S-S: I do not own InuYasha.

This was it.

This was going to be the last thing that Naraku ever saw. And InuYasha was going to make certain of that. Five hundred years of thinking that the world had been rid of the foul demon and that the price for such a world had been too high. Five hundred years of hating himself, blaming himself for Kagome's death, pleading with his mind and memories to try and see if there had been any way to stop what had happened on that fateful day. Five hundred years of dedicating himself to protecting humans, making himself as strong as he needed to be so that he would never have to lose someone ever again. Five hundred years of regret.

After all that time, all that anger that InuYasha had thrown at the world, he would finally have his revenge. No. Not revenge. This wasn't that petty. This was justice. Justice was what would bring Naraku down, that was what would finally kill the bastard who had killed those that he cared about. InuYasha had waited for this for a long time. Time for Naraku to meet justice.

InuYasha's mind whirled through the skills that he knew, the techniques that he had mastered over the years. Which would be the perfect one to bring Naraku down?

The bastard still held that look of confidence, still appeared just as calm as ever, still planning ahead of every step that InuYasha could ever make and finding ways to win. Naraku was a thinker, a strategist, and a coward. InuYasha was none of those. His plans were made up on the fly, instant split-second decisions in the heat of battle that hadn't been thought of at all before that second. Was that his real advantage? Not his skill or strength, although that was part of it. Was what kept him alive simply the fact that Naraku never knew what move InuYasha was going to make until he made it? That was rather elegant, in its own way.

There was the heavy feel of the Tetsusaiga in his hands, the hum and heartbeat of the sword that he had learned to match his own heartbeat to. His blade was soaked in the blood of a thousand demons, each one more evil than the last, and each one leaving their skills behind for InuYasha to use. Five hundred years preparing for this. Now how to kill Naraku?

In pausing to think, InuYasha made his first mistake. Naraku's arms suddenly became wooden, and thick roots pierced the floor of the room, ripping up the ground. The roots twisted beneath the earth, spikes shooting out to hit InuYasha from all directions.

The hanyou flipped into the air to avoid the attacks, cursing under his breath at his lack in speed and his foolishness. Being airborne while Naraku was still in control of the terrain was one of the worst things that he could have done, still infinitely more preferable to being impaled however. InuYasha sliced away at the root that tried to spear him from behind, turning around to cut another hunk of earth in two.

"You can't dodge forever!" Naraku cried furiously. It seemed that both of them wanted to end this.

But still, InuYasha frowned, Naraku was right. Not only couldn't he keep on dodging, but it simply wasn't his style. InuYasha landed on one of the roots and used it to push himself off, throwing himself at the floor. He landed gracefully and crouched down, slamming the blade of the Tetsusaiga into the earth, "Senjinnotani!"

In an instant, it seemed as if the rest of the world rose around InuYasha. In reality, a circle of earth surrounding the Tetsusaiga fell down into the earth a few feet, creating a protective circle of rock around the hanyou. At the same exact time, huge spikes of stone and rock exploded out from InuYasha's position, pillars sharpened to a deadly tip shooting out and impaling themselves into the walls and successfully pining down Naraku's roots.

Naraku frowned, his lips twitching impatiently, waiting for InuYasha to let his guard down. And to his extreme annoyance, Naraku had never seen that last attack before, which could only mean one very unfortunate, aggravating, troublesome thing. That foolish hanyou hadn't been lying when he claimed to have improved.

There was a flash of silver in the corner of Naraku's eye and then the clash of steel. Naraku had thrown up his shield just in time, the split second of warning that he had before InuYasha struck had been the moment that he needed to throw up a defense. Damn that hanyou.

"Why fight so hard InuYasha?" Naraku said, stepping backwards to gain distance, "You of all people should know that those who get in my way tend to end up dead."

InuYasha snarled as he swung his blade once more, the anger overtaking that bit of common sense that told him his lade – fine as it was – would do naught to scratch the shield, "You really are a sick bastard, Naraku! Everything that you've done, all those horrible acts, you don't regret it do you?"

With blinding speed, Naraku moved an inch to the side, letting the Tetsusaiga pass by him like a harmless toy, "Of course I don't," he retorted, "Did you really think that I had?"

"I held hope," InuYasha spat, "That there was some part of you that could still be saved after I remove you from this world. Because unlike you," he yanked the sword out of the ground and turned to face his advisory once more, "I like to believe that there is still good in this world."

Naraku snorted, "I shall say that I am indeed glad I never held such foolhardy hopes," he glared at InuYasha, crimson burning into amber like fire, the hate between the two of them almost tangible, "But what you have to ask yourself is, what does that hope say about you?"

"Actually," InuYasha retorted, stepping his foot backwards like preparing to run, "There's a far better question to ask."

And then, with unimaginable speed, like a phantom, InuYasha was suddenly inside the shield, right next to Naraku, "Do you honestly think that your shield will still work on me?" he asked, his voice little more than a taunting whisper. There was no need to be louder. Naraku was right there.

The he swung his blade.

The shield flickered out of existence, having done little or defense and having untimely failed entirely to serve any purpose. Naraku's red eyes were wide with fear or shock or surprise or hatred. He had failed. His body was severed in half, a line right across his chest. Right where his heart was.

"It's over Naraku," InuYasha said tiredly, letting his sword scrape the ground, too tired to lift it properly anymore. It was over. It was done. He had finally finished this, finally won the long battle against the worst enemy of them all. There would be no more fighting, no more battles, because the war had been won. The long war was finally over, and the most dedicated soldier of them all was desperate to lay down arms and stop.

Sighing, feeling his limbs begging to shake and relax, InuYasha sheathed his sword. He stumbled backwards, overwhelmed by how tired he turned out to be. He turned and walked towards the door, thinking only of finding Kagome now. His final attack had taken a lot out of him, not a move that he used often or cared to even use at all. It was a finishing move, one that worked only once. It was the Kokuei, a single move, a single step that would carry him to his opponent, no matter of distance or barrier. The original wielder had been the first since Naraku to come close to killing InuYasha, and that single technique had been pricey to learn. But in InuYasha's mind, it had been worth it.

Because Naraku was at last, after so damn long, he was finally dead-

"Disappointing."

InuYasha gasped, his hand on the handle of his blade, ready to turn and fight again because his instincts told him to fight the owner of that voice, even though his mind told him that it was impossible. Naraku had been dead. InuYasha had seem him fall. Afraid of what he would see, InuYasha slowly turned around to face Naraku.

Naraku was standing, on his feet, the two halves of his body stitching themselves back together. His physical body looked as insubstantial as smoke, changing at will to wrap the bits of demon and human into the form that was Naraku. "Really InuYasha," Naraku said, almost like a laugh, as his torso reformed, "I would have expected better of you."

"How?" InuYasha demanded, withdrawing the Tetsusaiga once again, "How are you still alive!? How is this possible!? I cut your heart, you should be dead!"

There was simply another chuckle. Naraku experimentally tilted his head to each side. His neck cracked. "Had you actually cut my heart, yes," he said, like berating a small child, "But you, InuYasha, never even managed to touch my heart. Not a single scratch. I told you that I had changed over the three years that I had been absent. And here I learned this easy little trick," he turned to InuYasha, "You can't kill me."

"What the hell nonsense are you spouting!?" InuYasha screamed at him, the furry and the anger overwhelming him. How was this possible?! How could he have failed again? How could he have let himself fail? There had to be a way, there always had to be a way to kill Naraku, InuYasha knew this. Because if there wasn't a way to kill Naraku then there seemed to be no point in anything anymore, not even living. Naraku took anything and turned it to poison. Naraku had to die.

"My heart," Naraku said simply, "Such a precious little thing. Imagine how such a simple organ can do so much for a person," he smirked at the hanyou, "Remember precious Kagura? Of course you do, as I heard it, she's your sister-in-law now. All her talk about being the wind, and being free, her endless and pointless quest for her 'freedom'. So easy to break her. All I had to do was get her heart," Naraku's gaze grew more intense and angry, "That's all you ever have to do. Once you have the heart, then the person will follow as you command."

InuYasha stepped towards Naraku, his knuckles white from the tight grip he had on the handle of his sword, "Tell. Me. What. You. Did," he demanded slowly.

"Of course," Naraku continued, "My heart does nothing for me anymore. I do not need it to feel or to breathe. But for some reason, I can never fully get rid of it. I have tried of course, you remember, surely, my many attempts to remove my heart from the rest of my body. None had… the desired results," he frowned at this, "So I tried something different. Since my heart is now almost pointless, I concluded that it need no remain in my chest as per tradition. I learned to move my heart around my body."

InuYasha's eyes flickered wide for a moment before his tight gaze returned, "You can relocate your heart at will? You truly are a monster." But this meant that…

Naraku shrugged, "I don't care. But this means one thing for you InuYasha," he smirked, "I cannot be cut, slashed, or stabbed to death. Wherever you cut, I will simply move my heart out of the way. And one day, one day soon, I will move it out of my body forever, and it will become completely pointless. Then, I will be immortal."

"There is no such thing," InuYasha said scathingly, "As immortality."

He paced around Naraku, his eyes burning, "I should know. I've died once," InuYasha continued, because these words needed to be said, and he wanted poison to spit at Naraku, "Remember?" he asked, throwing Naraku's words back at him, "You killed me once before, so many years ago. That was when I learned, truly learned, that immortality was just some stupid dream. Everyone and everything dies Naraku! It's just a question of when."

"Then my 'when'," Naraku replied spitefully, "will be 'never'. You have not what it takes to transcend mortality, you are too weak for such a thing. I never held your weakness, it has long been purged from me. Whereas you, you cling to your weaknesses. You protect them. You weaken yourself because you refuse to let that which is weak die. Like that pathetic miko girl."

It was InuYasha's turn to laugh, a deep chuckle full of amusement and fury, "Kagome ain't weak," he said simply, "You will learn that."

That wasn't a threat, that was his promise.

He would make sure that Naraku knew of his strength, Kagome's strength, and he would make sure that it would be the last thing Naraku ever knew. Kill Naraku, kill Naraku. It was the mantra in his mind, the thought that kept him going. For five hundred years, when he had believed Kagome dead, he had struggled to find a reason to live, a reason to stay sane. He had found a reason then, a burning desire to bring justice to scum like Naraku. But now, his mind had locked on to the old enemy. This was his new reason for living. Kill Naraku. Keep Kagome safe.

"You won't kill me," Naraku said determinedly, "You do not have what it takes, you will never have what it takes. You are limited by the weakness that is love. You love Kagome, and so you desire to protect her. And in doing so, you weaken yourself. That is why you will never bring me down."

InuYasha twitched, desperate to swing his blade again and prove just how mortal Naraku was, "You are still wrong," he said, "Kagome isn't what makes me weak. She's what makes me strong."And that's why I will win.

In a flash, InuYasha raised his blade and lunged at Naraku. This is it, he thought, it all ends here Naraku.

Naraku stepped backwards, knowing that this wouldn't matter. Getting hit was no longer an issue.

Clang!

Steel on steel.

A plate of metal blocked InuYasha's blade.

"What-?" InuYasha gasped, surprised. He lowered his blade and stepped backwards, knowing why he saw what he saw, but still not believing it.

Tsubaki's arm twitched, and the plate of steel melted until it reformed as a small metal wristband. She stood, like a new shield for Naraku, another person to manipulate, "Run InuYasha," she said calmly, her voice as ice cold as her pale skin, "You are outnumbered. Your chances of winning this battle have now decreased. You are at a severe disadvantage."

The unspoken words 'Go to Kagome' passed from Tsubaki to InuYasha in a single look.

There was nothing more that he could do.

InuYasha ran.

S-S: Okay! If any of you want the translations for InuYasha's new attacks, here they are;

Senjinnotani: bottomless ravine

Kokuei: dark shadow