A/N: As I post this I am dreading my first class for the day. I will be heading off to my first class (Speech 133...ugh!) by 8am, which I had NOT initially signed up for... I signed up for the 10am class, and the stupid school computers went and screwed up the registration giving me the early class instead. Stupid archaic school computers...
Also, I know I said this chap had been finished by the time I posted the last chapter, and it WAS, but unfortunately, my own computer had to go incognito on me, and crashed for a reason even I have yet to understand. Pentium 4 sucks... I should have stayed with my old Pentium 2.
So, I therefore conclude that technology sucks.
Anyway, I will now begin fuming silently all by myself, while you guys read this chapter.
Note: Thanks a lot to my friend TheWraith for his help with this chapter. God knows I wouldn't have been able to get this out without him. This one's for you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. But if I were given the chance to own it, heck, why not?!
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SEVEN WEEKS
The New Moon – Part 2
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Inuyasha stared defiantly up at Naraku, clenching his fists as the wounds he had acquired during the earlier fights pulsed painfully with every breath. He knelt down to retrieve the sword he stole from the dead soldier without taking his eyes off Naraku, tightly holding it as he struggled to stand again. Kagome stood beside him, slightly supporting him. "You had better think twice, Naraku, because human or not, I swear I am gonna tear you to pieces."
Naraku just cackled. "And how do you propose you will do that? This shall be ever so sweet dear Inuyasha... You fought so valiantly to save the kingdom and protect the woman you love but now your life will end all because of your human side's fatal flaw in timing. Oh how I do enjoy the irony of it all."
The hanyou-turned human glared at him, but Inuyasha knew that his chances of winning against Naraku were very slim. He could almost taste Naraku's jaki all around the tower, so strong it was nearly suffocating. And from the way his comrades were looking, not even their combined strengths would stand a chance.
Miroku was bleeding from his side, and Inuyasha noticed for the first time that he was holding Shakujou in his left hand. His right arm was rather limp on his side, and on retrospect, he could remember that Miroku only used his left arm as they fought the zombies outside.
Sango wasn't looking too good, either, her face smeared with dirt, and a patch of cloth missing from her leg revealed a deep, bloody cut. Kagome, who glared evilly at Naraku, had her hair plastered to her face, taking in shallow breaths as she held him.
"Well, you'll just have to wait and find out, ne?" Inuyasha smirked. It was one thing to think they couldn't win, but it was another thing to actually admit it. He pulled himself away from Kagome, standing as cockily as he possibly could, tightening his hold on the katana.
Naraku shrugged, before he pulled out a small pouch from within his kimono. He slowly untied it, and dropped its contents into his hand, laying out his palm for them to see.
Kagome, Miroku and Sango all gasped, nearly identical looks of horror on their faces. Inuyasha looked quizzically at the glowing red orb in the center of Naraku's palm. Looking between Naraku's smug grin and the looks his comrades were giving him, he put two and two together, breathing in before asking hesitantly. "That's the Shikon no Tama, ne Kagome?"
Naraku laughed then, pulling the friends out of their stunned silence, having them all turn heated glares in his direction. "Did you really think that I could not manage to use the Shikon no Tama, Azalea? I have, after all, unlocked this tower."
Kagome snapped out of her slight daze. "Pure evil is not supposed to touch the Tama, Naraku," she said bravely, though Inuyasha noticed a slight quiver in her voice. "Just give that back to me! Why are you doing this? Did we do you wrong?"
"You should have just said yes, when I asked you. There was only one thing I wanted, one thing that made me do this..." Naraku began.
"Naraku, you know that I couldn't do that!" Kagome shrieked in frustration. "I am the princess! I am not supposed to have a husband, or a lover! Besides, I told you, I don't love you!"
"You didn't give me a chance! I only wanted you, Azalea! But you never even tried to look at me, did you?" Naraku accused bitterly. "If the reason is that you were so dedicated to your work, then tell me... why did you give yourself to Inuyasha?"
Kagome paled. "What has that got..."
"Enough of this!" Inuyasha suddenly shouted from beside her. "Naraku, she never gave you the chance because she couldn't, and she doesn't love you. She loves ME! Besides, did you really think that forcing her into being with you would have made her happy?!"
"She was supposed to be mine!"
"Kagome was never yours, you bastard!"
Naraku suddenly let out an angry, almost inhuman howl as he lunged at Inuyasha, holding the Shikon no Tama in his left hand while his right concentrated a dark-hued energy into a fiery ball of youki.
Inuyasha's eyes widened, and he dove to the side as Naraku landed, throwing the ball of youki right at the spot where he had been standing. He swung the sword as widely as he could, but the tip of the rather short blade barely even reached Naraku.
Miroku whipped out an ofuda as Naraku came within throwing range, furiously aiming it at him. The houriki he had used must have warned Naraku though, as he immediately dodged and leapt back to the spot he had occupied before he lunged at Inuyasha.
The group watched in horror as great vines sprouted out from beneath Naraku's bellowing robes, heading straight for each of the members of their group.
Kagome shrieked in surprise as she pushed off, narrowly dodging the tentacle that had nearly impaled her thigh. She instinctively reached back to take an arrow out of her quiver, and paled when she realized that she only had two arrows left.
Inuyasha dove and flattened himself to the ground, muttering curses as the tentacles shot out only a few inches above his head. Had he been hanyou it would have been easier to jump up and avoid them... but he wasn't.
Sango swung her Hiraikotsu at the approaching vines, yelling out for Miroku to duck as she did so. The monk veered off to the side as one of the things headed for him, before ducking back as the parts that Sango had severed went flying off in his direction.
The group had scattered across the place without their realization, and were now recognizing the danger they had unwittingly placed themselves in. Regrouping was impossible, as the path that separated them was lain with Naraku's vines.
Kagome, who was only good in long-range combat, had been steered to only a few feet from Naraku. Inuyasha stood a few feet in front of Sango, which kept the latter from releasing her Hiraikotsu. Miroku was pushed back into a corner, furiously whipping at the offending tentacles as he tried to keep an eye on Sango.
They were all worn from the zombie attack, and Miroku knew that using his wind tunnel in his condition would increase the chances of his getting sucked in. Not to mention, they were in too confined a room for it. None of them were in the best condition to fight, and Miroku suspected that the zombies had been placed there not to keep them away from the palace, but to wound and wear them out so thoroughly that Naraku would gain the upper hand.
Inuyasha stood on rather wobbly legs as he furiously threw the short katana at Naraku like a spear, as if desperately hoping that it will hit. He was not the least bit surprised when it rebounded as if hitting a wall, and he realized that not only had he not detected the barrier, he had also foolishly lost the only weapon he had at the moment.
He placed a hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt for a moment, trying to come up with a plan, but drawing a blank. 'Keh... this is pathetic,' Inuyasha thought as only one thing came to mind after his brain-wracking – get to Kagome.
He eyed the vines surrounding him with open disdain, cringing when they intertwined only to try to snap the other into pieces. Crouching, he set his sights on a particular cluster that was repeatedly revealing a gap that he could get through to get to Kagome if it only got a bit wider.
Waiting on bated breath, Inuyasha readied himself to make a run for the gap. A few more contractions of the vines did the trick, and as fast as he could, Inuyasha darted through the gap, throwing himself near Kagome with a shout.
"Oh, no you don't!" Naraku yelled, making the writhing masses of indistinguishable flesh head for Inuyasha like tens of massive spears.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried as he came crashing down beside her, and she helped pull him up as some of the tentacles tried to wrap themselves around him. Gathering her purifying powers into the palm of her hand, Kagome unleashed a ball of energy with a furious battle cry, slumping against Inuyasha as she felt the burn of her own reiryoku leaving her through her hands.
"Kag! Are you alright?!" he asked when he saw her slump over.
"I'll be ok... are you crazy? Why did you dive down like that?" she scolded him even as she tried to get up. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Miroku and Sango following Inuyasha's example – fighting off the vines so they could regroup.
"I had to get to you, stupid wench. What are we gonna do?" Inuyasha asked, pulling out Tetsusaiga as more of Naraku's tentacles came within range. He struck out at them angrily, grinning when some got cut in half by only the power of his sword's natural barrier.
"Kagome!" Sango yelled as she approached, presenting a vivid warrior queen image with parts of the vines flying all around her.
Leaping over a particularly nasty vine, she landed before the pair with a shout, instructing them to keep their heads down as she swung Hiraikotsu in a wide arc. The vine slowly retracted, and Inuyasha and Sango took that chance to stir Kagome away from their place near the evil demon.
Miroku, panting and sporting several tears in his robes, went to join them, slinging Shakujou over his left shoulder. "We have to get the Shikon no Tama," he breathed as they all watched Naraku retreat to a particularly dark corner of the tower, bringing his vines with him.
"Miroku-sama is right. The power he gained from this tower is bad enough... him gaining control over the Shikon is even worse," Kagome added. She pointed in the direction Naraku had disappeared to. "We have to go after him!"
"No! It's obviously a trap!" Inuyasha shouted.
"Then what should we do?" she replied.
"Kagura!" Sango's shout made them all look up, only to find the said woman approaching them opposite from where Naraku had gone. "What do you want?"
The wind-user was pale, and unlike her usual jaunty stance, the woman stood on wobbly legs, and her hands were unconsciously groping around as if looking for something to hold on to that would keep her from collapsing.
To everyone's surprise, Miroku started toward her, reaching for the youkai just as she fell to the floor. "Kagura... your aura has grown so... weak."
Kagura nodded. "Naraku is trying to pull me back into himself. I... I came from him, as his detachment... and I would go back into him," she gasped, "And I don't want to."
"You helped us get to Inuyasha and Kagome... why?" Sango asked as she slowly approached.
"Because... I wanted to do something worthwhile before I die..."
Inuyasha raised a suspicious eyebrow, his arms still wound around Kagome. "What are you playing at? Do you expect us to believe you? To help you?"
"No..." Kagura replied. "But I expect you to beat Naraku."
"Kagura..." Kagome whispered, approaching the wind youkai. "You know... we barely stand a chance," she said tearfully.
"Yes you do," Kagura insisted, gasping as a sudden pain seized her, and the group realized that her legs appeared to be rapidly disappearing upwards. "You and Inuyasha... even without your Shikon, and his youki, you still have your purifying powers."
"Kagura..."
"Let me finish! I don't have much time!" she exclaimed, albeit weakly. "Naraku is a youkai... but at present, none of you are."
She reached for Inuyasha and Kagome's entwined hands as her torso began to dissolve into thin air as well. "And right now... that is your greatest advantage."
"What do you mean?" Sango asked, but Kagura kept her eyes solely on Inuyasha and Kagome even as her shoulders began to disappear.
"You give each other strength..." she said softly, a few tears leaking from her eyes. "And with that strength, you can defeat Naraku before the break of dawn."
They stared in puzzlement as Kagura completely disappeared, and Miroku made a small sign of blessing as her aura completely dissipated. "In the end... Kagura was actually on our side."
"She hated living... but she also hated the way she had to die..." Kagome stated. "We have to kill Naraku, guys. We really have to. Dammit!"
"Kagome," Inuyasha began, but Kagome continued, bursting into miserable tears.
"This is all my fault... I never should have left the Shikon with him..."
"Don't blame yourself, Kagome-chan!" Sango said. "You did all you could to keep Crystallia safe. Who would have known that Naraku could suddenly control the Shikon no Tama?"
"I should have! I..."
"Kagome, stop that!" Inuyasha shouted. "This is no one's fault! The only one at fault here is Naraku... and we have to make him pay."
"But first, we have to find him," Miroku interjected. "Let's go follow him. WE all know he may have a trap, but we really have no choice."
"We'll just have to be on high alert," Sango supplied. "And we have to get the Shikon no Tama from Naraku. It's the best thing we could do."
"Let's go," Inuyasha said determinedly, tugging on Kagome's arm. "We could do this, Kagome."
She nodded slowly, before the group set off to follow Naraku to where he had retreated.
oooooooooo
"Naraku-sama..." a soft, emotionless voice pleaded as crushing pain gripped her entire body. "Please don't..."
Naraku just grinned as he watched Kanna's body rapidly dissolving into nothingness. Her normally expressionless eyes were full of anguish, her mirror having fallen from her hands long before.
"Relax, Kanna... it will be just like when you had been born," he replied, feeling her and Kagura's strengths seeping into him as he absorbed them back into his body.
Kanna groaned feebly, sneaking a last glance into her mirror. She smiled, a tiny tilting of her lips as she saw her sister speaking to the group of fighters.
She was dying, but, "There is still hope..." she mumbled, before she was completely absorbed into her creator.
oooooooooo
"He's here," Miroku said softly as they approached a room within the depths of the castle. "I can feel his jaki... he has grown a lot stronger."
"Because of Kagura and Kanna," Sango whispered. "We have to go in, now."
"I'll get the door," Inuyasha volunteered, and he drew back his arm which still held Tetsusaiga, and slammed the hilt into the door handle. He kicked the doors open, immediately scanning the room for the demon.
The hall was a large, dome-shaped room with a high ceiling, curtains and drapes shrouding the room in shadow. The ground was blurred by miasma that swirled over it, and Inuyasha almost had to be thankful that it was the new moon.
"Naraku, show yourself!" Kagome commanded.
"Gladly," he replied, as a string of various youkai, and the tentacles from earlier, shot out at them from above. Naraku descended onto the center of the room as his attachments swarmed the four fighter, cackling as he watched them fight for their lives.
Kagome stuck to Inuyasha through the onslaught as Miroku and Sango immediately headed for the other side of the room together, where they stood almost directly in front of Naraku. She held onto a short katana, the same one that Inuyasha had taken from one of the zombies, that they had retrieved from the ground before leaving the front hall where they had earlier battled.
"You ready?" Inuyasha whispered, pulling out the battered Tetsusaiga.
"Yes," Kagome replied, forcing some of her powers into the sword she held. "Let's go."
Both turned to face their oncoming opponents, and with loud, angry cries, they charged at the youkai. Kagome kept her opponents at bay with a small spirit shield as she struck at the vines, while Inuyasha made use of Tetsusaiga and its scabbard in fending off his demons.
Sango and Miroku were holding well on their own, despite their marked injuries. Miroku struggled to wield and execute a proficient Seibai with his staff while using only his left hand, while Sango's impressive offense was rivaled only by her own defense.
They were all caught off-guard by the heavy gust of wind that came at them, reminiscent of Kagura's wind blades. Kagome shrieked as it cut through her skin, and Inuyasha quickly ran in front of her to protect her from the rogue spears.
Inuyasha turned his back on Naraku, pulling Kagome to himself and covering them both with his haori in an effort to protect them both. He looked over his shoulder to find Miroku and Sango still fighting with the youkai, seemingly not even minding the sting of the wind weapon.
He chanced a glance at the demon when the blades stopped raining down on them, and he noticed Naraku slowly slipping a shiny, small orb into a pocket of his clothing.
'If I could just grab hold of that stupid stone,' Inuyasha groused, before an insane idea popped into his head.
Holding his side against the pain of a new wound made by one of those blades, he quickly let go of Kagome, pushing her back just a little so his path to Naraku would be clear. With a new-found determination, he surged forward, clearing his way by coldly killing and whacking at whatever dared to block his way.
He could hear Kagome shouting at him to come back, but she was obviously being held back by the monsters she was dealing with.
Only a few more steps, and he would be upon Naraku. The youkai seemed to not even notice him as he approached from his side.
A few vines parted, giving Inuyasha enough space to dive through and grab the Shikon no Tama from within Naraku's robes. He lunged forward, his arm stretched out, ready to grab the orb once it came in contact with his hand.
He felt his hand close around something within Naraku's robes, but as he pulled his hand back, a sharp pain stabbed through his abdomen, violently ripping through his body, straight into his back.
Naraku turned to smirk at Inuyasha as his vision blurred from the pain. Inuyasha would have easily survived the strike, had he been hanyou, but with his human body, the pain was much more intense... the blow much more lethal.
"INUYASHA!!!" Kagome screamed as she watched her lover get impaled by one of the dreadful tentacles. She watched helplessly as Inuyasha slumped forward, his hands clenching in pain while he fought to keep conscious.
Naraku threw Inuyasha across the room, brutally pulling the sharp tentacle out of his body. The evil youkai laughed loudly as the three remaining combatants gasped in horror when Inuyasha was thrown off mercilessly.
Blood spilled from his abdomen as he sailed through the air, only stopping when he finally hit a solid wall. He crumpled against the wall, bringing his fisted hands up to instinctively push against the pain in his chest.
"No!" Kagome cried, slashing more furiously as she headed for Inuyasha's nearly unconscious form. Tears were blurring her sight, and she jumped when she suddenly found Sango beside her.
"I'll take care of these demons. Go to Inuyasha!" she instructed, and Kagome could only nod gratefully as she ran off.
She fell to her knees beside him, watching as he closed his eyes in agony. "Inuyasha! Gods... please be alright!" she shouted, the tears falling steadily down her cheeks.
"Kagome..." was all he could say as he struggled to open his eyes to look at her... for probably the last time. He took her hand in his, pressing their palms together. "Don't cry," he said, squeezing her hand in his. "I love you..."
"Inuyasha..." Kagome began, but was cut off when she felt his hand loosen its grip around her. His eyes closed, head falling limply to the side. "No..."
She could hear Naraku laughing, Sango shouting and Miroku cursing, but none of it made sense...
"Inuyasha... Inuyasha!" she screamed, shaking him with the hand he had not been holding. "No! You can't! Inuyasha, you have to wake up! I love you... Inuyasha!"
The tears fell more steadily, even as her throat closed up in grief. Memories of all the wonderful times they had together, of every fight they had together, flashed before her eyes, making her tiny frame wrack with sobs of agony as she repeatedly called his name to no avail. All the while, she never let go of his hand, hoping against hope that he would squeeze it again, open his eyes.
She refused to acknowledged what he mind was telling her, what she already knew but didn't want to believe.
She knew... gods, she knew... but something in her wouldn't let her accept...
Inuyasha... her love, her guardian, her bestfriend...
Inuyasha was dead.
oooooooooo
A/N: Cliffhanger? Hehehe... gomen. Ummm... don't kill me, please? If you kill me, you won't be able to read the last three chapters!
By the way, I heard ff(dot)net was deleting stories that answered reviews in them? Strange... but I'd rather be safe for now. So gomen, but no review responses this time.
Just a note, since I can't resist... someone seems to be psychic... That someone coughLiteraryDragoncough has some VERY good guesses on the next chapter... More cookies, dear? They're chocolate!...
Again, thanks to my "friend in evil writing", TheWraith, for his help with this chapter. That draft you sent me really got me going! Thanks again, Tim.
And a big THANK YOU, of course, goes to all the wonderful people who took a few minutes to review this story for me. Thank you all so much! Gives away hoarded Halloween candies There! I was gonna eat all of that, but since you guys are so good...
Bye, and until next chapter, guys! Ja! I hope you all enjoyed, and please, read and review!
ScarletRaven1001
