I froze. There was no way I was hearing Kohaku correctly. There was no way that Naraku was back. He was suppose to be dead. 15 years passed by. There was no way it could be true.

"A-are you sure you saw Naraku, Kohaku?" Kayuma asked with nervousness.

Kohaku solemnly nodded.

"Where did you see Naraku at Kohaku?" Ayuma asked seriously.

Kohaku struggled to speak; "He was out near the forest....and Inuyasha and the others were there."

That's what caught my attention. Before anyone could react, I got myself off of the floor and started grabbing my things- my weapons I mean. I had grabbed several arrows, a bow, and my sword- Tensoga- before running out the door and out the village gates to head towards the forest.

I made sure I had a good lock on Mama and Papa's scent as I ran through the forest. Adreniline was making run like the wind and fear was what kept me going. "Mama! Papa!" I hollered out, hoping to get some sort of response.

I stopped in a field where there was nothing but dead grass. It was as if a small forest fire had erupted and killed off the grass. Then there were some trees that had no leaves on its branches and the branches were dangling from the tree.

"What happened here?" I asked myself as I cautiously walked towards the field. The grass crunched under my feet and that made me edgy. As I kept walking, I tried to find Mama and Papa's scent again but got nothing. There was no scent whatsoever, as if they just vanished into thin air.

"Hello?" I called out. "Mama? Papa? Aunt Sango? Uncle Miroku? Where are you guys?"

That's when I heard something from behind me. I cautiously turned around and found nothing. Then an evil cackle seemed to surround me from everywhere. Tensoga was not far from my reach when I spotted a shadow run from one tree to another.

"Who's there?" I asked threateningly. "Show yourself right now." I quickly grabbed Tensoga from its sheathe and allowed it to turn into a fang right before me.

"Poor, poor Izayoi," the evil voice said. "All alone now."

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

The person chuckled at me as my eyes scanned for movement. They stopped when I saw that there was a dark figure standing in the shadows. I had Tensoga ready as the figure stepped into the moonlight. It was a man, it seemed, and he was wearing a baboon pelt. Still, I could sense his demonic powers.

"Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you Izayoi." The man said to me.

I got in a defensive mode. "Who are you?" I questioned. "And how do you know my name?"

The man cackled in response. "I am Naraku," he said. "And I am here to see that you are dead."

I froze. Naraku?! No! That couldn't have been him! It just couldn't! "You're lying!" I yelled. "Naraku died nearly 15 years ago!"

"Well, you're almost right," 'Naraku spoke. "I almost died that day, but I've spent the last few years regaining my powers."

Before I could respond, Naraku moved at quick speed and struck me in the stomach, causing me to drop Tensoga. I dropped to the ground in pain and grabbed my stomach. "You, you-" I tried to speak but it was no use.

"Now you shall die." Naraku told me before I blacked out.

***********************************

The last thing I remembered was hearing Naraku's laughter. I thought that that was going to be the last thing I heard in the world of the living.

When my eyes opened again, I found myself in a hut. I looked over to my right and saw the wall of the hut and then to my left was a fire. Someone then walked inside and I struggled to see who it was but there was pain throughout my entire body.

"Hold still," the deep voice told me. "Your wounds aren't completely healed yet."

I looked over at the person and saw that it looked to be a grown man, maybe in his 20's. He was a fox demon with rusty brown hair and blue eyes. He had a fluffy tail right behind his back and pointy ears near his head.

"S-Shippo." I said with a weak smile. I hadn't seen him in 4 years so it was great to see him again, even if my body was filled with pain.

He went to my side and smiled. "Easy Izayoi," he told me. "If you keep moving like that then your body won't heal as fast."

I nodded as Shippo placed a cloth on my head. As he did, I started to fall asleep again with the cloth's coldness sinking into my head.