Here's a heads up- if you haven't been keeping up with the manga lately, there are some references to recent chapters, and I will be more than happy to explain them at the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoy!

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It had taken five days for Inuyasha's strength to fully recover from the incident with the miasma (well, technically he was perfectly fine after only three, but Kagome insisted that he rest more just to be safe.) Honestly, he would have been pouting and complaining throughout most of the time, had he not been occupying himself with falling into his relationship with Kagome. As odd as it sounded, their relationship was…so easy to get into, like it was a long time coming. Though, he thought whilst playing with the back of Kagome's hair, that it certainly had been.

Currently, his girlfriend (and soon-to-be mate) was finishing with the usual packing of her ridiculously bright yellow backpack, and making sure that she had everything, the bag propped up on her lap, the top flipped open, as she sat on the bed next to him. Although he had wanted to leave as soon as she had finished, she promised that they would leave first thing in the morning. Of course, they had fought over the matter, but Inuyasha quickly resigned to defeat when Kagome threatened to never pet his ears ever again (after how wonderful it felt before, could one possibly blame him?) And so, there he sat, flipping and twirling her smooth locks of black hair between his clawed fingers as she finished preparations for tomorrow. "You know," her thoughtful voice dragged him out of his daze, and he inclined his head toward her to show he was listening (but still continued his ministrations to her hair as he listened,) "the next time we fight Naraku might be the last time." The smell of fear and anticipation saturated her otherwise wonderfully sweet scent, and his hand froze in her hair while she continued, "think about it; Megatsuhi is dead, as are all of his incarnations other than Byakuya, but even he won't come anywhere near Sesshomaru now that he has Bakusaiga and his left arm, and…" she paused a moment, her figure tensing at one particular thought. Knowing what it was, Inuyasha untangled his claws from her hair to wrap her in his arms.

"Your spiritual powers are stronger than ever," he murmured into her ear. He felt her nod, but otherwise gave no response to his statement, though it was very much true- since Megatsuhi's death, his seal on Kagome's spiritual powers had completely diminished, and her true priestess abilities were brought forth. Even Inuyasha and Kaede had to admit, that even Kikyo's maximized spiritual strength paled in comparison to what Kagome's had become without that damned seal, proving that she was more than just a flawed copy to anyone who had still has even the slightest inkling that was the case. Unfortunately, having that much power made her Naraku's primary target recently, as he was certainly determined to have her join her previous incarnation in death (though it would never happen, if Inuyasha had any say in the matter). "Keh, don't worry about it." He responded, holding her a little closer.

"How can you say that?" She asked incredulously, turning her head toward his. "Naraku has most of the jewel, and is set on killing every last one of us! Worse yet, we still need to get rid of Byakuya to ensure that Naraku will never resurface again! Not to mention, who's to say that we can still win? So much could happen…" he could hear the tremor in her voice as the smell of tears wafted through his nose. But he honestly couldn't scold her for crying, not this time; there was a lot that could go wrong, and if he was as honest as she was, he would have to admit that, with their currently gained (and in theirs and Sesshomaru's cases, regained) assets, the fight has about evened itself out for both the protagonists and the antagonists. The fight could go to either side at this point. Sure, it was a fifty-fifty chance now, but it was a blessing in comparison to their odds before this.

"I'll admit- Naraku has just as much chance of winning as we do," his arms tightened around her in reassurance. "But I know that we will come out of this, and Naraku will pay. Think about it; we have more allies than he does. It's basically a two versus at least twelve fight, and despite how strong Naraku and Byakuya are, they will be overwhelmed, not to mention that each one of us has our own abilities that we have honed and developed, that he still can't counter. But we know every one of his attacks, and we've survived them before. So just…" unsure of how to finish, he sighed lightly.

"Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best," she finished for him quietly, and he could swear that he heard her smile before he saw it.

"Exactly," he gave her a fanged grin in response. Finished with preparations for tomorrow, she tied the bag closed and set it next to the bed, along with her bow and quiver of arrows before she clicked off the light and slipped under the covers. Inuyasha (though remaining on top of the blankets) lied down next to her to watch over her as she slept, returning her favor for what she did for him while Naraku's miasma was still harbored within his body. But, he mentally reminded himself with a grin as he draped an arm over her, he could never repay her for how well she took care of his heart, try as he might.

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Five o' clock the following morning brought with it Inuyasha and Kagome's return to the place that they both now called home, despite the fact that the miko was still shaking off the feeling of sleep as Inuyasha guided her to the well.

After safely passing through to the feudal era, Inuyasha wrapped an arm around Kagome's waist before leaping grandly out of the well. The hanyou couldn't help but chuckle at her unsteady landing in the grass, still wet with morning dew. His arm tightened around her to keep her from falling, and remained there until she was steadily on her feet. Only then did he retract his arm, but not without one final affectionate squeeze. She smiled her gratitude, a look that quickly changed to a look of urgency when she watched him sniff the air frantically, and his eyes widen in shock. Following his gaze, she quickly understood why.

Thick vines of menacing smoke jutted out into the dark early morning sky above Kaede's village, flecked with sparks and lit ashes from the flames consuming the otherwise peaceful place. "Let's go," nodding in agreement to his growl, she climbed onto his back as he sped off toward the site of the calamity. As he broke through the barrier of trees surrounding the area, his senses were assaulted with the heat of the fire, the smell of burning ashes and soot, the blinding light from the flames that consumed the huts.

"Naraku-!" Hearing Kagome's outburst and seeing her point her finger over his head, he followed its path to find the dark hanyou hovering amidst the chaos, thick tentacles strewn out in various directions. His sadistic, maniacal laughter echoed ominously over the frantic cries of what villagers were left.

Sesshomaru suddenly burst forth from a pile of rubble, Bakusaiga poised high in his left arm as he took the liberty of slicing off several of Naraku's tentacles in quick, graceful strokes with his blade. Koga, who they had suddenly realized was also present with Ayame, sped forth and saw his opening to drive his leg through what tentacles Sesshomaru had not cut down, which left Ayame to send in her leaf spears into Naraku's chest. Unfortunately, the leaf daggers were easily absorbed into his skin and shot back out, managing to barely scrape her arm and her legs as she leapt to the side, out of harm's way.

Inuyasha (on her insistence) set Kagome down so she could run into the action close behind him as he drew forth Tetsusaiga. Hearing them approach, Sesshomaru was the first to greet them. "Brother," he nodded, earning the same gesture from his younger sibling.

"How long has this been going on?" Kagome asked as she readied and arrow onto her bow, though had yet to draw back the string or take aim.

"A few hours, perhaps; it hasn't been very long."

"How did Naraku find the village?" Inuyasha growled out.

"That much I do not know. Now then, if you're through interrogating me, I believe we have a battle in which we must partake." Growling at his arrogant older half-brother, despite their recent truce, the hanyou turned toward Naraku. Their nemesis seemed to be having a difficult time dealing with the after-effects of Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga, seeing as the tentacles the blade had severed were still dissolving, and further inflicting damage to their owner. With an irritated growl, Naraku quickly sliced the affected stumps off to keep from further damaging him. Seeing his task complete, he let out a beastly snarl toward the inu-hanyou ahead of him.

"So Inuyasha, you have managed to avoid further suffering from my hand yet again," he jeered, drawing immense enjoyment from seeing Inuyasha's enraged reactions to his taunting. "No doubt that damned miko had something to do with it," Naraku added, still unaware of Kagome's presence. So it had, of course, been a shock to feel her arrow, cocooned with her bright blue aura, splice through his chest, and ultimately dissect him clean into two halves. Of course, it did nothing to his false body, but the dark hanyou knew that he could not deal with her as well as the demons and hanyou set before him on his own.

"Naraku, it's high time you pay for what you've done!" Kagome called as she readied another arrow and pulled the string back taut. With practiced skill and grace, she lined the tip of the arrow up where Naraku's chest had just finished regenerating, and was about to let the arrow loose when Inuyasha stopped her by catching the hand on her bow with his. Her eyes snapped over at him, shocked that he was actually holding her back from attacking Naraku for once. "Inuyasha, what-"

"Don't bother," he said, though the disappointment in his eyes was not unnoticed. "It's one of his false bodies, and it's disappearing as we speak."

"I know that! But if I don't attack-!"

"Naraku knows that the final battle is upon us," Sesshomaru cut in, though kept his gaze on the dissolving image of Naraku's copy. "No doubt he is saving his strength for when the time comes. If we are to defeat him," he turned to look at them, "we must do the same." Inuyasha, Koga, and Ayame nodded. Kagome lowered her bow in defeat and also nodded once she stowed her arrow back into her quiver.

"But first, we need to try and find any survivors," Kagome said after a short moment of silence, and Inuyasha nodded in agreement.

"There's no need," everyone turned to see Miroku, Sango, and Kaede leading the villagers out of the forest, Shippo and Kirara trailing behind the rest. Seeing Inuyasha and Kagome's surprised looks, Sango stepped in to explain,

"While Sesshomaru, Koga, and Ayame fought off Naraku, we managed to evacuate the villagers into the forest far enough away from the battle." When she saw the couple nod in understanding, she turned away to help try and restore some order to the village, as most of its inhabitants were busying themselves with putting out what was left of the fires and trying to salvage what they could, if anything at all.

"Sesshomaru-sama!!!" Hearing the familiar (albeit incredibly annoying) squawk of his servant Jaken, the taiyoukai turned and lifted his head to see the said toad-like demon mounted on Ah-Un's saddle as he guided the two-headed dragon youkai to the ground. Sesshomaru made his way over to where Ah-Un was to land to speak with Jaken in private, temporarily leaving the rest of the group to discuss their next move.

While Kagome talked with Sango, Miroku, and Kaede, Inuyasha allowed himself to fully take in his surroundings, see what was left of the village. To be quite honest, there was little for him to see other than piles of singed wood and ash. What few huts were still standing were uninhabitable, having become heavily dilapidated from the abuse they took from the dark hanyou's assault. Seeing the destruction of one of the two places he called home, Inuyasha clenched his clawed fists at his sides.

"Naraku will pay for all the havoc he has caused. He WILL die," he growled out. Kagome nodded as she interlaced her fingers with his (after prying his claws loose without much coaxing) and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He gripped her hand back a moment before they let go, glad he had her at his side, though not entirely happy with the prospect of hiding their affections until Naraku was dead. As they broke contact, Sesshomaru returned to the rest of the group

"The next time Naraku shows himself, will be in the battle to end it all," the hanyou and miko turned to Sesshomaru, surprised at both his statement, and the certain bloodthirsty glint in his eyes that he had not held in quite some time, before he even managed to get his arm and Bakusaiga. The glare alone sent the humans in the group (and Jaken) into a nearly insuppressible shudder (well, except for Rin, but she really never was afraid of him.)

"What makes you say that, Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, genuinely confused as to how he would know this for certain.

"I sent Ah-Un and Jaken after a group of Naraku's poisonous insects that had left the village following the attack. They have returned with the location of Naraku's castle. It lies on the Western border, just barely inside my lands," he snorted under his breath. "Keh, to think, he's been tainting my domain with his rat-hole," he jeered. Inuyasha however, seemed oddly distant, as he continued to glare aimlessly at one of the smoldering piles of what once was a hut. Even Sesshomaru could not ignore the tension the hanyou held within.

"How far off is it?" The hanyou growled, still not facing the others.

"For us youkai, about a half a day's travel; for the humans, it would take at least a day to get there."

"…Fine then."

"The humans will be able to keep up with us," Koga said before growling something out in Okami-youkai tongue. Two particularly large wolves, each the size of Kirara's larger form, stepped forth from the brush. Sango picked up her two-tailed cat friend and stroked her fur gently.

"Kohaku and I will take Kirara," She noted as she gestured toward her little brother, who was currently helping the villagers sort themselves out. Koga nodded in understanding. Kagome stepped forth.

"Kagome- you and Miroku take the wolves-"

"There's no way in HELL that she's leaving my sight-"

"Inuyasha, be reasonable," the reincarnated priestess chided gently. "We'll all have to be split up and take different routes to Naraku's hideout. That way, we'll be harder to detect, traveling in smaller groups." The others nodded in agreement. Inuyasha reluctantly gave in, though was still greatly upset at the prospect of her not being within his sensing range for that long, and under such grave conditions, despite how well she can handle herself, and the fact that she wouldn't be traveling alone.

"Alright then, but perhaps it's best that we discuss this elsewhere," Ayame noted, jerking her head toward the trees. Miroku agreed.

"Very well; we'll meet in the forest clearing near the Sacred Tree," the youkai (and hanyou) of the group wasted no time in taking off toward the designated area. The humans (and Jaken) followed closely behind.

Odd as it sounds, the forest seemed…hushed, as though it wanted to be in on their plans; the usual ambient noise of birds or small animals was nonexistent, and even their footsteps in the grass seemed to echo. But all paranoia was disregarded when all were present and accounted for. Sesshomaru, the only one of the two people there that knew the whereabouts of the castle in question, began,

"Tomorrow at dawn is the best time to attack; Naraku still doesn't know that we are aware of where he is hiding, so it's best that we use that to our advantage," murmurs of agreement were shared among the group.

"If we are to attack at dawn, then we should leave in the twilight hours of sunset tonight," Miroku stated, explaining that leaving then would give them enough time to deal with any interference, if any of the groups were to come across any. Kagome countered with,

"That's fine, but the groups should leave at different times; the father apart each group's patterns are, the less attention we will draw."

"Alright, Ayame and I will be more than happy to each lead a group," Koga offered, and Ayame nodded enthusiastically in response.

"Agreed; so that everyone gets to the right place, Ah-Un and I will take Koga and Ayame to see where Naraku's castle is immediately after this, so that they may lead their groups properly," seeing the two Okami-youkai nod in agreement, Sesshomaru turned toward Kagome and Miroku. "You will take first leave at sunset with Koga. Ayame, you take the Two-tailed youkai and the two taijia siblings two hours after they leave. Inuyasha and I will follow behind after that. Once the groups reach Naraku's hideout, wait in the forest outskirts for a signal."

"What will the signal be?" Kagome asked.

"Listen for Kirara's roar." Sango noted, "That should be a good enough signal that won't sound suspicious," Kirara gave a soft 'mew' to show she was willing.

"Very well then. Koga, Ayame, follow me then," Sesshomaru said as he turned. Ah-Un, sensing that it was needed, walked over to its owner and awaited its command. The taiyoukai pet both Ah's head as well as Un's head a moment. "Lead us back to where the Samiyoshou lead you earlier," he ordered, earning a roar of acknowledgement from each head. Sesshomaru turned to the wolf-youkai couple. "Get on his back; I will manage on my own," though reluctant, they did as he had told them, and soon Ah-Un leapt high into the air, Sesshomaru gliding close to its side as they took off into the early morning air.

Inuyasha's hands wouldn't stop trembling, no matter how tightly he balled them into fists. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that, not only was he going to be separated from his intended, but she was also one of the first to leave toward Naraku's lair? For the first time in quite a while, he was truly terrified. Sensing his distress, Kagome assured the others that they would catch up to them later, as they headed back to the remains of the village to prepare. Once they were gone, she turned to him, stepping in front of him to get his attention. "Inuyasha?" She asked softly, hoping to finally get him to snap out of his thoughts. He lifted his eyes to look into hers.

"Do you…really have to be among the first to go?" He asked softly, his eyes wavering with concern for her well-being. Her eyelids drooped slightly. So, that was what unnerved him so.

"Someone has to do it. Besides, I'm the only one of all of us that can sense the sacred jewel shards, so it's only logical that I go first to see if this is the real deal or not. Besides," she grinned slightly at the thought, "at least I won't be stuck with your brother." She flat out laughed at his reaction.

"Ugh, don't remind me of the torture I'll be put through," he moaned in agony. She flicked his nose playfully, which he in turn scrunched up at the action.

"Oh, come off it, you two made a truce!"

"That means I don't wanna kill 'im. That don't mean I actually wanna be around him when it's not necessary," he pouted. Why must he be tormented so? She laughed as they started walking toward the village.

Very little conversation was shared among any of our heroes as they prepared for the upcoming battle (even after Sesshomaru, Koga, Ayame, and Ah-Un returned, not so much as Jaken made a noise). For the most part, the humans of the group, after they finished with either sharpening their weapons (or in Kagome's case, making more arrows and packing spare bowstrings) all slept lightly to save their energy, while the youkai (and hanyou) all simply rested once they were certain that their blades and other assortments of weapons were in their prime condition. And soon, the sun was beginning to enter the hours of twilight in which their plan was beginning to take shape.

Kagome let out a light sigh as she tied her black cloak around her neck. Miroku, as well as the other humans in the group, also sported the same long black cloaks with hoods. "Well, this is it," she whispered as she started walking to the one large wolf Miroku had not already mounted. The monk had already pulled the hood of his cloak over his face, as Kagome was about to do, when she suddenly heard rushed footsteps behind her.

"Wait," hearing Inuyasha's soft whisper, she stopped and turned to him. He regarded her a moment before mustering up enough courage to grip her shoulders gently, lean down and press his lips to her forehead, much like she had done for him. She blushed at the contact, but smiled happily at the warmth that spread through her from his touch. He pulled away and opened his eyes lazily. He gave her a small smile before he reached up and pulled her hood over the top of her head to hide her beautifully shimmering eyes from his view. "Stay safe, you hear me?" He whispered in a grave tone, and she saw the tremor in his eyes as he looked her over in concern. She nodded solemnly.

"I will," she replied in the same tone before turning away and mounting the wolf youkai.

"Let's go," both humans nodding at Koga's order, they gripped the fur on their respective wolf's necks as they took off into the fading light.

"Don't look so down, Inuyasha," Ayame tried to cheer the hanyou up as he watched Kagome disappear from his view. "For what it's worth, I know what you're going through; remember, Koga's with them, and he's my mate." That much Inuyasha had to give her; her officially marked mate was leaving her behind as well, so it wasn't as if he was the only one suffering. But…but he still was so afraid…

He shook his head firmly. No, he couldn't be thinking like this. Kagome was a capable and powerful woman. He should know; he was the one who loved her with all of his being.

As according to plan, precisely two hours after Kagome, Miroku, and Koga left, Ayame was ready and waiting to lead Sango and Kohaku down a similar path that the first group had taken. Kirara already had the two taijia siblings on her back as Ayame started to tense her legs to take off. "See ya later!" With that, she sped into the sunset, Kirara following close behind, though being sure to keep to the ground.

"We must take leave as well," Sesshomaru said, stepping ahead of his brother. The hanyou nodded in response, and with one last silent prayer to the gods pleading them to watch over Kagome, he followed his brother into the approaching night.

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-pant- -pant- Okay, stomach flu is gone, it's kinda late, and I am finally done with this chapter!

Okay, there's a reference to a guy named Megatsuhi earlier in the chapter. He's the dark half of the sacred jewel, and he also sealed Kagome's powers when she was a baby, so we never saw her at her full strength until after his death (which, for the record, hasn't happened yet) And there's talk of Sesshomaru's arm growing back (it does) and he gets a new sword, Bakusaiga (a sword that he had harbored in his body, and never even knew about it.) And Byakuya (no, not Byakuya Kuchiki from Bleach) is the only living incarnation of Naraku left. Hope that clears things up for you!

The next chapter, you ask? Why, it's only TEH FINAL BATTLE!!! So…stick around! Reviews always make me smile!