A/N: Gomen ne, Minna-san, I'm sorry this has taken so long it is just that this is the fifth Idea I had for a second chapter, the other four were trashed becuase the characters just didn't seem to flow right, I'm still not quite so sure it does but I have tried my best. I would like some suggestions please if you have any, also no flames, if you don't like it, don't read it. Constructive critizism only please. Also, if there are any pairings people would like please give them to me. I'll try to add them in or incorporate them into the story some how. Please vote in the poll I have posted on my profile for Kagomes pairings, I'll post another poll if I have to for other couples.

P.S.- no Ichigo and Kagome pairing requests, maybe in another fic, but in this one they are cousins and incest is where I draw the line in sexual encounters.

Ja Ne,

D.

Sixteen, she turned sixteen today, she believed. That would have made it at least seven weeks since she had last seen anybody besides Naraku and his minions. She had asked a ghost the date, she hoped he was right, ironically enough, it was the ghost of the prince Naraku was impersonating. As of today he hadn't tried to rape her yet, just tear down all of her defences by torturing her, barely feeding her, and making her seem weak and inferior. He did a real good job at it she surmised, she knew that before she may have not been the strongest though she could hold her own against a few demons with her bow and miko abilities. But now. . . Now she knew how weak she really was, and she believed the tales he wove into her mind, a form of brain washing she said sarcastically in her mind. She was weak, she knew this not because of he was telling her but because she knew most of what he said was true. The stories of how she had let down her friends, her son, everyone she ever cared about by being the weak girl she was, by not being able to take more torture than a human infant. That pain grew steadily on her heart, she knew that he was tainting her, tainting her with doubt and pain. But she had to be strong! If only. . .If only someone had ever thought to help her, teach her how to fight, teach her how to not cave to the lies spoken so sincerely that her heart believed in every word.

Her body was numb, she couldn't feel anything any more. At first every nerve screamed at even the slightest movement, but now her body couldn't even feel the cold, infact she believed she had gone blind. All around her there was darkness, nothing to tell her she was wrong, nothing to tell her that soon she might be free of the hell she had allowed to be placed upon her. A small soft voice in the back of her mind said that it was for the better, better her be taken for the slimy hanyou's enjoyment then have everyone she thought of like a second family slaughtered before their times. She couldn't feel if it was actually happening, but she tried to smile. Personally she wished to die, if only to release her from the pain that tugged on not her physical being but her heart and mind. She hoped, no wished that those the jewel and Naraku had ever touched negatively would someday find peace and happiness. She felt unconscienceness(sp?) move upon her and she knew it must have been from blood loss, the beating he bestowed to her was horrid today, she wondered if he would keep doing this to her until she had no life left within her body, he had already broken her mind, would he do this until her body was no longer even able to move? Her miko abilities were exausted from healing her over and over, they had no time to rest and recharge. If she could she'd cry but the pain was slowly relieving her of any functions what so ever, maybe one of these days he might actually puncture her lungs with a broken rib or something. She felt something akin to hope rise at that thought. Unbeknowest to her both a tear and a sad small smile graced her battered and bruised face.

Kagura stared at the miko, she was so strong despite what Naraku did to her. She could slowly feel the life draining from her prone form, Naraku had finally gone to far, the miko was dieing. At the begining here she had barely gotten any food, that was how Naraku had made the young woman weakened so easily, that and a collar that restrained her miko powers from lashing out at anybody. It had been Kagura's task to care for the miko but she didn't know if she could do any thing now, the girl was almost to far gone. For almost fifty days the young woman had stuck it out but it was far too much for her frail person to take. Using a slow stride she slowly made her way over to the prone form resting on the cold dungen ground, sighing she concentrated a small part of her energy into healing the young girl as much as her energy would allow her to. As the energy washed over the girl, major injuries slowly healed, saving her for the time being. Standing, she moved to battered girl into a corner, curled the girl up, and covered her with a blanket, hoping to perserve as much warmth for the girl as possible. Looking at the one she knew some how, some way would free her form the hellish prison, from her bastard "Father," she prayed she would be alright during the time she left to get some help. For the past week, Kagura and the last of the Shichintai, Bankotsu, Jakotsu, Renkotsu, and Suikotsu whom of which were in hiding from the evil hanyou, were planning in getting the miko out of the vile bastards hands.

Apparently, she had made peace with Jakotsu at an onsen one night, she had been talking about how the baka inu-hanyou kept playing with her heart and soul to herself when he had burst into her conversation.

"Stupid, ignorant, Inu-baka! Why can't he see she only wants to drag him to hell! Why does he keep playing with me like this! Gah, I'm glad I only see him as a brother now, but sheesh how dense can a guy get. I mean come- Ahh! What the fucking hell are you doing here!" Kagome ranted until she turned and saw Jakotsu in the springs with her. The womanly form of Jakotsu was in the hot spring next to Kagome, he looked at her through calculating eyes as she stared at his completely male yet femininly shaped body. "I came here for a bath wench, it gets tiresome hanging around with men who are as straight as a board everday," he replied, oddly enough it got her to giggle,"I know what you mean, I have Sango and Miroku, who gropes her all the time, and an Inu-hanyou who has an ash-and-clay fetish, at least if he was attracted to you, he'd be attracted to something living... for the most part." The answer had startled him, and the fact that his "Koinu" was crushing on something made of earth and ashes was a bit disgruntaling, as well as the fact that she'd rather see her "brother" with another man piqued his interest. "You wouldn't mind if he was with another male?" Jakotsu questioned, most people found it disgusting. "Not at all, as long as you didn't cut off his ears, I like those, Jakotsu-san," she replied with a small smile, as long as he wasn't trying to kill her she'd make the best out of this bath, besides she didn't care if he was male, he was gay anyway. "So, how are the other three of your group doing Jakotsu-san?" Kagome questioned with mild interest, truth be told she was rather fond of Banryuu and its master Bankotsu, it was an amazing sword, and she couldn't help but be interested in the schizophrenic(sp?) doctor as well as the pyromaniac of the group, she rather liked fire herself. The woman must be mad he realised, to try making conversation with him rather than running away, but she was a rather odd woman so he let it pass, for his curiousity's sake, " They're doing fine, Renkostu's as tempramental as ever and Suikotsu's two sides are arguing contantly, switching back and forth ever five minutes or so, Aniki is doing fine as usual. We're trying to get away from the spider bastard but we can't find a way out yet besides dieing, and that's not exactly how we want to go bout getting away from his control." She nodded, she could understand why someone would want to get away from him, he was evil and disgusting, bleh every time they met he hit on her when Inu Yasha was busy doing something else. "Ano, Jakotsu-san, would it be alright if we called a truce?" Her question startled him, a Truce? Why? "Why onna? We are on different sides and are both going after the jewel shards, why?" She looked at him through her water matted down hair, " Well, your group is going against Naraku in trying to get away from him and we're going against him as well, so why not? It's not like there is a definite reason we keep going against each other anyway, is there?"

Her answer suprised him, and the girl wasn't as ditsy as he once thought, she was strong, he could tell. Scars from claws and other weapons marred her sand coloured flesh, it was interesting he thought, the young woman was defiant and determined, he could tell every time their paths crossed. But he had never taken the time to actually study her, she was tall and willowy, strong yet she withheld her womanly figure unlike other women that took up the profession of fighting. Her chocolate eyes held a glimer of niavette and mischief, but also a dull ach behind that of wisdom and pain. She truely was spectacualr to withhold such traits. "Alright nee-chan, truce. So tell me then, you know all about my brothers and I but we, nothing about you, what is your part in all of this Shikno mess." She smiled at the nick name, " You probably won't believe me, but here I go. On my fifteenth birthday, or fifteen seasonal cycles had past since my birth, I was pulled down the well on my families shrine by Mistress Centipede. She was demanding for the Shikon No Tama, which I hadn't known about until she bit it out of my side, that was in my hip. You see I'm from five hundred years in the future, the well transports me to and from these two time periods." As she explain how her and her group of friends had come together and the reason why the jewel was broken, Jakotsu gained a new respect for the girl. While her story seemed highly improbable, her actions, the way she thought, and the fact that she was well educated, despite being in school still, showed the truth to him. This girl had come from a completely different place and time where the burdens of life now were easy, yet she had stayed here and was slowly getting stronger because of her decision to stay and piece back together what she felt was her duty, and in all senses it was her duty. He was glad to have a better understanding of her now, "Well, Kag-nee-chan, despite how much it sounds like a fairytale, it makes everything about you more understandable."

She giggled slightly, "Ano, Jak-kun, do you think you guys will help us in the final battle?" The question slightly startled the flamboyant swordsman, but none the less, he smiled. " yeah Kaggy, we'll help ya kill him, he's a bastard anyway." She outright laughed at that and he chuckled, unfortunately it was far past the time they both should have been back to their respectable camps, "Ja ne, Jak-kun, until we meet again." "yeah, until we meat again Kaggy, until we meet again." After that their groups unknowingly avoided confrontations, Kagome stearing her group away, and Jakotsu explaining what had happened to his own. Inu Yasha, despite being a brother to her, was narrow-minded and clueless about a great deal of things, including the truce of between the Shinintachai and Shikon hunters. Shippo had even taking a liking to the gay mercenary and vice-versa once they had met. The meeting between Sango, Miroku, and Jakotsu had also been rather humorous, at least for Kagome, Shippou, and Jakotsu. Sango had just settled in the water with Kagome when Jakotsu spoke, "Oi, Houshii! If you are going to be in this immediate proximity, being all horny because of those of us in the bath, come in here with us so I can molest you while you openly stare at the women." The reaction had been instantaneous, Sango had jumped out of the water, naked and brandishing Hirakotsu, with Miroku beside her, a slight flush on his cheeks and leaves on his robes, holding his staff ready for attack. Just looking at them together made a naked Kagome, Shippou, and Jakotsu collapse against one another in loud bosterous laughter, Kagome glad for once that Kikyou was in the vacinity so that Inu no baka couldn't hear them laughing. Sango, realising why, let out a loud shriek and hit Miroku with her humongus weapon and jump back into the onsen with a full body flush and her arms covering her womanly assets, a new bout of laughter had risen from the three hysterical insane people with her and she was ready to hit them with her weapon as well. After they had calmed down enough and dragged towls in for the two women to cover with when the ero-houshii awoke, Kagome and Jakotsu explained their friendship and truce to help one another beat the crap out of Naraku in the final battle. After that the only ones left out of the loop were Kikyou and Inu Yasha.

Kagura sighed, she would have to trust Suikotsu would take care of the strong young women, for the past weeks she had been defiantly standing up against the vile bastard. Kagura was barely able to withhold the smile tugging at her lips, Naraku hadn't been able to touch the girls womanhood, though she doubted the girl even knew it. The collar on her neck prevented her from lashing out at Naraku with her Miko-ki but that didn't mean it suppressed it fully, that was impossible. Despite her ki being suppressed, it was only retained to just below the skin, making it harder for Naraku to hurt her with his own hands as well, unabling him from doing what he wished to do to her the most, break her of the thing she held most dear next to her own son. Kagura would have to wait until Naraku left for his next. . . Business venture in order to get to the miko to saftey with the last of the Shinintachai, with a last solem smile she left the miko with a note, a bowl of clear water and some bread and cheese she had saved from her own last meal, hidden where she would be able to see it but not Naraku, unless he were looking for it.

Kagome shot up, sweat dripped from her brow as she panted, phantom pains of the blows she had recieved during her time in captivity still sensitive to her even after three years. She glanced around the room frantically, her eyes seeing furniture she didn't recognize until her mind cleared and she came back to the present. Kagome shivered lightly, glancing at the clock to see it was around four-thirty in the morning. With a sigh she pulled herself out of her bed and into the shower across the hall, unknowingly beating her uncle into said cubical. Sighing into the hot stream of water she wished for the onsens of the past, now-a-days you had to go to resorts to have such a wonderous luxury, either that or find one in the woods some where. Her muscles loosened from their tense state created by her dreams, her mind coming back to the present. she had half of the summer left before she would begin teaching at Karakura high, her cousins school. She wondered briefly if she could handle such normalcy after all she had been through, if she could handle being surrounded by humans day in and out. Living in the past most of her companions had been demons, with only aquaintances being human besides Miroku, Sango, and Kaede. Kagome blinked out of her slight trance, realizing she had stopped in the middle of washing her hair she resumed her task of rinsing herself from the grim and dirt of yesterday

With a sigh, the elder male made his way to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. His niece was different than when she was younger, she was a woman now with a son of her own, even if he wasn't by blood, you could tell she loved him just the same. But not only that was different, she had the same feel about her that his own son had. Battle worn, almost, but she had a small bit of underlieing sadness, one that told of a loss dear to her heart, much like when his brother had died ten years prior. He sat at the table as he thought of the changes his niece had gone through. Neither his son or his niece knew, though, that Akira, Kagome's okaa-san, and he had told each other about their children's secret lives. Both knew that the ordeals their children had gone through were tougher and bloodier than they had been told, but both of them were strong beings who could protect themselves, even if they only learned how along the way. Their lives had been so similar that both single parents had chuckled. Both fifteen when their journeys began, both now two different, Opposite, things in one body, both had grown up before any child should have had. . .

Ishiin sighed heavily then sadly chuckled once more, both had also lost a parent at the same age of nine, Kagome her father and Ichigo his mother. It was then that both of the children had started to grow beyond their peers, both had lost the one that made their lives bright, happy, the ones that understood them on the deepest of levels. . . He pushed back his chair making his way to the coffee pot, the hot brew done, he poured himself a steaming mug full and proceeded to try and burn his throat with the scaulding liquid to prevent his tears that had started to well with the thought of his beloved, Misaki, and his dear twin brother, Touya. Letting out a gasp as he gulped in fresh air he had deprived himself of while trying to drown his sorrows in the caffinated beverage. Both of the children, no young adults, were strong, they would protect all they held dear to them even if it is with their last dieing breath, he need not to worry about them. They were still healing from the wounds on their hearts, but they grew much better the more time passed, the scars already there were proof enough that they could and would survive anything thorwn their way. They were strong, he only wondered if they would allow themselves to become close to each other again, as they once were as children, allow themselves the help they needed from each other, allow the cracks on their very souls to heal.

He glanced up at the sound of foot steps and gasped, he had not seen the scars that littered his nieces form the day before. There in front of him frozen in place was the battle worn warrioress his precious niece had become, just as his own son had become a battle worn swordsman. Scars were scattered down her arms, a tattoo across her shoulder, her eyelids dyed a dark blue that brought out the color of her eyes sharply. The toned, tanned young woman before him stared at him wide eyed having not realized he was up as well," Ano sa. . . Ohayo Jii-san, did you. . .Sleep well?" The soft, timid tone of voice broke whatever had kept him staring at her strong, lith form, just seeing how much of a warrior she had become startled him, her father would have been proud. "Hai, I slept fine, you as well, I hope?" He smiled at her and she relaxed, apparently he knew something about her travels or else he propbably would have flipped at seeing her as she was now. "Hai, you. . .don't seem very surprised about all of this. For some reason I feel like my mother and you have kept in touch more than you guys have led me to believe while I was. . . Busy." He chuckled,"Hai, your mother and I know more about your adventures than you think, Kagome. You and Ichigo are so much alike, both waist deep in serious matters at such young ages, amazing." He chuckled at her shocked face, she closed her mouth and shook her head," We always were alike when we were younger, heh, we even lost our parents at the same age. Part of me isn't surprised if we're both stuck in something horrendous." She moved gracefully across the kitchen and got herself a mug of hot tea, she sat down across from him at the table and sipped from her mug in a comfortable silence.

They sat that way for a while until they heard foot steps walking downstairs, they turned to see a topless Ichigo in pajama pants, scratching the back of his head with a yawn. He opened his eyes and peered at the two occupying the table, his eyes quickly landing on his cousin. The cousins stared at eachother, taking in the others scars, the markings now attributed to their place in the world, how much each had changed over the time apart. "Youkai." "Hollows." They continued to stare a few moments more after those words were spoken and then grins split both of their faces before they were laughing so hard tears fell from their eyes. Isshin shook his head and swallowed the last dregs of his coffee, leaving the two young adults to reaquiant themselves with eachother and take a shower. Thinking about it, he had no appointments today, and if there was any pressing emergency they could always take any patients to the hospital on the other side of town. He decided then that he would take the kids, all three of them, to the fair down town and let his niece and son spend some time together while he learned more about his grand-nephew.