He charged at Naraku, smirking when he saw Naraku widen his eyes. So he hadn't expected me to be this strong, eh? I'll teach him never to underestimate his opponents! Then again, isn't that what I'm doing right now? Feh! Who cares?
Inuyasha brushed the thought aside as he swung Tetsusaiga at Naraku. Can't use the cutting wind right now, Kagura's made sure of that.
Naraku evaded his attack, but then, he had been expecting it.
"Kukuku. You'll have to do better than that."
Inuyasha buried his anger under him. He would need a clear head for this battle. My last battle… No! Stop it already! Just concentrate on defeating Naraku. That's all that matters.
He heard Sango yell "Hiraikotsu" and try to attack Naraku with her boomerang, but the attack was reflected by Kanna.
He tried to slash at Naraku again, but the slimy youkai evaded him again. Inuyasha saw Sango kick Hiraikotsu back at Naraku.
So the taiji-ya-san has learned from her mistake last time. Now, if her attack can reach Naraku and distract him, I might have a chance to end this…
His hopes were dashed away when Kagura used her fan to blow Hiraikotsu onto the roof.
"Fuujin no mai!"
Shit! Someone help Sango!
"Kaza Ana!" He saw Miroku use his air void to suck in the wind blades. Miroku… His nose picked up the scent of the monk's blood. Had he cut his air void when he had sucked in the wind blades? His sensitive ears picked up the sound of Saimyoushou coming.
I hope your skills with other weapons can save you because it doesn't look like anyone is going to have the time or ability to help you later, Sango.
Inuyasha swung the large Tetsusaiga at Naraku, hoping to catch him with a lucky swing. If only I could use the Kaze no Kizu… Wait! I can! I remember, the battle with the dragon! What's wrong with me, forgetting such an important piece of information as that? It won't be to its full power, but it'll have to do.
He swung the sword, but nothing happened. What? Why didn't it work?
He saw Kagura deliberately attack Kouga so that the wind left over from her attacks were enough to disrupt the spiral of wind around the Tetsusaiga.
You have it all planned out, don't you, Naraku?
He swung wildly at Naraku again, taking out his frustration in his swings. Naraku dodged his attacks seemingly effortlessly, but Inuyasha could smell the beginning of fatigue in him. Naraku suddenly jumped onto the roof, leaving Inuyasha in the middle of the courtyard.
Getting tired, Naraku? What tricks do you have to distract us this time?
"Perhaps I should make the stage more interesting?" Inuyasha felt chilled by the evil that Naraku radiated. Naraku had better not do what he thought he was going to do.
Don't you dare use Kohaku against Sango, you bastard.
"Shut up and prepare to fuckin' die!" Inuyasha was surprised by Kouga's sudden statement. Wasn't Kouga occupied with fighting Kagura?
That's right. Kouga knows how it feels to have your own friends used against you. Kagura had used his people to trick him. Guess he doesn't like to see Naraku torture the living with the dead.
He saw Naraku evade Kouga's attacks. Stupid wolf. If you hadn't yelled, you might have had a better chance at defeating him. Even with the shikon shards in your legs, you're still not fast enough to defeat Naraku that way.
Inuyasha saw a line of red blood burst from Kouga's shoulder. He heard the sound of metal clinking, and knew immediately that Naraku was going to use the same trick from last time.
Are you running out of ideas, Naraku? Always sending Kohaku to kill Sango is getting a bit old. I should have known that you would always use your old tricks. After all, why throw it away when it is still effective? It worked between Kikyo and me, so why shouldn't it work for Sango and Kohaku?
Inuyasha heard Sango call her brother's name painfully. It was like when he had seen Kikyo resurrected.
Damn you, Naraku. I'll kill you. Even if it takes me a hundred lifetimes, I swear, I'll kill you.
He heard Naraku give Sango's brother the orders to kill his sister. If Kohaku ever succeeded in killing Sango, his soul would never be able to rest again. He would become a demonic spirit that would ultimately spend the rest of his existence in hell. Kind of like Mayu, except Kagome won't be able to even touch his soul enough to heal it. Kohaku's soul would forever be lost.
"Naraku, you bastard," he growled, his nose picking up the wound of the wind. So Kagura had stopped her fanning long enough for him to use the cutting wind. Figures. It's pretty obvious that she's working for Naraku against her will. She'll give us an advantage whenever she can, but I have a feeling that this is the last time that she'll be able to aid us. Sad really. Even your own "allies" betray you, Naraku. Sucks to be you.
"Kaze no Kizu!" he yelled.
The power of the cutting wind was blocked by the shield that Naraku had somehow formed around himself. Why didn't Tetsusaiga cut through the barrier? Has Naraku somehow found a barrier youkai and absorbed it into himself?
He didn't have any more time to think on the matter for Naraku started to attack him with his tentacles. Inuyasha barely had enough time to dodge the disgusting things, much less issue any attacks. He continuously chopped at the tentacles, but the tentacles kept on reattaching to the main body, just like the tentacles that Naraku's puppets always had.
Wouldn't it be funny if I were really just fighting another one of Naraku's puppets? But this Naraku seems too powerful just to be one of his little puppets.
He heard the sounds of Kouga trying to escape from Kagura's attacks. At least the wolf was still okay. Hopefully Kouga could defeat Kagura quickly so that he could come and help fight Naraku. As much as Inuyasha didn't want to admit it, he needed all the help he could get to defeat Naraku.
Suddenly, he smelled Sango's blood. Damn! Did Kohaku succeed in hurting Sango? He smelled more blood from Sango, and evaded another one of Naraku's tentacles as he tried to see what was happening to Sango. You better not die on me, Sango.
He saw her swing the chain that Kohaku had back at Kohaku. Is she really going to kill Kohaku? The chain suddenly pulled to the side and circled around Kohaku before heading back to Sango. He saw Sango catch her brother and hug him tightly. Very clever, Sango, but don't let your guard down. We don't know what Naraku has planned for us.
He swung Tetsusaiga at Naraku again, but he just dodged the attack again, except this time he was slightly slower. You really are getting tired, aren't you? He smelled the salty scent of tears. Has Kohaku returned to you, Sango? If you don't want him to get hurt, get Kohaku away from this battle.
Inuyasha unleashed a series of slashes at Naraku. He smirked as he saw one of his attacks cut into Naraku, but the smirk was immediately wiped from his face. Something's wrong here…
Suddenly a tentacle shot out of Naraku and into Kohaku. Inuyasha stood there, shocked, as Naraku took the Shikon shard out of Kohaku, sending the boy to his death again. He vaguely heard Sango scream her brother's name as his fury at Naraku built up. He wanted nothing more than to use Tetsusaiga's ougi to send the monster to hell, but he couldn't smell the place where he could issue the attack. Kagura waving her fan around was no help either.
Suddenly, he felt his ears about to explode as Sango screamed at Naraku, and a moment later, his ringing ears picked up the sound of a roof being destroyed. He saw something glint in the dark battlefield and heard something being shattered. Sango is definitely scary when she's angry, he thought absentmindedly. He saw Hiraikotsu fly towards Naraku, but Naraku's shield, boosted with the power from the Shikon shard, deflected the attack. How are we supposed to defeat him if he keeps on shielding himself? Inuyasha thought angrily.
His irritation turned to surprise as one of Kagome's arrows pierced through the barrier and melted Naraku's hand. He saw Shippou out of the corner of his eye dash to retrieve the shard. He heard the clinking sound of metal and knew that someone had picked up Kohaku's weapon. He turned around in time to see Kanna raise the weapon over her head to kill Shippou, and started to dash towards the small kitsune. I won't make it in time!
He felt immensely relived as Miroku stopped his battle with Naraku's puppet briefly enough to save Shippou. Huh? When did Naraku's puppet arrive? Damn! What else did I miss while I was trying to hit Naraku?
He felt the hair on his neck stand on end as an enormous ball of energy was shot from Naraku. What? The attack isn't headed towards Shippou or I, then who…? Shit! Kagome!
He saw the blast head towards Kagome even as Kirara tried to escape with Kagome.
"Kagome!" he yelled, dashing towards her. Please don't let her be dead. Please don't let her be dead.
Panic was starting to overwhelm him as he arrived by Kagome's side. She isn't moving… Please be alive! He gently scooped her up and saw that she was just unconscious. Stupid wench. Always making me worried. He felt incredibly relieved and scooped up Kirara in his other arm after sheathing Tetsusaiga. I owe you one, Kirara.
He placed the two unconscious figures far from the battle, but still close enough so that he could keep an eye on her. Shippou arrived a few moments later.
"I-Inuyasha, is Kagome…?" the little boy asked, afraid of the answer.
"She's alive," Inuyasha replied tersely. He felt bad for being short with Shippou, for the boy currently had such a sad and despairing face on.
"Listen, Shippou," he said, his voice more quiet and calm than usual. "I'm counting on you to protect her. If—" He paused, unsure of how to continue. "If for some reason, I am unable to take her back to her world, I want you to do it for me."
"What do you mean, Inuyasha?" the boy asked, panic apparent in his voice. "What do you mean 'unable to take her back to her world?' Inuyasha!"
"Just do as I say, brat," Inuyasha replied, hoping to make Shippou start behaving like he usually did. I hate it when people get all weird on me.
"I'm not a brat!" Shippou retorted, his usual anger at Inuyasha insulting him slipping into place.
"Then do as I say!" Inuyasha shouted. He continued on a much more calmer tone, "Shippou. If worst comes to worst, seal the well."
With that, Inuyasha ran back to Naraku, sword out, ready to hurt Naraku for what he did to Kagome. But what he had really wanted to do was to avoid a boy's innocent questions.
The least I can do is hurt Naraku enough so that he won't be able to get Kagome. Feh! I'll kill him for what he did to all of us. Somehow, even Inuyasha couldn't believe his own words anymore.
A little ways off, the crows started to shift their wings restlessly.