AN: This is the worst chapter in the fic, in terms of angst and death. If you could not stand Shippou's death, then you probably shouldn't read this chapter. This is where everything comes to a head. (The pun wasn't intended.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Kagome, or "Inuyasha": Rumiko Takahashi does; I'm just using them for my own sadistic purposes. :P

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Promise
Chapter 3: Shattered

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Shippou's head fell to the earth and rolled two feet against the friction the long blades of grass made waving in the wind. The body slipped off Miroku's shoulders and landed five feet away from the head.

The grass wasn't green; it was red.

"INUYASHA! WHAT DID YOU DO!" Kagome screamed. Inuyasha didn't respond. He didn't even move.

"Kukuku… Inuyasha betrayed you," Naraku said, "He betrayed you just like Kikyou betrayed him. Just like he betrayed Kikyou. No." He crossed his arms across his chest and put his remaining index finger to his lip. "No, this time it's different. It's not like how he betrayed Kikyou or how Kikyou betrayed him."

"You had something to do with this, didn't you? When you touched his face--What did you do?" Kagome yelled, her arms by her side and her hands clenched into tight fists. A vein on the back of each hand throbbed.

"That's none of your business," Naraku replied. "But I think I will tell you anyway. I have control of his mind. It was simple, really. All I had to do was touch his face and tell him that he was now a part of me." He smirked. "Of course humans can't do it. But now he will do anything for me."

"YOU--" Kagome had been about to curse at Naraku, but Miroku held out his staff to silence her.

"No, Lady Kagome," he said, "Stay back. Inuyasha told me to keep you away from here. Let me take care of this." He stepped forward and pointed his staff at Naraku. "You bastard, Naraku. I've been chasing you down for too long. It's about time I…"

Miroku stopped because Naraku's eyes begun to glow an eerie bright red. Inuyasha turned around, the Tetsusaiga following the motion of his head, and sliced the sword through the air. The Tetsusaiga hit the dirt, and Miroku's two halves fell after it. But Inuyasha wasn't finished.

"OH MY GOD!" Sango cried and dropped the Hiraikotsu, and she ran towards Miroku. Inuyasha looked up and pulled the Tetsusaiga out of the earth, and then impaled it through Sango's chest.

"Miroku! Sango! INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed. She picked up the bow and the arrows lying beside her and fitted an arrow to the string. "Naraku! You killed Shippou, Sango, and Miroku and you… I don't know what you did to Inuyasha. I can't let you live. I'll kill you!"

She let the arrow fly. It arched through the air and hit its mark, slicing off Naraku's head. The head seperated from the body with a splash of blood and both the body and the head fell to the ground.

Naraku was dead.

"Kukuku. That was a nice shot. It almost killed me."

Kagome gasped.

"You forgot already?" Naraku asked as he stepped over the fallen body. "Don't you remember when I said Inuyasha would do anything for me? He would even die for me."

Kagome took another look at the body. The hair wasn't dark brown; it was white. The unseeing eyes weren't red; they shone golden. That wasn't Naraku.

That was Inuyasha.

Kagome fell to her knees and gathered Inuyasha's head into her arms. She held it against her chest and screamed with her eyes overflowing with tears.

"INUYASHAAAAAAAAAAA!"

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Review! Constructive criticism and praises are welcome. Unconstructive criticism is not, I get enough of that at home.