Disclaimer for the entire story: I do not own Naruto or InuYasha. This plot is mine do not use it without my permission. Domo arigato gozaimashita [Thank you very much.]

'Thoughts'

"Speaking"

Pages: 10

Words: 5,269

Chapter One: Moving On

"Miroku, how come her eyes have turned this blue color?"

"It must be from blindness Sango you saw what happened."

"Well, we should be safe in my old village until we have recovered."

The light illuminating from glowing wisps of grayish black energy had awakened her. "'Me ….wo ….samete……. kudasai [Wake up]," A raspy voice whispered calling to the carefully bandaged girl laying on back. "'Mmeeee wwoooo saaaaameeeteeeee kuuuuuudaaaasaaaaiiiiii….."

Wondering where the sound was coming from Kagome tried to sit up but found that her right arm had been completely immobilized being held in place with two very sturdy sticks while torn fabric was used to make her a sling. It hurt to breath and she could feel some of the cuts and bruises that surely were littered over her entire body. A light snore came from beside her. She tried to make out the forms of the sleeping people that where to the right of her, but it too dark, everything was pitch black. Parting her dry lips her pink tongue darted out quickly to moisten them. In doing so she recalled Naraku doing the exact same motion only a lot slower as he removed the rest of the hanging flesh that had once been Kohaku's face, to reveal his own.

"Kukukuku poor pitiful priestess if you think that the half breed, InuYasha, will come to your rescue, it's much more convenient if you die. He came to me asking if there was any way for his beloved Kikyo to be resurrected so that they can live happily ever after," Naraku stated as he shot out his tentacles towards Kagome only to have her fight off the one's that she could of them burning them in the process with purification reiki [spiritual energy] and dodging the rest of them as he continued to attacked her. "The mutt wants you to die so badly that he is willing to let me to absorb his powers. Kukuk he even proved how far he would go. He was the one to kill your entire family as….well as kukukuku…Kohaku."

The Taijiya [demon slayer], Sango, who was tiring from fighting off the continuous stream of Naraku's clones was so shocked by the information that she stopped in her tracks. InuYasha killed Kohaku…she let her guard down for that split second and it resulted in her receiving multiple blows to her mid section breaking at least a couple of her ribs. It was with such force that, when the tentacles impacted with Sango that her body was tossed through the air.

A massive saber toothed neko [cat], Kirara, saw this as her chance and dashed forward latching onto a slimy tentacle tearing it off before she too was also knocked back. However Kirara was able to quickly recover before exerting her leg muscles to run full speed, to gain enough momentum to slam her entire body into the clone that attacked Sango. Once on the ground her matted thick fur did little to protect her from being sliced by stray tentacles. Ignoring the pain long enough she was able to sink her razor sharp teeth into the clone. Once she had there was a loud popping noise and a wooden doll clanked to the ground that was immediately crushed underneath Kirara's bloody paw.

The Houshi [monk/ holy man], Miroku, who had seen Sango sent soaring through the air immediately ran away from the two Naraku clones he had been fighting as ran he dodged yet another one of Naraku's clones in order to be able to catch Sango. Miroku continued to slide backwards until he collided with the rough bark of a tree which cracked under such force. He grunted in pain as he dislocated his left shoulder, the noise of was able to snap Sango out of her shock. "Lady Sango?" Miroku called watched her with one eye, his other one shut with the extreme ache of his shoulder not being where it should be. He watched as Sango stood up, tightly gripping the strap of Hiraikotsu. It was only when her body started pulsing with energy, both his eyes widened. He could sense that Sango had somehow tapped into her inner strength and was now combining it with her already existing power.

"HIRAIKOTSU!" The giant boomerang was thrown with such force that the air around it caught fire, popped five clones and sliced the tentacles off another four before returning to Sango's awaiting open hand. Running forward she swung Hiraikotsu again popping two this time before it was swatted off to the side by one of the hundreds of remaining clones. Rolling over to dodge attacks while using her Kanata to slice up tentacles that came at her she managed to get a hold of Hiraikotsu's strap and ignoring the burning pain in chest area so that she could continue fighting off the Naraku clones with vengeance. Kirara was right behind her breaking the small wooden dolls as well as guarding her back.

'InuYasha…he betrayed all of us… he killed Mama, Jii-chan, Souta and Kohaku! How dare he, I will avenge my family's death.' Kagome vowed to herself just as she started to feel how much abuse her body had taken. 'We've been fighting for hours and I'll run out of reiki soon. The chunk of jewel that Naraku has absorbed into his body needs to be removed. Only then will the Shikon no Tama finally be complete. I have to get close enough to him and let him capture me.' Kagome thought grabbing onto one of his tentacles and purifying it as she allowed another one to wrap itself around her neck.

How she had managed to keep her arms from being pinned down, she'll never know, as Naraku wrapped two more tentacles around her waist and lifted her body off the ground. Kagome clawed at the slimy appendage wound tightly around her neck greedily sucking in as much oxygen as she could when it loosened slightly. When she felt it slithering down into her shirt she gulped, what was Naraku's intentions?!! Only when she felt the barrier that she had surrounded around her almost complete chunk of the Shikon react did she left out a breath of relief.

Naraku let out a small growl of frustration drawing Kagome in closer as she tried to lean further away from him. Kagome found out that the more she pretended to struggle, the closer he drew her in and before she knew it she was an arm length away from his exposed pale yellowish chest. "Dear Miko, give me the remainder of the jewel and perhapsI will allow you and your friends live." Naraku stated while trying to get through the barrier once more only to be repelled yet again his face twisted into a grimace 'How dare she keep me from what should rightfully be mine!'

Kagome frowned as she tried to remember what she had said to Naraku. All she did remember was that it had angered him and he cut of her supply of oxygen with a squeeze. Her frown deepened slightly when she noticed that her eyes had not adjusted to the darkness yet, they should have adjusted a long time ago. To pass the time she wondered what else she could recall. Well she did remembered the coolness of Naraku's chest as she dug her nails from her right hand into his flesh and used her reiki to draw out the part of the Shikon no Tama that was in him, forward, the same time she was burning a hole through his chest.

It was surprising to Kagome that focusing the purification reiki to heal a wound was harder than having to send a constant flow out her hands, which was easier. When she thought of protection and purifying something the reiki was a light pink. Strangely enough when she was thinking about attacking, it changed from the normal light pink color. Instead when it came out of her hands, it was a very light blue color and came out with the ability to send small shocks to the nervous system. Kagome concentrated harder now as she could almost feel the smooth surface of the Shikon as three tentacles wrapped itself around her right arm. The tentacles constricted around her arm so tightly that she heard and felt her forearm snap. Through the haze of pain and lack of oxygen she still managed to rip the chunk of pink jewel out using her left hand.

"IIE![NO!]" Naraku yelled as he gained back some control over his own body. He could feel the power draining from his body once the Jewel was torn from his torso. This wasn't what he had in mind it wasn't supposed to end this way! Naraku hissed when he suddenly felt warmth and unimaginable power flood over his body in waves. Power that had been within his grasps but he had lost! Power that could turn him into a full blooded demon and allow him to rule over all the lands! The same exact power that blinded him as the Shikon no Tama glowed in all its glory telling the whole world that was finally complete once again.

Kagome barely recalled what happened next as she reached up her left hand up to feel her sore neck in the darkness. She hissed when her finger tips lightly brushed up against the badly bruised flesh. It happened when she was struggling to get oxygen to her lungs after Naraku completely cut off all air flow. She just remembered how good it was to finally hold the completed Shikon no Tama. Before she used what little oxygen that remained in her lungs to make a wish.

"I wish," Kagome struggled to choke out to the jewel which glowed brightly in response, "for the souls… in the Shikon no Tama…to be-"

"YAMATE! [STOP!]" Naraku cried out in a sad attempt to hinder Kagome from saying the next two words. He sent out a tentacle with the intent on piercing through her body.

"-set free."

As soon as the words left her lips brilliant useless pieces of glass that had once been the Shikon no Tama burst outwards immediately destroying Naraku's remaining clones. With them gone everyone's attention was on the two souls that had immerged from the small pink prison. A black blur quickly zoomed away while Midoriko's brightly glowing white one stayed hovering in the sky momentarily surveying the scene; before she closed her eyes in regret at what had to be done next. Midorkio's arms detached themselves from her glowing body and rushed towards Naraku's face using both hands to pry each of his eyes to open wider, as the rest of her soul turned into a ball of pure reiki, which split into two and disappeared into both of Kagome's eyes.

No matter how hard Naraku tried to pry the invisible hands off his face he couldn't. His faced contorted in shock when Kagome didn't even flinch to acknowledge the bloody tentacle that had just gone through to the other side of her body. For the first time Naraku could feel the fear gripped the organ that pumped blood to the rest of his body, his so called heart, the sensation was almost as tight as he was squeezing Kagome's neck. He couldn't run away this time, he couldn't hide either he couldn't even move. A grunt of pain turned into an ear piercing scream as he starred into the bright pink light coming from Kagome's eyes he felt himself slowly being purified from the inside out.

Did he die? Was he dead? Kagome clenched her fist tightly she didn't know! The last thing she remembered was him screaming. She must have lost consciousness after using up almost all of her reiki, her wounds weren't even healing anywhere near the rate they normally would. Kagome decided that she needed some fresh air; shakily standing on her own two feet she used the wall as her guide to the door. Once outside in the coolness of the night she realized she couldn't see a thing, everything was dark. Was she…blind? It had to be, then how was it that she saw a light? After all it was the very thing that had awakened her. Kagome rubbed her eyes, it hadn't changed a thing however the grayish black wispy light had returned beckoning for her to follow it.

"Kite……….. kudasai. [Come here.]" The same voice from before spoke, only a little louder this time.

"Who's there?!" Kagome asked while she slowly followed the trail making sure she was on guard even in her weakened state. When her footsteps started echoing she stuck her arm out and felt along the rough rocky surface of a cave with her finger tips. "Who are you?" Her own voice questioned over and over again as the sound bounced back. She let out a small gasp when the light led her to the humongous glowing spirit of the dragon youkai whose soul was torn from his body and had been trapped inside the jewel along with Midoriko's.

"Anata [You]… Anata no namae wa nan desu ka? [What is your name?] You're the one who wished for the souls trapped in the jewel to be set free?"

"Kagome." She replied curious to what the spirit wanted with her. She gave a small head nod to the second question.

"Kagome… well I guess you're the one I give my thanks to," He grumbled his voice still coming out raspy and loud. "I never thought I'd see the day when Iwould be thanking a ningen [human]."

"How come I can see you when I can't see anything else?"

"You have lost your sense of sight, meaning you cannot really see me. You are using your reiki senses to produce a picture of me in your mind. Since you are more in tune to sensing demons this is a simple task that you can do," He explained pausing momentarily before speaking again. "Kagome you have given me back the one thing I had wished for, my freedom. For that I will give you the things that youkai had tried to kill me for when I was alive, my eyes along with the rest of my power since it is no longer any use to me."

Leaving no time for her to protest the next thing she knew was that the dragon's spirit face was right up against hers, his red pupils where outlined with a rim of black. There were three black commas each with a small white dot in the middle of every comma in both his eyes. Kagome felt a massive gust of wind fly into her eyes and fill every inch her body. She forced herself not to cry out when her eyes suddenly started to burn badly and itch. She felt like clawing at her eye balls in hopes to relieve some of the aggravation in her eyes. It wasn't any better when the rest of her body started to feel as if there was molten lava flowing through her veins. Her miko reiki wasn't reacting to the dragon spirit's because it had become accustomed to both the energies in the Shikon no Tama gave off in small pulses.

Water dripped on her quivering form from the top of the cave as she slid down the rocky surface of the cave wall. It felt like an eternity of being slowly roasted from the inside out. Her insides felt rewired- like her entire circulatory system had been rearranged before the sensation finally receded, once it had she uncurled herself from the tight ball that she had curled into from the intense pain and blinked open her watering eyes. The sensation had made her want to vomit out all her organs. She sat on the ground in a daze breathing heavily trying to keep the bile that was rising to her mouth, down.

"At least I can see." She mumbled as she gingerly rubbed her eyes with back of her hand as she stumbled out of the cave. The spirit of the dragon demon was no longer there so there was no reason for her to stay either. The blurriness hadn't gone away yet, but Kagome could tell that the sun still had not risen as she made her way back to the hut.

"Kagome you're awake! Thank Kami [God]," Sango exclaimed waking up almost as soon as Kagome had made it back into the hut and onto her sleeping bag. "I was so worried I thought you were dead."

"Why? What happened after I lost consciousness? Is Naraku-?" Kagome asked curiously.

"No, that bastard managed to hang on by a thread and get away. Miroku and I wanted to chase after him but he found Shippo's hiding spot, knocked him out and threatened to kill him if we did. He got away…again!" Sango said slamming her fist into the wooden floor her body tense. It slowly dissipated as she looked over her friend. "How are you feeling? You lost a lot of blood Kagome I don't know what I would have done if you had died. I already lost Kohaku- how could InuYasha betray me like that?!"

"InuYasha betrayed all of us," Miroku said solemnly joining in on the conversation after being awoken by Sango's loud outburst. "He is nothing more than a coward and we are better off without him," After he had added his two cents in Miroku realized that Kagome seemed to be looking right at him. "Kagome…can you see me?"

"Un [Yeah], what kind of question is that?" Kagome asked back deciding that it was in her best interest not to retell the events that had just occurred. They might think she was crazy following a random glowing light accompanied by a voice into a cave in her vulnerable state.

"I just-there was-We saw-! Uhhh… never mind." Miroku said dumbfounded, it had to be some sort of miracle!

"Wow Miroku must have hit his head really hard against that tree." Sango stated holding her ribs in pain when she let out a small laugh. Only when Kagome didn't join her in the laughter she became worried. She knew Kagome well enough that the look on her face meant one thing- Kikyo was near. Which meant InuYasha was probably close behind, since he was her loyal lapdog!

"InuYasha, Kagura, Kikyo, Kanna and Shippo are all outside. InuYasha is carrying an incredibly massive brown bag and Kikyo has an unconscious Shippo under her arm. She must have drugged Shippo to keep him asleep," Miroku reported after he sensed something outside, he peaked out one of the windows of the hut. He quickly ducked when Kanna had turned her head to face his direction. "Naraku is nowhere in sight. They haven't attacked us yet so I don't know what their intention is. They most likely know that we're still recovering from that battle a couple days ago; and that we can't fight them in the state we're in. Sango is there any way we can escape your village without being noticed?"

"Iie. There is only one way in and it's the same way to get out." Sango whispered now standing slowly avoiding any creaky wooden boards as she made her way over to Hiraikotsu.

"Miroku what are you wearing?" Kagome suddenly asked when she noticed that he was wearing a purple t-shirt with a high rising collar and some black knee length shorts.

"Well Lady Kagome you see I ended up tearing my robes into shreds to use as bandages for everyone. Both of you lost a lot of blood and kept bleeding through the bandages. This was the cheapest thing I could buy with the money left over from buying more bandages. Kirara took me to the village a couple miles from here. The ladies there were so young and beautiful, they begged me to stay but I told them I had to go because I was tended to two injured people. They cried out how handsome, noble and valiant I was they wanted me-"

THUNK

"Urusai [Shut up]," Sango said looking at the side of Hiraikotsu which had made contact with Miroku's skull. 'My wrists haven't recovered from throwing Hiraikotsu so much' Sango thought as she struggled to lift her giant boomerang off of Miroku's unbelievably thick skull. "So what are we going to do? We can't just sit here and wait for them to make the first move."

"Unfortunately we don't have much of a choice," Kagome said as she gently scratched behind Kirara's ears. "They have Shippo as a hostage and we can't just leave him behind with them, he's our friend!"

"She's right Sango, if we do anything they won't hesitate to kill Shippo. We need to come up with a plan." Miroku said while he rubbed the bump on his head as he sat right in front of the window with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

They sat in silence trying to think of a plan while listening to the noises outside. Sango broke it by admitting what they already knew. "It's no use! There isn't anything we can do. They've got us cornered and they know it." She said as she limped around the hut pacing back and forth fiddling with the holes in her dirty demon slaying outfit.

"Whatever happens next I just want you guys to know that I have always considered you as family. We've all been through so much we've become stronger because of all the obstacles we've had to face by ourselves and together …." Kagome trailed off looking back and forth between Sango's and Miroku's eyes. "And I believe together we can overcome this!"

Soon everyone's attention was on the Kanna who had soundlessly entered the hut quietly saying one word before turning back around. "Follow."

Sango looked like she was about to deny the order, her whole body had tensed up. However Miroku shook his head placing his hand on Sango's shoulder and she relaxed knowing that it would do them no good. Instead Sango held her head high with Hiraikotsu strapped onto her injured body. Kagome stood on the right hand side of Sango and Miroku was on Sango's left standing tall without his staff, since it had been broken in the previous encounter with Naraku, instead he held Kirara in his arms. They all walked out the hut simultaneously their heads held high.

"Kagome, Sango and Miroku." InuYasha greeted with a twisted grin while he circled around them while Kanna, Kikyo, Kagura followed in his footsteps as they moved Kagome, Kirara, Sango and Miroku where he needed them to be.

"Reincarnation." Kikyo hissed to Kagome with an almost excited look as she held Shippo by the scruff of his neck. She truly believed she could become human once more with Kagome out of the picture.

Kagome immediately noticed that something was seriously wrong with InuYasha. His eyes were red, but he wasn't lusting for blood and had not lost control of his demon side. The tell tale purple stripes were not present on his face or on his wrists. She knew automatically knew who it was in InuYasha's body and practically spat out the name in disgust, "Naraku."

"Oh, you think you figured it all out little Priestess, but you're wrong. Thanks to you I am occupying InuYasha's body however the mangy mutt is still in here too. He and I made a deal, I would get to live and he would finally be a full blooded demon. I would congratulate you on your find by killing you myself, but I can't waste my precious energy on you. Instead I have prepared a parting gift from me, to you and your pathetic friends." Naraku's voice spoke from InuYasha's lips.

"It's time." Kanna announced looking up at InuYasha who let out Naraku's signature chuckle.

"Kagura go make yourself useful, stand over there." Naraku ordered.

Kagura's clenched her jaw tightly as she strode over to stand in front of Kagome, Miroku, Kirara and Sango. Kagura almost wished that she had left Naraku to die when she found him blindly crawling towards their hideout his body burned and bloody. He was holding a knocked out small fox demon cub but all she had to do was wrap her hand around Naraku's throat and squeeze her hand around his throat and he would have been dead. What made her stop was the promise he made to her, Naraku promised that if she carried him back to their hideout she would get her heart back when he recovered. Kagura was surprised when Naraku, occupying his new body, kept his promise returning her heart back only asking one thing before he would grant her true freedom. That she help him get rid of Kagome and her friends. This was the last thing she had to do. She wasn't exactly sure what role she had to play, but she could practically taste the freedom now.

"Farewell," Naraku said after flexing his blood soaked claws, tossing Kagura's head close to the body. He had only returned the stupid wind witch's heart because he needed to use her blood as a sacrifice to activate the trap he had set. It would finally rid him of the annoying girl who used her powers to try and kill him and her equally annoying friends who wanted nothing more than to see him dead. He used Kagura's blood on his right hand and smeared the fresh red substance onto the back of Kanna's mirror activating a seal. "I needed to sacrifice a wind youkai [demon] for this to work."

Kagome couldn't help but watch, she was morbidly transfixed as Kagura's beheaded body fell to the ground and blood gushed out. The blood was rapidly making its way to where she was standing next to Sango, Miroku and Kirara. That's when Kagome noticed all the markings and lines drawn into the dirt- it was a trap! But by that time whatever they had all stepped on, had activated completely absorbing Kagura's body. Kagome's heart race increased when she found that she could no longer move her body anymore. She could only watch as Kanna walked over to where they were standing and lifted up her mirror.

The writing glowed as it wrapped around Kagome, Miroku, Kirara and Sango levitating them off the ground to become aligned with Kanna's mirror. Then all of them felt millions of pin pricks all over their bodies as ghastly grey wisps were drawn from them only to be sucked into the mirror and exit through the back to be absorbed into Kanna's own body. All of them soon realized that they were getting younger while Kanna was aging right before their eyes.

"Well this has been fun," Naraku's voice drawled as he stood up after he had finished using InuYasha's claw to draw another set of symbols into the ground. "I would stay and watch as you disappear from existence but I have things with greater importance that must be attended to," After speaking those words he grabbed Shippo by the scruff of his neck with the same clawed hand that was carrying the massive bag. Using his free hand dripping with purple poison he plunged it straight into Kikyo's clay body, burning the same symbols that was on the ground onto her cracking abdomen. "This gate needed a sacrifice of two thousand souls." He spoke looking directly into the confused-almost hurt clay eyes.

"Bas-tar-" Kikyo wasn't able to finish the word as Naraku tore his hand away. Once he did the souls poured out of the clay cavity opening up the portal he had summoned. This portal would be able to transport him to a new dimension. He didn't even bother to look back before he jumped into the portal while clutching Shippo and his moving giant brown bag.

If he had looked back, he would have seen how much Kanna was struggling to continue to absorb the energy. She needed to please her master and make sure her sister's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Kanna opened her black eyes and watched the small figures that had where on the verge of passing out inside the glowing ball. Their bandages had fallen off their small frames and the clothes that once fit them now engulfed their bodies. Even with all the odds against them all of them were still trying to escape with everything they had, the cat demon who had just transformed was causing Kanna the most distress.

The portal was still open for the moment it was being kept that way by the hundreds of souls that continuously gushed out of the clay prison. The pale colorless souls had nowhere else to go. The person the soul had inhabited at one point was long gone. Then a pink soul with dark purple patches emerged from the hundreds of colorless ones and rushed towards its true owner. The soul shed the purple spots becoming a light pink shade as it broke through the barrier so it could finally be reunited back with the rest of its soul inside Kagome's body.

Kanna's eyes slightly widened as the barrier was shattered, the glowing ball shrunk rapidly on the small figures inside before exploding outwards. Blood dribbled out of her mouth and onto her pale wrinkly hands as the shards of her broken mirror pierced through her body and into her organs. Kanna stumbled backwards watching as the light from the explosion cleared to show Kagome and her comrade's clothing had shrunk to fit their bodies. The bandages however lay on the ground useless. It must have happened when the ball shrunk inwards on itself. Kanna could watch no longer as her body shut down, the pale elderly woman fell forward, her white hair flowing around her like a halo as she lay motionless.

Kirara was completely disoriented tripping over her own paws as she tried to stand was never a good sign. It felt like something missing-but what? She shook her giant furry head when she couldn't recall. All she knew was that Kagome, Sango and Miroku where on the ground and she wanted to go into the bright light. Being mindful of her massive canines she picked up the three children using her mouth and limped through the closing gates of the portal. They all tumbled through to the other side of the portal, which closed itself off once they had arrived. Once on the other side Kirara was way too exhausted to stay in her transformed state after the whole ordeal with Kanna. So she briefly surveyed the surroundings and turned back into her smaller self before her eyes shut.

"Buyo……yamate onegai [stop please]." Kagome half heartedly murmured using her left hand to bat, what she believed to be her obese spotted cat away. The small wet tongue continued its onslaught on her face until Kagome cracked one of her eyes opened. It only took a second for her to realize that this fur ball blocking her line of vision was not Buyo, but was Kirara. Turning her head around she was able to see that Sango and Miroku lying not too far away from herself. Their bodies were both sprawled out in uncomfortable looking positions and dirty, but at least she knew they were still with her. Letting a rather painful sigh of relief out she turned back to where she had originally been facing, that's when she saw the two blue sandaled feet.

Who can correctly guess who the sandaled feet belong to?