A/N: I love Inu Yasha with a passion. I also love watching Sesshomaru go through a gradual change in personality.

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It was Jaken's fault of course.

If he had been paying attention, he wouldn't have been knocked unconscious and Rin wouldn't have been captured. Again. Of course, Lord Sesshomaru played it off like he didn't care, but you could tell by the minor twitch in his left eye.

"Aah! Lord Sesshomaru, help me!" She was locked in a demonic sphere and it was only getting smaller.

"Let Rin go, you bastard!" Inu Yasha held the red Tetsusaiga, unsure whether or not he should strike. Naraku only laughed and sent an electric current into the sphere. The small child's cries had Sesshomaru and Inu Yasha bristling.

But Rin wasn't completely helpless.

Her tiny fists pounded on the sphere. She was old enough—seven years old to be exact—to know when her protectors were at a loss. But she couldn't think now, not with her own fear pounding in hear ears. Or was that the blood rush in her veins, increased by the thundering beats of her heart?

"Tough little brat you've got here, Lord Sesshomaru. Let's see what a touch of my miasma will do, hm?"

Oh, it did something alright.

Frantically, she clawed at the shrinking sphere, her voice an in articulate scream that echoed in her ears.

I won't die here! I won't, I won't!

And she didn't.

After all those days of spending time with Sesshomaru and being constantly exposed to his demonic aura, her blood had become tainted and absorbed the aura, where it lay dormant within her soul.

"That does it, Wind Sc—!"

"Wait." Sesshomaru couldn't believe his eyes. Or his nose. In fact, none of them could. Behind the thin veil of miasma, Rin's eyes had a tint of red, and her weak human nails lengthened and grew sharper.

As her claws ripped holes through the sphere, her own aura and that of Sesshomaru's pulsed from her body. The demon blood was like fire in her veins. She screamed, her voice wordless but full of utter agony.

A roar from within the surrounding forest rumbled from the trees like thunder.

Myoga began jumping up and down on Inu Yasha's shoulder. "Oh my, I completely forgot! This is Lord Raizen's land!"

"Lord Raizen?" Inu Yasha questioned, but got his reply from his brother.

"He was one of father's best fighters. He was gifted this land long ago."

"Do you think he would help us?" Kagome inquired.

"Dragon's Rage!"

A combination blast of fire, ice, and lightning blew down half the forest and took out a good chunk of Naraku's body. A demon walked out of the fallen trees, a sword just as big as Tetsusaiga balanced on its shoulder.

Myoga began to sweat nervously. "Oh, dear…that is definitely not Lord Raizen, but that is and isn't his fang either."

The fighting came to a pause as Inu Yasha squeezed the old flea between his thumb and forefinger. "Explain yourself, Myoga. What do you mean it is and isn't his fang? And who is that, if it's not him?"

"Oh, um, well that's Raizen's daughter, Naoko. So I guess that would make this her land…but the fang! It's her father's fang fused with one of your father's."

Sesshomaru filed away that tidbit of information and focused his attention on Rin, whose efforts and Naoko's attack had freed her from her prison. But it hadn't stopped her screams, which were little more than high-pitched whimpers now.

"Silence, brat!"

One of Naraku's many random clawed hands shot towards the child, but Naoko got there first. She scooped up the agonized child and sidestepped his attack. It was only then that the others got a good, clear look of her.

Pale, lilac eyes were narrowed in anger. Long raven black hair tied back in a pony tail rested along the back of a silky indigo yukata. The black obi wasn't tied in a full bow, but in a knot so that its sash trailed onto the ground. The hemline of the yukata ended just at her feet, which were clad in black slippers. She was beautiful, but a single glance at that sword of hers was a dead give-away that she wasn't exactly harmless.

Naoko sheathed the fang, only to bare her own. "I will only ask you once: Get. Off. My. Land." She wasn't a tall demon, but she was more like Kagome's height so it was slightly amusing to watch her stand up to Naraku, who didn't get a chance to say anything because there was a whole lot of hurt coming his way.

"Dragon Strike."

"Backlash Wave!"

Naoko easily dodged the oncoming attacks and landed beside Sesshomaru and Inu Yasha. She hummed in disappointment. "He got away."

Both brothers turned to glare at her, both under the impression that it was her fault that Naraku escaped. In her defense, she held up the collar of Rin's yukata. "Would you rather that I let her die?"

They couldn't speak, for the shock of seeing the child's new form had them speechless. But not Myoga, who immediately understood the change.

"So the child is a half demon for the time being. All that exposure to your demonic aura," he glanced at a still stunned Sesshomaru, "and Naraku's small torture must have caused this. Of course, this transformation is very rare. Less than a handful of mortals ever go through it."

Sesshomaru barely acknowledged the flea's words. Rin, the once-mortal girl who had tended to him all those months ago, was now a half demon. She had claws like his own, and her lengthy dark hair was streaked silver.

"Lord…Sesshomaru," she mumbled and he caught a glimpse of fangs.

Naoko clucked her tongue, the sound gathering everyone's attention. "Come. You can all stay at my castle. This pup needs to be tended to."

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A/N: Must…eat…food! I'm taking a break for now.

Jaa ne!

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