Inuyasha pushed Kagome behind him and looked up. Sesshoumaru also looked up and prepared to attack. All the darkness that had been around them seemed to be a cloud that was flying up and was becoming thicker. It gathered in a small ball and after a few seconds a portal opened. Inuyasha growled and Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes as Naraku came out of the portal, followed by Hakudoshi and Kohaku.
"You finally found me, Inuyasha." Naraku said, amusement not hidden in his voice. "I shouldn't have given you that shouki crystal."
"Damned right, you bastard! I would've followed your stench everywhere!" the hanyou snarled and pointed his sword at his hated enemy. "Come down here and fight!"
"I don't see why you have brought that useless girl with you." Naraku said with a smirk, ignoring Inuyasha's insults and threats. "And you, Sesshoumaru-sama, what are you doing with a filthy hanyou like him?"
"Hanyou or not, he brought me to you." the dog demon said in his usual cold voice.
"Hey, Inuyasha is not filthy!" Kagome yelled angry, taking her bow from her back and prepared an arrow to shoot. "And I may be useless but I can tell who the filthy one is!" with that said she released her arrow. It flew right at Naraku but suddenly Hakudoshi was in its way and the arrow got repelled by the boy's barrier.
Taking advantage of the current distraction Kagome had made, Inuyasha jumped up as far as he could and unleashed a Kaze no Kizu at Naraku. Again, Hakudoshi stood in the way of the attack and Naraku's ominous laugh echoed in the large cave. Suddenly another blast was shot at his right side and Sesshoumaru jumped back down from the rock he had been standing, to get a better aim. This time the white-haired boy wasn't fast enough and the attack hit Naraku directly. Well, of course that he had a barrier too, this is no surprise.
Once again the hanyou, the dog demon and the human girl were side by side on the ground, waiting for their opponents' next move. When the smoke of their attacks cleared, Naraku's barrier was intact but Hakudoshi's was covered with big cracks. Kohaku, who was with Hakudoshi in his barrier stepped outside on a big rock. Obviously, Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu had been strong enough to weaken the white-haired boy's barrier so that it could protect only one person.
"What an unpleasant surprise, Inuyasha." Naraku said darkly. "You've learned to use my shouki crystal to become stronger. But that won't do you any good even if you manage to kill me, which in fact is not likely to happen…"
"What is he talking about?" Kagome whispered to the hanyou.
"That's none of your business." the cold voice he used to tell her that, made the dark-haired girl shiver and make a step away from him.
Seeing this as a perfect opportunity, Naraku's left arm extended into a pointed vine and shot toward the stunned girl. At the same time, Hakudoshi pointed his spear toward the two brothers and flew toward them. Not wasting time, Sesshoumaru jumped up and his sword met the white-haired boy's weapon. The dog demon got pushed and landed on a rock about ten meters from the ground. Hakudoshi attacked again.
Inuyasha saw what Naraku was up to and immediately leaped at the approaching vine. He tried to cut it with his sword but to his utter surprise, Tetsusaiga just went through it. At the same time a scream was heard and when the hanyou turned to see what was going on with Kagome, he saw the vine wrapping around her waist and lifting her in the air. Inuyasha landed and jumped again toward the girl he had sworn to protect.
Naraku's laugh echoed in the cave as Inuyasha wasn't able to reach Kagome and had to jump on a rock and then at him again. Seeing that the hanyou couldn't reach her, Kagome managed to pull out an arrow out of her quiver and shoot at Naraku. Luckily for her, he had underestimated her and hadn't raised his barrier. The arrow pierced his left arm, destroying it, but also causing her to start falling down.
Unfortunately, Inuyasha was too far up to be able to reach her in time and just started in shock from a rock, almost ten meters away from Naraku. Suddenly, a small figure shot from the other side of the cave and caught Kagome. When they landed on the ground, the one that was holding her was Kohaku. The boy then pulled out his weapon and stood in front of the girl, ready to defend her.
"How dare you betray me!" Naraku growled while his arm regenerated. "You will pay for this!" with that he held his right hand toward Kohaku and it glowed with purple light.
Kohaku gasped and his eyes widened as pain shot through his whole body. His back started glowing in light-pink light that slowly started to became tainted. The boy dropped his weapon and fell to his knees. Seeing that Naraku was trying to take control over Kohaku's mind, Inuyasha leaped at the evil hanyou. He tried to hit him with Tetsusaiga, but this time the barrier was there and he was pushed back.
Kagome glanced worriedly first at Kohaku, then at Sesshoumaru, who was still fighting with Hakudoshi, and then the loud sound of Inuyasha's attack caught her attention. Suddenly, an idea struck her and dropping her bow she ran to Kohaku. Looking his back closer she saw where the jewel shard that kept him alive was and without a second thought placed both her hands on that place. The boy cried in pain and Naraku's hand stopped glowing.
'Impossible!' he almost screamed in his mind but on the outside, the only thing that showed his shock were his slightly widened eyes.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed as the girl closed her eyes and slumped on the ground unconscious. Well, for Inuyasha's current state of mind, he was far from thinking that she was alright and jumped down, throwing his sword aside and practically forgetting everything around him except her.
Naraku quickly snapped out of his shock and decided to use the opportunity that Inuyasha's distraction gave him. He held his right hand toward the hanyou, who was currently kneeling beside the fallen girl, forming an energy blast. He didn't waste time and once the blue ball became large enough to satisfy him, he shot it toward the hanyou and his girl. Imagine his surprise when something white shot toward the blast and repelled it with its sword right back at him.
Sesshoumaru cursed his half brother for not paying attention to his enemy, while he landed next to him, after saving him from inevitable death. The blast that the dog demon repelled hit Naraku and being extremely powerful, managed to break though his barrier. While the evil hanyou regenerated his body, Hakudoshi attacked. It seemed that the condition his master was currently in affected the boy too and when Sesshoumaru's attack hit him, he suffered the same fate as Naraku.
"Kagome…" Inuyasha desperately shook the unmoving girl, completely loosing control over his emotions. "Kagome, open your eyes… Wake up… Kagome…"
"She is just unconscious, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru's voice didn't seem to reach him and the dog demon had to do something that under other circumstances would have disgusted him. "You won't bring her back if you sit here and cry. If you kill Naraku, I promise to bring her back, although she isn't dead…" he even placed a hand on the hanyou's left shoulder to get his attention.
"How very touching!" Naraku, who had managed to regenerate his head, laughed.
Hearing that hated laugh, Inuyasha seemed to snap out of his depression. He snarled and cursed himself and the shouki crystal for messing with his emotions like that. "I wasn't crying." he growled at his half brother and the dog demon simply rolled his eyes. Turning to look at the still kneeling boy not far away from him, Inuyasha grabbed his shoulder and shook him hard. "Kohaku, snap out of it."
The boy startled and turned toward Inuyasha, looking at him wide-eyed. "I-I… I'm…" he stammered, his whole body shaking. He looked at the unconscious girl in front of the hanyou and his eyes widened even more. "Is… Is s-she…"
"Kagome saved you." Inuyasha said getting up. "Now I want you to keep her safe. Okay?"
Kohaku nodded dumbly, as if not believing that the hanyou was actually ready to trust him enough to leave Kagome to his cares. On the other hand, Inuyasha had absolutely no intention on wasting time anymore. He was mad enough at himself for embarrassing himself in front of Sesshoumaru and for actually letting his half brother to cheer him up. A shudder ran down his spine – the next thing the dog demon would do was probably hug him… Naah, not likely!
As the two brothers stood facing Naraku and Hakudoshi who were still regenerating their bodies, suddenly their barriers pulsed and many ripples appeared on them. Not knowing what was happening, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru stood their ground and narrowed their eyes, waiting for whatever was going to happen. With their luck, Naraku was going to turn into a giant monster and eat them all.
'What is happening?' the evil hanyou thought as another pulse ran through his partly regenerated body. Pain shot through him and if he had arms he would have crushed them to his chest. 'My heart…' he hissed and looked at Hakudoshi, who was in a similar condition. 'I can't feel the baby…'
'Inuyasha's friends…' Naraku heard Hakudoshi's voice in his head. 'The baby…is dying…' the boy managed to say before a painful spasm in his chest made him grit his teeth.
Naraku looked at Inuyasha. The hanyou's eyes were wide with realization. Obviously he knew what was happening and wasn't going to wait long to attack. Due to the condition Naraku was currently in, there was no way for him to defend himself, even with a barrier. Hakudoshi was of no help, either. The boy was already so weak that if he tried to protect his master, the attack that either Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru would send, would destroy them both. So, Naraku made his decision.
As Inuyasha was about to jump at Naraku, a painful scream echoed in the cave. He and his half brother turned to look at the source of that scream but strong white light blinded them and they had to cover their eyes. When they were able to see again, Hakudoshi was no more. Only Naraku stood surrounded by his barrier, completely regenerated and smirking as if nothing had happened.
"I must admit that I underestimated you, Inuyasha." the evil hanyou said, the amused tome in his voice back. "I never thought that the connection we share was so strong."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" the enraged hanyou yelled pointing with his sword.
"Don't play dumb, Inuyasha." Naraku smirked again. "You knew where I hid the baby and sent your friends there, who obviously failed with their mission. Too bad I had to sacrifice Hakudoshi, though."
Listening to this pointless conversation, Sesshoumaru was getting more and more irritated. After all they were all here to fight, not talk. He gritted his teeth to keep himself from growling and raised his sword. A thick cloud formed around his legs and he jumped up toward Naraku. Inuyasha screamed for him to stop, but the arrogant dog demon wouldn't listen.
Meanwhile, Naraku's smirk grew wider. Sesshoumaru didn't even have the time to blink as he was suddenly engulfed by a dark cloud of shouki, which came from behind Naraku. The dog demon desperately tried to free himself. Even Inuyasha leaped at the quickly thickening cloud to try to help his half brother but it was already too late. Before the hanyou could reach the cloud, Naraku pulled it behind himself.
Inuyasha landed on a rock about twenty meters from the ground, and snarled at his enemy. "What did you do to him?" he yelled angry, when he saw the unconscious Sesshoumaru through the cloud of shouki.
"I am taking his energy." Naraku said, his smirk never leaving his lips. "Don't think of setting him free. As long as I use his energy if he gets out of that shouki cloud, he will die."
Inuyasha cursed mentally his stupid half brother and narrowed his eyes at Naraku, as if trying to see something through him. Then smirking, raised his sword and jumped at him. Surprised by the hanyou's sudden boldness, Naraku didn't do anything. Actually, he was so self-confident that he didn't consider that fact that there might be a slight disadvantage in his otherwise perfect plan.
Kagome was just waking up when she heard a loud battle cry. Her head immediately snapped up and she saw Inuyasha jump at Naraku and instead of breaking through the evil hanyou's barrier with Tetsusaiga, he did it with his bare hands. Seeing that she was awake, Kohaku was immediately by her side, helping her sit up and supporting her.
As Inuyasha broke through the barrier, his right hand was aimed at Naraku's chest. Even the big red eye there widened in shock, as well as Naraku's own eyes. Inuyasha growled loudly as he dug his claws in that red eye. Naraku gave out a loud piercing scream, as if many creatures were screaming at the same time, and a strong shock wave pushed Inuyasha back. The hanyou was thrown with such force that he made a small crater in the rocks he hit. Trying not to loose consciousness, Inuyasha fell forward and hit the hard floor with a pained groan.
TBC