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Love\'s Consequences	By : Sylean Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Naraku/Kagome Views: 10437 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make any profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Love's Consequences
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make any profit from this story.
Warning: Spoiler alerts! Just make sure you've seen the whole series, Final Act and Movies included, for I touch upon pretty much everything at one point or another.
Warning: There will be lemons in this story later on. Also, there will be character deaths in this story at a later time.
Chapter 18: Repercussions
(A/N: +3 years)
(A/N: So, very unlike my typical pattern of only outlining my story roughly five chapters ahead of where I've written, I've actually organized the entire story. With these plot points plotted out, my guess is that this story will be approximately the same length as "In a New Light" was, roughly 50 chapters. So, there is your quick estimate. I'm only half-way done with the writing, working on chapter 27, but so excited that I'm finally getting to the good stuff. I write as much as my limited schedule allows.)
"Kaa-Goo-Mee!" Ginta hollered, between panting frantically.
"Sister Kagome, we need your help!" Hakkaku begged, as they ran through the village. Villagers ducked into their houses and peered frightfully out windows.
"Are you here?" the two had been running the whole way from the den; they didn't know what else to do.
Straight out of the sky, Naraku touched down directly in front of them, Kagome held securely in his arms. The two wolves skidded to a stop so quickly they ended up on their rear ends to keep from getting too close to him, the fear clearly evident in their eyes. Kagome climbed out of his arms and knelt down beside them, "What's the matter? Are you hurt?"
"K-Kagome?" Hakkaku stammered. If it wasn't for her scent, he may have had a hard time recognizing her. She was wearing a simple, but intricately detailed, kimono instead of the skimpy outfit they had always seen her in. She looked far more mature. "No, it's- uhh…"
"It's Kouga," Ginta sounded, far more concerned with the dangerous demon behind Kagome than her new attire.
"We didn't know where else to go," Hakkaku tried to explain desperately, now out of breath from both exertion and terror.
"What's wrong with Kouga? Is the wolf tribe being attacked?" Kagome pressed, trying to figure out what the frantic behavior was for.
"He's- Kouga's gone mad," Hakkaku tried to explain.
"He's not acting like himself," Ginta spoke simultaneously.
By now, Inuyasha had been drawn to the chaos and chimed in snidely, "Did the stupid wolf break when he didn't get Kagome?"
"Inuyasha," Kagome sounded irately. Last thing she needed was for him to make things worse.
"It's not that," Ginta countered, shaking his head furiously.
"You'll always be our sister Kagome, and he was torn up about…" Hakkaku paused to look towards Naraku, his meaning clear, "but that wasn't the problem…"
Ginta continued the story, "I think he's possessed; he's threatening his own pack!"
Naraku walked up to her side, drawing their attention once again, "Does he still have the jewel shards?" The two wolves cowered back, clutching at each other. If they had tails, they'd surely be tucked between their legs by now. All they could manage was to nod.
"Ha! You see Kagome," Inuyasha pointed straight at Naraku as if he just revealed his secret scheme. "I knew he was still after the shards!"
Naraku glared at the mutt but Kagome ignored him in favor of her own vocalized thoughts, "With the jewel out of Naraku's hands, it would seek out a new source of power, and since Kouga is the only demon that still has shards…" Naraku's gaze met Kagome's, affirming that they were thinking the same thing. "We need to move quickly."
It was unsurprising that Magatsuhi had taken this long to amass enough power, seeing as the source was less concentrated then Naraku's own. He was doing the same thing he had tried to do before, that which caused Naraku to harbor a lasting grudge against Magatsuhi; he was not about to let him have even an ounce of freedom after the stunt he pulled. Not that he'd let his ulterior motives be known; saving the wolf would help him with Kagome too, especially with all her friends periodically trying to break them up.
"Well, if you're going to go running off, you should at least leave the jewel here. I'll protect it while you're gone," Inuyasha couldn't help but fear what might happen if Naraku got his hands on the nearly completed jewel once again, completely ignoring the fact that it was almost always within reach, nestled against Kagome's chest.
"How laughable, that you think you could handle the jewel yourself," Naraku taunted. "Inuyasha, do you have any idea what the Shikon Jewel even is?"
"It's Midoriko's soul, of course," Inuyasha rebuked, crossing his arms defiantly. "We found that out long ago."
"Wrong, it is Magatsuhi's prison," Naraku clarified, pausing for potency, "dark in nature, not light. Why do you think Midoriko condemned herself to such a fate? It was because she could not possibly defeat the demon that accosted her, sealing him was her only choice." Magatsuhi was no easy target; even in death, even when imprisoned, he had the ability to manifest himself into his host. Unless that host possessed enough spiritual energy to strengthen the prison, Midoriko's soul, such as Kagome could. "Magatsuhi is not to be trifled with; he would take control of you faster than you could blink. Within Kagome's possession is the only place it is safe."
Kagome spoke up before the two could really get into it, gathering info about the state of the wolf tribe while they verbally sparred behind her, "You two can argue later, we need to go before it's too late."
"Kouga's bad mood has been worsening over the last few months," Ginta regaled them of the going-ons with the wolf tribe as they ran along side Naraku carrying Kagome.
"Until recently, we had been able to talk sense back into him," Hakkaku trailed off, "but this time…"
"I couldn't even see the familiar blue light in his eyes," Ginta whimpered, fearing the worse.
"They were clouded over, turning them an ominous red," Hakkaku shuddered in fear at the memory. "And the twisted way he grinned when…"
Picking up where his brother found difficulty, Ginta told them, "He commanded everyone to bring him the hearts of strong demons, and killed any who refused."
"Demon hearts?" Kagome wondered aloud.
"Magatsuhi is trying to build up Kouga's demonic aura," Naraku interpreted, it was essentially the same method Naraku himself used, except he could absorb the entire being, rather than settle for just the hearts. It was a risky way of acquiring power, for if a too resilient specimen was devoured, they could vie for control of the body. Eventually, only the strongest would remain.
"Who's Magatsuhi?" Hakkaku asked. That was not a name they had ever heard before.
"The demon inside the jewel; he can influence whoever is in possession of it." Kagome explained. "He tried to control Naraku once too." Naraku's eyes narrowed further at the memory, his anger at Magatsuhi resurfacing with this whole ordeal. Because of Magatsuhi, he nearly lost Kagome.
"But Kagome, won't this Magatsuhi try to take control of you too?" Ginta fretted.
"You do have the jewel, don't you?" Hakkaku furthered the sentiment.
"My powers strengthen his prison enough to keep his voice out of my head," she soothed. "Don't worry, I'm alright boys."
"We draw near," Naraku captured their attention as he spotted a body up ahead.
Kagome gasped sharply, "Who's that? Naraku, stop there." It wasn't until they got closer and Kagome peered under the bloodstained hair that she recognized the demon. "Ayame?! What happened to you?" Her once snow white furs were soaked in blood from a wound in her right shoulder, and she may have been mistaken for dead if she hadn't groaned from being rolled over.
"Wh- who-" Ayame tried to vocalize, her voice raspy from her apparent ordeal.
"Shhh, don't speak," Kagome ushered, quickly trying to determine the severity of her wounds. "You're safe now. It's Kagome; we're here to help."
"Ka-Kagome?" the she wolf sputtered out moments before the name registered in her groggy head. "Kagome! This is all your fault!"
Startled away from the suddenly aggressive and injured wolf, Kagome uttered uneasily, "M-my fault; what did I do?" Naraku stood firmly at her side, prepared at any moment to defend her from attack.
"It's because of you that Kouga went insane," Ayame struggled to right herself, only causing more blood to drip from the gash that clearly needed treated, "he's been ranting about you the whole time!" Ginta and Hakkaku worked together to still her movements as she screamed. "About vengeance for you choosing him instead." Her clawed finger pointed straight at Naraku, before she collapsed under the exertion into a sobbing mess. "Why do you always have to come between us; why did you have to take my mate away!?"
"But, Ayame, I didn't do anything…" Kagome floundered at a response. "Naraku, we have to help them, please."
"I have my own reasons for assisting in this matter; I will never allow Magatsuhi to be free," he affirmed his cooperation.
"Ginta, Hakkaku," Kagome ordered, "you two tend to Ayame."
Sensing Kagome's hesitation to leave the injured wolf, Naraku supplied, "She is a demon; she will live."
Kagome nodded and stood to depart, but before she could take a single step, Ayame spoke again, her broken voice full of resigned sorrow and empty agony, "Do you know why Kouga mated me? Because he didn't love me, he didn't want to get hurt again, like you did to him."
Those words cut straight to Kagome's heart. Here she had thought Kouga finally came to his senses and kept his promise, only to fall madly in love with Ayame just as she herself had with Naraku, but that had not been the case. This mess was due to her decision. She had chosen love, but in doing so, she destroyed Kouga's heart. This gave the jewel, gave Magatsuhi, a crack to get into Kouga's mind, fester, and turn him against his own pack. It was all her fault that the wolf demon tribe was suffering.
Words evaded her, she wanted to express how sorry she was for her oversight, for not seeing this disaster before it happened, for how much she thought they had been mated happily, but none of it would erase the torment in Ayame's heart. She could not go back and fix anything, and even if she could do it all again, she would never hurt Naraku; she would have made the same decision from the start. There was only one thing she could say, "I will bring him back to you, Ayame. I promise."
"You seem tense, Inuyasha," Miroku pointed out. He didn't know the whole story, only that Kagome and Naraku rushed off to save the wolf tribe, as unbelievable as that was, and Inuyasha vehemently refused to go along. Miroku's priority rested with caring for his heavily pregnant wife, his children, and the village in which they resided, but Inuyasha had no such attachments.
"Tense? Who said I was tense. I'm not tense. Why would I be tense?" the half-demon continued pacing, twitching, and randomly looking towards the east.
"Oh, I don't know," Miroku speculated, "perhaps because Kagome is going into battle, for the first time without you there by her side, and who knows what kind of danger she will be faced with."
"Keh," Inuyasha scoffed, remembering why it wasn't him by her side. She had Naraku; she chose him, so he could fight for her. "She doesn't want me."
"For a mate," Miroku corrected. "She doesn't want you for a mate." This didn't seem to help Inuyasha's mood, but that wasn't the main point Miroku had to convey. "But she does want you for as a friend." Inuyasha froze in his tracks. Kagome had always stood by him, no matter what, no matter how much it hurt, and here he was, refusing to make sure she was safe. "It's up to you whether you want to be a part of her life or not, Inuyasha," Miroku went to duck inside his hut when one of his girls started crying, knowing Inuyasha needed time to think. Whether he chose to stay, or go, that was not a decision he could be pushed make.
"I told you," Kouga growled at one of his men while he held a bloody lump of flesh in his hand, "bring me the hearts of strong demons." He threw the organ at his insubordinate, and advanced with claws flexed.
"I'm sorry, Chief Kouga," the wolf demon groveled. "I'll go hunt again; please forgive me."
"Incompetent scum," Kouga smirked wickedly, so very unlike the jovial demon he had once been, "you expect me to go unsated. I will take your heart instead."
"No, please have mercy," the wolf backed away.
"Deal with him later," that voice spoke in his mind again. "We have visitors."
"It seems your life will be spared, for now," Kouga taunted and the wolf took off at a full run to accomplish his hunt. With any luck, his alpha would spare him if he brought back worthy prey.
"They approach, the woman who scorned you, and the demon that stole her," Magatsuhi directed Kouga's gaze towards the cliffs that protected his cave. "And, they bring the Shikon Jewel with them."
"Do they," Kouga stated more than asked. "How kind of them to save me the trouble of hunting it down." He didn't have to wait long before they landed just on the other side of the river.
Kagome could sense right away the corruption flooding Kouga's body, and with it, came more power. Kouga leaned casually against the mountainside, his smirk twisted and dangerous, his once bright eyes darkened with malice and contempt. She felt deep regret for not taking the shards before, when she had the chance. Because of her seeming act of compassion in letting him keep them, he was now suffering more than ever before. His whole pack lay in ruins by his own hands, and she could have prevented this, if only-
"There is the demon that stole your woman from you," Magatsuhi pressed, filling his host with rage, "the man who defiled her body and corrupted her loyalty. You want her, don't you?"
'Kagome is mine,' Kouga seethed in response.
"Then kill him and get your revenge. Then she will be yours, as well as the jewel hanging around her neck," the evil spirit advised. "It will make you powerful enough to prevent anyone from taking her away ever again. Kill Naraku!"
"Naraku," Kouga growled, "you will pay with your life for taking my woman."
'Not this again,' Kagome thought while Naraku looked mostly unfazed. "Kouga," she tried getting through to him, "I need you to listen to me. You need to get rid of the jewel shards; they're corrupting you and turning you into Magatsuhi's slave."
"The girl is being threatened by Naraku; if she does not give him the jewel shards, he will consume her," Magatsuhi lied with practiced ease.
"Don't worry, Kagome," Kouga countered. "I'll save you from that monster; I won't let him hurt you anymore."
"There is no point in talking to him, Kagome," Naraku halted her attempts. "Magatsuhi will convolute anything you say."
"You will die today, Naraku," Kouga snarled ferally, "and Kagome will be mine." He lunged only to be countered by Naraku mid leap. The two crashed together and plummeted into the rushing waters.
"Naraku!" Kagome screamed worriedly as she watched them both get washed downstream and surface a short ways away where the river opened up into a previously lush meadow. The concentrated demonic aura Kouga leaked must have killed all the grass that Kagome recalled to have been there. They clashed repeatedly, Kouga's claws flashing in the sunlight, severing tentacle after tentacle. Unable to stand by and do nothing, Kagome clambered along the shore in an attempt to close the distance and help, somehow. Her worn shoes slipped on moss-covered rocks and skidded down stretches of loose pebbles, but the scrapes she endured barely registered to her frantic mind. As much as she knew Naraku was a plenty capable fighter, she could not help but worry.
When no progress was made either direction, Magatsuhi altered his plan, "The girl approaches; take her jewel shard and you will have the upper hand."
With a quick smirk, Kouga tapped into the unnatural speed his shards granted and arched around Naraku, knocking Kagome down and finding purchase on her necklace that contained the nearly complete jewel shard. Naraku turned and forced Kouga off of Kagome, only for him to pull and snap the chain. The bone-spider pendant that clung to the jewel lashed out in defense a little too late, for the jewel had already been pilfered. The pink gem swirled with black the instant it was separated from its protector.
"Kouga, give me back the jewel, quickly!" Kagome panicked. "It's dangerous; you don't realize what it will do to you. Please, listen to me!"
"With this, I will be able to take anything I want, starting with your life, Naraku," Kouga slammed the Shikon Jewel into his chest before either of them could stop him, and no sooner than he did, his eyes grew wide and he started thrashing around violently. His body jolted and twisted unnaturally. The tremors finally ceased, and the eyes that looked up at them, were no longer those of Kouga.
"Ah. Finally," the gruff, wolven voice turned an apathetic monotone that slithered out of blued lips.
It was the same unmistakable voice Naraku housed in his mind for far too long; a voice that evoked a severe anger in the spider demon, "Magatsuhi."
"Naraku, how uncharacteristic of you, coming to the rescue of such pathetic creatures," Magatsuhi taunted, showing minimal concern at the fact he was in the middle of a fight.
"You should know me well enough to know I am not here to help them," Naraku glared menacingly, even though it had little effect on this demon spirit.
"Still holding a petty grudge against me then, are you?" Magatsuhi chuckled, his laugh taking on a higher pitch towards the end. "You will regret defying me." Magatsuhi narrowed in on his target, 'And what better way than to eliminate that which you hold most dear, the very cause for your defiance; that woman will die.'
'No! I won't let you hurt her,' Kouga struggled to regain control.
Magatsuhi only laughed inwardly at the feeble attempt, 'Struggle all you like, you cannot break free. You too will watch her life fade.' The possessed body of Kouga morphed under the dark influence of Magatsuhi; his claws elongated to lethal eight-inch long points, his skin ruptured from the massive power it tried to contain, and his elongated fangs haphazardly pierced into his dead-looking lips. The drop of blood that escaped was no longer the vibrant red it should have been, but a tainted black ooze that gathered and crept slowly down his chin like molasses. A quick twitch of his clawed hand was the only thing Kagome could see before Magatsuhi was no longer standing there.
Tentacles burst from Naraku's back and the muscles in his legs coiled in preparation for the attack he knew was coming, but what had not been predicted was for the target to not be himself, but Kagome. His reflexes drove him to interject his body into the path, but he was unable to block the attack from then striking him. Like Deja-vu of three years past, those same claws cut into and shredded his abdomen, but unlike that time, it was not the measly attack of a simple wolf demon, but that of Magatsuhi. The wound bubbled and festered, obviously laced with toxins, and would undoubtedly have taken Kagome's life had they managed to touch her. Naraku, on the other hand, could withstand the effects without fatal consequences, but it did seem to already be slowing him down. The grassy plane moved in his gaze; like water rivulets down a rice paper screen, his vision fluctuated.
Standing a short ways away, watching as Naraku tried not to show any weakness, Magatsuhi laughed maniacally, "You don't seem as strong as you once were, Naraku. What happened? Did that little wench make you weak, Half-demon?" Naraku still had not recouped all of his power after sacrificing half of himself to disappear from Sesshomaru. He had been steadily absorbing swarms of lesser demons, but without the pressure to drastically increase in strength as he had when they were fighting over the jewel, it was a much slower acquisition.
Panic at seeing Naraku injured, Kagome reached behind her shoulder, as she had done so many times before, to retrieve an arrow, but due to her lack of practice lately, she fumbled and it fell to the ground. Retrieving her weapon and trying to nock it onto her bowstring as quickly as possible, she desperately tried to defend Naraku in the only way she knew how. She was sure Magatsuhi was going to see her and stop her arrow from being let loose, but he did not. Instead, he merely let her miss, and laughed at her pathetic attempt. It felt like when she had first been learning to fight; those years without danger, focusing on her education, took more of a toll on her archery than she expected. She so foolishly had rushed into battle while being rusty; assuming that since her previous enemy had been made ally, that she wouldn't need to fight anymore. It would seem there would always be someone to fight, if she wished to keep the peace.
"This body is inferior; it would not be much of a loss to have it destroyed," Magatsuhi commented, speculating on if she had been able to strike him with that arrow. "You know full well I am only borrowing this body. So go ahead, kill the wolf." His fearsome eyes connected with hers and she froze in her movements to draw her bow again. He was right; he was in Kouga's body, and if she purified him, she would also purify Kouga. She promised Ayame she would bring Kouga back alive, but did she really have the capabilities to do that?
In her indecision, Naraku moved to block Kagome and thus preventing another attack in her direction. "How pathetic you have become," Magatsuhi cackled. "You will not be able to expel me from your mind this time, Naraku. You have no choice, either let this wolf demon kill you, or become a prisoner inside your own body when I take control of your very soul. Either way," he paused and allowed a twisted grin that did not fit the body he manipulated, "I will see that little slip of a woman's blood on my claws before this day is over."
(A/N: I've always wondered over why Kouga's shards remained untainted in the anime. I mean, he was a man-eater. What explanation do you guys think fits, cannon-wise?)
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Love\'s Consequences