Important Announcement!

-Anyone who doesn't want to read through my lengthy discussion on my feelings of Truth Be Told, feel free to skip ahead to the bold message at the very end.-

As my oldest and most reviewed fanfiction, Truth Be Told has always held a spot in my heart. Unfortunately, I feel like it's a really crappy fanfiction. It jumps all over the place, the characters are too Out-Of-Character, Kirara occupies too much space with her annoying antics, there's badly covered up plot holes... I could go on and on about what I hate about this fanfiction. I know I was only 14 when I wrote it (15 when I finally finished it), but still. It's bad writing.

However, I still can't bring myself to delete it. I kind of like looking back at what I've written over the years to see how much my writing has changed; I like seeing how much better I've gotten. And I also still occasionally get reviews for it, so it's staying put.

Originally I was going to replace these old chapters with new ones and leave the old version up on Mediaminer(dot)org. I even went ahead and rewrote the prologue and replaced it. But after thinking about it, I've decided to go back and put the old prologue back to begin a brand new document for Truth Be Told. It'll have the same title and it'll still be an Inuyasha/Yu Yu Hakusho crossover; Kirara has a minor role and isn't an annoyance. I've tried to cut back on the number of OC's included in the story, and most of them have vanished... unfortunately I then went in and added a few as Kouga and Ayame's children. Thankfully, most of them will only be mentioned in passing. Only a few of them have any true importance (maybe 8 or 9? Wow... sounds like a lot when I actually count them out...)

What else can I say? Oh! I've finally watched all of the Yu Yu Hakusho episodes, so I have a much better grasp on the series. I'm currently attempting to catch up on all of the Inuyasha episodes I have ignored in favor of better things to waste my time with. I actually got pretty far before I gave up on the series... I honestly don't have much to catch up on. I got up to episode 139 and caught a little bit of a few after it. That leaves me with less than 30 episodes to catch up on. Between that and finishing up Mall Duty 2 (a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction I'm working on), it shouldn't take me long to get the prologue and first chapter posted.

Since it’s against the rules to post only an A/N... I guess I can give some snippets of chapter one and some possible future scenes. I haven't gotten too far in the rewriting process. I've only gotten the chapters mapped out to chapter 13 right now, but I'm only doing scenes up to chapter 4. So, anything labeled chapter 1 is actually in that chapter. Anything else is a possibility and will most likely change by the time I get there.

Chapter 1

I breathed in deeply, letting my instincts filter out all the different scents. Blood was the primary one, to no surprise, as well as the scent of an oncoming rain shower. There were very few animals remaining in the trees, which was a pity since I could have used a snack.

Sensing no threats, I continued my rounds, walking around the check on everyone. Miroku was sleeping peacefully away from the girls with Shippou lying between them. I resisted the temptation to bat at the young fox demon’s tail and continued on past the smoldering fire pit to where Kagome was sleeping fitfully.

It was then, looking at her, I realized what the scent from earlier was. The familiarity of the scent was from her and the new scent was from her newly awakened bloodline.

I let out a deep purr of amusement. I knew even then that the new development would lead to a new, more interesting, but peaceful adventure.

“K-Kagome!” Sango stammered, taking a step back in surprise. “You have ears!”

“Ears?” Kagome asked in confusion. “Of course I do.”

Sango shook her head. “Not normal ears; they’re fox ears!”

It was Kagome’s turn to look surprised as she reached up to the sides of her face where her ears used to be. Slowly she trailed her fingers up to the top of her head, where the two furry, black appendages were clearly sticking out from the top of her head. Her hands started trembling as she dropped them back to her side. ‘Fox ears? How can this be?’

“Now’s not the time for jokes, Miroku!” Sango scolded. “Why has this happened? Have you ever heard of anything like this happening?”

“No,” Miroku replied with a shake of his head. “Not without the human losing control to the demons. But then, most of those involve a demon possessing the human and that’s not possible with Kagome because of her purification abilities.”

“So how do you explain this?” Sango demanded. “This isn’t possible either!”

Kagome nervously got back up on her feet and looked between her two friends, hoping one of them would have an answer. She couldn’t possibly go home with fox ears! What would her mother think? What would her brother think? What would her grandpa do?

Sango suddenly tensed up when a movement behind Kagome caught her attention. “Kagome, don’t move. There’s something behind you.”

Chapter 2

"So does that mean I'm a demon too?" Souta eagerly asked. "And do I get cool ears like Kagome and Inuyasha?"

Kagome flinched at the mention of the half demon's name. She still hadn't told her family about his passing. To tell the truth, she wasn't sure if she would be able to.

Mrs. Higurashi nodded in response to Souta's question. "You are the same as Kagome; you have dog and fox demon blood running through your veins. And like Kagome, the seal will not break until your eighteenth birthday."

"Aww," Souta whined in disappointment. "That's not fair."

"If it's any comfort, your powers will begin to leek through when you turn fifteen, just like Kagome's did," Mrs. Higurashi told him. "Until then, you'll just have to be patient."

"I almost forgot to tell you," Mrs. Higurashi spoke up once Kagome had mastered hiding away her demon features, "a representative from Spirit World will be visiting us tomorrow. He wishes to speak with you about the well."

Kagome sat up straight at the mention of someone else knowing about her time-traveling. "Spirit World?" she asked.

Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "Yes. It is the world souls journey to once their time here is over. Both demons and humans go there and are judged by the ruler. But anyway, this representative is very important in Spirit World, from what I have heard. And I was thinking that maybe to... set him off-balance, you could wear traditional priestess robes."

Kagome considered the idea for a moment. On one hand, wearing priestess robes was too clear a reminder of her incarnate, Kikyo, and the devastating loss of one of her best friends. On the other hand, if wearing them would give her the upper hand when dealing with the representative she felt as though she could handle it.

"On one condition," she said after a few moments of consideration. "I don't want it to be red."

Mrs. Higurashi quickly agreed.

Kagome was silent for a moment before she tried a change in the conversation. "Hey mama, are you sure you're not part fox?"

Her mom laughed in response.

Chapter 3

"Excuse me; I am looking for a Miss Kagome Higurashi."

Kagome steeled herself before turning around to face the handsome young man. It seemed she would be forever plagued by the company of handsome guys, not that she was really complaining. First there was Inuyasha, then Miroku, and then Kouga. Even Sesshoumaru had taken a small liking to her in recent years, although she was sure it was more out of respect for her abilities than anything.

"I'm Kagome," she told him. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Her fox-demon side purred in pleasure when the representative took a step back with a comically surprised look on his face. "Y-you?" he sputtered.

Kagome rested the broom against her side and gave a short bow.

"But you're-" the young man stopped mid-sentence to collect himself. "My apologies. I wasn't expecting you to be a shrine priestess. Is there a more secluded place we can talk? About the well?"

Any amusement Kagome was feeling faded away as she nodded and led him around to the back of the shrine where the well house was located.

"I hate to ask this of you, but you need to seal the well for good. It's a danger to this entire world and I feel that if it is left open for any longer the consequences would be catastrophic! I know it will be difficult, but it must be done," Koenma told her, looking truly apologetic.

Kagome clenched the broom handle tightly and felt the wood begin to crack beneath her fingers. "I've used the well for years and nothing bad has happened," she said, trying her best to reign in her temper.

"That is true, but portals like this grow more unstable as time goes on," Koenma said. "And you also run the risk of changing the course of history if you stay for much longer. The only reason we haven't contacted you before now is because of the Shikon Jewel. We understood that it was necessary for it to break and for you to travel around and bring the pieces back together, but that was all." He paused a moment and to take a deep breath and sigh. "I don't admit that I know what my father was thinking when he permitted this, but what's done is done."

"What about my friends?" Kagome demanded. "I can't just leave them behind without a word."

"Of course not. I'm not so heartless to demand that the well be sealed right now," Koenma said calmly. It was odd. In any other situation like the one he was in, he would have felt terrified. But with Kagome he felt just as calm as he sounded, almost like he knew she wouldn't hurt him even though she was more than capable of doing so. "I'm afraid a week was the most I was able to convince my father to give you. If you're not back by then he will send his precious SDF after you and you'll most likely be locked away for disobeying a direct order. I would rather not see that happen."

Chapter 4

Kagome slowly approached the injured demon, her black tail nervously flicking behind her. She wasn't sure if he was alive or dead with all of the arrows sticking out of him, but she had to find out. There was something intriguing about him and if she could help him she was going to, if only to find out what was drawing her toward him.

She dropped to her knees beside him and felt for a pulse in his neck. Feeling none, she let her arms fall to her sides in defeat. But then the demon moaned and his eyes flickered open for a brief second before he succumbed to unconsciousness.

'Hold on,' Kagome thought desperately. 'I will save you.'

End Scene Snippets

For everyone who skipped all of that, I am rewriting Truth Be Told and will start to post the new version once I am finished with Mall Duty 2.

Kishirokitsune