Disclaimer: Inuyasha. . .no. Kagome. . .no. The space-time continuum. . .no. A computer large enough to take over my entire desk and the surrounding area. . . yes. Well, am I not just the luckiest girl ever!

What Happens Now?

Chapter 5

By: Ks-Starshine

Moonlight shone brightly as Inuyasha and his fellow travelers silently took in their surroundings. Ahead of them was a large clearing with only a fire and Naraku in sight, wrapped in his usual baboon pelt.

"Careful everyone," Miroku whispered. "We don't know the whereabouts of Kagura or any of the other demons."

"Yeah, plus Myouga was right. We could easily be surrounded by all the other demons nearby. I can smell their stink coming from all around us," Inuyasha hissed.

Kagome couldn't take her eyes off the baboon pelt. 'Is that really you, Naraku? So many times it has turned out to be merely a puppet. Will this really be the end of it all?'

As if he read her thoughts, Shippou chimed in. "How do we know if that is really Naraku and not just a puppet?"

"Kagome, can you sense the location of the shards?" Inuyasha gently asked.

The young miko closed her eyes and put forth all her energy to feel for the exact location of the shards she knew were close. "It's the real Naraku alright," she concluded aloud. "Nearly all the shards are coming from him. Naraku may play risky games, but he would never let a puppet hold all the shards he possesses."

"Kagome is right," agreed Sango. "Now enough talk. Our time is running short."

Inuyasha nodded. "Right. Everyone remember the plan? Good. There's no room for mistakes."

"It's too late. Your first mistake was coming here!" mocked a voice behind them.

"Kagura!" Inuyasha growled as he quickly spun around to face the wind demon hovering behind them. "I knew I smelled something rank."

"Always with your pathetic little insults, Inuyasha. And after I've waited for you so patiently." Kagura hid her wicked smile behind her fan. "Now I finally get to have my fun!"

"We'll see about that!" Inuyasha held tetsusaiga in an attack stance. "Kaze No Kizu!"

With a wave of her fan, Kagura easily deflected his attack. "Haven't you learned your lesson by now? You will never defeat me!" With another swift movement, she sent a dozen tornados into the middle of their group causing everyone to scatter into different directions.

Kagome sat up from where she had been thrown in the attack. Wincing from the pain in her side where she had landed on a branch, she looked to see how her friends were doing. Inuyasha was working hard continuing his battle with Kagura. Sango and Miroku were back to back fighting numerous demons that had apparently been called into battle at Kagura's signal. Poor Shippou appeared to have been knocked unconscious and was lying motionless on the other side of the field.

'Shippou!' she silently cried. Though she wanted desperately to reach him, there were too many demons in her way. She frowned in frustration. Their carefully laid plans for their attack were now shattered. It had been a trap all along. 'I don't know if I can make it over there alone, but I've got to try!' She rose to her feet and grabbed her bow and arrows to join in the battle. She tried to concentrate her energy into her arrows to help them fly true to their targets, but it seemed they missed more than they hit and before too long, her supply had been spent. With no arrows left, Kagome did her best fighting by using her bow as a weapon, but received more blows than she gave. After a brief period, the demons ceased their attacks on her, leaving her for dead as her blood slowly oozed onto the ground.

With effort, Kagome turned to look at Naraku where he stood far away from the action, watching it with a smile on his face. He was actually smiling at all the carnage! Anger welled up within her. He began this war in the first place. He was the reason for all their pain and suffering, and he was just standing back and watching them all die!

"That's it! You're not going to hurt anyone anymore. I'm going to put an end to you RIGHT NOW!" She yelled at him. As her friends continued to fight bravely against their adversaries, they didn't notice as Kagome struggled to her feet and slowly advanced ever closer to the evil hanyou. She grimaced as she became nearer. Not only were her injuries making it difficult to stay conscious, much less walk, but the corruption from his jewel shards seemed to be reaching for her and the final few shards she possessed. She was shaking with pure hate and anger toward Naraku. She could feel the emotion spread through her. It wasn't until it reached her heart that she realized how it had taken over her. Reaching to clasp the jewel shards, she could feel that the malice was trying to enter them as well. Snapping her eyes to lock with Naraku's, she realized that this was his plan all along. Everything else going on was just a diversion meant to push her over the edge. He couldn't touch the shards as pure as she had made them. He needed them contaminated with her hatred.

"No!" she whispered. "How could I have let myself fall into such a trap?" She stole another glance at Inuyasha. As she watched him, she saw something she had never noticed before. Though he fought so hard, never giving up, it wasn't out of hatred. She could see the hatred in his eyes easily enough, but overriding that emotion was such tremendous love, she thought for sure she could see it radiating from his heart.

She felt the aura of hatred and vengeance that had consumed her begin to recede. 'Thank you, Inuyasha,' she thought gratefully. 'Thank you for reminding me to fight with all my heart for love.' Finding new strength at this thought, she closed her eyes and concentrated hard to rid her mind and body of all her hate, finding love for Inuyasha and her other companions quickly filling the void.

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Naraku began to get nervous. Thus far everything had gone according to plan. While the other demons carried on his battle, he had been able to watch as Kagome's hate tainted the jewel for him. He had thoroughly enjoyed seeing the fear of understanding in her eyes as she realized what she had done. However, something changed when she looked back at the others fighting. He watched as she closed her eyes and could feel her repurifying both herself and the jewel. His eyes narrowed briefly as he tried to reassess the situation he was now in.

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Soon after the young miko had purified herself, a light pink aura around her had begun to purify everything surrounding her as well. Kagome stood perfectly still. Her hair flowed around her as if alive by the same energy that was washing all the evil out of the field. Her eye's remained closed. She thought of nothing but purifying Naraku. Thinking of how much she loved Inuyasha only spurred her on.

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With his eyes closed, Shippou could hear the battle raging on around him. 'I can't just lie here forever. They need my help!' Grunting with effort, he pushed himself up and opened his eyes. Glancing around briefly, he saw Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku fighting Kagura and a horde of other demons, but it was Kagome that held his captive attention. With her eyes closed and the soft pink glow surrounding her, she looked so surreal.

"Kagome!" he yelled in his worry. 'What's going on? What is happening to her?'

At the kitsune's cry, the fighting seemed to cease almost immediately and all eye's turned to the teenage girl. The purifying aura seemed only to glow brighter as tendrils extended outward toward the other members of the clearing. One wisp of pink was quick to make Naraku the first to be ensnared. A scream laced with agony and fury pierced the air as Naraku was slowly being purified. The other demons tried to flee at the sight. Many escaped; many more were vanquished. Kagura met her end as Naraku watched. Being so full of such poisonous evil spite, it took him longer to be purified. So he watched in horror as everything he had worked so hard to get all these years was destroyed before his eyes. Unable to move, his eyes followed the path of the Shikon jewel as it released itself from his grasp and slowly drifted through the air and settled gently in Kagome's outstretched palm more pure than it had ever been.

Opening her eyes, Kagome calmly fused her remaining shards with Naraku's nearly whole jewel. She met the glare from her nemesis. "You wanted this to end today. I'm only too glad to fulfill your wish." A flash of light enveloped the entire clearing in an instant. As it receded, Kagome found she was the only one left standing. Naraku was finally finished; nothing more than a pile of dust and an old pelt. Her friends had all been knocked out by her power. Having exhausted her energy, she dropped to her knees. Her gaze fell upon Inuyasha.

"I hope you know I did it all for you, Inuyasha. I love you so much. I'm sorry," she whispered before succumbing to the darkness and collapsing to the soft earth.

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A/N: Well for those who wanted to know what happened to Kagome, I hope you enjoyed it! This chapter was harder to write than I thought. I have never written a battle scene before. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know! I want to improve! Read and review! The end is near, but not to fear, the next chapter is coming out soon!

Kirei-kitsune13: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it!

Flare4ever: You were so right about that battle scene! I just didn't know how to go about it! It took me forever to get right. If you have any pointers, I'd be glad to hear them.

Remix-69er: Thank you so much for your last review! I am so glad you enjoy my writing. I hope you liked this chapter as well!

Guardian-of-the-night: Glad you liked the beginning to the last one. Not much fluff in this chapter, but don't worry, there's still time for more!

Endless Moolight: Sorry about the cliffy, sometimes they just seem to happen don't they? I am glad you liked it! Keep reading!

Chibi Rouyakan: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope this one didn't cause you any injuries. Thanks for the compliment as well. It always encourages me when I know people like what I'm doing.

Soul of Kagome: Wow! Thank you so much for you wonderful review! I am truly honored to have you reading my story! I love your work. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!