasn't too fond of.

"Come on Master Jaken, say it with me! Red Jaken, Blue Jaken, Green Jaken," Rin shouted cheerfully.

Totosai handed tenseiga over to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru raised the sword to the sky, examining the sword closely. The tenseiga gleamed brightly in the sunlight, highlighting its new features. He then put tenseiga back in its sheath at his side.

Jaken was in the middle of saying "green jaken", when he overheard Totosai speaking.

"I guess it's finally time to teach you about Meido Zangetsuha," Totosai said rather reluctantly to Sesshomaru.

"Meido Zangetsuha? What's that?" Jaken questioned.

"It is the path to the Underworld." Totosai answered. "Draw your sword, Sesshomaru."

As he did this, a giant ogre came bursting out from underneath the ground. The sky darkened with bright, white spirits surrounding them.

"Ah! It's an ogre!" Jaken croaked.

'Now show me what you can do, Sesshomaru. The tenseiga should guide your stroke.' Totosai thought as he looked on.

Sesshomaru ran up to the ogre and leapt into the air. With one key stroke of his sword, he slashed into the ogre's flesh. However, it appeared as if the attack had no effect on the ogre.

"Nothing's changed! The sword didn't cut him!" Jaken blurted in surprise.

Suddenly, a small portal in the shape of a crescent appeared behind the ogre.

"Master Jaken! Look! What's that behind the ogre?" Rin exclaimed.

"He's opened the path to the Underworld…Meido." Totosai answered.

The portal sucked the ogre's body with such a force that its body was severed into two pieces. Having no support from the now dead ogre, the body came crashing down to the ground with a thump.

"W-What happened?" Jaken questioned.

"As you just witnessed, the ogre's body was taken to the Underworld. Tenseiga is a sword that connects this world and the next. That is why Sesshomaru is able to see the creatures from the Underworld and cut them down using Tenseiga when returning the dead to this world. "Totosai explained.

"Amazing!" Rin exclaimed.

"Considering that you were the first person our lord saved…" Jaken thought.

"A sword that sends demons to the next world…" Sesshomaru reiterated, seemingly deep in thought. "Totosai, I shall take this sword."

As soon as Sesshomaru had his back turned away from him, Totosai narrowed his eyes at him.

"Still, to be able to bring down the ogre in one strike…what a spiteful brat."

Deep in the forest somewhere, Kagura was reclined in a tall oak tree. She had her eyes closed while she enjoyed the soft breeze blowing through her hair and the warm sunlight across her face. It was seemingly peaceful there with the birds chirping and the sound of water cascading down the falls. This time, there would be no demons lurking by like last time. She made sure of that by scouting out a remote area where no demons would be around. She had a knack for finding the most serene spots, even up to the point of her "would be" death bed of flowers had Sesshomaru not been there to save her.

At least now she had time to think to herself without Naraku always intervening by sending her out on pointless missions and Hakudoshi snooping into her thoughts all day. She had to admit, it was such a relief not having to suffer through that suffocating miasma. But now things had changed. She was with Sesshomaru now and more than that, it seemed to her that Sesshomaru was quite attracted to her. Whether he liked it or not, she was going to find a way to make that attraction grow. Her fiery eyes were blazing with determination.

'Just you wait, Sesshomaru…you're not going to get away from me that easily.'

Around the same vicinity as Kagura, Kohaku was busy fighting off an army of demons. A centipede demon suddenly lunged at him, going for the sacred jewel in the back of his neck. The shard pulsated with an iridescent glow as it was nearing removal. In a panic, Kohaku quickly spun around and threw his sickle towards the demon. The centipede dissipated upon contact with the sickle. Kohaku swung the chain around professionally, his eyes darting around for any more attackers.

More demons followed in suit and attacked Kohaku, but were quickly destroyed by the sickle that was thrown multiple times by Kohaku. Even more came after him. They too were destroyed at a moment's notice. Sweat from Kohaku's brow slowly trickled down his forehead. More demons swarmed, surrounding Kohaku and filling in any gaps left previously by the slain demons.

"It's no use! They just keep coming! But-I can't allow myself to die until Naraku is dead. Damn that Naraku…he's after my shard. I have to get away before it's too late!"

He decided his best bet was to make a run for it. Hundreds of demons quickly followed in pursuit. Taking labored breaths, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, ducking from any hanging tree limbs and occasionally looking back to see if any of the demons had caught up to him. Kohaku was so focused on getting away from the demons that he didn't see the fallen branch in front of him. His foot got caught under the branch and within seconds, he collided with the ground.

Kohaku only had enough time to turn around and see all the demons diving toward his position, all with one goal in mind—to kill him and retrieve the jewel shard. He had a look of sheer terror, his life flashing before his eyes. He envisioned his childhood with Sango, both of them laughing together in a field and playing with their cat, Kirara. Next, the horrible images of him murdering his own family members came into mind. A wave of overwhelming grief passed through him. However, Naraku's evil grin stood out the most.

'Goodbye sister…with my death I will have atoned for my sins. Please defeat Naraku…'

He shut his eyes, tightly.

"Dance of Blades!"

Two wind blades cut through a majority of the demons.

"It seems Naraku wants you dead, Kohaku,"came the voice of a familiar wind demon from the tree above him.

Kohaku's eyes widened in shock as he looked up and saw the very demon that risked her life to save him.

"Kagura!" he exclaimed, "It's you!"

Kagura jumped out the tree and landed gracefully in front of Kohaku.

"What? Are you surprised? It was my belief that you wanted to be saved from the demons." Kagura asked.

"No, it's just-because of me, you almost died. You protected me from Hakudoshi and you saved me from these demons just now. How can I ever forgive myself after something like that?" he said.

Kagura smirked. "Well I couldn't let that bastard get his hands on all the shards. If he wants it, he's going to come and take it himself."

She looked him straight in the eyes as she continued, "Besides, you and I are a lot alike-we've both done things we aren't proud of and yet, we have a second chance at life. Just be grateful!"

"Yes." he replied

Suddenly, the sky grew very dark.

Kohaku narrowed his eyes and grabbed his sickle from his waist and swung the chain around in preparation for the demons. Kagura took out her fan, fully engaged in battle mode.

"Alright Kohaku, get ready!" She said.

"Right." he said.

Several demons emerged all at once from the trees.

Back at the cliff, Sesshomaru watched as Rin gave some flowers to Jaken, causing him to sneeze flowers everywhere. She laughed joyfully while pointing her finger at Jaken as he choked on some flowers that he accidentally swallowed. Sesshomaru's normal impassiveness changed to a more serious nature as he suddenly became very ill at ease. He spun around instantly, eyes narrowed and fixated towards a spot in the trees. Rin and Jaken stopped what they were doing, becoming increasingly aware that something was wrong.

"Err…um…is something the matter, Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken questioned, a bit flustered.

Sesshomaru didn't acknowledge Jaken at all. He seemed more concerned about the dark presence.

"Um…Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken repeated.

An eerie fog of miasma slowly seeped through the trees, threatening to take the life of any unsuspecting victim. Even the sky darkened with bright lightning streaks marking the sky.

"Ahh! Master Jaken! Look!" Rin shouted.

"Stay back, Rin! It's a miasma!" Jaken yelled as he stood in front of her.

Sesshomaru turned his attention to Rin, who was looking around very nervously at all the miasma surrounding them.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru stated, calmly. Jaken watched as Sesshomaru's eyes darted quickly from Rin back to him.

Understanding Sesshomaru's concern, he quickly grabbed hold of Rin and dragged her through the trees.

"Come on, Rin. We must hurry before the miasma catches up to us. A single breath of these toxic fumes could be the end of you," Jaken said.

"Yes…but where are we going, Master Jaken?" she questioned earnestly.

"Away from here! Now hurry girl!" Jaken replied.

Sesshomaru watched until he could no longer see their forms through the trees. He subconsciously relaxed, some of the tension gone, but still kept his guard. With them out of the way, he could now fight to his full extent, if need be. A man's familiar laughter could now be heard echoing through the trees.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about them. They'll soon be dead anyway," the voice said.

A dark figure came from out of the trees. He had a sinister smile plastered across his face.

"Hehehe…it's been a while, Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed even more.

"Naraku."

Thousands of meters away, Jaken and Rin were running for their lives. They ran until they were stopped to see a huge fireball heading in their direction. Jaken could feel the intensity of the heat rushing towards them.

"Watch out!" Jaken croaked.

They instantly split apart as the blast hurled in between, causing a massive explosion with impact against the tree. The shockwaves sent Rin and Jaken flying in opposite directions causing Rin to hit a tree and Jaken, a large boulder. The explosion left a clear path in the forest with no trees. Everything was incinerated in the blast.

"Oww…"Rin complained, referring to her bruised back.

She looked over towards Jaken, who was across from her and wasn't so fortunate. He hit his head against the boulder and was clearly knocked out.

Rin gasped. "Oh no! Master Jaken!" she cried out.

"Wake up, Master Jaken!" she called again, this time even louder.

She started army crawling to his location until she bumped into a huge pair of ogre feet. She shrieked in surprise, but quickly covered her mouth so the ogre wouldn't notice. However, hearing the shriek, the ogre looked down at her tiny form and yanked her up to his height.

"Well, well well…what do we have here?" the ogre teased.

Rin was flailing around in a panic.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" she called out, "Lord Sesshomaru, please save me!"

Next chapter: Sesshomaru faces Naraku

Kagura and Kohaku, working together?

Save Rin

The End of Jaken?

Face-off with Naraku

Sesshomaru and Kagura's Alone Time

The Lady Mother

Sesshomaru in the Underworld

So how was this chapter? Reviews are greatly appreciated!