Disclaimer: I'm just going to make this a blanket disclaimer, okay? I do not own Inuyasha. He is the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi. This disclaimer goes for all future chapters as well. I own nothing but the ideas and adventures I finally decided to put down on cyber paper and the random OC's I created along the way.

Summery : When Sesshomaru literally runs into Inuyasha and his friends, bloody, beaten and unconscious, what else could Inuyasha do but take care of his big brother? Over the next 24 hours, the group learns a whole lot about Inu and Sessh's past, while Inuyasha tries to free both himself and Sesshomaru of a "curse" placed on them when they were only children.

Any warnings needed will show up at the beginning of the chapter. If the chapter requires no warnings, there wont be any... pretty simple.

A/N: Wow, took me long enough to redo this chapter. It's been like... 1... 3... 8... LONG ass time! Hopefully it's better then the first time I wrote it. It's basically the same thing so it's not really like you need to go back and reread it for fear of missing some sort of vital piece of information... you're not gonna.

Still though, it's a rewrite so if you feel like going back and reading the first chapter again to purge the horridness of the first first chapter from you memory, by all means, stay a while!

And to those of you who are joining us for the first time, congrats! You get to read chapter 1 – 2.0!

Anyway, enough gibber jabber! Onward!

'thoughts'

"speaking"

Chapter 1: sexy bastard

'How could I let myself get into this situation…AGAIN!'

Lord Sesshomaru couldn't help the angry thoughts running through his head, chastising himself for his own stupidity. It was rare that he was so absent minded as to allow himself to be put into danger (with out his permission)…unfortunately, this was one of those rare times.

Sesshomaru barreled through the forest as fast as he could but he could already tell he was barely running faster then that of an average human. His lungs were burning with the need for air and his chest was on fire with every gasping breath he took. This was very, very bad. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest faster then it ever had before. Sesshomaru hadn't been this panicked since he was a pup!

The whole thing was a set up, a trap, and an obvious one at that, which was what was really pissing him off! How the hell could he not see something like this coming? And now, he was the one paying dearly for his own stupidity! He only barely managed to escape with his life the last time he fell for this trick and this time, he could already tell, was going to be so much worse if he didn't get the hell out of there as fast as possible!

Naraku had "coincidentally" bumped into Sesshomaru while he was wondering through a forest near the borders of his lands. Lately he had been finding himself lost in his own thoughts more and more and as a result, often found himself wondering aimlessly. It's only when he finally brings himself back to reality that he realizes what he had been doing (and that he had no idea where he was). The worst part was that when he had these brief moments of absentminded meditation, he always neglected to heed one of the most important rules his parents had instilled in him since he was a child: always pay attention to your surroundings.

Now, here he was; running away like a coward! Like a child that couldn't even protect itself! It was utterly humiliating that a Lord of his immense power could be reduced to this! What's more, his strength was continuing to leave him. He was getting weaker and weaker by the moment. His vision started getting blurry, making it even harder to avoid all the trees and roots that, for some reason, felt it was the perfect time to come popping up out of nowhere and get in his way!

Lord Sesshomaru suddenly became very aware of how heavy his limbs were, how hard it was to breath, see, run, everything! He noted his drastic decrease in speed and in one last burst of energy, he broke through the thick foliage just on the edge of the forest and onto a dirt road, where he landed on the ground in a heap. He had absolutely nothing left as he lay there on the road and for once, he felt okay with that.

There was no feeling of dread or disappointment or anger toward himself for not fighting harder or running faster like the few other times in his life he had been defeated. No fear or even sadness like he had expected. In fact, he felt almost relieved. He never imagined that everything would end this way. There were so many things he still wanted to do, promises he had intended to keep, but he honestly could feel nothing other then a subdued sort of calmness.

'It will finally be over.' This was the only thing Sesshomaru found drifting through his mind as he turned his head to the side and looked down the road. His eyes momentarily widened in shock at the sight that greeted him but he quickly convinced himself it was only a mirage, his mind playing tricks on him, letting him see the one thing he wanted most one last time before it was all over. In a way, he was grateful for being given such a gift. As he heard his name being shouted into the wind, he couldn't fight the darkness from creeping in on his sight as he, at long last, succumbed to unconsciousness.

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"INUYASHA!"

"WE'RE NOT STOPPING!"

"THE HELL WE'RE NOT!"

"We only just started walking-"

"Five hours ago!"

"That's nothing! We can at least keep going another two or three more hours"

"WHAT?" Kagome became almost deathly still as she reached up her hand to rub her forehead before crossing her arms, glaring at him through her bangs, and spoke through tightly clenched teeth. "Inuyasha, not all of us are demons, humans need to rest you baka!"

It had been like this for almost an hour (granted, not quite as loud when it all started…). Inuyasha never even slowed his pace when the real argument began; if anything he sped up just to aggravate Kagome even more. Of course when he did that, Kagome just got so mad she decided to 'sit' him and foolishly believed that that was the end of it and started to relax a bit. Inuyasha, however, disagreed and as soon as he was able, got up to keep on going. As soon as Kagome realized he had her big yellow bag held hostage, she had no choice but to follow along with everyone else chasing after her. She couldn't even 'sit' him again because every time she got close (and by now, Inuyasha was a master pro at telling when he was just about to poke that bear one too many times) he would quickly hold the bag to his stomach, threatening to squash everything in it if she did. And now here they were.

Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kilala new better then stand too close at times like this and so were traveling a good twenty feet behind the angry couple in front of them. Both simultaneously heaved an irate sigh. Even little Shippo had to admit the fighting was getting old and that was usually his main source of entertainment. Him and Kilala, being demons, were suffering much more from it then Miroku or Sango were; that constant shouting could really give a hell of a headache.

Sango slowly, being almost coy about it, glanced over to Miroku who, after a minute or two, either didn't notice or didn't acknowledge it. She silently turned her whole head to the left, much more obvious about it this time, to look him straight in the face. Miroku, still refusing to recognize the icy glare now sending shivers up his spine, and stared intently at anything that caught his eye. After a few minutes, he could have sworn he heard her almost growl at him.

"Oh come off it monk! It's your turn to go play peace maker; I did it last time!" she whispered angrily into his ear so as not to attract the wrath of their over excited friends. Miroku got a pained look on his face, as if the mere thought of what the angry duo could do to him in their current state caused him physical pain. Once again he heard a distinct growling sound coming from the woman to his right.

'Damn it! Okay, so…talk to my angry friends and risk being murdered, or stay here and DEFINITELY get murdered…' He cast a side long glance at a now very angry demon slayer as he weighed his options. '…damn.'

With a groan, he took Shippo from his shoulder and handed the small fox to Sango. After one last sigh, he sped ahead to catch the shouting couple. Within a minute he was less then three feet from the both of them. He waited patiently for what seemed like forever for them to notice him, or at least acknowledge his presence, with no luck. He looked over to Sango, receiving nothing but a hard stare and wave to go for it... Finding no sympathy in the slayer, he turned back to Inuyasha and Kagome. Miroku set his jaw and prepared himself for the storm as he ran around the two of them to stand in front, preventing them from continuing their trek, and finally got their undivided attention:

"What the fuck monk?"

"Move Houshi!"

Their simultaneous yells shocked him a little, weakening his resolve greatly. Miroku straightened his back and gripped his staff tightly for support. In the strongest voice he could muster, he started to speak;

"Right, um…well, okay….uh…"

'What the hell was I going to say?' For the life of him he couldn't remember but at the glare of death Inuyasha sent his way it all came rushing back to him.

"We- er, I was wondering if it would be at all acceptable to try and reach some sort of compromise?" Inuyasha huffed at the very idea, as expected, while Kagome crossed her arms and tried very hard not let the anger she felt toward Inuyasha come out in her voice when she started talking to Miroku.

"And what do suggest Miroku?"

He thought about that for a minute as he took a look around for the first time and slowly began to recognize where they were. "If memory serves correctly there should be a small clearing by this lake not too far from here; about a half hour walk up the road? We could take a little break for a few hours, make some food and rest, maybe bathe, and continue to Keade's a little after noon."

After hearing his idea and mulling it around in her head for a few seconds, Kagome let a small smile grace her face and nodded in agreement. "That's a great plan Houshi!" She quickly reigned in her enthusiasm as she heatedly sent her infamous "evil-eye" at Inuyasha, just daring him to argue with this brilliant plan. He merely rolled his eyes and grunted his agitated acceptance of the idea.

They all continued walking and, as if by magic, the atmosphere slowly got lighter and somewhat more peaceful. Every one continued their walk to the agreed destination in a much more comfortable silence. After a while Sango, Miroku and Kagome started chatting quietly as Shippo and Kilala played tag around their feet. Even Inuyasha started to relax and smile a little, though none of the others noticed with him still walking a bit ahead of them.

Honestly, he didn't know why exactly he was making such a big deal out of how fast they were moving. Even if they did keep walking for the rest of the day they still wouldn't make it back to the village before night fall and would have to set up camp for the night anyway. It was just that since that morning he felt like he needed to be somewhere urgently but he didn't know why, or where for that matter. Luckily where ever he felt he needed to be was on the way to Keade's village so he didn't feel like he was dragging them all on some wild goose chase by leading in some random direction and delaying their return even longer. That weird feeling was starting to go away now though so maybe he was just being paranoid all day and was finally starting to relax? What ever it was that was pulling him toward it seemed to be ebbing, which he was grateful for, so he didn't mind letting some of the tension drain from his shoulders.

'Might as well enjoy the calm will it lasts...'

Unfortunately, the calm didn't last as long as he's hoped.

Inuyasha abruptly stopped in his tracks causing everyone else to do the same. He tested the air with his nose and began growling under his breath, taking up a fighting stance. The others recognized the warning signs and did the same; grabbing their weapons and getting ready for what ever might happen. After minutes of tense silence, Sango was the first to speak.

"Inuyasha, what's going on?"

He growled under his breath. "I don't know... Somethin's off though... somethin's not right."

"Do you smell something?"

"No but that's the problem, I don't smell or hear anything; no animals or -" he cut himself off when he abruptly turned to face the trees to his right, about thirty feet ahead of them.

"Something's coming!" it was the only warning they had as just a few seconds later a creature came bursting through the growth. It was dirty, covered in leaves and dust. Inuyasha and the others prepared themselves for a fight, waiting for the thing to get up and attack. Inuyasha was about to make the first move until the wind changed. Surprise and pure shock stopped all movement. His sudden change in demeanor instantly got the attention of his friends.

"Inu, what's wrong?" Kagome whispered, almost afraid to be too loud.

He continued to look on in shock as he answered her just as quietly, "This can't be right..."

He shook his head, nearly in denial of what his nose was telling him, until the creature moved. It turned it's head so that it was now facing the group. Everyone let slip a gasped of horror as they came to understand what had Inuyasha so distressed.

Lord Sesshomaru looked at them with a blank, expressionless stare and slowly closed his eyes.

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled as he ran over to his brother. He knelt next to Sesshomaru, almost afraid to touch him. "Sesshomaru? Hey, wake up! This is not a good time to be taking a nap, dumb ass!" Inuyasha began to shake his brother's arm, attempting to get him to stir. When that didn't work he began to get somewhat desperate. Once again he took a good sniff of the air and growled at the familiar scent coming from Sesshomaru's cloths.

'Naraku…FUCK! What the hell did he do to you?' As that thought ran through his head, Inuyasha finally took a good look at the state his brother was really in; he was beaten, badly, worse then he thought anyone, even Naraku, would be capable of doing to the powerful youkai lord. His usually pristine, white cloths were in shambles, torn and covered in dirt and blood from his wounds. He could not only hear, but see that he was having a very hard time simply breathing. Inuyasha looked to where Sesshomaru came out of the forest, trying to decide whether to go try and find the bastard who did this or to stay with the bastard in front of him.

'Naraku, you better thank whatever gods you pray too…'

He returned his attention to Sesshomaru and bent down, getting as close as he dared and took a deep, long sniff at Sesshomaru's face, hair, neck, cloths, anything. Finally, he caught something; it was faint now, and buried under the disgusting smell of Naraku, but it was there, something that smelled a lot like poison, though none that he knew of.

'What the hell? I thought the asshole was immune to all poison...'

As Inuyasha was busy taking inventory of Sesshomaru, his friends silently walked up behind him, waiting for him say something. They watched, curious and confused, as he tried to wake him, as he looked him over and as he started sniffing him almost franticly.

"He's been poisoned." they just about jumped at the suddenness of Inuyasha speaking to them. He turned around to face his friends with an expression full of anger and even, they thought, a little fear. "We have to help him." he said as he stood from the ground.

They all looked back at him, clearly a little surprised. Beginning to get even more angry at their lack of movement, he started yelling.

"What?"

They all did jump a little this time and Sango thought it was best to answer before angry words decided to become angry actions.

"It's not that we don't…it's just… is it really wise to be helping Sesshomaru?"

A confused and irate look came over Inuyasha face. "'Wise?'" he repeated back wryly.

"Well, Inu, it's just that he's tried to kill or attack us, and you, his own brother, so many times, I mean…why would you want to help him?" Kagome's statement, and the fact that the others seemed to be agreeing with it, just pissed him off.

'WHY? Why would want to help him?... What the fuck?'

"He's my brother." He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. When they still didn't move he continued. "What exactly do you expect me to do? Leave him, unconscious and unprotected, in the middle of a dirt road where any weak demon or human could come by and kill him when he can't even defend himself?" he looked at all their faces, willing them to understand but it was quickly becoming clear that they still didn't get it. More then anything else, that hurt the most.

'They really do expect me to just leave him here…'

He looked to Sesshomaru, in a mess on the ground, and then back to his 'friends.' "What if it was Kohaku?" Sango's eyes shot up from the place on the grown she'd been staring at, looking him right in the face. "He's done some horrible things too. To you, to your family and village. Even after all that, after everything he's done, can you honestly say that if you found him like this," he made a quick gesture back towards Sesshomaru's limp body. "Would you really just leave him laying there, helpless?"

"That is not the same thing and you know it!" Sango ground back at him through clenched teeth.

"SO? You still wouldn't just leave him if he needed help!" He didn't even pause to breath as he turned his angry eye's on Kagome. "What if it was Sota? Would you just leave him there?"

All at once, Sango, Kagome, Miroku, even Shippo and Kilala felt such incredible shame. Sango unconsciously gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head but it was enough for Inuyasha.

"Then where the FUCK do you get off telling me that's what I should do to my own brother?" Nobody could look him in the eye once he'd finished. He glanced at each one of them and couldn't help but to notice that still not one of them made any move to help him. He shook his head in disgust. "Whatever. Do what you want, I'm taking him to Keade." Inuyasha bitterly turned on his heels and walked over to the other side of his brothers broken body.

"You'd get there faster if you used Kilala." Inuyasha hesitated as he looked over his shoulder at Sango's unexpected proclamation. Kilala jumped from her arms and transformed in mid air, landing on the ground in her larger form. Inuyasha inclined his head in a silent 'thank you' and continued, trying to get a good grip under Sesshomaru's arm and around his waist to lift him up. Miroku and Kagome quickly ran over to help, grabbing the demon lords legs under the knees and assisting in carrying the deceivingly heavy man over to Kilala. She knelt down to make it easier on the them and once he was properly seated, Inuyasha got up behind him, wrapping his arms around the bigger demon's waist and chest to make sure he didn't fall off and trying to be mindful not to bother his injuries too much.

Inuyasha gave a parting glanced to his friends, his anger dulling some at the look of their guilt ridden faces. "I'll send Kilala back when we get there."

"Okay. Be careful." Kagome offered a small smile just as the fire cat began to lift off the ground. As an after thought she added, "and don't drop him."

"Yeah dog boy, don't kill him before you can save him." of course, Shippo had to get the last word in, and an annoying one at that. Inuyasha almost wanted to jump down and give the brat a punch on the head for good measure but, lucky for the kit, Kilala chose that moment to take off into the sky and fly at unnatural speeds the rest of the way to Keade's hut.

He watched his pack quickly get smaller and smaller until he couldn't see them any more before turning his attention to the demon currently residing in his arms. Inuyasha looked up at the face of his elder brother, noticing how peaceful, and beautiful, he appeared right then. Inuyasha released a low growl of agitation.

'Bastard. Even with his face covered in dirt and blood he still looks like a fucking GOD!' Inuyasha scoffed and turned away only to look back a moment later to steal a glance at his brother again.

"…...God damned sexy bastard..."

YEAH! Chapter one DOWN!

WIN – me ^_^

Review and let me know what you think of the new and improved chapter one!

Till next time: Peace. Love. Yaoi.