Rumors by HonouTenshi

Rumors

Hi all! Strange thing with this one shot, really. I had originally planned on writing something entirely different, but when I sat down and started writing, this just came out. I swear it wrote itself! Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy it! I definitely enjoyed writing it!

Disclaimer: I am making no profit from this work, it was only written for my enjoyment and yours as well. I, in no way, shape, or form own Inuyasha or any of its characters. They are the property of the great Rumiko Takahashi and hers alone. If I did own it, you would be seeing a lot more of Sesshomaru!

This is my first one-shot. So please go easy on me. Reviews will be very much appreciated, as they will brighten my spirits and bring a smile to my face. I have learned from previous works of fiction that reviews are critical for an author's survival. Lol.

For those of you who do not know the meaning of some of the Japanese words I have placed in here, there are definitions at the bottom. For those of you who do, if any of my definitions are wrong, please tell me and I will correct them.

A big thank-you to Sesshys_Jaded_Samrui for being this story's beta!

On with the story!

The morning chill awoke me to the beautiful songs of birds off in the distance. Already knowing everyone was still asleep without needing to look, I allowed myself to enjoy the peaceful morning. Rolling over onto my back, I watched with half lidded eyes as the clouds lazily drifted across the sky. Pulling my right hand from behind my head, I reached it into my pocket and fingered the object kept in there as I lost myself in my thoughts.

I had seen him again last night. I had left our odd little group to relax in the hot spring for a while, after making sure everyone was asleep. It would do no good to have a perverted houshi trying to sneak a peak while I was bathing; nor to have a disgruntled hanyou come running, sword in hand, at my embarrassed and outraged scream, thinking I was in some sort of danger.

After I had managed to make it there without alerting any from my group that I had left, I began preparing for my bath. That's when I sensed him. That slight little tingling in the back of my neck, alerting me to the presence of a youkai.

My breath hitched in my throat. My heart pounded in my ears. It felt as if time had slowed to a stand-still as my gaze slowly lifted up and locked on his form.

He looked ethereal, standing there, bathed in the moonlight. His red and white kimono, blowing gently in the wind. His fluffy white tail resting lightly on his right shoulder. His long, silver tresses brushed against his form, moonlight glinting off each strand. Two pairs of magenta stripes accented his high cheekbones, two more on his wrists. Sharp claws tipped each finger, deadly. A navy blue crescent moon adorned his forehead, standing out against his pale skin. Small, but perfectly shaped lips formed his mouth. And finally, his eyes. His bright, golden eyes; eyes that showed everything and nothing at the same time. And they were gazing at me, just as I was gazing at him.

Then, just as time began to start moving again, it once again came to a screeching halt. For, like a speeding train, the seriousness of my situation hit me: I was alone with Sesshomaru! I mean, sure, I'd seen him out in the forest before, a lot lately, actually, but I'd always been with someone. Now, though, I was all alone, with absolutely no protection what so ever.

I watched in mortification as he merely raised that perfectly sculpted eyebrow of his, 'Crap! I forgot! He can probably smell or at least sense my fear!' I clamored to get a hold of my wayward emotions and gathered as much courage as I could.

"S-Sesshomaru? What . . . what are you doing here?" I was slightly surprised my voice didn't waver more than it did. After all, though gorgeous, Sesshomaru was rather intimidating.

His eyebrow disappeared behind his bangs, "This Sesshomaru could ask the same of you, Miko. You and your companions have been traversing across my lands for several days now." His deep baritone easily traveled the distance between us.

'Hm, it's nice to actually hear him talk instead of yell obscenities at Inuyasha. Wait, did he just say we're on his lands! Well, I guess that would explain why I've seen him a lot lately, but that doesn't explain . . .'

"If we are in your lands, why have you allowed us to stay? Not that I'm complaining; but we aren't exactly what you could call allies. I've seen you many times these last few days, but you've never done anything."

For the longest time he just stared at me, not saying anything, and I thought he wasn't going to answer. I was just about to ask him again, when he suddenly began to speak. "This Sesshomaru cares not that you are in his lands, so long as you do not attempt anything. Though he is curious as to what you are indeed looking for."

"Oh! Uh, we heard rumors of a powerful demon with a Shikon shard to the west, so we came here looking for it." I answered quickly, relieved that he wasn't here to kill me.

Sesshomaru scoffed, "Those who use the power of the Shikon no Tama to gain power are worthless weaklings who do not deserve to live. If one wishes to become powerful, it should be of his own gain, not a cursed jewel."

"I agree that one should become powerful on his own instead of using the jewel, but I assure you that that is not why we are after it. I'm the jewel's guardian. It's my fault it shattered and my responsibility to re-gather the shards and purify the jewel." I replied, a little surprised by his reaction.

He regarded me for a moment, probably trying to see if I was lying, before he gave a slight nod. He started walking my way, feet not making a sound on the moss-covered rocks surrounding the hot spring. My body automatically tensed up, the fight or flight instinct kicking in. Even though he had shown me no ill will the entire time he'd been here, he was still unpredictable and it was better to be safe than sorry.

He stopped within arm's length of me, gazing at me with his cool golden eyes. Because my head only reached his chin, I had to look up to meet his gaze, but that didn't bother me at all; I was used to it. Gold and blue stayed locked together in a staring contest for what seemed to be an eternity, before Sesshomaru finally made his move. Bringing up a clawed hand, he reached into his haori. As his hand re-emerged, another familiar sense ran through me.

I stared at his right hand, mouth agape, as he opened it and revealed to me its contents. There, sitting innocently in his palm, shining a luminescent pink, was a very large chunk of the Shikon Jewel; a third of it, in fact. I gaped at him, unable to form any of the questions I wanted to ask. "How . . . how . . . ?"

He chuckled, the sound deep and rich. His left hand moved forward, slowly, and grasped mine, careful of his claws. As he brought my hand up to a level position, he leaned forward, so close to where I could feel the barest brush of his lips against my ear. In a very low voice, he said, "The rumors were correct, my dear." And he placed the large chunk in my hand, still held in his.

After seeing that I had the jewel in my grasp, he released my hand and straightened himself back out. He took a step around me and as he began to walk away, I finally found my voice. Just as he reached the tree line of the little clearing, I quickly spun around and stopped him with a shout. There were a few more questions I needed to ask him while I had the chance.

"Wait! Where . . . did you get this? And how come I couldn't sense it until you took it out of your kimono?"

Glancing at me over his left shoulder without turning around, he answered, "Naraku, the fool, believed he could manipulate this Sesshomaru into eliminating his greatest threat by bribing me with a large chunk of the jewel. This Sesshomaru took the jewel, knowing that the jewel was the source of much of that vermin's power and that losing it would weaken him greatly, but I ignored his request. And seeing as how this Sesshomaru is in no use of it, for a being such as I does not need to resort to something so insignificant to gain power, and that you are the jewel's guardian, I gave it to you." He paused for a moment, deciding whether he should answer my second question. "As for you not being able to sense the jewel, this Sesshomaru had placed a sealing spell on it. I did not wish to be bothered by those foolish enough to seek it."

I nodded, fully understanding his reasoning for hiding the presence of the jewel; constant attacks by hundreds of youkai, desperate for the jewel, could become quite cumbersome. "You said Naraku wanted you to kill his greatest enemy for him, right?" At his nod, I continued, "Who was it, and why couldn't he do it himself?"

At this, Sesshomaru smirked, which left me completely confused. 'Why is he smiling? But wow, is he not beautiful when he does? He should smile more often.'

"Naraku is a coward; he himself never going into his own battles, always sending in others to do it for him. He is afraid of her." He paused, and his smirk grew.

'Her?'

"He is afraid of his enemy. He is afraid of a ningen woman. He is afraid of you, Kagome." With that said, he faded away into the darkness of the forest.

I couldn't move. 'Me? Naraku is afraid of me!' After standing in the same exact spot for what seemed liked hours, completely and utterly shocked that I was Naraku's greatest enemy and that I was the person, of all people, that Naraku was afraid of, I finally stripped of my clothes and got into the hot spring. Not taking any time to relax in the comforting heat of the spring, I quickly washed and raced back to camp.

I soon found that there was no way I would be able to get to sleep at the moment, there was still just too much on my mind. So I laid back on my sleeping bag and pondered the events of the night. After a few hours, and with the last thought of 'Why, is Naraku afraid of me?' I finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

So here I am now, watching the clouds pass by as I await my friends to awaken from their slumber, still pondering the information told to me last night. I can now hear the slight sound of Shippo stirring in his sleep next to me, and I know it won't be too much longer before everyone wakes up.

I notice Inuyasha jump down from his tree as I sit up and stretch. He suddenly appears before me, in his signature doggy-style sit, and, as usual, utters his first complaint of the day.

"Oi, I'm hungry! Hurry and boil some water so you can make Ramen." His hair was still ruffled up from his night in the tree, and it stuck up in all directions.

I reach up and lovingly stroke one of his adorable doggy-ears as I say, "Be patient; I'll make some when everyone else is up." He merely growled and covered up his ears with his clawed hands as he jumped backwards, in an effort to escape my fondling of his ears.

"Don't do that!"

"Do wha'?" A sleepy Sango asks as she slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Nothing!" Inuyasha yelled, I giggled. Sango shrugged, deciding not to push the matter this early in the morning, and calmly reached over to wake Miroku. After I gently prodded Shippo awake, I quickly brought some water up to a boil and passed out the Ramen. As always, Inuyasha and Shippo argued over who should get the last little bit; ending up in Inuyasha bopping Shippo over the head and winning the prize, and me giving Shippo what was left of my share.

"Did you sleep well, Lady Kagome?" Miroku asked, effectively diffusing the tension that had built up between Inuyasha and Shippo.

"Yeah, you guys will never believe what happened to me last night!" I was so excited to tell them . . .

"I can make a guess . . ." Miroku replied, a lecherous grin plastered to his face.

Sango and I promptly left twin handprints on his cheeks with a cry of "Hentai!" We make a good team, Sango and I.

"Not that you pervert! Geez, get your head outta the gutter!" I yelled, scowling. "Well, anyway, I left to go take a bath last night and . . ." and Inuyasha interrupted me.

"You baka! What were you thinking! What if a demon had found you? Nobody could've gotten there in time to protect you!" Somewhere in the middle of his rant, Inuyasha had jumped up and now his face was inches from mine.

"Inuyasha, if you would be so kind as to not interrupt me, I would have gotten there. A demon did find me." Oh boy, wrong thing to say . . .

"WHAT?" Everybody yelled at the same time.

"I said a demon found me. But it wasn't just any demon; it was your brother, Sesshomaru."

Another "what!" by everyone, but this time Inuyasha continued, "That bastard! He didn't hurt you did he! I'll kill 'em!" His hand had strayed to Tetsusaiga.

"No, Inuyasha, he didn't hurt me. All he wanted was to know why we were on his lands, and after I told him we were following a rumor about a Shikon shard, he walked up to me and gave me this." I pulled the large chunk of the jewel from my pocket and showed them. Everyone's eyes nearly bulged out of their heads when they saw how large it was.

"Yeah, that was my reaction too. Well, anyways, after I had overcome my shock, I asked him where he had gotten it. He said that Naraku had come to him and tried to bribe him into killing his greatest enemy for him. As the bribe, he gave Sesshomaru this chunk of the jewel. Sesshomaru took the jewel, but ignored Naraku's request. He said that he only took the jewel 'cause he knew that it'd weaken Naraku, and since he didn't need it he gave it to me." I explained.

"Wow. I can imagine Sesshomaru ignoring Naraku's request, but actually taking the jewel then giving it to us . . . it's hard to believe. I wouldn't have believed you if you didn't have the jewel as proof!" Sango announced.

Inuyasha grunted and Miroku nodded his head in agreement.

"But that's not all . . ." I said in a sly voice.

"You mean there's more?" Shippo said, astonished.

"Yeah, I asked who Naraku's greatest enemy was." I replied, a mischievous glint in my eyes.

"Ha! That one's easy! It's me!" Inuyasha announced arrogantly, but no one paid him any attention, causing his ears to droop. "Feh."

"Who was it, Kagome?" Sango prodded.

"Well, when I asked him, all he did at first was smile at me. Can you imagine Sesshomaru smiling? It was . . . wow. Anyway, guess who he said Naraku's greatest enemy was?" I smirked.

"Who?"

I flashed everyone a bright smile, dragging out the suspense just as Sesshomaru had. Finally, just as it looked like they were going to explode at me, I answered.

"Me."

Owari

So? How'd you like it? Awful, bad, good, excellent? R&R please! I'd love to hear your thoughts on my first completed one-shot! Thank you!

As promised, here are the definitions of the Japanese words in this work of fiction:

Houshi: Monk

Hanyou: Half Breed

Youkai: Demon

Miko: Priestess

Shikon no Tama: The Sacred Jewel/Jewel of Four Souls

Haori: Sleeved overcoat of a Kimono

Oi: Hey

Hentai: Pervert

Baka: Idiot/Stupid

Much love,

Aishiteru