Disclaimer: I do not own inuyasha (naturally)

Chapter One- The Ending

"Nooooooooooooo!" A heart wrenching cry pierced the night sky as a young lady with raven hair collapses into a fetal position, sobs shaking her petite frame of 5 feet 1, her sapphire eyes dulling with pain. Nearby, her companions of nearly ten years, a hanyo, hoshi, yokai taijiya and a kitsune looked away guiltily, knowing that they had the power to help the hanyo that just died but refused to, refused to simply because they were not able to see past their past, unable to dispel the jaded glasses they viewed him with. And simply because of they could not let go of their hatred, she paid, paid with her love and happiness. Unable to take anymore of the site of their normally strong friend on her knees sobbing piteously, they turned away and kept silent, unwilling to bring her attention to them, unwilling to take the blame and results for their actions.

"Kagome…." the taijiya, Sango, a beautiful woman in her thirties with dark brown hair and chocolate eyes stretched out her hand helplessly, desperately trying to comfort her friend, whatever she had expected was not this. Who knew that one of the strongest hanyo in the world would fall in the mere hands of a stumbling boy looking for revenge for his parents? The taijiya still remembered when instead of killing the hanyo, the soft-hearted girl pitied him and healed him, giving him her love that they all knew he did not deserve.

flashback

"Kagome, are you sure about this? He might kill you." Warm amber eyes peered worriedly at the hardworking raven haired girl behind thick silver bangs as his ears twitched. "In fact, you should still be resting after that."

"Inuyasha, I'm fine." Sapphire eyes narrowed with annoyance and pain at the reminder of the incident as her lips tightened, "and no, Naraku won't kill me, I' m sure."

"Feh! I still don't understand why you won't let me kill him after all he did to us." Inuyasha grumbled furiously as he stepped out of the hut, his voice fading.

Kagome sighed as she turned around and continue changing the bandages on Naraku's chest, she could already tell, this was going to be a long day. In fact, ever since she had decided to help him, everyone has started to complain, none of them even asked her why? Everyone kills, from the most 'innocent' to the most 'evil' person. Who actually has the right to judge someone else for what they do themselves? No one that is.

Everyone should be allowed to have a second and a third chance, a new chance to start over again, free from their blood soaked past. She knew that not everyone will agree with her and forgive him but still, she knew that many would try, just for her sake. Naraku deserves a rest; his tale was perhaps just as gruesome and tragic as Inuyasha and Kikyou's.

Her mind drifted to around a month ago when she had found a scroll in the decrepit well house, yellow with age; it had shown her familiar signature at the bottom of it, as if she had already intended for her future self to find it. Shocked by the implications, Kagome hurriedly read through the scroll. Only seconds after that, the scroll crumbled from being exposed to the fresh air after being locked and sealed in an air tight cherry colored box for centuries. Stumbling backwards, her mind worked frantically to dissolve and dissect the new information and instructions it had been given. I don't want to do that. What am I to do? Her thoughts rang soundly in her mind despairingly, her instincts told her to follow but her own feelings pulled her away from the course, not wanting to feel the pain she knew would follow if she obeyed it.

The next day, well after the sun had rose, Kagome stirred sluggishly, silken hair spread across her soft pillows and eyes blinking slowly in order to get rid of the sleepiness, she made her decision; she was going to follow it.

And that led her to where she was now Kagome thought, not as bitterly as she had a month ago, but still with bitterness. It seems like she was kami's favorite toy, for which kami, she did not know, but someone up there, or perhaps even more than one, was laughing in her expense.

Her rose lips parted, sighing, as she turned around, sapphire eyes widen extravagantly with surprise as they met with narrowed crimson eyes that was filled with suspicion. For a moment Kagome forgot to breathe as some of her doubts and old feelings, feelings that she had thought gone came rushing back. Shaking her head slightly to get rid of them and firmly telling herself that that was the past, a slow but brilliant smile broke across her face as her eyes twinkled at him.

"What are you doing out of bed?" she fussed over the man with crimson eyes and black wavy hair. "Your wounds will be reopened."

"Why are you doing this, wretch? I am your enemy, you're supposed to hate me" sneered Naraku as he stumbled back from his sudden loss of strength. "I know what you are doing; you're going to kill me while I'm weak like this huh?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

"No, I am NOT going to kill you" stated the raven-haired girl firmly, making sure she made her point heard before continuing on, this time in a faintly amused tone "I would never had went through all this trouble to heal you if my efforts was going to waste."

"Then why, why?"

Pausing slightly, the delicate tanned hands nimbly made the final knot in the bandage before answering in a harsh tone, distant sapphire eyes connecting to the cold crimson ones "I know." "I know how you are a hanyo, how you were born one, I know how you suffered, I know." Her voice softened, "many people make up stories for things they do not understand, for things that they hate, for things that are different. I was one of those that foolishly listened to those people before I realized the truth and made my own conclusions." Taking a deep breath to gather her courage, her tone changed again, this time, it rang with conviction, "don't worry, you'll have a new chance, you won't be alone."

Over time, her words became the truth, at least for those that were not touched by Naraku's previous manipulation and they learned to trust each other. For Naraku, it was a new thing; to be able to trust, love and in return, gain someone's love, for Kagome, it was a new experience, one that opened her eyes to the truth, her love and devotion to him soon became true. They were happy, but it would only last for nine short years before the kamis would once again decide to intervene and play with their favorite toy.

Only the soft sounds of sobbing and the occasional hiccups broke through the false tranquility of the night, the screaming from before had only died when the raven haired girl lost her voice and will to continue. Nearby, her friends and companions settled and kept watch if only to keep their soft-hearted friend from being hurt by others wanting to take advantage of her at such a vulnerable time.

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