Hoorah! Another story! Please, enjoy this one. It's a mixture of Loyal Traitor and Imaginary. I really like the idea and hopefully, I can make it work. I don't actually have anything planned for this so I'll just have it going as I type.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Target Locked

Chapter One

"We're on in five," a female voice said from behind the large video camera sitting on her shoulder.

A young woman stood facing the camera lens, watching the glass with intensity as she awaited her cue. Her mind raced, details of the case and the suspects flowing through her head at an impossible speed. She had to remember to say his name right too. Morikawa, Morikawa…

"And on screen in three, two, one…"

A woman standing before the lens smiled, albeit timidly at first before relaxing as she became accustomed to her element. She loved her job and kept smiling even though there was no one but her best friend and camerawoman before her. She knew that regardless of the little action that was happening there, on live television were her fellow anchors, Kouga Matsuno and Ayame Kakazu, introducing her and the story she was about to present. She could hear them on her earpiece, saying her name and the incredible topic which she was to speak of. The story of a lifetime.

The story that was going to make her career.

Sango Houko, her best friend and the one who was videoing her held up her fingers. She made the motion of three, two, one… And she was on.

"It's one of the biggest cases of all time. For over a year, a drug called Demon X has been circulating around the city. Demon X is not only a drug that allows for its users to feel unstoppable and invincible, but allows certain death to those who are addicted.

"It doesn't take long. The first time you feel like the world revolves around your feet, and that no comic book superhero come-to-life could stop you. The second time is much like the first, until you sober up. Hallucinations, foaming, vomiting and record high fevers follow and those that survive are already so addicted, they can't stop. It's more powerful than crack, ecstasy, crystal meth, or any other drug circulating out there. Demon X is surely the drug that could kill us all.

"When anonymous tips were given to police officials, they immediately called in the FBI. A drug this strong that is sold for more than fifty dollars a gram means business. FBI commander Sesshomaru Taisho was able to get to the drug lord, Naraku Morikawa, and arrest him for several charges, including drug trafficking and first degree murder for the death of Kikyo Hidaka. With his fall, more and more warehouses full of Demon X is being found, and leads are being followed with great success. Mr. Morikawa's trial begins on January 12th, just two weeks from now.

"But there are still more questions. How did Mr. Morikawa get to this drug, and get the money to make it what it is today? Several sources claim that the Brotherhood Mafia is behind this, as well as other low-end gangs like the Panthers. But where are the connections? I'll keep you updated with all of this and more with my story at eleven. This is Kagome Higurashi, RCN news."

"That fucking bitch!"

His hollow voice roared through the disgusting room, resonating off of the many beer bottles and ripped apart walls. He flung the remote control at the television, watching as her perfect pale face flittered off of the screen, being replaced by two attractive news anchors leading up to news about sports, and then turning off.

The batteries must have fallen out, he thought to himself as he leaned back into a torn up vomit-green couch. He covered his face with his eyes and sighed. How stupid.

What a stupid little bitch.

She had no idea what she was getting into doing what she was doing. Throwing names out there like partner-less socks. The Brotherhood Mafia this. The Panthers that.

She was dead. Just dead.

And that was all there was to it.

He sighed once more and uncovered his eyes, staring at the once white ceiling above him. There was a fan in the middle, probably holding more dust on it than all of the little particles in the already musty air. He really needed to get a housecleaner.

He rolled his head, feeling the muscles in his neck stretch. Slowly, he braced himself up off of the couch and walked towards what would be considered the kitchen. It was no more than a room with a small seven-foot counter as the only stable surface to prepare and eat food on. A beat up fridge that matched the not-so-attractive colour of the couch stood in the corner was opened as the man pulled out a cold beer.

Coors Light.

The mountains had even changed their fucking colours.

"Stupid bitch," he cursed, thinking once more about the reporter. Kagome Higurashi. Jesus Christ.

She was hot, he'd give her that. She was probably a good fuck too. Long legs, damn sweet curves, wild hair… She was too good to be true –literally and figuratively. She was naïve, stupid. No reporter, no matter how good the pay, would risk their life to leak out information about the Brotherhood Mafia. Or any of the gangs that dealt with Naraku, like the Panthers. And to call them a low-end gang!

Ha! She was going to be dead in minutes. Minutes!

He wouldn't be surprised if he turned the television back on with news regarding the girl's so-called "untimely" death. What a fucking joke. She was the fucking stupid bitch. But this talk was getting him nowhere because he knew that he was avoiding the real problem –the real mistake. Him.

The information he held had been worth much more than his life and he hadn't protected it well enough. There would be repercussions of course, but he knew that he was close enough on the inside to make it out. Besides, he had valuable information.

He sauntered back over to the couch and collapsed, careful not to spill his beer. Yup, it was only a matter of time. Here, on this disgusting couch, he would wait for his master. His boss. The reason his bills were getting paid and beer was in the fridge.

Gatenmaru Koyasu closed his eyes.

And then opened them.

His chapped lips formed a wicked smile. He didn't bother moving; already hearing the slight footsteps as they made their way through the shack of a house. There was only one thing that disturbed Gatenmaru, though he didn't think much of it.

But he should have.

"I was waiting for you," Gatenmaru called out, following a swig of his beer. It was already almost done. "I thought you'd be by later but of course, knowing you, sooner should always be expected."

There was no reply, but he hadn't expected one.

"So what do you need? I can go back and see if I can gather some more information on that bastard, or I can go and extend out some courtesies…"

"You can shut up."

Gatenmaru's eyes flew wide. That wasn't his boss. "Who the fuck are you, bitch?"

A female entered, and she couldn't have looked more out of place. Large black bug-eyed sunglasses covered the majority of her face. She had deep red lips with rosy cheeks. Her body was smokin' and he wished, god did he wish, that he had took that package of condoms from his friends. Fuck, she was hotter than hell. Her black trench coat clung to her body and she had to be wearing a skirt or shorts underneath because all her saw with that coat on was bare legs. It wasn't that cold in Coral, Florida during the winters, but it was hardly short and skirt weather.

"I'm your best friend," the female stated, her voice holding a slight drawl.

"Really," Gatenmaru said, smiling. "And why's that?"

Suddenly, the female smiled wickedly. She took off her glasses with her black leather-covered gloves and sighed. "Because I get to end your miserable, shitty life for you. You can't tell me that anyone who lives here is happy."

Frowning, Gatenmaru got off of the couch, wary. "What the fuck do you mean, end my life? If you're thinking of killing me bitch, you're thinking wrong."

She laughed. She laughed! It was like he had just said the funniest thing in the entire world.

"Do you know just how many men have said that? I think that if I had a dollar –no, wait, a fucking penny– for every time that's come up, I would be a billionaire. Not that I'm not rich…this jacket is five-hundred dollars. But that's not the point. The point is you will die."

Gatenmaru's eyes searched his place for some sort of saviour. An exit, a weapon, anything. All that he saw, however, were dusty beer bottles, a broken chair and a few scattered pens and pencils.

Fuck this, he thought. He was strong and he knew it.

"And what are you going to do?" Gatenmaru spat.

The female smiled again, but it was alluring. Sexy, he thought, though it wasn't what he should be thinking. How many men, he wondered, had fallen under her spell and died because of it?

"Why," she started, "I'm going to drug you."

"Drug me?"

"With the very drug you're so against. Demon X. Are you ready?"

Gatenmaru snorted. "Try and get here to shove it down my throat. I'll snap that pretty little neck of yours before you even get close."

"Oh," she pouted. "You're right. How am I ever going to kill you?"

Gatenmaru stared hard.

"Oh, that's right. With this."

The next thing Gatenmaru felt was excruciating pain as his chest heaved up and down painfully. His sight…it was so blurry. All of a sudden, he couldn't move. He thought his body had collapsed to the floor but he wasn't sure. All he could see was random colours, all mixed together like pretty rainbows.

His body was stiff. Was he dead? He felt around his body, or so he thought, and where he thought would normally be smooth skin he felt…a tube. A tube?

He grasped at it and in one swift motion pulled it out. He cried out, but didn't feel any pain. Actually…he felt amazing. More than amazing.

He blinked a few times, feeling the effect of the drug kick in. When he opened his eyes and really focused, he saw what was in his hands. A dart; like tranquilizers that were shot into animals from a far range. So that's how the bitch got to him.

Where the fuck was she?

Gatenmaru was up on his feet before he even fully registered that he wanted to go find her. His feet moved swiftly across of the dirty floor and Gatenmaru could actually feel the air whoosh past him as he walked into the kitchen. Wow. No wonder people loved this shit.

He found her easily enough. The hot bitch stood out from his mouldy walls like a star in the sky.

"You," Gatenmaru said huskily. He breathing was quick, he realized. Too quick. He was panting like a fucking dog for a bone. Actually, he felt like he couldn't breathe at all.

The bitch was smiling at him. "You feel it don't you? The lack of air. That's what Demon X does to you in lethal doses. Yes, yes, I know you're wondering, 'How does powder turn into serum to be injected? Well heat breaks it down into this crap. Thin enough, thank god, to shoot through a tranquilizer dart. Anyways, at least you know how you're going to die. Um, would you mind telling me where the papers are?"

"Papers?" Gatenmaru wheezed. He should have been killing her! He should have been wringing her gorgeous neck, snapping it… But instead, all he was thinking about was how quickly the room was spinning.

"Oh god," the female sighed. "You're on the floor. You're going to die faster than I thought you would. What a shame."

Was he on the floor? Gatenmaru couldn't be certain. At least nothing hurt. He felt amazing, besides the lack of oxygen. He lifted his head to look around but it fell swiftly back on the floor, too heavy. Yup, he was definitely on the floor.

"Where are the papers?" the woman pressed. He thought that her heels were on his stomach. When he didn't answer right away, she jabbed her heel into him.

"Drawer… Bedroom…"

"Lovely," she murmured, though he barely noticed. He couldn't see anymore, it was all black. Were his eyes open? He thought so.

"Oh well, you're not much fun." The woman removed her heels from his body and walked towards his head. She kneeled down and a smooth, cool feeling washed over his head. She was patting him softly and he sighed. The cool leather felt good.

Suddenly it was gone and Gatenmaru began panting heavily once more. He was dying, he thought. Slowly. Leisurely. He never thought that he was going to die so young. He was just under thirty and he realized, with a stab that he had done nothing –nothing– to make his life worthwhile. No one was going to miss him. No one was even going to know that he was gone. It was going to be like he never existed.

Cold, hard metal pressed against his forehead and it didn't take Gatenmaru long to figure out what it was.

"I'm…dead anyways. Why…shoot me?"

"I'm a hitwoman," the female explained. "And you are being executed."

He wheezed. She smiled and whispered, "Target locked."

And she fired the gun.

"What do you think?" Kagome Higurashi asked, looking at her best friend and camerawoman Sango Houko.

"Perfect," her black-haired friend answered, lowering her camera. Magenta eyes searched Kagome's face, missing nothing. "What's wrong?"

Kagome shrugged, running a hand through her own black hair. "I don't know. It doesn't feel right. Something's up with this case, more than Myoga was letting us in on."

Myoga Ogata was both Kagome and Sango's boss. As the director and news editor of RCN news, he controlled all of the stories and chose who would capture each one.

"You're right," Sango agreed. "He was off. He looked…nervous, almost."

"As if he didn't want to give us the story," Kagome finished. "Yeah, I got that feeling too."

For a moment, the girls stood in silence, staring at the building they stood before. It was a courthouse where Naraku Morikawa, the drug lord of Demon X, was being held for trial. Sango was directed to obtain shots of him leaving the courthouse to be used later on the late night news show. Naraku was due to be out in only a few more moments and the two ladies had to wait until they got the shots before they could leave.

"So are you coming to the party on Friday?" Sango asked, speaking of the New Year's party that their good friend Miroku was throwing.

Kagome smiled, her perfect white teeth flashing. "You know I wouldn't miss it for a world. But I have no clue on what I'm going to wear."

Laughing, Sango shook her head. "Darling, everyone's going to be so drunk, they probably won't even remember. Not only that, but you could make a garbage bag look sexy."

"Oh, shut up," Kagome hissed, jokingly. "So could you. And Miroku is going to drool all over you no matter what."

Sango turned red. "He would not."

"He would so. Sango, I honestly can't believe that you don't notice how much he cares. It's obviously he likes you."

"You've said that since grade four," Sango complained. "I'm positive you're just seeing something that isn't there."

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Kagome asked. "Look, how about we drop this subject, because you know I'm right, and we'll talk about it when we're hammered on New Year's."

"I think I can live with that," Sango smirked. "So what time do you want me to pick you up?"

"Um, nine? We should probably head out in the morning. Can you imagine all of the women at the malls looking for last minute party dresses like we are?"

They both shuddered, and then laughed.

And that's when the noise started. At least thirty other reporters were their with their camera crew, scoping out the scene. The bust of one of the biggest drug lords in the city was a huge story and every reporter wanted a piece of the pie. The doors were opening and walking out with a swarm of guards was Mr. Naraku Morikawa and his lawyer, Mr. Moryomaru Asato. Questions were thrown at them at a million miles an hour. The demands were sharp and fast, and Moryomaru and Naraku ignored all of them. They were simply walking out of the courtroom doors and towards a dark sedan, as if they were the only two people in the entire world. Sango and Kagome ran to a spot right beside the vehicle, Sango already filming footage as Naraku walked towards them. Reports screamed his name, trying to get his attention and speak about the accusation thrown at him.

Naraku ignored all of them, but as he waited for Moryomaru to open the door to the back of the sedan, his gaze fell upon Kagome and he smiled chillingly.

"Now, why aren't you screaming like the rest of them?" he asked. Kagome stared him down, taking note of his features. His hair was midnight black, with hints of violet that blew in the light breeze. His bangs covered the tops of his alarming eyes, red, just like the colour of his lips. Overall, his features were very feminine and if he cross-dressed, he probably wouldn't have any trouble pulling the woman-thing off. His voice was deep and when he spoke again, it stirred her out of her thoughts.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" Naraku laughed mockingly and even though the door was open and waiting for him, he ignored it and walked towards the reporter and camerawoman.

"Hardly. I was just staring into the face of a killer, that's all," Kagome hissed back. She knew that Sango was shutting down the news camera, because the sound was no longer hooked up and she had already obtained the shots needed.

"Fierce, you are. And who's your friend? The both of you are so…beautiful."

"Thanks," Sango said, rolling her eyes. "It's not everyday I hear that from a killer."

"And what makes you think I'm guilty of these crimes?" Naraku questioned, staring them both down.

Kagome laughed. "I don't know, the evidence? Ballistics matched the bullets from your gun to the bullets used to kill Kikyo Hidaka. Traces of Demon X could be found on the vast majority of your belongings and clothes. You show standard symptoms of someone that is around the chemicals used to make it, such as yellow finger-tips and dry, infected cuts on the palms of your hands. Oh, and they found your billing system for selling it? And all the addresses, under your name, that led to the warehouses?"

"Hardly what matters," Naraku sighed, waving his hand as if you fan away the evidence. Suddenly, he leaned in close. "You know, I could make the both of you rich beyond anything. I could give you anything. You could take anything. You'd be the most powerful females out there…"

"Under you," Sango scoffed. "No thank you."

"By why not? Surely, you don't believe I murdered that whore?"

Moryomaru Asato finally put a hand on Naraku's shoulder. "I would advise that we leave. You are being filmed on camera," he murmured. He looked around to all of the television cameras that zoomed in on their conversation.

"Oh, I know. Give them a show. I'm not guilty. I don't care." He squared his shoulders and looked at everyone. Then, he returned his gaze to Kagome and Sango. "Kikyo Hidaka… Her death was unfortunate. However she died."

"So you plead innocent to murder?"

"I plead innocent to everything. Of course."

His smile was devastating but Kagome could only feel disgusting with it. "You really are sick, you know that?"

"You don't believe me, do you? You're positive I murdered her," he replied, his eyes narrowing.

"Absolutely. Your blood was found at the scene and you skin cells were under her nails. The evidence is damn incriminating."

"Then how about this," Naraku cooed, staring at both Sango and Kagome. "Do you know what Kikyo looked like?"

"Her face torn apart, body parts falling off from all of the hacking you did to her? Yeah, I've seen the post-mortem picture, you freak," Sango retorted, venom dripping from her voice.

"No, that's not what I meant," he corrected.

"Mr. Morikawa, I would advise you now to get into the car. Now," Moryomaru hissed, his voice low. His hand was suddenly on Naraku's arm, pulling him towards the sedan with no avail.

"Give me a minute," Naraku hissed back. "I pay you, remember?"

"Not when you're incriminating yourself!" the lawyer muttered back. Their voices were so low that only Kagome and Sango could hear. The microphones and cameras around them probably couldn't pick anything up.

"I meant," Naraku started, ignoring his lawyer and turning his attention back to the girls, "what Kikyo looked like before she died."

Kagome was taken aback, as was Sango. The two girls looked at each other before Kagome sighed. "No, we haven't."

"Go find it," Naraku purred, smiling at Kagome wickedly. He paused for a moment to wave at the cameras and then returned. "You are extremely beautiful. It would be just so…tragic…if you were to have the same fate as that Kikyo Hidaka girl."

Kagome felt her blood go cold. She stared at him, his red eyes piercing her dark brown ones. She looked away immediately, suddenly feeling insignificant. She felt like a rabbit pinned by a bloodhound. She couldn't explain the feeling that trembled in the bottom of her stomach and her felt her body shiver.

"Get you dog on a leash," Sango hollered to Moryomaru, angry. "He's threatening her. He's threatening her!" She made sure that every camera and reporter was aware of the fact. Reporters started screaming, shoving their way towards him with more ferocity than before. He was making threats and they wanted to be the first to report it.

Kagome was dragged to their work van and Sango was in the driver's seat, starting the van. She turned up the heat and let it warm up while she searched the web on her Blackberry. Kagome watched her expression and despite the heat blasting from the vents, she shivered once more when she watched Sango's face go pale. "What?"

Sango handed her the mobile and showed Kagome the picture.

Kagome took one look at the familiar face and shook so much the phone fell to the floor. Because Kikyo Hidaka looked exactly like her.

Please review and let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is always welcome and any questions you have, feel free to ask.

To Come: "'Do you see that?' the mortician asked. 'See the burnt flesh around the bullet wound? This man had the gun pressed against his forehead. When the gun went off, the heat burnt the surrounding flesh.' Inuyasha closed his eyes. 'This wasn't just a murder. This was a fucking execution.'"