The battle begins…

Chapter 13: The New Sword

Inuyasha attempted to cover his open wounds with his clothing as he approached the slaughtered demon. The room was so enormous, the monster itself seemed insignificant in size, but it was big nonetheless. Inuyasha stopped before the giant pool of acid before him. Allowing his hanyou senses to take over, it was confirmed… the demon's powerful jyaki had been sucked out.

'Shit. If Naraku has sucked up a power that strong, he will be even harder to defeat,' Inuyasha grimaced, 'Oh God, maybe Myouga-jiji was right.'

Still, he clutched his locket in his hand in a moment's prayer, 'But I won't let you down, Kagome.'

Turning away from the corpse, he continued deeper into the giant room. As he glanced around he could just make out the walls in the distance. This place was decorated much like a ballroom, though from the cleanliness of the place, it didn't seem suited for a party. There were balconies on some walls which were primarily made out of the stone of the mountain, which he could only assume served as a view, and a crystal chandelier hung high in the air, but appeared to be broken in several places, as though it had been attacked. The air was unnaturally cold, for it did not reside on top of the skin, but seemed to possess the soul with a nagging plague.

"Welcome to the party, Inuyasha," an equally cold voice called.

Inuyasha recognized it immediately, "Naraku! You bastard! Show yourself! You and I have business."

He spun around in every direction, trying to locate the direction of the voice, but this ballroom had excellent acoustics, and the sounds bounced back to his ears from every surface. In darkness, the villain continued to speak, "It was foolish for you to come here alone, Inuyasha. You should have brought your precious Kagome with you."

Inuyasha snarled, "Don't you ever say her name! You are not worthy to even speak of her!"

"Kukuku! How very precious. The knight in shining armor comes alone to save his love. You really are too much," Naraku egged him on.

Irritated by that mocking tone of voice, Inuyasha took a chance and swung, "Kaze no Kizu!"

Bits of shattered rock flew everywhere as five scars appeared on the floor, but when the light continued on, it merely hit the wall. Inuyasha growled as Naraku continued to pressure him, "Love truly has made you blind."

"What do you want with Kagome? Why did you do it? How the fuck would that serve you?" Inuyasha commanded answers.

"Even though you denied it for so long, I knew you had feelings for that miko. Everyone else knew even before you. I knew that she was the key to your ultimate suffering."

Inuyasha felt his heart sink into his stomach as his original theory changed. Naraku had raped Kagome in order to bring Inuyasha suffering. He had known that Inuyasha would go mad with rage. Naraku, who had no value of life, would never think twice about bringing such pain to his enemy. The hanyou's very skin was growling now. "You bastard! You raped her to get to me?.! I swear to God I will rip you to pieces once I find you!"

Finding even more determination, he took to running and sprinted across the room, trying in earnest to find his enemy wherever he might be hiding. Naraku continued to speak, "You didn't really think I'd allow you happiness, did you?"

Inuyasha reached another corner empty-handed, so he turned and ran to another side of the room. He yelled, "But why would that matter to you? It didn't help you in the least. All it did was make me more determined to destroy you!"

Naraku laughed, "Kukuku. You think too small, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha reached another corner, and still no Naraku. He returned to the middle of the room again and looked in all directions, "What are you talking about?"

"Your pain was really a consolation prize. I have much better things to do than watch you suffer, as enjoyable as that may be," Naraku's voice was laced with cold wickedness and cunning.

That voice boiled Inuyasha's blood. It was like sandpaper on one's skin. Perhaps his first theory had been correct. Naraku sensed his suspicions and confirmed them, "That miko really does have the biggest soul I have ever seen. Not to mention that her endurance in battle has never failed to amaze me. She may be the reincarnation of Kikyo, but I see even more power in Kagome than in that dead priestess. You know all too well how I can absorb youki, but absorbing power from humans can be quite impossible, especially those with such strong souls. But this served my needs even better, as I could both take her powers and make you suffer at the same time. I would impregnate her, so that she would have a child with both my powers and those of the miko. I would then absorb that half-breed child, so that I could combine Kagome's powers with my own. With power as great as that, I would be invincible."

Inuyasha's eyes burned red. He swung again into the darkness multiple times in his frustration. But still something did not add up. "Would, but didn't. You failed, Naraku. Kagome didn't get pregnant. Her heat wore off in time."

Naraku giggled menacingly, "Guess I made a mistake then."

Inuyasha's felt himself shiver at the confidence in his voice. His plan had failed, so why was Naraku still so sure of himself? This just didn't make sense anymore. Although Naraku would have known that Kagome was no longer able to conceive, he still went through with it, but that would have been pointless to his cause. Then again, he did attempt to take advantage of her again not a week ago. He was obviously still trying to go through with it, but there was something that just wasn't right about this whole situation. There was definitely something that Naraku was not telling.

From an unseen place, Naraku watched the distress and confusion play out on the hanyou's face. He smiled to himself, 'Inuyasha, you truly are blind. So easy to convince in your vulnerability for that human.'

He knew he had to push Inuyasha further, so he thought of something. "Don't worry, Inuyasha. I won't make that mistake again. Third time's the charm, right?"

Tetsusaiga began to ring as it desperately clung to Inuyasha's sanity. Inuyasha's growl became impeccably deep and wicked, and the vibrations of it shook the mountain to its very core. Even in the mind of a dog-demon, his conscious no longer felt like that of a dog, but of a rabid wolf on a rampage. Inuyasha swung into the nothingness of the air again and again, trying to take down anything in his path. "I'll never let you touch Kagome ever again! Show yourself, you bastard! My rage will consume you!"

"Dear Inuyasha. I do believe that your rage will consume you."

In a flash of blinding light, Inuyasha was knocked hard into the ground from something hard and hot. The impact stole him of his breath as his lungs trembled beneath his rib cage. He rolled a few times on the floor before stopping. Ignoring the pain, he stood up again in a fighting position. The white light was still there, but Inuyasha could faintly see the shape of a person appear behind it. The light slowly faded away and revealed the enemy, Naraku. He looked just the same as ever, except now he held a different sword in his hand. The white light had retreated into the sword. Naraku's smiled that evil smile of his and admired his sword in front of him, "Amazing what you can do with the right knowledge and some powerful jyaki from a stone demon. Shall we dance, Inuyasha?"

The battle began. "Kaze no Kizu!"

The light that emerged from Tetsusaiga went straight for Naraku, but Naraku was already well prepared for this. He lifted his sword in front of him to parry. When the light reached him, the edge of the sword held them in place, every single one of them. Inuyasha's eyes went wide, "What?"

He had seen the Kaze no Kizu being stopped before, but never like this. Balls of pulsing energy from the Kaze no Kizu seemed to be sticking to Naraku's new blade. It must have been that sword. But just what kind of sword was it. Naraku smirked at the hanyou's bewilderment. Taking a swing, the balls of energy flew off the sword, this time flying in the direction of Inuyasha. Despite his reflexes, Inuyasha didn't even have time to react as the power of his own sword knocked him off his feet again and into a wall. His landing felt an imprint of himself against the stone, and even he was surprised that his back had not been broken yet. He staggered to his feet again and coughed up blood. "What the hell is with that sword?"

"Don't tell me you're about to lose already, Inuyasha. You haven't even seen the ultimate power of his sword, but that shall be revealed to you in time. That is, unless you plan on dying now so I can take your woman with ease."

That was enough of a motivation for Inuyasha. He leaped into the air once again, "Kongousouha!"

Shards of diamonds emerged from his sword and headed straight towards Naraku. Naraku smirked, "Puh. Any energy you throw at me will have the same effect."

With a swing of the sword, Naraku deflected the power of Kongosouha, sending it back to Inuyasha. But Inuyasha did have a move just like that that he was ready to use instantly. "Keh! Two can play at that game! Bakuryuuha!"

The wind of the spell formed quickly and in one swing it was released. Inuyasha looked on in anticipation of his inevitable victory. There was no way Naraku's sword could stop Inuyasha's backlash. But as the wind made contact with the light, it was broken. Inuyasha didn't even have time to react as he was thrown back into the air. Naraku swung his sword again while Inuyasha was still suspended, this time summoning the power of the sword itself. As he was pummeled with the hard energy, his body made contact with the chandelier on the ceiling. Inuyasha's screamed in pain. Pieces of crystal and glass stabbed through his skin in a quick fluid motion. Even more painful was when gravity pulled him away from the ceiling, thereby allowing the sharp edges to tear through his skin as they came out.

Inuyasha landed on the floor in a loud thud, and coughed up more blood. The pain now flowing throw him was unbearable. Nearly ever part of his skin on his chest had been pierced. He placed his hands on the ground and attempted to hoist himself up, but the weight of his own body caused him to collapse. 'What should I do? When he uses that sword, this energy becomes so powerful that not even Bakuryuuha can reflect it back.'

Outside of the mountain, the others were fast approaching Naraku's castle. They were well out of the eye of the storm by now, and Miroku's last barriers were already used up. Despite the danger, they didn't give up as they faced the wind head on. Since Kirara was a full youkai, she would be able to endure the elements even more so than Inuyasha, and with her reflexes, she was able to dodge any large object that the wind carried. The humans clung to each other and kept their eyes shut tightly. It was frightfully cold, and even the speed of the wind pierced their skin. The small fragments of rock in the air made contact with them and drew blood or bruises.

But for the most part, they were okay. Kirara knew where to go, so they could count on her guidance even if they couldn't open their eyes. Kagome could have sworn that Sango had yelled something a few times, and some pained sounds coming from Miroku in response, but the power of the hurricane was so strong she couldn't even hear them clearly when they were right next to her. They were freezing cold and their lips were chapped, but they continued onward and onward to save their leader. Kagome prayed for Inuyasha to hear her thought, 'Please Inuyasha, wait for us. Don't do this alone.'

To be continued…

Hope this chappie wasn't too bad, cause it had a lot of important info, and I want to make sure everyone understood it and liked it… Please respond.

Liknn: Hope I didn't disappoint. I can promise there will be better ones. (hugs)
Mikkasura: Yes, please add me to your AIM. That would be awesome. (hugs)
InuyashaGal: The battle's not over yet, so I hope you enjoy all of it. (hugs)
kawaiigirl-777: Kagome is great… and perhaps a lot like Inuyasha, except for that she isn't stupid. (hugs)
Jenn-silent breed: Ooh, I hope it made sense. I'll explain more if it's needed, so just let me know what's confusing. (hugs)
InuyashaKougaLover: It's so great that you loved those chapters, because I dedicated the most time to those chapters. Glad it paid off. (hugs)
Pan-chan's hope: ¿Te hablas español? Yo hablo español. No me importa que uses este lengua porque es mi favorita. Sí claro, Phantom of the Opera esta perfecto para eso. Escuché otra vez cuando leía el capitulo y es la verdad lo que dices. Y usas mi palabra favorita 'UBER'. Muy bien…. Wow, that was fun. Good exercise for tomorrow's class. Me encanto que lo gustas. (hugs)
Keoi: Ooh, I hate not being able to give stuff away… or do I? I'm so evil. (hugs)
orangepencils: Hmm… I'll have to check that out. Always great to look for more inspiration. (hugs)
HorridlyTruthful25: Does that battle help? It gets better in later chapters, I think. (hugs)
INUxKAG: Ah plots… what a pain… but you are so right. I'm glad you like the story. (hugs)
mnnoct91: Haha… no pun intended? (ya know, cause of the whole spiel on the rocks and stuff… uh… time for me to put down the shovel). Glad you like it. (hugs)
LanierShazar: It was always annoying to me that Inuyasha thinks he can do everything on his own, so I just love to toy with that. Glad it's working. (hugs)