If Naraku Never Existed...
-Scroll One: What if he didn’t exist?
The night from the full moon shined over the forest brightly, lighting it up in its glow. Not many clouds were in the sky, so the moonlight showed over nearly every feature on the ground, including a certain red-clad hanyou.
Inuyasha sat in his usual tree whenever he was near Kaede’s village. He was not sure why he liked this tree so much, but he just did. Ever since he first came to this village, he stayed in this tree, whether it be out of plotting to steal the jewel, or his current mission to revive it, he always sat here, far up and away from others.
He looked into the sky.
It wasn’t often that he got some alone time to think. Due to his journeys with Kagome and the others, he rarely had any time to himself. Every time he wanted to be alone, Kagome always came looking for him, Shippo came to annoy him, or a demon showed up to ruin the silence.
However, tonight was different. The others stayed in the village and he got his alone time back. It was an almost new feeling that over time Inuyasha had forgotten, but now he could re-experience, if only for tonight, the feeling of having time to himself.
He watched the stars shining brightly in the sky.
He actually liked to take time and look at the stars, but wasn’t as fascinated by them as most people were. Still, it was strangely calming to look at the night sky.
As he watched, his mind began to wander. He saw a cloud pass by and it was oddly shaped like a soul collector.
A soul collector…
His mind soon wandered into thoughts of Kikyo. He was after all in the very village were he first met her. He remembered that day well. He was hiding because it was the night of the new moon, making him vulnerable.
While he was hiding, he came across a priestess who was slaying nearby demons. She appeared to be a normal priestess, but she carried the smell of demon blood. He watched as she slayed one after another until finally there were none left.
Inuyasha then recalled that the priestess sensed him in the tree, but instead of attacking, asked if he was seeking the shikon jewel.
Not knowing what it was at the time, he simply replied no. After a brief talk, the priestess turned to leave, but passed out from exhaustion. Inuyasha left his hiding place and checked on her to see if she was alright. He left when he heard villagers approaching.
A rustling noise from below jarred his thoughts back to the present and he glanced down. A small rabbit had scurried out of the brush. Inuyasha ignored the wandering hare and went back to his thought of Kikyo.
“Kikyo,” he whispered out loud to no one, “what are doing at this moment? What are you thinking? Who are you thinking about?”
He began to remember their many encounters after that day. Finally finding out about the Shikon jewel’s importance, Inuyasha began to seek it. Kikyo however always put a stop to his plans.
In the two incidents they met, she did not kill him. Only pin him by his arm sleeves to a tree with a few arrows. The first time, she left him with a warning, the second time, Inuyasha wanted a better answer.
“Why do you always do that?!” was what he yelled at her when she pinned him and began to walk away. “Why don’t you ever finish me off?”
Her only response was to stay away from the village and leave to jewel alone.
As the days went on, he watched over her, until the day the two actually held a conversation. From that day the two simply talked to each other, they were inseparable.
Wherever Kikyo went, that’s where he went. What ever Kikyo did, he was there beside her. The two even made plans for each other, to use the jewel to become human.
As the memories of the pact between he and Kikyo came back to him his thoughts then turned to the night Kikyo was to give him the jewel. That was the night that Naraku had deceived them. The mere memory of Naraku caused the hanyou to growl.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. What if…
What if he didn’t exist?
Inuyasha continued his thoughts, working his normally not so concentrated brain.
“What if Naraku didn’t exist?” he asked himself again, “If he didn’t… then Kikyo and I wouldn’t have been betrayed… we would…”
He stopped himself from finishing. He knew the answer very well. As his mind continued to contemplate this alternate situation, he began to feel tired.
He shifted his position on the tree and made himself comfortable. As sleep began to consume him, he quietly asked himself his question on last time.
“What if he didn’t exist?”
~End Scroll one~
