Cure For The Poisoned Heart- A Naraku x Kagome FanFiction

Chapter 1: Captured!

 Kaede's hut always made Kagome feel so safe and warm. Nothing could touch her, and she had friends she could count on if things went south. Curled on her tatami mat, Kagome breathed deeply, waiting for sleep to come. Around her, Shippo, Miroku, and Sango slept. And by the door, sitting up, was Inuyasha. She looked down at her blanket, feeling awkward. Things were going well between her and Inuyasha. If she had to keep count, it had been probably a week since they'd last gotten into an argument. A record, for them. She smiled a little. She may not understand her own feelings all that well, but she knew she'd stay by Inuyasha's side. After all, he'd finally put Kikyo in the past. The Shikon Jewel was gone. But she couldn't help but wonder what had become of their hated enemy, Naraku. She'd purified the Jewel, inside and out, and had wished for it to cease to exist. Did that mean Naraku also ceased to exist? Would he come back to haunt them? Would Kikyo? Despite seeing her death, Kagome couldn't help but think that the dead priestess still wandered feudal Japan somewhere. It made her uneasy, and chased away the feelings of home that Kaede's hut gave her.

She was about to sigh and give up on sleep, after all, it wasn't like Inuyasha was asleep, when she heard cloth rustle. The door. Carefully, she rolled over. Inuyasha was gone. Her heart leapt into her throat. But he hadn't sounded an alarm, so maybe he just wanted to think. She sat up with a small smile. OK. She'd keep him company. Watching the stars dance across the sky was sure to be exhausting enough to let her get some sleep. As she stood, she picked up her bow and quiver of arrows, mostly on habit, and then crept from the hut.

Inuyasha was walking away from the small hill he usually sat at, heading towards the forest with the Bone Eater's Well, her ticket back to her normal life in modern day Tokyo. That was odd. She wasn't supposed to head home for a couple more days. And he'd promised that she was the only one he would be with. She followed him quietly. Though his ears were alert, she'd neglected to put her shoes on, so her socked feet were silent on the packed path to the forest. Once inside the treeline, she shed her socks to avoid getting them dirty and tip-toed after Inuyasha. Oh, it looked like he was heading back to the Sacred Tree. He liked to think there sometimes too. That tree had a lot of memories, both good and bad. She followed him lightly, not exactly hiding her presence anymore. There was nothing wrong with thinking. And with everything that had happened to them, she couldn't blame Inuyasha for wanting to think.

She almost started humming, imagining how Inuyasha would immediately go on alert, his hand landing on the hilt of his Tetsusaiga, which he normally used to protect her, and she'd jump because somehow that still startled her. But then she saw Inuyasha looking around, a look of concentration on his face. Immediately, she pulled her bow out to be ready to fetch an arrow from her quiver. Whatever commotion they'd cause would bring Sango, Miroku, and Shippo to help, so it wasn't as if she truly had anything to worry about.

She almost dropped her bow when Inuyasha stepped into the clearing with the Sacred Tree, his ears perking as he caught sight of the black haired woman sitting against the base of the tree. At a glance, many people would say she and Kagome were identical. They both had black hair and brown eyes, but the other was paler than Kagome, and her hair was more straight cut, tied behind her back with a white tie, whereas Kagome's blue-black hair hung freely down her back. Kagome felt her eyes widen and she slung her bow back over her shoulder, straightening as she watched the other woman stand, her hakama pants the same color as Inuyasha's where her kimono top was white. She'd known that woman on and off since she'd met Inuyasha.

The woman was Kikyo. Kagome lowered her head. She'd thought Kikyo dead. They all had. They'd all mourned the death of the original guardian of the Shikon Jewel. How long had Inuyasha known she was alive? Kagome jolted as tears slithered down her cheeks. She shook her head violently. No. Inuyasha had promised Kagome that he loved her and only her. So he was probably here to make Kikyo go away. Yeah, that had to be it. He was going to tell her that he'd moved on from her death and that they'd never be anything more than passing friends. Kikyo would expect to hear that, as she too would say something about how they couldn't be together because the body Kikyo was in was built of clay and grave soil. Because she wasn't truly living.