Behind the Masks: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As I state in all my stories, this applies for the rest of the story that you are about to partake in. I am not Rumiko Takahashi; therefore I do not own Inuyasha. I simply use them in stories for my amusement, and the amusement of you readers.

”I lost control. You’re face is pale. Your body’s cold…
~Escape the Fate~

Cellar Door

Feudal Japan was a beautiful era. Especially during the spring, Sakura trees were in full bloom and satiny petals gracefully danced in the wind and gently eased onto the lush green grass below. It was a time of great beauty and passion, but it was also a time full of war.

Demons prowled the area in search of their next meal. They cared not whether it was boar, deer, or even a defenseless human. Yes, even with their weapons, practically every human was defenseless against most demons. Not all demons harmed humans though. Some demons even fell in love with a human, and vice versa.

Beings could come back to life with black magic, and they would still talk and act like themselves. They would still eat human food. The original dead called from there graves were not the flesh-eaters from American tales, but from the reality of Feudal Japan.

This time is where our story will take place; we start with a battle between a few demon carnations of an evil Hanyou and a group of mismatched people who are trying to rid the world of the evil Hanyou. A demon slayer, a monk, a two tailed fire cat demon, a kitsune, an Inu Hanyou, and a priestess from the future. Mismatched would definitely be an understatement. Let’s continue with the story, shall we?

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“Inuyasha, behind you!” a young girl with black matted hair and a tarnished bloody school uniform on cried out in warning to a silver haired Hanyou with dog ears and honey golden eyes.

Aforementioned Hanyou, Inuyasha, barely escaped an attack aimed in his direction that he hadn’t seen coming. Where he once was, there was now a crater. He silently thanked the girl for her aid, not aloud of course. That was something he rarely did, and even if he had wanted to, there was no time. Everyone was tiring from this monotonous battle, and he had to end it quickly. Though, to be truthful, he had thought that same thing nearly two hours ago and here they still were.

The young priestess was out of arrows, had been for the longest time now. Strangely enough, nothing and no one had even spared her a glance, save for her comrades. Because of her luck, she held a kitsune with orange hair and emerald eyes in her arms to protect him. He was still a pup and was not strong enough to participate in actual battles yet.

‘I hear something.’ Inuyasha thought, amazed that he could hear anything over the battle cries and weapons clashing. It sounded like an avalanche in a way, though he knew that wasn’t what it was because it was nearing the end of spring which meant there was no snow up in the mountains that would even reach down where they were fighting.

Everyone’s attention was drawn when the young priestess gave a bloodcurdling scream. It seemed her luck had finally worn out. One of the enemies had noticed that she was defenseless. He had taken the risk of going near her, not knowing if she was fully trained and in control of her powers. It had been assumed by the rest of the enemies that the girl was simply waiting until her powers were needed for healing instead of destruction, but knew that she would use her holy powers against them to destroy them if they attacked. They had obviously been wrong.

“Kagome!” the Inu Hanyou cried in despair as he saw even more blood blossom and stain her clothing. The demon had shoved his entire hand straight through her stomach. That was his second mistake. His first mistake was making the decision to hurt Kagome, and now he would pay for his actions.

Inuyasha saw red. All he wanted to do at that moment was kill the sorry bastard and every single being, demon, Hanyou, and human, that was with him. And that is exactly what the Inu Hanyou did until his bloodlust was satisfied. He looked at all the dead bodies around him and his companions without a care. Inuyasha then looked upon Kagome’s form, she was barely breathing. Barely, but she still was.

“Inuyasha, we need to get Lady Kagome to the nearest village and ask their priestess for assistance.” A monk with black hair and blue eyes advised gravely while also looking upon the body of the young priestess.

“What are you waiting for Inuyasha, an invitation? Go get her already! We can’t have her die on us!” a demon slayer cried in anguish as she watched the two men just stare at the priestess whom was as dear to her as if she were her sister.

The kitsune was lost in a world of sorrow, just curled up into a ball against Kagome as she bled out from her wound. Her eyes were open and glassy. She stared at everything, but she saw nothing.

Inuyasha walked over to her and picked her up bridal style, telling the monk and demon slayer to retrieve the kitsune, which they did quickly. It was a sad scene. No one thought the priestess would actually live, but they knew that they should at least try. Knowing that, the Inu Hanyou sprinted to the nearest village with the girl.

Upon his arrival, there were a lot of stares as Inuyasha asked where their priestess was. “Why?” they would ask in suspicion. How could they not tell why though? He was holding a dying girl in his arms. Kagome was dying, and all they could do was question why he needed a priestess?

Commotion was heard and out stepped an elderly woman in priestess garb. Her hair was gray and held back in a ponytail. She had kind but fierce green eyes that widened when she saw the profusely bleeding girl in the Inu Hanyou’s arms. She ushered him into a hut without any questions asked. She knew what was wanted. No, what was needed.

“Tell me,” the elderly priestess started after cleaning Kagome’s wound, “How did she come to have such a wound as this?”

Inuyasha looked away in shame as he told the story. He never should have left her alone. He should have been keeping an eye on her the entire time. He blamed himself, though in reality it was not his fault. The elderly priestess could see that, and told him herself that it was not his fault.

“What is your name young man?” the woman inquired as she put herbs to help the wound heal faster onto Kagome’s wound.

“Inuyasha. What’s yours?” Inuyasha answered quietly, too worried to be rude like he normally would.

“Tsuyomi.” The elderly priestess, Tsuyomi, answered simply. She then looked up at the Inu Hanyou with a smile gracing her features and said, “This young woman will be fine, she just needs a month or so to heal.”

Now that he knew that she was definitely going to be ok he was relieved, but a month was way too long to just be sitting there. He asked if there was a possibility Kagome would be healed before then, but the old priestess informed him that a month was the quickest he could hope for, it could take longer.

“I don’t think you understand; we can’t wait a month. We don’t have the time; we have an evil Hanyou to kill!” Inuyasha finally lost his cool and yelled at Tsuyomi.

“Your goals will not make her heal quicker Inuyasha. Please, calm down and let the girl sleep without being interrupted. She will need it.” Tsuyomi calmly responded to the Inu Hanyou’s outburst.

Inuyasha left the hut, and as he exited he noticed that the others hadn’t shown up yet. As quickly as possible, he back tracked his journey and came across his comrades battling against a man that was mostly a war machine. ‘That noise from earlier!’ realized Inuyasha as he joined in on the battle.

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Back in the hut Kagome was healing, the girl was starting to wake up. She felt around trying to find her little Kitsune, but was failing. She stretched out her senses to try to find his aura, but none of her friends were nearby. She bolted upright in a panic and cried out in pain from her wound.

“Child, you need to rest and let your body heal. There’s no need to be so rushed.” The elderly priestess soothed the younger priestess.

“But Inuyasha-“Kagome was cut off by Tsuyomi.

“Inuyasha left the room so you could heal in peace. I know not where he is now, but I can assure you that he will be fine.”

“What about the others. What about Shippou, Sango, Kirara, and Miroku?” Kagome pressed with worry evident in her voice.

“There were no others with him my dear.”

‘Oh no…’ Kagome thought and then decided that she would go find them, no matter what the elder Priestess said. ‘This is going to be hard though. I don’t exactly want to argue with her.’ Just as Kagome was about to tell the priestess that she was leaving, and not to try to stop her, the priestess quietly left to go get water for tea. ‘Perfect.’ Kagome thought with a small smile.

The young priestess stood up, quickly but carefully, and noticed that a white Kimono with Sakura petals embroided going down the right arm was set out for her to wear, along with a pink obi that matched the color of the Sakura petals. It was very thoughtful, and suddenly she felt guilty for leaving when the old woman obviously wanted her to stay and rest.

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A few yards away from where the battle was taking place, sat a young mercenary with long black hair, tied into a braid, sapphire eyes, lavender four pointed star mark on his forehead and a halberd that was bigger than his body propped up on his shoulder. He heard the battle noises in the distance, and he knew what it was. ‘Sounds like Ginkotsu is having a bit of fun.’ The mercenary thought with a smirk and headed in the direction of his “brother.”

If he was lucky then Ginkotsu may have even found Inuyasha, and he had been pretty lucky as of late. What else would a person call being brought back from the dead with all your “brothers”, able to roam the countryside freely killing anything and anyone once again? The mercenary thought that was pretty damn lucky.

The young man chuckled darkly at his thoughts, and finally came across the battle. He could see an Inu Hanyou dressed in plain red Hakamas and Haori wielding what looked to be a giant dog fang turned into a sword. He was attacking Ginkotsu, but Ginkotsu seemed to be holding up pretty well, so the young mercenary decided to just observe until he deemed Ginkotsu in need of help.

Accompanying the Hanyou was a demon slayer riding on the back of a yellow and black two tailed cat demon with what appeared as a Kitsune pup. She had her brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail and was wearing the standard slayer outfit in black and pink. Her weapons of choice seemed to be a katana, which she had hanging from her waist, and a Hiraikotsu which was flying through the air towards Ginkotsu. The giant war machine barely avoided the attack, and the black haired mercenary was glad.

The last member, the mercenary noted, was a monk wearing dark blue and purple robes and wielding a golden holy staff. The monk had prayer beads around his right hand and the mercenary could tell that he was seriously considering using his sutras. It wouldn’t do him any good though, considering that Ginkotsu was human, though he didn’t look it. ‘The monk apparently noticed that himself. He put them away.’ The black haired mercenary thought with amusement.

He thought that this group of fighters may have been the Inutachi that the infernal Hanyou who brought his brothers and him back to life had told him about, but the priestess said to be dressed in odd clothing was not present. The young mercenary didn’t like to believe in coincidences, so instead of just leaving Ginkotsu to his own devices, he decided to help Ginkotsu win this battle. The priestess obviously wasn’t present, but that could easily be explained, and this battle would be a lot easier without her directing her precious Inu Hanyou’s attacks to the Jewel Shards implanted in both his and Ginkotsu’s bodies.

“Ginkotsu, leave the Hanyou to me! Take out the others!” the young mercenary called with a wicked smile, finally drawing attention to himself.

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Kagome had made up her mind to leave, but decided to tell the elderly priestess first. She couldn’t justify leaving without a word after the kindness the woman had shown towards her. Just as she was about to leave the hut to go find the woman, the woman had came to her. As soon as Tsuyomi saw that Kagome was up and moving, she opened her mouth to scold her, but the younger priestess cut her off saying, “I’m very grateful for your hospitality and kindness, and I know you want me to stay here to finish healing, but my friends need me. I just know something bad is happening. I’m sorry but I must leave.”

Tsuyomi closed her mouth and then gently smiled and nodded in understanding. As Kagome left, the elderly priestess stopped hr and said, “You may want to change first. When you are done with your battle, you and your friends may come back here and rest.”

The young priestess smiled and said her thanks. As quickly as possible she changed into the beautiful outfit left for her, and then remembered she had no arrows left. She turned to Tsuyomi and asked, “Where can I get arrows around here?”

Tsuyomi chuckled and just handed her a quiver full of arrows and waved her off saying, “Go get your friends.”

Kagome left then, with one last thanks, and walked in the direction that she could feel her friends’ auras. Her eyes widened in alarm when she realized that before there had only been one enemy aura, and now there were two. With that, she ran to find her friends and give them any aid she could.

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The battle was taking its toll on the Inutachi, especially since they had been in a battle just before this. Sango threw her Hiraikotsu at Ginkotsu’s head while he was distracted by Miroku, and the other Mercenary’s back was turned so he couldn’t warn the war machine.

Kagome found them just in time to see Ginkotsu’s head detach from his body and fall at her feet. She shrieked on instinct and then quickly shut her mouth. That moment could have been Inuyasha’s downfall had the black haired mercenary not been curious enough to turn and look as well.

There he saw a woman, about his age, with long black tresses and warm brown eyes. She was wearing a white kimono with no pattern, save for the Sakura petals that were embroided onto the right arm; they appeared as if they were falling and encircling her arm. Around her slim waist was an obi, the same color of pink as the Sakura petals. The girl had a bow and a quiver of arrows with her, and she was barefoot. He noted all this with one glance, and quickly sent an attack from his halberd at the girl.

From that one glance, he knew it was the priestess that damnable Hanyou had told him about, though he was mistaken about the odd clothing. Since he knew it was the priestess, he knew that the Inu Hanyou would immediately leave the battle to go save the woman’s life. ‘Pathetic,’ the young mercenary thought when he was proven right. The Hanyou did in fact rush towards the woman, screaming her name.

‘Kagome, I’ll have to remember that.’ The black haired teen thought as he quickly ran to Ginkotsu’s body, removed the jewel shard, and left. Inuyasha had gotten in a pretty good hit, and the mercenary was bleeding heavily from it. He knew he wouldn’t die right away from it, he just needed rest, but in order for that to happen he had to leave the fight.

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The futuristic priestess had been rescued in time to not receive a fatal blow, but she was still injured. How much injured, Inuyasha had no clue. He did know that she shouldn’t have come in her condition. She was still in the process of healing, and the Inu Hanyou was not stupid enough to insist she get up and move, let alone participate in a battle, so soon after being hurt as bad as she had been. ‘And now it’s going to take even longer to heal because she just wouldn’t stay put.’ Inuyasha thought with exasperation.

Still, looking down at her limp form in his arms, he couldn’t bring himself to be angry with her. Maybe when she was awake and better he could, but not now. Not when she looked so fragile and just utterly breakable. Even now the Hanyou worried about carrying her because of how delicate she seemed. He was almost afraid she would break at any moment just from the jerking movements of the walk. Seeing her in such a state was heartbreaking.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was only minutes, the Inutachi reached a village, the same village that Kagome and Inuyasha were at before. Out walked Tsuyomi, as if she had expected them, and, indeed, maybe she had. The elder priestess had a deep frown on her face as she looked to the young girl who had, yet again, been injured in battle.

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“Lay her down here Inuyasha.” The elderly priestess requested after proper introduction had been given.

Inuyasha did as he we was told and, reluctantly, let go of Kagome. The males all left, with the exception of Shippou, as Tsuyomi began undressing the girl to get to her old wound, that had been reopened, and her new wounds. ‘This girl is going to get herself killed one of these days with that hard head of hers.’ The priestess thought with a mixture of irritation and amusement. Honestly, she respected the girl for her courage and selflessness. Kagome had known that she would probably end up opening her wound again, getting new ones, and possibly die, yet she still risked it to help her friends.

Tsuyomi had finally finished cleaning and redressing the wounds of the young priestess. Only then, did she allow Miroku and Inuyasha to re-enter the hut. They both had a look of relief on their faces as they saw Kagome safe and breathing.

“Old woman, we need to leave as soon as possible. Naraku could be doing anything without us there to stop him and collect the remaining shards!” the Inu Hanyou went off now that he knew Kagome would be okay.

“I-Inuyasha,” the young priestess started with a weak smile, “Go on without me. I can join up with you later, when I’m fully healed. I don’t want to slow down the search anymore than you do, so just go. I’ll be fine.”

“But mama-“Shippou started, but was cut off by Inuyasha.

“Kagome, we need you to track and purify the jewel shards. We can’t leave without you.” Inuyasha declared firmly.

Kagome smiled and with sad eyes replied, “I’m not the only one who can track and purify the jewel Inuyasha…”

There was utter silence around the Inutachi as everyone understood her suggestion. Sango didn’t like it at all, but knew Kagome would insist. Miroku was uneasy about such a thing, but knew it would be for the best. Inuyasha was torn. He wanted to keep Kagome with him, but he wanted to defeat Naraku to avenge his past love, Kikyou’s, death, and traveling with Kikyou would be best. Kagome could heal and the fight would go on. Shippou on the other hand straight out refused to travel with the group if Kagome wasn’t with them.

“We can keep him here with us child.” Tsuyomi suggested with a kind smile.

The young priestess nodded her assent and with that, the Inutachi left, minus two members, on the search for Kikyou.

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A month had come and gone, and Kagome was almost completely healed up. Shippou was out gathering herbs and such for Tsuyomi the rest of the day, so Kagome decided to take a walk through the surrounding forest. It was a beautiful day, and it had been too long since she had gone outside. She was restless.

It was striking; the trees were a healthy green that she never saw in her time because the air was too polluted for the trees to be so healthy. The flowers were exotic colors, dotting the lush grass every now and then.

Kagome thought she had seen a clearing up ahead, and she was correct. It would have been just as gorgeous as the rest of the forest if that was what her attention had landed on. As of now, they were directed at the bloody and beaten body of the man the Inutachi had fought a month ago.

“B-Bankotsu…” Kagome managed to choke out.