Reincarnation by FireFalcon1414

Prologue

Reincarnation by FireFalcon1414

Disclaimer: I do not own, in whole or in part, the Inuyasha series. All rights belong to Takahashi Rumiko. I do, however, own the plot to this fanfiction, as well as 23 of the Inuyasha manga and a poster of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru.

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Prologue

It was clear they weren't going to win.

The demon exterminator and monk had fallen in the beginning, and the hanyou was bleeding from hundreds of wounds, both major and minor. The only one who remained unharmed was the priestess, who stood to the side, clutching the last remaining shard to her chest and fingering her empty quiver restlessly.

"Inuyasha..." she whispered as she saw another of Naraku's tentacles pierce his shoulder. He was playing with them. They had tried their hardest, and he was playing with them.

A tear ran down her cheek as she oversaw the wreckage. The once green clearing had turned a dirty brown from the spilt blood, and the trees were steadily dying off because of the noxious fumes of their nemesis' miasma. Sango lay in a pool of her own blood and that of her brother's holding the body of the hand that held the knife that pierced her own heart. Miroku had fallen with his cursed hand uncovered, trying vainly to protect the woman while the poisonous insects infected his body. In the end, he had died with his other hand stretched forward, but a foot away from the hand of his beloved.

At least Shippo is safe at Kaede's village, Kagome thought sadly as she turned her eyes back to the hanyou, the last fighter still standing. I know Kirara will protect him with her life.

Unable to continue to watch, she next focused on their fallen enemies, hoping to revive some faith in their group's power. What she saw only gave her more sadness.

She herself had managed to take down one of Naraku's favorite incarnations, Kanna. She had shot the emotionless demon's mirror with one of her soul arrows, shattering it and the girl as well. Kanna had collapsed to the ground, and for a moment, Kagome had imagined she had seen a flicker of emotion in the nothing demon's eyes. Acceptance.

Kagura's death was a surprising one, to say the least. Upon seeing the death of her sister, one would have expected her to attack Kagome with more force. Instead, to the shock of everyone – except, perhaps, for Naraku – she turned and began to attack her creator. His only reaction was to bring out a small, pulsing red gem, and slowly crush it to dust in his fist before scattering the sparkling red dust to the winds. Kagura stumbled to a stop, just inches away from completing her attack on him. Falling to her knees before her former master, she whispered in a voice that Kagome was sure would haunt her reincarnation's nightmares, "My heart is mine to give; it was never yours to take. I will have my heart back!" A wind picked up, gathering the abandoned dust of her shattered heart and reforming it in her palm. "My heart," she whispered as she slumped to the ground, placing it lovingly back in her chest. "I am free." She died with a peaceful smile on her face, clutching her chest protectively, at the murderer's feet.

Naraku had smirked, showing off his sharp, white teeth, before kicking her rudely out of his way and returning to his battle with Inuyasha, seemingly undisturbed by the moving occurrence.

Kohaku had died within his sister's protective arms, stabbing her in the chest with a dagger even as she pulled the life-sustaining Shikon shard from his back. He had had only enough time to remember his crimes, only enough time to shed a single tear, before his soul moved on to the eternal torment it had earned through its service for Naraku.

Kagome turned back once again to the task at hand. Having reaffirmed her determination to defeat, or at the very least mortally wound, the evil being that was Naraku, she stepped forward, out of her place in the shadows of the now-decaying trees.

"Naraku," she announced, dropping her useless bow to the ground beside her.

The two duelists turned at her voice to look at the little miko standing unarmed before them. "Kagome..." Inuyasha tried to yell, his voice coming out raspy and raw because of his nearly-crushed throat, Naraku's tentacles having been steadily tightening around it but a moment before.

Naraku raised an eyebrow and snorted dismissively, though his eyes remained trained on her, waiting for her to make the next move.

"Naraku," she repeated, taking another step forward. "You will pay." A new wind picked up around her, swirling around and making her hair fly in every direction. She blinked once, and when her eyes returned to Naraku's, they burned with the fiery pink light of her miko gift.

He recoiled slightly before catching himself and straightening himself to his full, formidable height. "I do hope you're not hoping to use that power to attack me," he said mockingly. "I would simply put up a barrier, and escape unscathed."

She nodded. "I know," she stated calmly, monotonously, "which is why I will not try to attack you. The miko's power was never meant to be used to kill, but to heal. This is what I will do." A pillar of the pink light grew up around her, and Inuyasha took a step forward, reaching out with a hand to grab her away, but before he could do anything, the light expanded, swiftly encompassing the dead clearing. The light was gone as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Inuyasha blinking spots from his eyes and a collapsed Kagome.

"Kagome!" he yelled, finally reaching her side and kneeling on the ground by her head. Listening intently, he found no heartbeat, no breath. She was, according to all senses, dead. But somehow... something told him she wasn't done yet. He rose and stepped back, giving her room to finish whatever it was she had started, despite his instincts screaming at him to stay with and protect her.

As if on cue, her body rose again, to float inches above the reborn grass that had appeared where she fell. "Naraku," she said, though her mouth did not move, her heart did not beat, her lungs did not pump air. Her voice seemed to be coming from nowhere, yet everywhere at once. Naraku glanced around cautiously, wondering what was going on.

"Naraku, I will defeat you. Perhaps not in this life, perhaps not in the next, but you will be defeated. Whatever form I take, be it man or woman, old or young, demon or human, I will defeat you." Once she had said this, she collapsed to the earth again, this time not to move. Inuyasha would have stepped forward, but her body – and the jewel shard she still held tightly in her grip – were engulfed in pink flame, which died away to leave a thin film of ash, easily blown away on the wind.

Inuyasha's hand clenched on air, his merciless claws digging deep crescents into his palm. Turning back to Naraku, he growled out, "I've had enough."

Naraku raised an eyebrow, again. He didn't know what that wench had done, but he was still alive, and that was all that mattered. "Why, enough of what, Inuyasha?" he asked innocently.

"Enough of your lying. Enough of your stealing. Enough of your killing. Enough of your life." He paused a moment before correcting himself. "No, that isn't quite it. I've had enough of lying. Enough of stealing. Enough of killing. And... I've had enough of life." With that, Inuyasha turned on his heel and walked to the sole remaining patch of grass, where Kagome had fallen, and sat there, awaiting his death.

Naraku stood still for a moment, watching the hanyou. This was... not what he had expected. Not in the least. It simply wasn't Inuyasha's nature to be so accepting of death, be it his friends' or his own. But, seeing the state Inuyasha was in, it was clear that he wouldn't live long anyway. He was covered in wounds, all dripping blood, poison, and miasma. They would never get the chance to heal. Inuyasha would die within the hour, whether Naraku took the time and trouble to kill him or not. Turning with a disdainful snort, Naraku began to walk away, glancing over his shoulder at the edge of the clearing only long enough to say, "It seems I've overestimated you, Inuyasha. Surprising, since I've spent my entire career as your enemy underestimating you. Goodbye, my foe. I hope you enjoy death. Send Kikyo my love." Turning with a chuckle, he continued on his way to his fortress, nursing his numerous and bloody wounds.

Having turned, he missed Inuyasha's smile. "I will, Naraku," Inuyasha whispered, eyes shadowed by his bangs as he lay back on the patch of soft grass. "I will." Closing his eyes, he awaited death.

Only to have it interrupted by his brother.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru announced himself coldly.

"Get out of here, Bastard," Inuyasha hissed through his teeth, closing his eyes and turning his head away stubbornly. "Leave me alone."

Hesitation, then a quietly voiced "You would refuse me the right to say goodbye to the last of my family?"

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open at that. He was the last true family that this demon had. And with his death, the regal taiyoukai would be alone. "No," he whispered, closing his eyes again. No, he would not leave his older brother alone without a proper goodbye.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said after a moment of silence, "what have you gone and done this time?" He seated himself across from his younger sibling, who missed the slight warmth and sadness that flickered in the depths of the elder's eyes.

"Gotten myself killed, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha said from his seat in the grass. "And gotten her killed, too."

"'Her'? Do you mean the oddly dressed human wench who follows you around?" Sesshoumaru asked, wondering what could so effectively take the fire from his only brother's eyes.

"Kagome. Yes. And don't call her that, she doesn't – didn't – like it. Call her by her name. Ka-Go-Me." He smiled wistfully, lost in memories, before reminded of reality and sobering instantly. "Naraku killed her. Or... she killed herself. And I don't even know why."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Yes, I know. I saw it all from the trees. The bastard was trespassing on my land." He growled at the thought of that filthy hanyou trash laying foot on his territory.

Inuyasha's eyes flashed, and his head shot up to glare Sesshoumaru directly in the face. "You were there the whole time, but you did nothing? We could have beaten the bastard! And all you care about is that he trespassed on your land? He killed people, Sesshoumaru!"

Sesshoumaru stiffened. "I kill people as well, brother."

Inuyasha slumped back to the ground, eyes returning to their glazed, half-lidded state. "Yes," he whispered, "but you don't enjoy it."

Sesshoumaru sat in silence for another moment, before coming to a decision. He would make up for past wrongs. Inuyasha may not have been there for him when the panther demons first attacked, but he had not been there for Inuyasha when Naraku attacked, and thus he considered them even. And Inuyasha was still his brother – nothing would ever change that. "I will heal you," he announced.

Inuyasha's head shot up again. "What?" he exclaimed, not believing what he thought he had just heard.

"I will heal you," Sesshoumaru repeated. At Inuyasha's questioning look, drew forth the Tenseiga. "It will heal you," he elaborated, standing and brandishing the flawless blade. Realization and understanding dawned on Inuyasha's face, and before he could say anything, the sword was arching towards him. Raising a hand, he caught the harmless weapon and held it away from himself before it could heal any of the damage. It was Sesshoumaru's turn to give Inuyasha a questioning look.

"No," Inuyasha said softly. "Don't. Don't waste such a power on me." He waved a hand in the direction of Sango, Miroku, and Kohaku. "Save them. They deserve a second chance. I already had mine, and I threw it away for a golem."

Sesshoumaru could not say he understood that bit about the automaton, but he nodded anyway and made his way to his brother's companions. Raising his sword, he prepared to bring it down upon the trio, only to find that the little goblins from the netherworld that carried away the souls were not there for him to destroy. Upon closer inspection, he saw that not only were the soul stealers gone, but the souls as well. But how? he asked himself. Then he remembered Kagome's bright flare of power, and the mystery of what she had done. So this is it, he thought. She gave her friends the gift of reincarnation. I wonder... He turned to the fallen wind sorceress and nothing demon, seeing the same there. Shaking his head in wonder, he returned to his brother's side to explain the situation to him, retrieving the jewel shard taken from the woman's brother.

When Inuyasha seemed to understand what had been done – or as much as his tired mind could grasp – he barked a harsh laugh. "Ironic, ne? Their souls were saved, despite their sins, yet mine will go to the netherworld and relive its mistakes, merely for the crime of being alive at the wrong time."

Sesshoumaru inclined his head slightly, indicating agreement, and they sat for another long while in silence.

"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha asked weakly a few moments later. A tilt of the head indicated attention. Odd, how I can still read his body language, even after so long at war with one another... he thought idly before forcing his mind to focus on the task at hand. Already he could feel the mind-numbing effects of the fever caused by the miasma in his blood. His time was limited. "Sesshou... I want you to have the Tetsusaiga." That got his attention. Still, though, he said nothing, waiting for Inuyasha to continue. "I've no one else to give it to, and I'd rather not leave it here for some rogue youkai to steal. I want you to have Father's fang." He paused a moment. "And... and I want you to have my arm, as well. I cut yours off, so it's only fair that you should take mine. You'll need the advantage, if you ever fight Naraku. The human blood might even allow you to use the Tetsusaiga, and, because of the shared blood, it should bond better with your body than the others did, instead of decomposing. In a few years, it should be as if it had grown there naturally."

Sesshoumaru paused before speaking his thoughts. "It would have to be removed while you were still alive..." he trailed off, hoping that the often moronic hanyou would follow the implication so that he would not have to say flat out that Inuyasha would have to go through even more pain.

"I know. But I can handle it." He smiled childishly up at his brother. "If my Oniisan can handle having his arm cut off, so can I," he said bravely, grinning with a trace of his old recklessness in there.

Sesshoumaru smiled softly back, shifting so that his brother's head lay in his lap. "Hai, Koinu. I believe in you," he murmured, smoothing the hair away from Inuyasha's hot forehead, just as he had when he was a child with a fever. "Is there anything you need me to do when you are gone?" he asked.

"A few things," Inuyasha said quietly. "Firstly, I want you to take care of a kitsune pup, Shippo. He has traveled with me for almost as long as Kagome has, and needs a father. You will find him back at the village near the tree that I was pinned to for fifty years, in the care of an elderly miko, Kaede, and a fire cat, Kirara. You know the place?" Sesshoumaru nodded. "Good. Secondly, I want you to protect that village, as well as the forest the tree is in and a nearby well called the Bone Eater's Well. Ask Kaede where it is." He waited for Sesshoumaru to nod again. "Thirdly, I want you to protect our father's land from Naraku. Don't let him take that from us! It is all we have left..." he trailed off, watching Sesshoumaru's face for yet another nod, before listing his fourth request with a small smile. "Lastly, I need you to wait fifty years, for a strange girl to appear in your life and turn it upside down." He waited for the final, hesitant nod, coming with not a little confusion, before sighing and closing his eyes. "Then I am ready, Oniisan..." he said quietly, holding his left arm out a bit.

"I will try to make this less painful," Sesshoumaru said sympathetically. He laid a claw lightly on his brother's arm, at the approximate middle between the shoulder and the elbow, before slicing through, clean and quick. Inuyasha thrashed in his arms, biting his lip to keep from crying out, determined to be brave for his Oniisan. He opened his watery eyes to watch Sesshoumaru place the severed limb over his own stump, joining them with the Shikon Jewel shard taken from Kohaku's back. Stretching and bending the new arm reflexively, he whispered in awe, "Arigatou, Inuyasha," before using both arms to gather his little brother, bloody and broken, into a more comfortable position in his lap, holding him soothingly while Inuyasha shook with fever. After a while, the shaking stopped and Inuyasha looked up at him through the hallucinatory eyes of a child.

"Jikei? Where is Chichiue?" Inuyasha asked innocently, echoing his voice the last time Sesshoumaru had held him like this, when he had indeed been a child and their father had just died.

"Chichiue has gone away for a while, Koinu. Go to sleep, you will see him sooner," Sesshoumaru said gently, holding in a sob.

Inuyasha nodded against his chest. "Aa. Oyasuminasai, Jikei," he mumbled sleepily, and Sesshoumaru listened as his breaths evened out and his heartbeats slowed, until both came to a steady stop. Only then did Sesshoumaru let the dry sob escape him, only then did he bury his face in his brother's hair and smell the fresh scent that was Inuyasha. No tears came, though.

It was not in a dog demon's nature to cry.

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He must have dozed off, because when next he looked up the sun was cresting the horizon. His gaze fell to his brother's sword, the Tetsusaiga – his, now – and he reached forward hesitantly to touch it, expecting it to reject him as it had in his father's grave. He was surprised when his hand clenched around the hilt of the legendary fang, and he drew it out slowly, watching the light play on the rusty katana. It didn't look like much now, but in defense of a human, it transformed into a formidable weapon.

Resheathing the blade, he tied the scabbard to his sash, beside its healing brother, and stood, leaving his own brother's body to be retrieved. He would bring it to the village of this Kaede for a proper burial, as well as the bodies of his friends. Returning to the camp of his own companions, he greeted Rin with the customary pat on the head before telling the faithful Jaken that they would stop in a clearing before making their way to the village, not bothering with his questions about his arm and why they would go to a human village.

Rin bounced happily into the saddle on Ah-Un's back, squirming around until Sesshoumaru picked up the reins and set off, back the way he had come, not waiting for the annoyingly squawking toad youkai.

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When the group arrived in Kaede's small village, they received many stares, both horrified and sad. The bodies of Sango, Miroku, Kohaku, and Inuyasha were perched precariously atop Ah-Un, those of Kagura and Kanna lying on a sling dragged behind by the beast and pushed by Jaken. The traveling had been slow, with the added weight, yet they had continued unstopping through the day to arrive the next morning. Rin was held by Sesshoumaru, sitting straddling his hip sideways, his new arm and tail wrapped around her for warmth as she slept.

Several of the villagers – The few ones with a bit of intelligence, Sesshoumaru thought dryly – ran off searching for the elderly miko, and he followed in their footsteps at a more sedate pace.

Kaede met them halfway, her face falling as she took in the sight of the beast of burden and its cargo. She bowed low and formally before the lord. "Ohayougozaimasu, Sesshoumaru-sama. Please, tell this unworthy one... What has happened to your brother and his companions?"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. This human knew much of courtesies. "You are the Kaede my brother speaks of?" he questioned.

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama. This one is known as Kaede," she said with another low bow. "Come, I will lead you to my home." Turning away, she motioned respectfully for him to follow her to the hut.

They reached the small building quickly, and Sesshoumaru signaled to Jaken and Ah-Un to remain outside with the dead. He then ducked through the doorway to stand just inside, still holding his adoptive daughter on his hip silently. Kaede pulled aside a curtain in the back, revealing a sleeping kitsune cub curled up against an equally unconscious fully grown fire neko.

"The child may wish a more comfortable bed, my lord," she spoke in a low voice, so as not to wake the sleepers.

Sesshoumaru nodded silently, stepping forward to deposit the girl beside the kit. Rin frowned unhappily at having to let go of his big, furry tail, but immediately nestled herself into the fur of the neko-youkai, a contented smile appearing on her face as she settled deeper into sleep.

The adults turned away from the scene, letting the curtain fall back into place. The taiyoukai sat down cross-legged beside the fire pit as Kaede set about lighting the tinder. "Some tea, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she offered, pulling a strange, clear jar down from a shelf and unscrewing the top to unleash the strong scent of tea leaves and setting it down within easy reach. He inclined his head once more, wondering how the old woman had come by such an odd, airtight encasement. Seeing his questioning look, she answered, "The jar came from Kagome's home. She is not... She wasn't from around here." The miko looked away, saddened by the reminder of her young friend's death. "Excuse me; I will retrieve water for our tea." She rose and, fetching an oddly shaped pot that he assumed also came from Kagome's homeland, shuffled out of the hut.

She returned a moment later with fresh water from the nearby well, hanging it above the crackling flames to come to a boil. Looking up from her work, she questioned hesitantly, "As eager as I am to hear the tale, I would first like to thank you for returning the bodies of your brother and his comrades to the village. There were many here who considered them friends; we are honored to give them a proper burial. Yet, I do not see the body of one Kagome, a young miko, the reincarnation of my sister. Sesshoumaru-sama, would you know what has happened to her?" She peered politely up at the imposing figure of the demon lord.

His eyes lowered to his newly-gained arm, clenching and unclenching in his lap. "Perhaps it would be best if I would start from the beginning." She nodded, and he continued, "I came upon the group fighting that filthy hanyou, Naraku, on the eastern edges of my land. By the time I got there, however, it was too late to do anything. The taijiya and houshi had fallen long before I arrived, and my brother's strength was clearly failing. Naraku's little incarnations had fallen as well, the wind demoness and the void, as well as his taijiya puppet. The miko, Kagome, cast a strange enchantment over the clearing before saying," he paused for a moment, remembering, "'I will defeat you. Perhaps not in this life, perhaps not in the next, but you will be defeated. Whatever form I take, be it man or woman, old or young, demon or human, I will defeat you.' Then she just... disintegrated into a pile of ash, swept away by the breeze. Her death seemed to break my brother's spirit, and he simply refused to fight after that. He sat down and watched Naraku walk away. I stepped forward then, to say my goodbyes, and that is when he gave me this–" He lifted his new arm. "–and this." He gestured briefly to the Tetsusaiga at his hip. "In return, I promised to raise the kit in the other room, to protect these lands and the lands of our father, and to... wait." His brow wrinkled slightly in confusion. "He told me to wait fifty years for a strange girl to appear in my life and turn it upside down, whatever that means."

He looked up quickly at the sound of Kaede's sad chuckle. "Perhaps it is time you learned of Kagome's... unique... origins," she began, and continued at his curt nod to explain the Bone Eater's Well and Kagome's appearance into the Sengoku Jidai just under two years ago while she poured the hot water into a pair of mugs, adding the tea leaves from the strange jar.

When she finished, he wasn't quite sure to believe her or not. A well that transports those who jump into it to and from the five-hundred year future? Preposterous. Yet it did explain a few things about his brother's companion. Her strange, revealing outfits, for one, and her unusual way of talking. Not to mention his brother's final request – fifty years was the amount of time that passed after the girl's preincarnation, Kikyo, died, before the girl herself appeared in this time through the well. It would make sense that that would be the amount of time to pass before the appearance of her reincarnation. And she had promised – prophesied, more like – that her soul would be the one to destroy the abomination that was Naraku. The elderly miko did not seem the type to lie, and this story would gain her nothing, so he really had no choice but to believe her. Coming to this conclusion, he nodded decisively, taking a sip of his tea.

"So that is how my brother died. After that, I gathered Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un, and we took the bodies here. That is all," he finished his interrupted story.

"I see," she murmured, staring intently into her tea leaves as though they could tell her what was to come. She looked up after a moment, asking him, "So what will you do now, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

He sighed, standing up and setting down his drink. "I will raise the kit and Rin. I will protect my lands. I will wait. This is all I can do." With this, he left the hut to instruct Ah-Un and Jaken in laying down the bodies of the fighters.

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The seasons changed. The leaves fell, the snow blanketed, the plants grew, the land flourished.

Time passed. Year after year, decade after decade, century after century.

A city grew where once there was a small village. The humans called it Tokyo. Suburbs grew to surround it.

A small family of houshi and miko raised their children in a shrine where once there stood a lone well in the forest...

A daughter was born into this family...

Her fifteenth year was celebrated by a trip to another time...

Two years later, she went to this ancient time...

... and didn't come back.

The family mourned.

But time didn't wait for them.

The girl's younger brother met an unusual woman in a coffee shop when he was thirty.

They married three years later.

A daughter was born to them, a strange, eccentric girl, and they named her after her missing aunt whom she so resembled.

Kagome.

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(Random) Japanese Vocabulary:

Aa = "Yeah" or "Okay"

Chichiue = Father (polite)

Hai = Yes

Hanyou = Half demon

Houshi = Monk

Jikei = Older brother (affectionate)

Kitsune (Kit) = Fox

Koinu = Puppy

Miko = Priestess or Shrine maiden

Neko = Cat

Ohayougozaimasu = "Good morning"

Oniisan = Older brother (honorary)

Oyasuminasai = "Good night"

-sama = Lord

Taijiya = Demon exterminator

Taiyoukai = Demon lord

Youkai = Demon

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Author's Note: Hello, and welcome to my fanfiction! Thanks for reading this first chapter (Over 5,000 words! So proud of myself.); I'll try to get the next one out in a timely manner – but remember, that will happen sooner if you review! And I'm not just digging for compliments either. For one thing, knowing that people are actually reading this inspires me to write faster for them. For another, you don't have to compliment. I am completely open to constructive criticism – just so long as it's constructive, and not just criticism. Also, when you review, I'd appreciate it if you left your email address available, so I don't have to take up valuable chapter space responding – I'll just send the response to your questions and comments to you personally, because I know how annoying it can be when your favorite author updates with a great long chapter, only to realize that half the "long chapter" consists of boring review responses that you don't particularly care about. (Okay, rant over now.) Anyway, if you don't leave an email address, then I simply won't bother responding. And (yes, I realize that this A/N is getting pretty long) I'll respond to all reviews the moment I get them. So if that encourages you to review any more, I'm not stopping you. Oh, and I'd like to thank you all for reading this. I really do appreciate it!

~FireFalcon1414