Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor the manga, nor the anime

Chapter 19: The Final Showdown

"WHERE THE FUCK IS KAGOME!!!!!" Inuyasha yelled at the shard hunting group.

It was the morning of the third day at Kaede's village. Sesshomaru was supposed to bring 'his' Kagome to him and was confident that she will be all his. He paced back and forth in desperation.

"She will be here, Inuyasha" Miroku answered the nervous hannyou.

"She will not let us battle Naraku alone" Sango assured as she slung her boomerang bone over her back.

"Yeah... but that bastard of a brother of mine may have something up his sleeve" Inuyasha replied.

Suddenly a white blur sent Inuyasha plummeting into the forest.

"Half-brother" Sesshomaru corrected him as he flexed his claws.

"Hey guys!!" Kagome waved happily at the others. Shippo ran up to Kagome and jumped over her hugging her tightly.

"Kagome, you smell different" Shippo said innocently.

"Yeah! That's because yours truly has marked her" Inuyasha boasted.

"But-" Shippo started before Kagome put her index finger over her mouth and winking at him. 'She doesn't smell like Inuyasha', he thought.

"Did you enjoy being far away from Kagome?" Inuyasha snorted at his half-brother.

"Indeed" Sesshomaru replied plainly.

"Okay everyone let's go!!!" Kagome motioned the group as they made their way to Naraku's castle.

Inuyasha led the way with Sesshomaru and Miroku behind him. Shippo stayed at Kaede's at Kagome's bidding. She couldn't bear losing him to Naraku.

"Kagome? I don't mean to pry but is it true? That Inuyasha bit you?" Sango asked.

"Yeah he did... But I got rid of it..." Kagome replied, "I don't think I can trust him again".

"But you do have a mark..." Sango added, "and you seem different"

"I am with Sesshomaru..." Kagome replied.

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!" Sango screamed.

"What's up?" Inuyasha asked as Miroku and Sesshomaru looked upon.

Sesshomaru smirked at the situation. Unlike his brother, he had much advanced hearing and could hear what the women were talking about. Miroku glanced at Sesshomaru before noticing his smirk and kept quiet.

"Nothing...... girl stuff!!!!" Kagome covered up.

"What of? The time of the month?" Inuyasha asked.

"SIT!!!!" Kagome yelled making Inuyasha fall face first six feet underground.

"But that means... you have...." Sango inferred.

"Yeah..." Kagome nodded before Sando could finish.

"She is correct... she carries my pup within her... It is growing inside her as we speak" Sesshomaru said as he neared them.

"So... I was right" Miroku added, "You have finally claimed her as yours"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT MUMBLING ABOUT?" Inuyasha cried as he tried to get up, "Kagome....... a mate is not supposed to do that"

"You really are fools" a voice came from above. Kagura appeared from her flying feather hovering over them.

"KAGURA!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha cried as he prepared to strike.

"Before you strike your useless sword Inuyasha, please notice that I am alone" Kagura said sarcastically.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Inuyasha asked.

"To fight with you... nothing gives me more pleasure than sending Naraku to his grave" Kagura said, "With Lord Sesshomaru on our side we will beat him with ease".

"I can beat Naraku without my jackass brother's help!!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Inuyasha stop! We need all the help we can get" Kagome said.

Kagura raised an eyebrow at her. 'She bears the scent of the Demon Lord... Is she... Sesshomaru's mate?'

"Heh... someone has beaten you to her Inuyasha..." Kagura laughed.

"WHAT? I BIT HER ALREADY" Inuyasha cried.

"Guess again pup... she's marked all right, but not by you" Kagura teased.

Inuyasha drew closer to Kagome and smelled her. 'She smells like...'

"YOU JACKASS!!!!" Inuyasha cried as he drew Tetsusaiga and walked towards Sesshomaru.

"Little brother... can we please postpone our bitter spat after Naraku dies?" he said coolly.

Suddenly, the clouds drew black and Naraku arrived with hordes or demons behind him. He smirked at the shard hunting group as he removed his baboon pelt.

"Fighting against each other? How pathetic" Naraku said.

"No one invited you jackass!!" Inuyasha spat before facing again his half-brother.

"Kagura... you have defied me" Naraku spoke before a dark aura surrounded her. She gasped in pain as she clutched tightly her chest.

"Give up the shards you have in possession and I will give you a swift death" Sesshomaru said coldly.

"Well, if it isn't Lord of the West, how great it is to grace us with your presence," Naraku chided.

Before he finished, an arrow went straight to him, severing his right arm and freeing a wounded Kagura from his spell. Kagome stood protectively over Kagura as she took out another arrow. Kagura looked amazed at her, 'She is willing to protect me, even after all that I have caused?'

"Miko..." Naraku sneered. 'She grew stronger..... but how?'

"Your quarrel is with all of us!!" Kagome stated.

"You will pay for this" Naraku warned.

"No it's you who will pay for all you have done to each of us" Sango cried.

Naraku sent forth his countless minions before them.

"I'll take care of this!" Inuyasha yelled, "Wind Scar!!!"

Hordes of demons were annihilated with its strike. Sango's boomerang bone killed dozens at a time and Miroku's wind tunnel eradicated some of them until venom bees appeared. At this, Kagome shot a barrier around the others while Sesshomaru took out Toukijin and with its mere energy blast, pulverized the rest.

"How..." Naraku said to himself in awe. There was no possible way they could eradicate his army in such a short period of time.

"Naraku... is this all you could do?" Inuyasha taunted.

"Ha!" Naraku scoffed as he went through a transformation. A dark purple light surrounded him, taking him to the skies. Thunder rumbled and only his evil laughter echoed through the battlefield.

"What is happening?" Sango asked worriedly.

"He is unleashing all his power... he is calling forth all the demon that reside within him to grant him their strength and powers with the power of the shards he has in possession" Kagura explained weakly.

"Is there any way to break him, Kagura?" Miroku asked.

"If I knew... I would have done it a long time ago. Now, I can only rely on the strength on a certain youkai" Kagura said as she focused on Sesshomaru when she said the latter part. Sesshomaru merely sighed at her remarks and analyzed the transformation carefully.

"Kagome! Shoot an arrow at the hannyou!" Sesshomaru ordered.

"Huh?" Kagome said confusedly.

"Sh-Shoot me?", Inuyasha yelled at him, "You jackass... if you really want me to die you could do it yourself!"

"Not at you, Inuyasha... towards Naraku" Sesshomaru said in a bored tone. 'He truly is an idiot'.

Kagome drew her bow and arrow and released the arrow soaring through the sky. The usual pink light that would surround the arrow was now interlaced with green and white light. The black aura dissipated at the arrow's trajectory.

"It went through..." Kagome murmured.

Suddenly, another arrow hit Kagome's arrow deflecting it completely. A soft laugh came from the shadows of the forest. As the figure drew closer, it readied another arrow. 'It couldn't be...'

"Kikyo" Inuyasha yelled at the nearing priestess, "I thought you would not make it here"

"I will not let you die at the hands of Naraku, Inuyasha. Your life is mine alone" Kikyo replied before turning her face towards her reincarnation, "If your arrow hit the barrier all this land will be poisoned by Naraku's poison fumes... think before you act"

"Why you..." Kagome muttered before being held back by Sesshomaru.

He assured her with a flicker of emotion in his eyes before gently pushing her back behind him.

"Not now..." he said coolly at her.

"Inuyasha, why is Kikyo here?" Sango asked.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHE IS GOING TO HELP US KILL NARAKU!" Inuyasha yelled back.

"I don't know, Inuyasha... we shouldn't trust her" Miroku said.

"The monk is right... isn't SHE the one who took the shards from you and brought them to Naraku?" Sesshomaru asked Kagome.

"She had her reasons, okay?" Inuyasha bit back.

"Stop fighting!!! Naraku is nearing the end of his transformation" Kagura said weakly as she pointed to the sky.

The smoke was quickly dissipating to reveal the most terrifying sight they've ever seen. Naraku became a deformed being, a mutation consisting of a fusion of countless demons that harbored in his body. His size was thrice of Sesshomaru's in his true form. His skin was grey and slimy, reptilian like. His eyes were pitch black and his arms were large claws that oozed of poison. His scores of tentacles wiggled about him as he made himself into the ground.

"Heh heh heh... now where do I begin?" Naraku sneered.

Inuyasha raised his sword and before he could unleash his Wind Scar once again, he got pummeled deep into the ground.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha barely made it out of the hole before being slapped back Naraku's tentacles, landing a few feet away from Sesshomaru.

"It seems, little brother, that this fight cannot be won merely by your antics" he said icily at the hannyou, "We need a strategy."

Kagome shot an arrow at Naraku paralyzing him for a brief moment.

"It won't hold for long... we need to plan this quickly" Kagome cried.

"But what?" Sango asked.

"Monk... you offer protection for the wounded demon wench or if any of them are wounded" Sesshomaru ordered.

"WHO MADE YOU THE LEADER?" Inuyasha fumed at the Taiyoukai.

"You have better ideas?" Kagura said sarcastically before wincing in pain.

"What about you?" Miroku asked.

"I don't plan on being so..." the Demon Lord answered, "Demon Hunter... you will destroy as many tentacles as you can, leaving him open to attack by Inuyasha and I"

"Right" Sango acknowledged.

"What about me?" Kagome questioned the Demon Lord.

"You and the dead miko will offer protection for me and Inuyasha while we make our way to Naraku," Sesshomaru added with a hint of kindness, "I will depend on you, mate."

"Naraku's breaking free..." Kikyo murmured.

"Everyone get ready!" Sango yelled at the group.

When Naraku broke free of Kagome's spell, Sango released her boomerang bone eradicating about a dozen tentacles. Unfortunately, these were replaced by twice as many as before. Miroku erected a shield around him and Kagura, keeping an eye on whoever may need his assistance. Kagome and Kikyo shot arrows through the black miasma clearing a path for the Inu brothers to attack.

"GET READY NARAKU!!!" Inuyasha cried as he flexed his claws.

"You will finally meet your end..." Sesshomaru smirked.

"Fools... Do you really think you can defeat me?" Naraku chuckled.

"That's what all my former adversaries said... before they groveled begging for their lives" Sesshomaru replied as he unsheathed Toukijin and shot an energy blast.

"Futile..." Naraku laughed as he deflected it towards the sky.

"You haven't seen anything yet! WIND SCAR!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Watch out!" Sango cried as she looked above at Naraku's claws reaching towards Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.

The shard hunting group looked at the poison claws nearing at the Inu brothers, but suddenly, a purifying arrow created a barrier for them. The barrier held back Naraku's claws and left the giant hannyou wounded. Kagome sighed proudly at her direct hit. 'You are safe, Sesshomaru', she thought.

'Kagome...' Sesshomaru thought as he glanced thankfully at her.

"Sango! The tentacles!" Miroku yelled from his shield. Sango didn't notice the regenerating tentacles that reached for her.

Before Sango could release her boomerang bone, she was pummeled back towards the ground, knocking her unconscious.

"Sango!," Kagome exclaimed.

Before Kagome could react, two tentacles wrapped around each of her ankles, dropping her flat on her back. She yelled in pain from the sharp rock that dug into her back. Naraku elevated her high into the sky as the other tentacles readied themselves to attack the miko.

"Kagome," Sesshomaru whispered before being slapped back Naraku's claws.

Sesshomaru quickly recovered from the blow and glanced at the group. Miroku and Kagura were tending to Sango, making them unable to help her. Inuyasha was busy fighting off the claws. But then, Sesshomaru noticed the other miko. He looked angrily at the dead priestess that made no move whatsoever to save his mate.

"Kikyo... do something!" Kagome yelled at her as she dangled from the tentacles, holding her puryfing shield as long as she could.

"Shoot her down!" Inuyasha yelled as tried to break free from Naraku's gigantic hand, to no avail.

Kikyo slowly, taking her time, took an arrow from her quiver and set it on her bow. She tilted her face slightly to the side, gathering the arrow's target. Instead of aiming for the tentacles, she aimed at Kagome's body.

"Kikyo!!! Shoot them!" Inuyasha ordered, "Set Kagome free!"

With a soft smile on her face she released the arrow, soaring towards Kagome. 'Yes Inuyasha... I will shoot her down... I will set her free' she thought.

"Oh no..." Kagome whispered noticing the arrow's destination, when she closed her eyes, waiting for the end.

'Kagome', Sesshomaru thought as he delved towards her, hoping there was enough time to save her.

SunMoon1285: Oooh... cliffy

Sesshomaru: You really are evil...

SunMoon1285: Yeah sorta... I'm sorry readers (bows apologetically)

Sesshomaru: Please review so that she'll update faster!!!!

SunMoon1285: Thanks all of you for your reviews and commentaries and your support

Preview Chapter 20:

Kagome held back her tears as he spoke those loving words. He soothed her by resting his head atop of hers. 'What am I doing?' Kagome thought, 'I belong here... Fate has nothing to do with it... it is about choice'

"Sesshomaru... wait" Kagome murmured at her mate. She felt his head and arms removing themselves from her body.

"Thank you... for loving me" he whispered before pushing her into the well,

"Nooooooooooooooooo..." she yelled as she fell in.