Thank ya'll so much for reviewing. I enjoyed all the comments that said the last chapter was worth the wait. Well, I hope you feel the same way about this one, since it's finally the big battle with Naraku!
Naraku- Finally! I get some action!
Sesshomaru- Am I in here again? I was only in two chapters…and I was the bad guy.
Miroku- You've been in all the A/N's!
Inuyasha awoke to the feeling of a warm body against his own and the smell of rice drifting through the air. He inhaled a large breath as he opened his eyes, taking in the scent of lavender and the woods.
(Kagome.)
He smiled at the young woman who was lying in his arms. He ran his hand through her dark tresses, sighing in relief almost as if he had belived she wouldn't have been there when he woke up.
(I wonder who's cooking.) The image of the demon slayer entered his mind. She would be in her usual kimono with her hair band pulled nearly to the bottom of her low pony tail. A soft smile played on his lips. He could almost hear the sound of the slap she gave Miroku for his perverted antics echoing through the monestary. The smile quickly disappeared as a look of defeat passed over his face; Sango was dead. She had been killed be Naraku, or more likely one of his minions. He scowled at the thought. (The bastard didn't even have the gut's to try and fight her himself. She would have killed him. How could I have lost her?)
The soft sound of snoring and the feeling of drool beginning to pool on his shoulder caused the hanyou to look down once again at the miko in his arms. (She's so cute. Even if she is getting drool all over my shirt.)
"Kagome," he whispered softly into her hair. She buried her head into the nape of his neck, and yawned. "Wake up."
Her eyelids fluttered open. She looked up, her chocolate eyes meeting his own. The young woman gave him a soft smile as a blush began appearing on her cheeks. (Why is she blushing?) Then, remembering their current positions, he realized it was probably still holding her. He kissed her forehead softly and then reached out, whiping off some drool with a clawed hand. Her blush increased as she quickly sat up.
"Heh…I probably should have warned you that I have a drooling problem…" she trailed off with embarassment.
"And snoring," he added. She glaread and hit him half-heartedly in the shoulder.
"Inuyasha! You're not supposed to point that out."
"Gomen," he apologized. He starred up at her and then reached out, once again pulling her against him.
The blush which had faded immediately reappeared on her pale features. "I-inuyasha? What are you doing? I thought you said we had to get up."
"We need to talk about something first," he told her, pulling her even closer.
(Why is he acting like this? What if he's going to take back everything he said last night? What if he's regretting what he said…what he did…regretting me?) She closed her eyes, her pupils burning as unshed tears began to form and made a motion for him to begin his speech.
He sighed softly and then began. "Kagome…I love you."
She smiled, all tears disappearing at the three words. "I love you too Inuyasha," she replied immediately.
"You understand…the battle is close."
She nodded. "I know that. Naraku is going to pay for everything he's done and everyone he ever hurt. And then we'll have the jewel shard and be able to…" She trailed off, not really having thought about it. (Inuyasha still wants to become a full demon. I know he does.)
"Exactly," he whispered. Kagome looked up to meet his eyes. "Naraku will be dead, Miroku's wind tunnle will be gone, Shippo will have his revenge…and we'll have the jewel. But it won't change anything. Sango will still be dead. All the people he ever hurt are not going to be healed by us destroying him. The evil he did has stained us all. We're never going to be able to be who we once were."
(Why is he acting like this?) "Inuyasha…" she said reaching up and letting her hand rest on his cheek. "We can't turn back the clock. We can't erase what he did."
"Once I was going to be a full human," he said, changing subjects so abruptly that the miko didn't really know what was happening when he began to speak again. "I knew I could be happy with Kikyo. She had asked it of me, and I had accepted immediately. All it had taken was one baka to destroy everything we had ever had. In the end, we never really loved each other. We needed one another. Both of us were lonely and had no real place to fit in the world, so we ended up together.
"I was prepared to die for her, to spend eternity in Hell with her because I believed it was my duty. I believed it was my fault that she lost her life, and that I must give up my own. She hates me because I lived and she did not. She hates me because her life was taken to early. And do you know what the difference is between you and her?"
She shook her head, unable to speak clearly.
"No matter what we had been through, you never blamed me. Even when fault was mine, even when it was me who had hurt you, you never held such a grudge in your heart that you became bitter to me. That's how I knew. That was how I knew that I truly loved you for you."
He met her eyes. Suddenly his facial expression faltered. It had once been stoic, calm, confident; it was now nervous and unsure.
"K-Kagomes, I know you would never ask me to become human, because you know how much it means to me to become a full fledged demon…" He trailed off for a moment and took a breath. "It's not that I really wanted to be a demon all that much, just that, I wanted some place to belong. But now…I-I've got a place to belong. With you…" The young miko gasped, never once knowing the hanyou to be this open with his feelings. "If you'll have me, I want to…"
"Kagome! Inuyasha!"
The sound of Miroku's frantic screams caused the two to jump up quickly. Inuyasha grabbed Tetsusiga and Kagome reached for her bow and arrows. The houshi showed up in their doorway, panting and breathing heavily. Sweat was beginning to bead on his froehead.
"Damn it Miroku, what the hell happened?" the hanyou questioned.
"It's Naraku…" he breathed. "Kagura, Kanna…other reincarnations that I've never even seen before…their all here."
He growled and narrowed his eyes. "I'll kill them all."
"No…Inuyasha…this time it's it."
"What are you talking about?"
The miko placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to turn his attentions to her. "I feel a large amount of Shikon jewel shards." Her eyes met Miroku's. "Naraku is here, isn't he?"
The houshi nodded. All three of them exchanged glances. The monk's words now made sense; the time it's it. This was to be their last battle. They only prayed they could win it.
Kagura stood in front of the monestary, only a few feet beside her master. Her fan was held tightly in her hand as she watched the front door. Kanna was on the other side of Naraku, waiting just as eagerly as the wind sorceress. Four more incarnations of the hanyou stood, stationed on all sides of the monestary.
There was a large demon, his skin black and leathery, with claws that were already hissing with posion to be spread.
Another was that of a young woman. Her long black hair was woven into an intricate braid which hung to her back. In her hand she held a dagger, a dragon's head at the top.
A smaller demon, one with yellow skin and a large horn sticking from it's head was also waiting. He bared long fangs and began hissing as he tried to smell the air.
The fourth and final member was the figure of a young boy. His hair was in a pony tail, and his eyes which were a dark brown were almost completely lifeless.
"Daisuke," Naraku said, speaking to the large demon. "Naora, Toson, Kohaku, be ready. They are coming."
They all nodded. The woman, Naora, held her dagger closely, whispering an incantation once again. The dagger glowed red as she did so. Daisuke began flexing his fist, Toson hissed again, and Kohaku stood deathly still.
The three fighters began making their way outside, where none of them could be quite sure of what perils they would be facing that day. Each wore an expression of determination. They would not fail their fallen comrades or those who had been hurt by Naraku in the past. This time, they would fight until the end, and when that end came, they would be the ones left standing.
At least they hoped so.
"Shippo, stay here," Inuyasha said as they passed the young kit.
The fox demon began following them, looking around. Though he was young, even he could feel the ominous loom in the air.
"Is Naraku here? I want to fight."
"No way," the hanyou said firmly. "Your too young, and I don't want to have to worry about you. Now stay in here and don't get in the way."
Shippo watched as they left. He wanted badly to go with them, but he knew that in his own subtle way, the hanyou was telling him that he cared and didn't wish for him to be hurt. So the young demon walked back into the kitchen and did the only thing he could think of. He prayed.
Miroku took in a deep breath before opening the door of the monestary. They could all feel it. It would be their last showdown with Naraku. As his eyes fell upon the demon, pictures and emotions began flowing through him, making him dizzy. His wind tunnle, his father, his grandfather, hatred, anger, beautiful Sango, sadness; all of them bursting into him at once. His stomach turned but he refused to fall now; the battle had not even begun. (He will pay for everything he has done. He will pay for the lives of my grandfather and my father. He will pay…for her.)
The young miko looked over at the houshi and could almost feel the strong emotions coming off of him in waves. Even before when it had come to the issues of Naraku, the monk had never seemed so emotional. (It was Sango. Naraku took her away, the only woman that I believe Miroku ever truly loved. He is out for Naraku's blood.) She tore her gaze from the monk to Inuyasha. His face was dead pan, no emotion on his features. In that instant, Kagome saw his true resemblance to his older brother.
"Naraku," he hissed. His voice was laced with malic and hate, the name rolling off of the hanyou's tongue as if it were posion itself. Naraku smirked; Kagome flinched.
He was not in his usual baboon pelt; yet another fact that added to the conclusion that this would be their last fight. Miroku tightened his hold on his staff. He eyed Naraku's newest incarnations; a large demon, what appeared to be some type of sorceress, a smaller demon, and Kohaku. His eyes lingered on the young boy, tracing the outlines of his face with his eyes to try and detect any resemblance to his older sister. (He's got her eyes.) He made a growling sound in the back of his throat, his anger causing his purple eyes to darken even more. (I will rip him limb from limb for what he did to her.)
"Hello Inuyasha," Naraku said, his voice slow and calm as usual. There was a look about him; an aura, making him seem almost relaxed. That annoyed the hanyou the most. He was acting as if he wasn't even threatened by them. "Hmm…" he said, looking around with a faint smirk. "It appears everyone is here, save the kit and the demon slayer." His red eyes setteled on Miroku. "I am almost sorry for her death, she was such a lovely woman.
"Bastard!" the houshi yelled, his voice trembling slightly with rage. He reached for one of his spells, knowing that it wouldn't do any real damage to the other hanyou but feeling that he could not just stand back while he spoke about his Sango in such a way. He threw the spell, the paper barely grazing across Naraku's cheek as he quickly disappeared.
"Well then…" he said smiling. Toson, the smaller demon, jumped up, baring his fangs and growling. Kagome shot an arrow at him, shooting the demon in the heart, insantly killing him. Surprised by her own marksmenship, she was unprepared for the blast of fire that was shot from Daisuke's mouth, falling to the ground. Inuyasha lifted tetsusiga, slashing through the abdomen of the larger demon. Daisuke chuckled harshly, hitting the hanyou with the back of his hand, making him fly into a tree. Miroku turned to face Naraku, only to see the sorceress Naora smirking at him. She flung a dagger at him, the blade hitting his shoulder, causing blood to begin welling at the wound. With a look of determination, he jumped up, managing to strike her with his staff before she pulled away. "Let the battles begin."
Yes, I know. Short chapter. Curses. I couldn't help it eh! We just got out for summer vacation though so I WILL be finishing this story in the next month. Two more chapters, I think. Because, you know, the battle with Nary-chan is gonna last more then one chapter! I mean come on!
Naraku- I would really like it if you would please refrain from calling me Nary-chan.
Inuyasha- Aww…but you're just so cute!
Naraku- Well…yeah…I know!
Sesshomaru- Review or die!
Miroku- hits Fluffy in shoulder You're supposed to be nice to them! grins Please review, oh lovely ones. winks See, like that.
Sesshomaru- You disgust me.
Miroku- Really? COOL!