Chapter 25: Wiping Away The Darkness

Kagome's pack grew bigger as they went to find Koga the wolf prince. Even though he's annoying, they still needed his help. She hoped that he'll stop calling her his 'woman' when she tells him that Masahiro is courting her. She was glad that Rin, Tomoe, and Akari were getting along. Kagome found it hilarious when she saw the three of them chasing Jaken around the flower field, trying to get him to wear a necklace of flowers that the girls had made.

"So do you know where Koga could be, Kagome?" Akari asked.

"He's about a day or two ahead of us in this direction. We'll probably meet him about three days, I think." Kagome said.

"Why do you look like you don't want to find him, Kagome?" Akari asked, her brow arched.

"That wolf won't stop calling me 'my woman' whenever I meet up with him." Kagome said, grunted afterwards.

"Maybe he'll stop when he finds out that Masahiro is courting you, Kagome." Tomoe said.

"Let's hope so, Tomoe." Kagome said, sighed. She hated when Koga would call her 'my woman'. She knew that he only called her that because she can sense the jewel shards and to get out of his engagement with Ayame. She couldn't know when he'll ever stop. Hopefully he will when he finds out that Masahiro is courting her. If not...she didn't even want to think about it. She sighed at the thought. Then she felt an aura coming towards them. But it wasn't Koga nor Ayame...it was something sinister. Suddenly, a dark purple smoke started to surround everyone.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here." A sinister male's voice echoed all around them. A baboon cloaked figure appeared in front of the group.

"Naraku." Kagome growled as she grabbed onto the hilt of her sword. All the warriors drew their weapons as well.

"So that's Naraku?" Masahiro asked.

"Hai, but it's only his coat." Kagome said.

"I see." Hansuke said.

"Tomoe." Kagome said.

"Hai?" Tomoe asked.

"Protect Rin and Shippo while we handle Naraku, okay?" Kagome asked.

"Hai!" Tomoe said as she ran towards where Rin and Shippo were and stood in front of them.

"Jaken." Sesshomaru said.

"Hai, my lord?" Jaken asked.

"Get the children out of here." Sesshomaru said, "If anything happens to them, I'll kill you."

"R-Right away, my lord!" Jaken said as he grabbed onto the reins and sat in front of Rin while Tomoe jumped on the back of Ah-Un. Totosai followed after the children and Ah-Un. Once they were out of Naraku's reach, everyone readied for battle.

"Shall we dance, Naraku?" Kagome said as she unsheathed her sword.

"Let's, little miko." Naraku said with an evil grin. Then tentacles shot out of his baboon coat. Everyone jumped out of the way. Then they began dodging and slashing the tentacles.

Naraku was impressed with the way the little miko's members were slashing his tentacles. He had to admit that they are fast. Considering that most of them are yōkai. But it appeared that the little miko had improved her skills when she left her he spotted the dragon yōkai with violet hair. From what he could recall, that yōkai is Shinji's younger brother, Masahiro. Shinji had long black hair and amethyst eyes like his father, but Masahiro had violet hair and amethyst eyes. Which meant that he has of his more his mother's features than of his father. The two reminded him of Lord Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's relationship. He was surprised that Lord Sesshomaru was allied with the dragon. Afterall, a dragon yōkai did heavily wounded his sire. Perhaps he could use this information to his advantage. But first thing first.

"You left your beloved pack in order to make your own, little miko." Naraku said, "That sounds a lot like betrayal."

"Even though Inuyasha was enchanted, forcing me to leave my pack, I was able to gain new friends and I was able to find someone who loves me for who I am, not as someone's reincarnation!" Kagome yelled.

"TEN NO HA!" Akari yelled. White blades appeared from her fan and sliced all of the tentacles that came towards her. Meanwhile, Hansuke used his staff to cut the tentacles. Masahiro and Sesshomaru were slicing the tentacles with their swords as well as Kagome was using her sword. All of them knew that this was pointless, they had to get to Naraku's heart in order to destroy him. But with all of these tentacles, it was very hard to do so.

"ENERUGĪ-HA!" Masahiro shouted as he swung his sword down and then a huge wave of purple colored energy went straight towards Naraku, destroying all of his tentacles and his baboon cloak. At last second, Naraku escaped from his cloak and floated above them.

"That was quite a powerful attack there, young dragon prince." Naraku said, "Your older brother has indeed underestimated you."

Masahiro narrowed his amethyst eyes at the hanyō before him. Masahiro truly despised his older brother, Shinji. That dragon had done the unforgivable. He killed his own parents in order to receive the throne.

"It would seem so." Masahiro said, tightening his grip on his sword. He hated when others would compare Shinji with him.

"Hanyō." Sesshomaru said.

"Ah, Lord Sesshomaru. It's quite a surprise to see you here. I never would have imagine that you would ally yourself with the very specie that killed your sire." Naraku said, smirking.

"I have my reasons." Sesshomaru said, narrowing his eyes at Naraku.

"I see. Well, let me send out the welcoming party." Naraku said, spreading his arms out. Then Kohaku, Kagura, and Kanna appeared from the purple miasma. Everyone tensed when the three appeared. Kagura took out her feather from her hair and enlarged it to hop onto it. Akari followed after Kagura into the sky.

"DANCE OF THE BLADES!" Kagura yelled as she summoned her blades and thrusted them towards Akari.

"TEN NO HA!" Akari yelled, summoning her blades and thrusting them towards Kagura. Both blades hit each other, making explosions. When the smoke cleared,

"So you're able to summon blades as well?" Kagura asked.

"Hai. You must be Kagura the Wind Witch, correct?" Akari asked.

"Indeed." Kagura said.

"From what I've heard, you wished to be free of Naraku, right?" Akari asked. She could see that Kagura tightened her grip on her fan. That answered her question.

"DANCE OF THE DRAGON!" Kagura yelled. Four tornadoes went towards Akari. Then Akari spread out her wings and lights in the shapes of her feathers appeared all around her.

"TENGOKU NO DANSU!" Akari yelled as her feathers shot towards Kagura's tornadoes. That caused another explosion between the two.

"TEN NO HA!" Akari yelled once as her blades went straight towards Kagura. At the same time, Kagura launch her attack as well.

"DANCE OF THE BLADES!" Kagura yelled. A third explosion happened between the two. Kagura had to admit that the white tengu in front was powerful. Maybe Kagome's new pack can defeat Naraku. But how can she gain their trust in order to do that? Then Hansuke's voice interrupted the two of them. He was telling them all to attack Naraku all at once. Can they really defeat Naraku this time? Well, she'll have to take that chance.

Kohaku went straight towards Kagome with his Kusarigama. Kagome quickly blocked the attack with her sword. She knew that she didn't want to kill Kohaku, but she had to get the jewel shard from him. Even though he's Sango's younger brother. The only thing she could now was block all of his attacks and try to get close enough to grab the shard.

"Lady Kagome." Kohaku whispered as they pushed against with their weapons.

"Hai?" Kagome whispered back.

"Could you take the jewel shard out of me?" Kohaku whispered.

"What?" Kagome whispered, shocked. She couldn't that Kohaku would suggest such a thing. She knew that if she took out the shard Kohaku would instantly die.

"If the jewel is gone, Naraku will have no control over me." Kohaku whispered.

"I understand." Kagome whispered. As she was about to reach her hand towards his neck, she heard Hansuke's voice call out to everyone to attack Naraku all at once.

Sesshomaru and Masahiro continued to slash Naraku's tentacles. Meanwhile, Hansuke used his talismans to protect himself from Kanna's mirror. From Kagome had told him, Kanna's mirror will rip out anyone's soul if they look into it. How can he break it without getting his soul sucked out? Then he got an idea. He quickly took out four ofudas from his kimono sleeve.

"HEAVEN'S BINDINGS!" Hansuke yelled as he threw the four ofudas went straight towards Kanna. The ofudas instantly turned into ropes and wrapped around Kanna, which blocked her mirror. But Hansuke knew that it can't last for very long.

"Masahiro! Sesshomaru!" Hansuke shouted. Both of them looked at Hansuke at the corner of their eyes.

"I need you to cover me!" Hansuke shouted. Masahiro nodded and came towards Hansuke front while Sesshomaru covered Hansuke from behind. Reciting the spell he used on Yamata, Hansuke quickly gathered both of his reiki and youki into the staff. Then he began to glow white as the eight rings on his staff floated around him.

"TENGOKUNO PASU!" Hansuke shouted as the eight rings shot towards Naraku.

Before he could blink, Naraku found himself paralyzed by the eight rings that shot out glowing white chains that quickly wrapped around him. Making him unable to move or summon his youki.

"EVERYONE ATTACK AT ONCE!" Hansuke shouted.

"TENGOKU NO DANSU!" Akari yelled

"KAMI NO HARIKĒN!" Masahiro yelled

"HONO O ODORIMASU!" Tomoe yelled.

"SORYUHA!" Sesshomaru yelled.

"DANCE OF THE BLADES!" Kagura yelled.

Then Kagome shot her arrow that was filled with a powerful amount of reiki in it. All of the attacks went straight towards Naraku whose red eyes widened when he saw all of the attacks heading towards him.

"AAAAHHHH!" Naraku screamed out in pain as his body quickly turned into tiny pieces that were soon purified into ashes by Kagome's reiki. Akari quickly caught the tainted jewel piece before it fell. But there was a blue orb starting to fall as well. Kagura quickly flew towards it and caught it in her hands. The both of them flew down in front of the others including Ah-Un and Momo.

"Here Kagome." Akari said as she handed the tainted jewel piece to Kagome. Everyone watched in wonder as Kagome purified the tainted jewel piece.

"It's finally purified." Hansuke said. Kagome nodded and turned towards Kohaku.

"Could you tell my sister that I love her very much and I hope that she finds happiness with the monk." Kohaku said.

"Hai." Kagome said. Then Kohaku turned around and Kagome took out the jewel shard piece. The shard was instantly purified. But they noticed something strange about Kohaku: he was still alive! Kohaku seemed to have noticed as well. Everyone was shocked at this predicament.

"I'm still alive?" Kohaku asked in disbelief.

"Hai, Kohaku. You're still alive. Now you can say those words to Sango yourself." Kagome said, smiling.

"Hai!" Kohaku said with a smile. Kagome was glad. She was glad that Kohaku had another chance to live. Suddenly, Kagura collapsed and Akari quickly caught her in her arms. She got down on her knees as she placed Kagura close to her chest. Everyone surrounded the two with worry. Hansuke began to notice that Kagura's youki was slowly draining away.

"Kagura." Kanna said. Hansuke quickly dispelled his bindings on Kanna. Then she walked towards Akari who had Kagura in her arms.

"K-Kanna." Kagura said, smiling weakly at Kanna. She handed a blue round object to Kanna.

"This is...your heart, Kanna." Kagura said. The blue object floated towards Kanna and absorbed itself into her chest. A glow of light was in Kanna's eyes. Her skin seemed less pale.

"Sesshomaru, can you-" Hansuke began to say as he turned towards Sesshomaru.

"I'm afraid that I can't, Hansuke." Sesshomaru said.

"Live the life...of freedom that I...was unable...to achieve." Kagura said, weakly.

"Kagura." Kanna said as tears were forming in her eyes.

"Kagura-sama." Kohaku said as tears started to fall down his cheeks.

"Don't worry, I will always be with you, Kanna, Kohaku." Kagura said as she closed her eyes with a small smile on her face.

"Kagura...Kagura!...KAGURA!" Kanna and Kohaku shouted as tears fell down their cheeks. Tears that Kanna was shedding for the first time.

The next day, Kagome and the others buried Kagura's remains near an oak tree that had a beautiful field of flowers nearby. All of them felt guilty. They wanted to help Kagura, but none of them could. Without her heart, she couldn't be healed. But at the very least, she was free. Finally out of the grasp of Naraku's control. Forever.

They watched as Kanna and Kohaku were doing their final prayer for Kagura. To the two of them, Kagura did care about them. She would always try to protect them. She had sort of soft spot for the two.

Kagome walked up to them from behind and decided to ask them something.

"Kanna, Kohaku would you like to come with us?" Kagome asked.

"Huh?" Kanna and Kohaku asked as they turned to look at Kagome at the same time. They were confused at the moment. Why was Kagome asking if they wanted to travel with them?

"You can join our pack. If you guys want to, of course." Shippo said. Kanna and Kohaku looked at each other for a few moments and then they nodded.

"I would like that very much." Kanna said with a small smile.

"Hai, I would like to as well." Kohaku said with a small smile as well.

"Well then, welcome to the pack, Kohaku, Kanna." Masahiro said.

Meanwhile (Just a little bit after Naraku died):

Miroku leaned against the railing near the fields. He was worried for Inuyasha. He had never seen Inuyasha so down and quiet before. It was a first for him, Sango, and Kaede to see him like that. He hoped that he wouldn't stay that way until Kagome came back. Luckily, two days later, he decided to help out the village. He was doing everything to help out. He was even helping the farmers out in the field. Miroku figured that Inuyasha was trying to keep himself busy. Suddenly, he felt an excruciating pain in his right hand. He quickly grabbed his wrist and fell onto his knees.

"Miroku!" Sango shouted as she ran towards Miroku. She quickly knelt down beside him and placed both of her hands on his shoulders. Seeing Miroku in pain, Inuyasha rushed over to him.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked.

"My hand. It hurts." Miroku said, grunting through the pain.

Is something wrong with his wind tunnel? Sango thought in worry. She was starting to think that the wind tunnel would suck in Miroku. Miroku's heavy breathing broke her out of her thoughts. He look at his right hand in a daze. Then he took off his prayer beads that were wrapped around his right arm. Sango and Inuyasha stood back in fright, afraid that the wind tunnel will suck them in as well as Miroku. But nothing happened. The two looked over Miroku's shoulder and their eyes widened at what they saw: the black hole in his right hand was gone!

"It's gone." Miroku said in a disbelief tone. He couldn't believe it. The wind tunnel was gone.

"Does that mean that Naraku is...dead?" Sango asked. She was having a hard time believing that the hanyō that had caused them so much trouble is now dead.

"But how?" Miroku asked. There were a number of scenarios running through his head.

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha exclaimed, "You gotta be kidding me!"

"How?" Sango asked.

"Is it possible that Kagome's new friends defeated him?" Miroku asked.

"I'm starting to think so." Sango said. Myoga had told them that they're all very powerful beings that had powerful weapons. With the combination of the Sukaiburēdo and the Hasshōdō staff along with the other members of the pack, they could defeat just about any powerful demon. Well that was her assumption.

"I was suppose to defeat Naraku! Not someone else!" Inuyasha said. Miroku and Sango watched Inuyasha begin his ranting. They knew that this was going to go on for awhile. They'll just have to wait it out. Then they heard Kaede hurrying towards them.

"What's going on? I heard Miroku cry out and Inuyasha's rantings." Kaede said, worried.

"It looks like my wind tunnel is finally gone, Kaede-sama." Miroku said, showing her his smooth right palm. It was over. The curse was finally gone. He won't have to worry about it anymore. He was free.

"Well that's great news, Miroku." Kaede said with a smile.

"It definitely is, Kaede-san." Sango said, grasping Miroku's right hand.

"But what is Inuyasha ranting about?" Kaede asked, her right eyebrow arched.

"Apparently, Inuyasha is upset that he didn't get to kill Naraku." Miroku said, "Now that I think about it, did Kagome finally purify the jewel?"

"Kohaku has one piece and Koga has two. I don't think she's going to be happy on finding Koga." Sango said. She was now worried about Kohaku. She knew that Kagome had to take the jewel shard from him. Even though his life will end. She just wished that she was there to see him one last time. Then she felt Miroku intertwining his fingers with hers. She looked up at his violet colored eyes. Somehow she knew that he was trying to comfort her in a way. Even though she's not there, she had a feeling that he'll no longer be under Naraku's control.

"Hai. That wolf always gets her mad when he calls her "his woman". Maybe when he hears that she's being courted by Masahiro-sama, he'll finally give up." Kaede said with a closed eye smile.

"Perhaps so, Kaede-sama." Miroku said, giving a closed eye smile as well.