A/N: Against all odds, here is an update! I'm working full-time as of yesterday (yay!) and the 8 and a half hour days eat up any spare time...but just for you, I'm willing to suffer.

Readers: ^.^;

Disclaimer: I don't even have my first paycheck yet, so I don't own anything. Anything!

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Tempting Fate

Chapter 17: The Reason For It All

Inuyasha pushed himself up off of the ground and ran for all he was worth. 'Come on...almost there...hang on Kagome!'

Kagome watched as Naraku raised a hand towards her, palm facing out. 'It's the one with the shards,' she realised in dismay. 'What's he going to do?' Hurriedly she tried to erect one of her barriers – but the half-formed shield wavered weakly as Naraku countered her energy with his own. 'I'm too drained from everything that happened today. The two shards extra make all the difference...I can't do it!' she screamed mentally. 'And he knows it.'

Inuyasha sped forward, his eyes glued on the miko and his enemy. He watched as that hated smirk grew on Naraku's face, knowing that he was almost out of time. 'How did he get so close to her?...Never mind, just MOVE!'

Desperately Kagome gathered all her strength in an attempt to overwhelm the hanyou. Inwardly she apologised to Inuyasha, who was now close enough to be affected by the blast she was planning. However Naraku, now closely attuned to the flow of Shikon energy, sensed the rise in power and frowned. "None of that, miko." She flinched as his hand began to glow darkly.

Inuyasha skidded to a horrified stop when a cluster of shining threads seemed to erupt from Naraku's hand, wrapping tightly around Kagome as securely as a spider web around a fly. His heart lurched inside of him at the pained scream that burst from her mouth. She was writhing in her sadistic captor's grasp as though the contact burned her unbearably. His ears flattened in his rage. "Naraku, let her go, you bastard!" Naraku appeared to be holding back outright laughter, which only infuriated him even more.

"No, no, I don't think I will." Naraku visibly tightened his grip through the threads, making Kagome cry out in anguish. "You see, I've been waiting a long time for this." Her pain was starting to make Inuyasha nauseous.

"Leave her out of this – your fight is with me, Naraku!" He gripped Tetsusaiga convulsively, desperate to do something. Anything.

Naraku just sneered at him. "You really are a fool."

***

Sango urged Kirara to fly low, catching sight of a very welcome new arrival; Mizumi, bearing Hiraikotsu, with Kouga in tow. Oddly, Kagura seemed to lose interest in the demon exterminator as soon as she pulled back.

It was almost as though the wind youkai's heart wasn't really in the fight...

When she turned the attack on to Miroku and the boys instead, the houshi became certain. Kagura wasn't fighting with any true aggression – in fact, she seemed to be wasting time more than anything. The three of them huddled together for mutual protection, blocking the blades that came close and dodging the near misses.

Ironically, Kohaku was getting more and more frustrated as time wore on. "Why doesn't she fight properly?" he fumed ineffectually. Miroku swung his shakujou to intercept an attack, grunting with the effort.

"Somehow I don't think that she'll just make it that easy for us, Kohaku. She's up to something."

Shippo snorted. "No, you think?" Abruptly all sarcasm was wiped from his face as he finally saw what was going on just a short distance away. "Mom!" The kitsune's terrified yell had Miroku spinning around in panic, not wanting to believe his eyes.

"No...!"

***

Sango had just retrieved her weapon from the wolves when she heard Shippo's cry. Instantly wary, she looked around. She gasped in horror. "Kagome-chan!"

Mizumi and Kouga heard her exclamation and looked as well. Identical expressions of shock and anger adorned their faces as Kagome's tortured cries reached their ears on the wind.

Nobody noticed that Kagura made no move to take advantage of their distraction. She simply floated above them, her red eyes also fixed on the gut-wrenching sight.

"Let's go," Kouga growled to Mizumi. "Shards or no shards, he's going down." He took off, his companion hard on his heels. The others followed, trying to avoid the bloody footprints that Kouga had left on the ground in passing.

***

Kagome's vision blanked to white as Naraku tightened his grip still further. Through the haze of pain, her anger was growing steadily. 'How dare he! When I get out of this, his ass is toast!' She tried to heal some of the burns that the strands of Shikon-enhanced miasma had inflicted upon her, hoping to recover enough to break free.

Naraku hissed in pain as Kagome's miko energies rose. "Behave, miko wench!" he snapped, sending a fresh wave of dark power crashing down on his victim. She would have collapsed if it weren't for the ropes of scalding power holding her firmly in place. As it was, when the shock faded she could taste copper in her mouth. 'Oh, gods, that one did some damage!' And to add insult to possible internal injury, her miko powers were being suppressed; she could feel the draining of her strength even as she struggled. 'He's sucking me dry!' Her senses were dimmed – it was like being trapped beneath a wet blanket, slowly suffocating under the weight. She coughed, grimacing when more blood spattered her lips. 'I can't let this happen. Not now, when we're so close!'

***

Inuyasha was helpless to do anything but watch, kept at bay by the hanyou holding Kagome hostage. His eyes burned when he spotted a trickle of blood at the corner of Kagome's mouth. 'He's killing her!' He barely registered the rushed arrival of his allies, nor the watchful stillness of Kagura far above. He had even tuned out the relentless buzzing of the Saimyoushou, although Miroku seemed a trifle put off by it.

He stood transfixed, fists balled tightly at his sides. 'If she dies, I'll...I'll...I don't know what I'll do!'

"So, Inuyasha," Naraku began almost casually, "you still think that all this is to get to you?" He clucked his tongue mockingly. "Such ego. However did you manage to survive this long with an attitude like that?" He grinned at the helpless fury in Inuyasha's eyes. "Remember, it wasn't you who nearly killed me at the castle not so long ago! Would you like to know a secret? If it hadn't been for your disgusting infatuation with Kikyou, I would never have paid any attention to your measly existence."

Inuyasha seemed to stagger slightly as the evil one's statement hit home. 'But if he's not out to get me now, then...' He fought the urge to gag, sickened by the truth.

"Kagome?!" he bellowed in disbelief. "There's no way...you sent those dreams you scum! I can't prove it, but I know you must have!" The inuhanyou was practically spitting in his rage. "Why would you do that unless you were out to get me, huh? Explain that!"

***

Lost in agony, Kagome's ears vaguely picked up the words 'dreams' and 'explain'. Her abused brain knew that they were important somehow, but she couldn't quite figure out how...

***

"Pathetic," Naraku scoffed dismissively. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Nearby, Miroku wasn't so certain that Inuyasha would like what he was asking to hear. He tensed apprehensively, feeling Sango do the same beside him.

"YES, damnit!" Inuyasha roared. "Quit stalling!"

"If I must," Naraku smirked, inwardly anticipating his foe's reaction with something resembling glee. "You see..." He paused.

Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga threateningly. "Well?" he barked. Naraku laughed.

"The wolf had the shards, and your miko was protecting him. So I concluded that only someone she trusted implicitly would be able to get close."

He smiled coldly.

"The jealous lover – that would be you, in case you were wondering – would kill his miko and the wolf in revenge, leaving the shards for me to collect."

Inuyasha stared blankly ahead, stunned. 'Just like with Kikyou – she was meant to kill me, and I was meant to kill-'

"Kagome," he whispered brokenly. 'And I almost did...'

***

Kouga watched the drama unfolding in front of him with a kind of fascinated horror. He knew, of course that someone had to do something, quickly – or else Kagome's life would not be worth much by the end. He was on the verge of moving forward when Mizumi caught his arm. "Kouga!" Questioning, he looked around to see what was the matter. She jerked her head to indicate that he shoud look behind her. To his shock, a mob of youkai were descending on the wolf tribe in his absence. Undoubtedly sent by Naraku – or maybe just out for a bit of fun. "No!" He looked the female in the eye.

"Go back and make sure they're all right." She nodded and ran off, not without a backward glance at her friend still in Naraku's clutches. Kouga turned back around, preparing to jump in and start fighting (with complete disregard for his lack of Shikon shards, of course) when a shrill cry made his blood run cold.

"Kouga!" Mizumi's voice spoke of disaster at his home. He was torn – try and save the woman he loved, or save the wolves under his protection? The prince turned anguished eyes on Kagome, not knowing which was the lesser of two great evils. But he had to decide quickly.

***

Inuyasha couldn't take it any more. Without warning, he snapped.

"KAZE NO -"

"NO!" A sudden weight hanging off his arm stopped him in mid-swing. "You idiot, you'll hit Kagome! She's too close to him!"

Shippo glared up at him through his red bangs, green eyes flashing. It didn't make for a very intimidating sight – a kitsune hanging on to his wrist – but Inuyasha was mortified. What had he nearly done? Then he jumped slightly when the ground beneath him started glowing. "Wha-?"

"Inuyasha, look!" He followed the direction the houshi was pointing in and swallowed.

"Kagome?"

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A/N: Coming up, what you've all been waiting for – Kagome gets her groove back...

Reviewer replies:

Ashley (InuMad) – If you wanted a suspense-free story, I'm really the wrong author to go to...as you can probably tell by now *smirk* Sorry, Kouga's shards had to go! No way around it.

Miztikal-Dragon – Oh, don't worry...the bad guy dies. Decisively. And very soon.

KareBear (Kari) – Top 5 in grammar? Thanks! It's so much easier to read when the language is right. Mmm, I'm kinda sleepy myself...it's 11:30pm....zzzzz....

Stripe – Hey, it's fanfiction. Anything can happen...

Badgerwolf – Okay, so this was Naraku's bit of the fight. Next up – Kagome!

Krista – Hey, I want one of those flags! And no, you can keep your nasty grenades...

Saiyan Princess – Hope you didn't have to wait for too long!

Murasaki Kitsune – Would I do a thing like that to poor Miroku?...Oh wait. I would. Ahem. *remembers Choice and Consequence and gets nervous* I swear! No killing of characters this time, unless their name is Naraku!

Inudemoness247 – Blasted computers *grumbles*. The best yet? Wowsers.

Tsuki Miko – He'll just keep fighting. Stubborn boy.

Bikutoria – You are a goddess. No, seriously. If I were San, I'd say something about you moving in, I have candy, etc...but unfortunately I'm not her. YOU HAVE MADE ME SO HAPPY! As always, positive and constructive reviews. Such a pleasure to read. I'm glad you like the backstory that I've slotted in here and there. Um, Rin. No Rin. Sorry. As for Sess, he doesn't make an appearance either. Ah, Kanna – yes, I've got a little something planned for her. Much later, but it ties in. This epic *epic??!?!* is actually a trilogy. It wasn't going to be, but it turned out that way. The word count is phenomenal. Sheesh. Hmm...I could have had Naraku run off, but then the story would never end. And I would never get any other work done. So no. He fights now! (Whispers – I'm planning an M/K fic *hides from rabid I/K fans* It's all plotted out. Think it's a good idea?)

ShadowHeart – I'm glad you liked them. I think I write nice reviews. And they're fun, too! I already reviewed some of your other stuff, I think (I know I reviewed Hojo vs. Naraku, it's in my Review History!) Yes, I'm female, you're saved some embarrassment there!

KawaiiChica - *chuckles* Yes, I know how it ends. Ha! Yes, the M/K is in the works. Just a matter of time.

C-dog – Didn't have to wait too long, did you?

Poohsbestfriend – 'Iron reever soul steelier'??? *shudders* Yes, I've seen those. Scary. Kikyou – not a huge fan, but not against her so much either. So, snide comments are non-offensive.

Aamalie – Kikyou is dead. Gone. Remember in Under Control??? Hmm. Is Kagome gonna die? Ummm *sweatdrops as she looks at this chapter* Okay, maybe? Well, she's not exactly 100% right now, that's for sure! People who remember Choice and Consequence know that I can kill mains if I have to – but I won't this time. Promise!

A/N: General comments – the chicken is awol for a few chappies yet. Sorry. The job is going great, thanks for asking. Keep the reviews coming in, hugs for you all! For those of you screaming "Don't kill Kagome!" I won't. Not really.