The boy would have to be ready for Naraku. Although it had been over fifty years, Inuyasha could never forget the Avatar of Hell. For a large part of the Quest, he had occupied a great portion of his mind. The only satisfaction that he had received was the death of Naraku. To find him and holding Kikyou was almost too much for him.

The old dark thoughts returned. Naraku had killed Kikyou twice. Now he was the instrument of her punishment. The kami were allowing someone who had brought so much evil to the world to hurt someone who had always served the kami. After suffering so much interference from the kami, Inuyasha could certainly sympathize with her.

Naraku would not escape this time. From Naraka there was no place for him to go. It was unfinished business that needed to end at last. Kikyou could only be saved if he was permanently eliminated. The real question was what would affect him in this environment.

The boy's weapon had only been useful in killing the dragon. Inuyasha was tempted to steal the weapons powers and transfer them to Tetsusaiga. But the weapon belonged to the emperor. Such a theft would anger Amaterasu.

He could try to use the arusha's powers. They had been effective in dealing with the yamaduta. Enma -O himself had been forced to intervene to prevent the loss of his servants. A thought struck him. Perhaps there was some residual youkai in the dragon that Tetsusaiga could absorb. Yamata no Orochi had not showed any abilities other than being a large eight headed eight tailed beast.

Tetsusaiga showed him the youketsu of the beast. It invited him to slice into the would find. Overwhelming power flowed into him. He was thrown far from the oven where the beast was entombed. His hands was scorched. Such burning had not occurred since he had absorbed the senki of the Nikosen. He would have to wait till his hands to use Tetsusaiga.

While he waited the boy became more skillful the use of both swords. Since the boy was part demon and part human he could use Tetsusaiga. He had to admit that the boy was must be his inheritance from Kikyou.

Within a short time the boy had mastered Tetsusaiga. Inuyasaha marveled at the boy's abilities. Powers that had taken Inuyasha weeks to control became second nature to the boy within heartened him to see the boy faring so well. Surely, with the power of the kami behind him Naraku's challenge could be easily overcome.

They were now ready to hunt for the beast. Naraku's scent was something Inuyasha would never be able to forget. From the first time he had met after the fight with Ryuokan to his sleeping form inside the jewel, nothing smelled as evil as Naraku.

His scent was something that Naraku had teased Inuyasha with over the years. He had released the scent to draw in Sesshoumaru. His scent at the bird's nest had been his calling card to lure Inuyasha to the other world.

Now it drew him to the last battle. Naraku would only fight if he was absolutely confident of victory .Only then would Naraku confront Inuyasha. They had to lure him out.

They had the only bait they needed. Inuyasha was less reluctant than he had been before to use Kami no ko. He had Kikyou's scent. Knowing the greed of Naraku was a help to them at this point. Naraku had never been able to resist Kikyou.. Kami no ko had her scent. All they had to do was place the boy where Naraku could smell him and he would come to them.

They baited the trap and began to search among the ovens for the beast. What they found made their stomachs turn. The persons whose karma brought them were the very worst of humanity. Yet Kami no ko felt pity for them. They were all doomed to spend the majority of eternity here. They were literally being baked by the ovens and yet they remained conscious. He begged Inuyasha to relieve their suffering.

Inuyasha shed no tears for them. His only thoughts were of Kikyou. When he saw them, he knew what she must be suffering at this moment. It only made him redouble his efforts to find the beast.

Finally, they could go further. The boy was exhausted. He fell asleep in Inuyasha's arms. The heat was becoming unbearable. Inuyasha was only able to withstand it because of the fire rat robe.

Something in the kami nature of the boy made him resistant to the conditions. He wished that he could lend the robe to the boy, but he knew that it was only reason that he was able to survive under such adverse circumstances.

At some point in the night he must have fallen asleep. He awoke with a start. Standing in front of him was Naraku in a form reminiscent of a giant spider. The boy was wrapped in silk like threads which were like iron.

" We meet again Inuyasha. You will not be so lucky this time. There is no jewel which has power over me anymore."

"Where is Kikyou?"

"I have already eaten here and now I will eat her child. When I am finished with my meal I will be a kami and be able to leave this god-forsaken place."

"You say that you have eaten Kikyou yet I can still feel her scent coming from your belly."

"I have to absorb her in order to obtain her powers.,just as I absorbed Moryomaru and tried to absorb Sesshoumaru. You , I will just kill since your demonic powers will add nothing to me when I become a kami."

"Naraku. You are making the same mistake you did before. Here you had another chance at the heart of Kikyou when she was delivered to you for punishment. Instead, you chose to destroy her again. There will be no mercy for you. Nothing will be left of you for the kami to punish."

" Inuyasha. If you destroy me before I finish absorb Kikyou you will destroy her with me. Are you willing to live with that guilt. Now I have the opportunity to absorb another kami into my body. Her son will join her in my belly. Then with the power of the kami I will be able to destroy you once and for all. Our battle will be over and I will have won at last Once I only wished for her .her heart. Now. I will possess all that was Kikyou. She will be with me forever."

Upon hearing these words Inuyasha became enraged. As he saw his son being swallowed by the gaping maw, the demon within him burst forth. The sword was discarded. The eyes bled crimson and the fangs and claws grew to the size of dragons. Only one word came from the mouth of the transformed Inuyasha.

"Prey".

With those words the demon threw himself against Naraku. The Avatar of Hell was not prepared for the ferocity that swelled from the beast in front of him. Inuyasha was actually able to make progress against the legs of the spider beast.

Naraku apparently had not expected this sort of attack. He had been awaiting the sword attacks of the past. He knew that his barriers could stop the Wind Scar and the Backlash Wave. His shell could stop the Adamant Barrage. While he knew that Dragon scale Tetsusaiga could absorb his youki unless it actually cut his youketsu he had no worries..

And so he smiled as the beast dismembered him. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he regenerated his lost limbs. The only power which could prevent his regeneration was Bakusaiga and it was not here. The power of Black Tetsusaiga was not effective here because he could not be sent to hell because he was already here.

The beast found his way under Naraku's belly and ripped large holes in his abdomen and thorax. Naraku wondered if he should activate his barriers to prevent further injury or simply await regeneration. The pain was excruciating but wonderful. Somehow it exhilarated him distracting him from the task at hand.

Deeper and deeper went the cuts. Unfortunately for Inuaysha, the cuts only poured shouki and miasma from the belly of the beast until he was buried under the flood. Naraku laughed to think that he could defeat his old foe so easily.

His laughter was short lived. He could feel warmth coming from inside his body. It was if his body was being purified from the inside. The light poured out of his body through the tears that Inuyasha had cut in his belly. It began to purify the miasma and shouki bearing Inuyasha.

At least it reached the youkai that had been Inuyasha. The claws began to shrink. The fang began to recede. The eyes began to return to amber. He began to return to his senses. At last he found the sword. He was whole again.

The light continued to flow from the belly wound. It threatened the very core of Naraku. The link that connected all of his parts. When he had returned to Mount Hakurei he had retaken his human heart. It had helped him destroyed Kikyou with his webs.

His own youkai heart still dwelled within him also. Both were visible only when he was separated. But such separation had not occurred in so long. Now his body so carefully constructed seemed to be coming apart. Inuyasha was back. Thrusting with the power of the dragon, now burning with the power of arusha, cutting yoketsu with the power of the dragon scale Tetsusaiga.

Naraku could have resisted all of the threats from Inuyasha. The purifying powers which were coming from his belly were causing him difficulties. It was if the power of the kami had been placed inside his body and was ripping at the fabric of his being.

Too late he realized his error. He never should have taken the boy inside his body. The boy possessed some sort of power which allowed him to purify youki. If he was not expelled immediately Naraku would simply be reduced to his original demon and human components.

As he contemplating this disaster, Inuyasha struck an important youketsu which held his present form together. With the severing the spider form wavered and disappeared. In its place there appeared inumberable demons of all shapes and sizes.

Inuyasha smiled. At last he had found something which he understood. Naraku has baffled him for a long time. But the swarms of demons which Naraku had always dispatched at him could be dealt with via the Wind Scar.

The swarm turned to attack. When they reached a point that Inuyasha felt that he could destroy them without harming Kikyou or Kami no ko he struck. The Wind Scar came out in an unusual fashion. The strike at added the dragon fire and the fire of the arusha to the name five furrows of death which made up the Wind Scar.

He struck the ground repeatedly until no demon was left. When he gazed upon the field all he could see was a human man holding Kikyou in his arms and Kami no ko holding a baby.

Inuyasha wondered over to the beings. He could see that the baby that Kami no ko was holding was Naraku's heart. He had always assumed that it had been absorbed into Naraku when he absorbed Mouryoumaru. Apparently, that was not the case. Finally, he decided that the man was not going to hurt Kikyou so he went to over to Kami no ko.

"What are you doing to him?"

"He needs to purified of all the evil in him before he can pass on to the next life. This was the heart of the being known as Naraku. He never had the feeling for my mother that the man over there had. It will be much more difficult. I do not know if I can do anything for this one."

Baby glared at him

"There is nothing wrong with me. I am not human. I have no feelings for any of you .or that woman over there. It was me that allowed Naraku to get beyond her and achieve pure evil. Even

though I betrayed him in the end he absorbed me and we were one again. If it was up to me, I would do it all over again . Only this time I would succeed."

Inuyasha shook his head. There was no hope for this one. He would have to be purified. Nodding to his son, he finally spoke.

"Do what you have to him."

Kami no ko cried. He had no desire to kill or destroy. Even one as evil as this did not deserve nothingness. But as long as it was alive it would continue to haunt his mother. That he could not allow. At length he placed his hands on the infant. Blue light began to pour from his heart to his hands. The baby's shape wavered for a time. In the end he disappeared in flurry of blue lights and dust.

The time at come to deal with the man holding Kikyou.

"Who the hell are you and why are you holding Kikyou in such a manner?"

"I am Onigumo. I caused all of this to happen with my wish that I could have the heart of Kikyou. Now I am in hell holding the woman I have loved above all things."

These statements caused Inuyasha to go ballistic. In an instant he was at the man's throat ready to take his head. His son stayed his hand.

" We must wake mother. Only she can pass judgment on this one. She was kind to him in life, despite his evil. That is what inspired his love for her. It is up to her to determine his fate."

"How do we wake her up?"

"You might kiss her."

To Inuyasha that sounded like the most asinine thing he had ever heard. But then what could it hurt. He bent down to Kikyou and kissed her full on the lips.

"Wake up, kobito. It is time to go home."

As they watched Kikyou stirred from her slumber. Confusion shown on her face as she gazed into the anxious faces of Onigumo, Inuyasha and Kami no ko.

"Kikyou, the battle is over. Naraku is gone. All that remains is this man. You must help us decide what to do with him."

Onigumo turned to the woman in his arm's.

"All I have ever wanted is you. You are reason that I allowed the demons to possess me so that I could have you. It was me that prevented Naraku from killing you because of my love . In the end the only thing Naraku wished for was your heart. because that was the only thing that I wanted. I can pass from this world only when I am at peace."

Kikyou nodded. At last she understood what she had started when she had tried to comfort this man. She could only heal him if she healed his soul. Placing her hands on him she spoke.

"While my heart is already spoken for I can give you a part of me that will calm your heart and help you rest. Just as Kagome helped me ascend, I can help you to leave this place. You must accept your humanity and leave behind all of your other wishes and desires."

With that she placed her hands on Onigumo's chest. A blue light seemed to pulse from her hands to his heart. A smile crept over his face. It seemed that he was finally at peace. As he faded he bent down to kiss her lips and said.

"Thank you for your gift. I will always love you."

Inuyasha caught Kikyou just before she touched the ground. They beamed at each other. He kissed her and handed her off to Kami no ko who helped support her to stand. Inuyasha drew

Tetsusaiga and summoned Black Tetsusaiga.

He looked at her with wonder and wrapped his arms around Kikyou and Kami no ko.

"Let's get the hell out of here."