Soon Kari entered Kaede's village with a dazed expression. She went to Kaede's hut and entered it and saw everyone there. Everyone greeted her happily, but the child only sat down and sighed. Chase trotted over to Kirara, in his smaller form, and curled next to her and she licked his head. The dragon let out a purr, causing the cat to seemingly giggle.

"Kari," Sango began, sitting next to the girl. "Something wrong?" Kari looked at Sango then closed her eyes while turning her head back to its original position with a sigh.

"Kinda." She stated and slightly opened her eyes. "You see," The girl began explaining the odd meeting that happened moments ago. "And he gave me this scroll." She waved the scroll lightly. Sango snatched it out of her hand, startling the child, and skimmed over it. The demon slayer blinked after finishing it then handed it to Miroku.

"Well, this all seems rather interesting. We should have a look." The monk informed, passing the scroll to Kagome.

The teen looked at it, skimming over it then gave it to Kari. "Ask it a question." She stated kindly.

Kari nodded. "Kay. Uh, well." The girl thought for a moment. "Oh! How can this be located anywhere?"

New text appeared on the scroll. Kari read it aloud. "The temple has multiple doors, each able to open up in a certain area, once given the location."

"But how do we get there?" Shippo piped up.

New text appeared on the scroll. "I am the key."

Kari blinked then gulped. "Will I be able to visit my friends and attend school in my own time?" She asked, not expecting an answer.

New text appeared on the scroll. "The teacher will be able to answer." The child blinked then sighed and looked at everyone.

"I think I should give it a try." She stood up. Chase perked his head up, twitching his ears. He stood and raced to be with Kari. Everyone else stood up and joined the child in her decision. They gathered their things and left the hut and said goodbye to Kaede, who was working in the field. They left the village then went to a clearing not too far away.

"Ok, Kari, you should try opening the door that the scroll was talking about." Kagome stated. Kari nodded and opened the scroll. She blinked a few times, debating on asking it for help.

"Uh..." She mumbled. "Oh!" She smiled then opened the scroll even more, taller and taller. Eventually the scroll was pretty big. The girl attempted to hold it up, but it fell over on her head. Kari sighed as the scroll began shifting and shuffling. Everyone stated as the scroll changed into a sliding paper doorway. Kari gasped and stared as the door opened itself.

A voice echoed from the doorway. "Only the student may enter." It was deep and masculine. "No one else." Kari looked to everyone and gulped.

"Well, I'll be seeing you." Kari stated and began walking towards the door. Inuyasha stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hold on, what if it's a trap?" He asked with a low growl. Kari giggled at the half demon's reaction.

"I'll be fine." She stated. "Besides, if it can help me then I'll give it a try. If I feel like something's wrong then I'll flee." The girl stated and took the half demon's hand off of her and went through the door. It closed and began to shrink, changing back into a scroll, which vanished with a puff of smoke.

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Kari looked around with an awe struck expression.  She was in a hallway that was made out of mainly wood. The walls were painted a vanilla white, while the wood floor shimmered with a nice polish. The girl soon heard a "poof" sound from above her and looked up. Her face was quickly met with the scroll. The girl hissed in pain and grumbled, rubbing her nose with her left hand, the scroll gripped in her right. She was soon met with a bird demon. He looked similar to an eagle with golden feathers, silver talons, and white eyes with golden pupils and bold black outline. He was as big as the average male human and looked to be bipedal. It also wore a robe that was white with a black sash. He looked at the girl and tilted his head.

"Kari Himura?" He asked and Kari nodded in reply. "This way, please." He stated and walked off. Kari swiftly trotted behind him, a bit hesitant at first, her head constantly up turned and looking around.

"Where are we?" Kari asked. The demon glanced at her.

"A temple, far from the reach of civilization. It is known to the few here as the Abilities Temple, for what it is used for." He informed. Kari nodded and smiled.

The two were soon in a large room. It had pearl white walls and a similarly colored ceiling. The demon stopped and turned to face Kari. He sat down, gesturing for Kari to do the same. Kari sat down in a similar way.

"Now, we wait."

"For what?" Kari asked.

"You will see. It won't take long." Kari shrugged. As the demon said, it did not take long for something to happen. The room began to glow brightly, engulfing the two.

"One year. No leaving." A voice echoed.

Kari rubbed her eyes. "Wait. One year? One year of what? And no leaving?"

"Training. You will get breaks, of course. Come, let us be going. Your room awaits. You will meet your teacher tomorrow. And yes, you will not leave the temple, but it is rather big so I'm sure you'll be fine." Kari stood up after the demon and frowned. Not being able to see the others for a whole year will be hard, not only that but Kagome will be upset because the girl is not attending school. But Kari made her choice and it looked like nothing bad was going to happen just yet, so might as well stay for now.

Kari followed as the demon appointed her to a room. He stopped in front of an a sliding door and let Kari be. "Oh, by the way, please call me Satoru. Well, make yourself at home." With that, Satoru spread his arms out, which were his wings, and flapped them hard, causing a whirlwind to swirl around him. He vanish not long later. Kari blinked and entered her room. She saw a mat, pillow and blanket by the window opposite her, a small table not too far away from her bed and a closet for her things. The girl entered her new room and got comfy. The day came to an end quicker than expected and Kari was curled on her mat, the moonlight hitting her face ever so slightly.

The next day Kari woke up with a stretch and saw a note on her small table by her bed as well as some food, just some rice and neat as well as warm tea.

"Eat up, you will need your strength for today's training. Satoru will show you to the training ground. Please be ready. Your new teacher, Toshiko." Kari read the note aloud. She ate quickly and then got dressed, not putting on her hoodie, cap, goggles, or gloves. She put on her spiked cuff weapons then pulled up her hair and took a deep breath then left the room.

"Good morning." Kari heard Satoru call.

"Mornin'." The girl replied with a small smile. She followed him into a yard with a lot of training dummies and other equipment. Not that far away was a woman with maroon hair that was in a pixie cut and messy in style with a small braid slightly above and a bit left from her right eye, near her nose. She had piercing lavender eyes with a blue ring around her golden pupils and pointed ears. She had a few blotches of jade green scales here and there on her body. The woman's hands had sharp talons and she wore a grey kimono with a gold sash around her waist. Her feet had black slip on shoes, similar to ballet shoes. She walked up to the two with a kind smile. Her slightly curvaceous body swaying side to side as she walked. Kari blinked at the much taller woman as she loomed over her.

"You must be my new student. I'm Toshiko, hi." She smiled and bent down to be about eye level with Kari. The child nodded.

"Uh, nice to meet you."

"Well, let's get to it then!" She called. "That'll be all, Satoru. Thank you." With that, Satoru left with a whirlwind. Toshiko looked at Kari with a determined glare, causing the child to shiver. "Now lets see what you can do. Push yourself to the point of collapsing, GO! We start with physical training for the first few weeks, then we move on to mental training. We'll see what to do next after that." Kari jolted and began training.

The week went by with harsh training. The girl was sore all over and was glad she had the whole day to herself. She decided to explore for the day, seeing meditation rooms of pure ivory, rooms for training, and a library. The girl went into the library and browsed, not finding anything interesting. She left with a sigh then went to her room to draw in her note book.

After another few weeks Kari had gotten better with her abilities. Her muscle mass had grown a bit and she gained a few scars on her body, the most noticeable was a thick one across the bridge of her nose, caused by her opponent one day in a sparring lesson. She did not mind the scars, in fact she rather like them. Her hair had gotten longer and messier as well, giving her a rougher look. This was only heightened by her clothing being a bit worn out along the edges of her short legs and shirt sleeves, but for some reason her scarf was undamaged. She also grew in height, reaching about three feet ten inches.

Eventually the year of training was over. Kari was now four feet tall and her body was a bit more toned. Her fangs were more pronounced and looked more feline while her hair was now longer, nearly below her shoulder blades while the long bangs met two inches above her collarbone and her scarf was still undamaged. The girl thought about cutting her hair while tugging at it to tighten her usual ponytail, which was messier in style. She turned and finished packing her things, as well as a few gifts from Satoru and Toshiko. Kari then closed her bag and exited her room with a content sigh, holding her knapsack over her right shoulder and her skateboard under her left arm. She saw Satoru and Toshiko outside her door. They smiled kindly at her.

"Thank you for training me." Kari bowed in respect.

"You're welcome. Thank you for being a good student." Toshiko stated kindly. "Be careful, alright? Remember what Satoru and I told you to do. And remember to spar with those in your group, it'll keep you in shape and in tune with your abilities. Oh, don't forget to stay healthy, eat plenty of food and water. Make sure you meditate too." Kari chuckled at how motherly her teacher was being, but the two had grown close over this past year so it was not surprising for the girl. Kari nodded then took out the mask and cloak from her knapsack that she got from her time in Naraku's castle. She put them on, packed her skateboard in her bag and looked to Satoru, who nodded and guided the girl to a certain part of the temple.

Once he stopped walking Kari took out the scroll and unraveled it as much as she could, until it was a sliding paper door. Satoru nodded to Kari, who bowed to him with a smile. Satoru chuckled and bowed to her as she left the temple. Kari was now in a clearing, the door behind her turned into a scroll and landed on the ground. Kari picked it up and packed it into her knapsack and walked into the nearest village, since she knew she was nowhere near Kaede's village.

----------

"We weren't able to teach her everything." Toshiko sighed while eating a meal with Satoru.

"True, but it is all we can do. Now Kari must figure out the rest. We have done our job, as ordered."

"I still feel a bit bad for her. I wish we could've told her everything, or at least a bit more. It's upsetting we were told not to. I mean, she's still a kid, for the most part."

"As do I, Toshiko. As do I." Satoru sighed. "But we must listen. She is, well... Anyway, she must figure out things on her own, that is how she will learn. It's all up to her now."