JeniNeji's Note:

Greetings to everyone. First of all, if you find fault on it, you can freely leave a review, I wont mind, because after all, the reviews are our opinions, so it's only fair to know them all. Second… a little about me!

I am "young" woman, 21 years old, I am from Puerto Rico, where Spanish is the main language. Going to college, studying Biology…and I feel my eyelashes BURNING as the days pass and I continue to study… well too much of me…Next topic!

I found a beta reader and we edited the first chapters, and I really thank the people who commented about the grammar, sometimes I just miss many little-huge-insignificant-important details of the grammar. Sorry! Forgive me WORLD, forgive me for stealing precious oxygen... Thanks a lot Cheska for helping me with English grammar, lots of love from me and I am forever in your debt.

DisClaimeR: I don't own Inu-Yasha

When the Past is the Future...

Part 1: Journey to the Past

Chapter 1

Falling to the Unknown

She was running with all her might trying to reach the well in Inu-Yasha's forest, she had the entire Shikon no Tama hidden in her bloody hands. The forest was a blur of colors as she ran, tainting the once melodious forest night with a rasping sound that was getting on her nerves.

She turned just in time to block a serpent demon with the bow in her left hand, and as the serpent passed she stomped it and purified it.

She could hardly breathe, her injured right arm hurt like she had never remembered before, without mentioning she had been battling demons for as long as she had been running. She was exhausted, she needed to rest, although it seemed as if fate was against her tonight. She would say she didn't mind so much about fate being against her. But why tonight? It had to be against her in the very same day they had engaged battle against Naraku, not the best of days.

She hated the scent of blood, her own blood. Even as a human, there was so much on her shoulder that she could smell it. The scent posting a warning in the back part of her brain, announcing bad events and bad endings; and to make things even worst, it called to weaker demons, promising an easy meal.

She should have been more careful, but she couldn't have helped it. She did as best she could in the given circumstances, she always did. Even the training she had been doing hadn't helped her much. At least she was still alive, she thought miserably. If she hadn't trained, she would have been a corpse being eaten by now. Now she could control her miko powers better -- something she was grateful for, it gave her more confidence -- but she needed to be careful. She must remember that she was using part of her soul in order to use her powers and it could be a double-edged power.

She had to do it, like a last resource for her friends to win the final battle. They had difficulty taking the Shikon Jewel away from Naraku, but as expected, the enraged half-demon had become almost mad and was attacking with an formidable strength they all thought impossible for him without the Jewel. That's the reason she was entrusted to protect the Jewel, and take it as far away as she could. Her home in the future was the best place she could think of. But, honestly she was worried sick for her friends.

At last, she was coming near the well. She could feel the magic calling her and soothing her like a protective sheet. She reached the edge of the well and stopped herself for a moment to regain her breath. Again, the worry began to consume her insides, she wanted to return, but, what if the battle was still on? And worst, what if Naraku managed to take the Shikon Jewel away from her?

She sighed; knowing there was no use in torturing herself like that and turned to the well once again. She looked down and her mother's smiling face came to her mind. What was her mother going to think when she saw her skirts all slashed? What was her mother going to say or do when she saw her bleeding like this? Terrible, her white right sleeve was stained with blood, she will need a good detergent, that was for sure.

She looked at the night sky, the stars were sparkling happily, unaware of the war and fate of the ones down here, fighting for a better future. It was then when she noticed the forest was now carrying a grave silence, worse than the rasping sound. Did the battle end? Hope filled her heart and she stepped away from the well with her hand trying to slow the happy beatings of her heart, a smile on her face.

She then tried to sense the battle that was taking place perhaps a mile away, but she sensed nothing, no indication of powers or explosions.

Suddenly, a black flash came out of the bushes, and without looking, she turned and jumped into the well. As she did, she felt two arms around her waist taking her carefully, one of the hands came to rest over her hand, which was holding the precious Shikon Jewel. She tried to turn to see who the newcomer was, but something around her changed. She felt as heat rose trough her spine, something very awkward, but terrible nonetheless. The blue-light that always accompanied her soul to protect her journey to the future turned red color, a bloody red. Painful sounds of people screaming in agony invaded the Bone Eater's magic. She gasped in surprise as fear crept in her heart. She looked up, and saw a mess of black hair, then continued searching desperately, until her eyes found red eyes. Her own blue eyes widened as she realized what had happened...

Naraku had managed to get to her before she could reach to her time.

A million of clear and confusing thoughts invaded her, each one making her more nervous than the one before. Flashes of yellow and green began to pass her at high speed and a sound of a very dense liquid bubbling filled the place. She began to struggle to get out of Naraku's grip hoping that she would be allowed to pass and he would remain locked in time, but to no avail, his grip only got stronger. His own nervousness showing, he was looking to his sides searching for an attack to come, shifting so lightly to prevent the rays from touching him.

Kagome focused on the lights, following them, trying to find a pattern. She tried to use her miko powers, but they wouldn't respond to her. She wondered if it was because she was exhausted or because the well's magic prevented their use. Then a red flash stopped. They both looked at the light suspiciously, and then the light began to change shapes and moved ferociously towards them.

Naraku -- in order to save himself -- used the black haired woman in his arms as a shield. Kagome screamed in horror, she could do nothing, she couldn't move. It was then when the strange red flash passed through her heart and she felt something twisting deep within her, her heart aching in pain, taking her breathe away. Se could do nothing else besides screech with al her might as she felt as the thing was burning her brain. While the agonizing pain kept assaulting her, she managed to feel something else…the birth of something new deep inside her. She felt something shifting in her insides and she trembled with miko powers. As this ran violently through her veins, her miko powers resurfaced and burned Naraku's arms and abdomen. Instinctively, Naraku's arms let go of her frame and they separated. Her soft unfocused blue eyes, due to the strange shock from the light that had come to her, stared at Naraku as he floated away. His eyes, for the first time, held a mix of something similar to fear... lost... desperation.

Suddenly, the sunlight filtered and broke all the strange lights of the well, and she felt a rush of wind. She could breathe again and she rejoiced at this fact. Until she noticed what was happening.

She was falling... falling from the sky. She could see her black hair all around her as she looked up to see the clouds, she could see the tips of her hair madly moving from one side to another. She closed her eyes, still feeling a little shut down from the flash, unable to think much, letting the feeling of the wind relax her, all her thoughts going away... with the wind.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open... Where was the Shikon no Tama...?

Her eyes scanned the area around her desperately, but she could not see nor feel the Jewel calling her. She looked down to see she was still a few good kilometers away from the ground. She looked around her and found green scenery below her, trees and fields, no houses, no buildings. She was not in her era. Wherever the well had taken her, she was not in any known place.

But she saw something else, instant death as well. Her body would not survive the landing, not at the speed she was falling. She strained her eyes a little further and she managed to distinguish Naraku in the air, floating, saving himself from the fall. But she didn't feel the Jewel with him either.

The Shikon no Tama had been lost in the Bones Eaters Well's magic, she had failed to protect it and help her friends. She had failed in her duty as a miko.

Tears of guilt began to overtake her. She looked down, to the ending fate that was waiting for her. She could somehow feel the land beneath her, the scent of the green leaves on the trees. She was going to die, and Naraku was going to enjoy her fate. No, she wasn't going to allow it. She needed to find the Jewel, prevent him from making more damage to the lands, and to all the people and demons alike.

She searched for every possible way, but she could not help but become more frightened. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on her miko powers hoping they would save her as they always did at the last minute. She concentrated in her inner self, in the strangeness she had felt earlier. Where was it? That thing that burnt her, that frightened her? That made her feel a demon's brutal strength?

There it was. She opened her eyes, determined. Her eyes became red and fierce, and fire wrapped her, holding her out, lowering her speed. She felt her blood burning, the end of her fingers in flames. She could hardly breathe as the fire took on the oxygen to maintain itself alive. Her heart was beating wildly, she knew that this power, this fire was trying to save her, but she couldn't control her instincts; they were begging her to run, to escape. They were sending her a message that this power was evil, was tainted. But there was nothing she could do.

After some moments, where her thoughts were battling each other... many memories and feelings had been mixed together until they were a soup of who she was, no longer anything understandable. Memories of Sango's voice, of demon howls and grunts, of a priestess name... Midoriko… When she finally opened her eyes, the flames had disappeared and a feeling of loneliness surfaced in her, although she couldn't understand why...

She could breathe again. She expanded her senses to check where she was. She was standing in a green hill, mountains adorned the horizon. Lowering her gaze down, she could see a castle, the only thing that was different.

The castle was on fire and a guilty thought came to her, was she the one to make it burn? She didn't remember. She could see anxious movement of people in the castle and she could hear screams. There were also demons flying near, a lot of them. What was happening there?

She looked up from where she fell just in time to see great rage in Naraku's eyes, as was to be expected due to her surviving the fall. His eyes had turned red completely and she could feel his aura full of hatred and blood-lust, though she was ignorant of how she managed this…she was so far from him. It took her an instant to decide she needed to get away, she was still wounded and she couldn't possibly battle Naraku alone. She turned to run, only to come face to face with the one she was trying to escape from. The few seconds she spent dealing with her situation were enough for Naraku to reach her and make an attack. He had thrown a blast of energy, an attack that her unconscious mind had protected her from raising a transparent barrier. He growled in anger and ran past her and attacked, the same barrier appeared again.

She opened her eyes, more trusty confident now. He was shaking in rage, and she felt herself shrinking from his gaze. He ran towards her, to attack with his fists instead of his magic. She walked backwards dodging his attacks, some slashed her soft skin leaving gashes while others hit her fully and she cried in pain. She felt the urge to jump away from him, even when she knew that it was a very dangerous fall, but with the imminent danger she was in, obliged her to escape on such a maddening way, and trust her instincts to runaway. As she did, she instantly regretted it, something deep within her soul protested, wronging her as she felt that her legs no longer supported her and a formation of rocks welcomed just some meters down.

Her horrified blue eyes locked in Naraku's when she turned to him. His eyes were confused and at the same time, pleased… but in an instant, his eyes flashed back to anger. She wondered the reason for the change until she lost the ability to breathe, then she understood that the fire had surrounded her once again. But this time, the fire didn't make her float. It took her at high speed to the castle.

It was strange, but she found that the fire had a will of its own, and she found that she was at ease with it…as if the thing inside her was someone she knew, someone who had been with her for a long time…someone who loved her.

A sensation of heat in her heart told her that the fire had passed, that it was time to move again. She was standing in a road made of many stones. She saw that she was still wearing her brown shoes, the ones she used for school. She was near a fountain, which seemed to be in the back part of a house. It would have been quite peaceful… the Sakura tree was in full bloom and the wind whispered words of encouragement and hope. A high deviation of the surroundings seeing that half the castle was on fire.

There were a lot of demons roaming the place smashing everything near them. She was left agape as she witnessed the brutality of the attack. The demons were eating people, they were destroying everything. She looked from one side to the other and there was nothing else, just total destruction. The traces of a battle were present in the many weapons that rested in the floor, but the only things that remained now were bloodlust and monsters. She no longer worried about the scent of blood she carried, seeming that the entire castle, the entire town was bathed in it.

She found a bow in the floor, yet there were no arrows near that she could see. She took it and examined it. It was made of a different type of wood, of that she was certain. It was very strong, and almost weightless.

In her distraction, she fell face down to the ground with a loud thud. She looked back at her legs irritated, just to stop the next second in fear as many demons approached her. She began to furiously kick one of the demons at her legs until she became free of its grip. Standing up quickly she began to walk backwards, trying to escape the demon but not trusting it one bit to turn her back and make a run for it. It was a boar demon and it walked towards her with its face putting on a grin, showing its disgusting bloody tooth at her. She stuck out her tongue unconsciously in distaste.

The boar's eyes flashed red and it charged against her. The demons near it watched the scene with interest. Kagome let out a shriek and without thinking, put her left arm with the bow in front of her trying to protect herself. The next thing she found out as she averted her gaze towards the demons, was the remaining of smoke as the miko energy she had filled her bow with finished purifying the remains of the boar demon. The others looked at her with hatred; they had just found another enemy of their kind.

A snake demon spit Kagome, and she barely managed to avoid it, the spit making a hole near her and emanating some terrible odor that she could only be described as putrid.

Kagome's instincts were demanding for her to run, her senses becoming wild due to all the evil in the area as her soul tried to purify the entire place. The demons charged against her and she purified them, one after another, attacking them with her bow. She had been forced to attack with just the bow. Naraku had injured her right arm and she was unable to shoot arrows since then, her right sleeve was spotted with blood, and she felt a throb in her arm. She tried to press on her right shoulder to stop the bleeding and continue walking.

She hated the smell of smoke, she knew now that it carried the scent of burning flesh, and she hated it for it. How disgusting could this be? She wanted to return home, or to the Feudal Era with Inu-Yasha. Instantly, she stopped her pace and her finger found the way to her lips, feeling them from one side to the other.

"Inu-Yasha" she whispered absently, a memory of a ghost like kiss when he helped her escape Naraku coming to her mind, and a silly smile took over her lips.

A growl woke her up from her thoughts and she turned back to see a wolf. Its lips were turned back, showing its sharp tooth. Kagome froze, this was no demon. She wouldn't be able to purify it. She was unable to use her right arm, she just had her left hand, and her strong legs and her will to run, which was very high, just in case.

She decided to do what she needed to, she ran...

She ran wildly around town, not caring about the turns she made or the things she passed. Her mind was set in just one task, to save herself. She continued to run, yet she couldn't make up a plan to stop this assault nor she saw anyone who could help her, she saw no one. As she ran, more wolves joined up in her chase, something she didn't find appealing. Her legs were burning in exhaustion, she was no longer able to breathe and her heart was beating a thousand times per minute.

She took another turn and found herself in front of a pond. She jumped in it, desperately trying to reach the little shrine in the center of the pond. The wolves behind her were catching up, her legs couldn't keep as she wanted them to. Her whole body ached; she had never felt so close to death. She knew that neither Inu-Yasha nor anyone else would show up to save her, but she knew there was much more for her to do in her life that she couldn't just die like this. Tears of rage and hopelessness fell from her eyes, even as she kept struggling to reach her destination. One of the wolves caught the green ribbon of her shirt and began to pull her. She turned and punched the wolf, freeing herself. She took some last steps and reached the shrine. She was glad to be able to count with her legs once again, she felt safer now than struggling and jumping in the water.

Suddenly a figure appeared next to her, she turned and instantly found herself dangling as someone took her by he neck. Her hands dug in the attacker's lower arms, trying to make him let go, but without success. A sick laughter echoed through her ears, which were straining due to the lack of oxygen.

"You lost your way home, little one?" his voice taunted.

"Naraku" Kagome spit venomously.

"I love how that name sounds coming from your sweet mouth, little miko. It brings back a part of me that was long gone" he said breathless, with a hint of desire.

Kagome shuddered at the implications behind his sick words. Kagome began to struggle to get free of his hold, but just let out a shriek of pain as he pinned her to the shrine and pressed on her already wounded shoulder. He smirked at her face distorted in pain and he lowered his head in the juncture of Kagome's neck. She could feel as he smiled in her neck and felt disgusted.

"Who's going to save you now Ka-go-me?" he mocked, laughing slowly, making fun of the way she always used to say her name in syllables to those who refused to call her by it.

Kagome tried to attack him using her miko powers but only got him to whine in pain, until he once again tortured her shoulder. She let out a strangled scream. Blood flowing once again from her right arm and she felt herself getting dizzy. Soon, her hands fell down and her eyes adopted a far away look.

Naraku saw as she tried to raise her arms to get him away from her but couldn't. He wasn't surprised, the battle against him had begun at least seven hours ago, and he had made sure most of his demons delayed Kagome to her destination. He was surprised she had even survived. She had truly showed him that she had been paying attention to her training, but even so, he had to admit that her powers were large, seeing that it took her so long to run out of energy.

Naraku smirked and took her in his arms and flung her to his shoulder, her rear end next to his face and the upper part of her body dangled in his back. He had forgotten how pleasant this feeling was: triumph. So many things he could do now, but which one? A rest was appealing to him at the moment, but then, if he rested the miko would rest too, so he will have to fight her again to tire her. He needed to find a way to take her powers...

He began to walk and stopped as he reached the water. An invisible wave left Naraku, and he resumed his walking; only that he was now walking over the water. He knew that Kagome was exhausted, she couldn't even think straight anymore, she should no longer feel her powers. When Naraku reached the town grounds once again, he found himself surrounded by a pack of wolves, they growled in hatred at him, every single one of them at a safe distance away of eight feet more or less. He hardly paid them any heed, for he was sure he was stronger. But soon enough, wolf demons began to appear as well. He stopped in his tracks and glared at them, hatred also pouring from him.

A lone figure appeared from the woods. He was a wolf demon. He had long brown hair gathered in a ponytail. His eyes were black which showed a fiery determination and strength, yet the lines below his eyes marked him as wise. Below his left eye, he carried two little scars. He wasn't very broad muscled, he seemed light and fast, a great warrior indeed. The wolves at his arrival stopped their growling and granted him space to walk. He stopped a few steps away from Naraku, and looked at him and his "cargo".

"Hand her over" the wolf ordered fiercely, extending his left arm waiting for him to throw her his way. "No miko is allowed to live in our reign"

Naraku narrowed his eyes in defiance and then smirked at him "Not a chance..." Naraku answered him confidently "...and if you value your life step aside, I am in no mood for these senseless games" he finished taking a few intimidating steps towards the wolf demon.

"Do you dare disobey me? Have you any idea of who I am?" the wolf demanded, offended, stepping between Naraku and his way out.

Naraku took Kagome in his arms and sat her on the floor, her back finding support to not fall down in Naraku's legs. She did not move, her head was low and her hair was hiding her face. "Wait here a moment miko, it will only take a minute" Naraku whispered, knowing all too well that the wolves could hear him as well. Naraku raised his red eyes to the wolf's pitch black with a smirk. "Well then, shall we begin?"

The wolf demon charged in fury at Naraku. Naraku kept his eyes fixed in the wolf's but didn't move. As the wolf got close, Naraku raised one of his barriers and the wolf collided with it and fell back abruptly. Naraku laughed "Is that all you got? How boring"

Kagome could hardly hear the commotion around her. This was an opportunity for her to arrange her thoughts. She desperately tried to find a way to escape Naraku, but how? Her mind had almost ceased functioning, the blood lost was making her weak and dizzy, her powers had gone out. The fire she had felt earlier was now subdued and hidden. If she could only recover her powers, regain her energy...

Some fighters passing by felt a wave of energy, a big one in the middle of the lost town. They looked at the town in wonder. What was it? A suicidal explosion? Who possessed such powers? Was it an ally, a foe?

A young woman of long black hair gasped in understanding and ran towards the town. The others in the group looked at her retreating from as she ran to the town below. Her hurried steps made them decide the next course of action with a sole look in each others' eyes. They followed the young woman, killing the demons that crossed their path, a blood path marking their road to the unknown energy that revolved around this town.

Things were not looking good, seemed like the demons were on the move…again, and a lot of them. What could be attracting them to this lone town?

To Be Continue...

JeniNeji Comments!

I hope you found this chapter interesting, I did try my best to make it so, but still, I am a newbie in this, this is my first fanfic. So, let me know your opinions. I swear that I do take these things seriously.

Thanks.