The Final Battle

"There's way to many of them!" Miroku shouted as he sucked up another dozen demons. "Where the hell are they coming from?" He turned around and was met with more demons. "This is ridiculous!" He growled as he opened up his wind tunnel to suck them up.

"Hey!" Sango snapped as she wrapped her weapon around a tree to keep her from being sucked into oblivious. "Watch where you point that would you!"

"I'm trying!" Miroku shouted as he began sucking up even more demons. "I wouldn't have sucked you in! Don't worry!"

Inuyasha slashed open the throat of one of the larger demons making it collapse to the ground. "It was all a stupid trap!" He slashed with his claws again finishing off the demon.

Kagome flew overhead on Kirara with Shippo. She was shooting demons with her arrows. Unfortunately she would only shoot when one of the others needed help because she only had so many arrows. "Well, at least we know Naraku is nearby!"

Inuyasha continued to slash at some of the larger demons. "For all we know the idiot just put his scent everywhere to make us think he was…" He kicked a smaller demon into the way of Miroku wind tunnel. "…here. It was obviously some sort of set up."

Sango threw her boomerang at a horde of demons, slicing off their heads causing them to immediately drop dead. "Anyone else notice that most of these demons are of the rodent variety?"

A giant rat lifted Inuyasha up. "I hadn't noticed!" He sliced his claws into the rodent's nose making it drop him. On the way down he went for it's heart and killed it.

Kagome looked at some trees a quarter of a mile off and saw that there was something else moving towards them. "Hey guys! There's a lot more coming I think!" She shouted loudly so they could hear her.

"Great, just what I've always wanted." Inuyasha groaned sarcastically as he struggled to kill one of the demons. "All I smell is rodent."

Just then a figure came dashing out of the forest and jumped onto his head then quickly onto a tree. After that figure Kenshin came running out of the forest gasping at the site. Sanosuke followed panting for breath and nearly pissed himself when he saw the horde of demons that stood in front of him.

Kagome glanced down at the figure and gasped. "Kazuki!" She shouted.

Kazuki glanced up at her and smiled. "So that's where you were. I kind of figured you wouldn't actually be fighting with the others. I'm guessing Shippo is up there too?"

"Hey! I could fight if I wanted to!" Shippo growled as he threw a rock down at him.

Kazuki easily dodged it and snickered. "I'm guessing that you just don't want to then?" He stopped and pondered for a moment. "You know…if you two could actually fend for yourselves you could put Kirara to some actual use by letting her fight."

Inuyasha glared at him and began shouting at him while he fought for his life. "Shuddap! Kagome probably a better fighter then you actually are! If you didn't have that jewel shard you'd just be a weak human!"

"That's not true!" Kazuki screamed. "I don't need this stupid jewel shard!" He drew out his sword and held it firmly in his hand. "Hear! I'll show you!" He dug the sword lightly into his back and the jewel shard lightly fell to the ground landing in some bushes. He smiled at them while putting his sword back into his sheath. "There? Happy…" He staggered a bit and then fell out of the tree.

Sanosuke hurriedly made his way through the crowd of demons and barely caught the boy. He held him in his arms and sighed. He stopped when he heard laughing. His eyes went wide when he felt something sharp go deep into his back. He fell to the ground and Kazuki jumped out of his arms.

"That was just too easy!" Kazuki laughed. "Now how would you like to die...?"

He was pushed to the ground and pinned with Sango's boomerang. She dug the boomerang into the ground in attempt to secure his pin. He violently thrashed his legs in the air but Sango managed to keep him firmly pinned. Kenshin rushed to Sanosuke's aid before any demons could tear him to shreds.

"Kazuki! Stop this now!" She shouted trying to get through to him. "Why aren't you going back to normal? The jewel shard is out! You should be going back to normal!"

Kagome knew why this disturbed Sango. If the jewel shard had nothing to do with the possession then that would mean that helping Kohaku would be almost futile.

Kazuki started to laugh and kicked her off. He struggled to take to boomerang out of the ground but he managed to and he picked it up. "You idiot. I'm doing this by choice…" He lifted the boomerang above her head while she was on the ground. "I guess you'll be the first…" He stopped to hold onto a tree when he was suddenly being sucked into Miroku's wind tunnel. Miroku stopped as soon as Sango was closer to him and farther away from Kazuki.

"Kazuki somehow or another you're being manipulated!" Miroku shouted. "You only think that you're doing this by choice."

"I know exactly what I'm doing!" Kazuki shouted back. He pulled out his sword and ran at Miroku. Kazuki managed to slice Miroku's shoulder barely.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted. "I'm going to find Naraku!" She ordered Kirara to take her to the castle and she obeyed. Soon Kagome, Shippo, and Kirara were heading towards Naraku's castle.

"Wait!" Inuyasha screamed. "Kagome! Just wait a moment! Don't be stupid and go on your own!" Inuyasha finished off the demon he was currently fighting and immediately started to follow behind and below the cat demon. "Finish off the demons guys and figure out how to save Kazuki before I have any say on what happens to him!"

"Now where was I…?" Kazuki pondered for a moment. He looked around curiously. "It seems you've killed all of those damn rodents. So I guess I'll have to be your entertainment for the evening."

Sanosuke stood up and frowned. "I wouldn't exactly call you entertaining." He held his back in pain. "What exactly is your fetish with stabbing people in the back? You've stabbed the villagers in the back. You've stabbed Kenshin in the back. You've stabbed Sesshomaru in the back. You've stabbed me in the back. You've even stabbed yourself in the back!"

Kenshin nodded. "And in a some sense you've stabbed everyone in the back." The expression on his face changed from serious to extremely sad. "Kazuki, what is wrong with you? Is this what you really want?"

Kazuki stopped and stood in a position like he actually had to think about it. "Hm—Let me think…YEP!" He charged at Sango again but she dodged and kicked him in the side.

Sango frowned at him and tossed her hair back. "You're outnumbered. It's four to one."

Kazuki smiled at her. "But that's the nice thing. You see, I have no emotional attachment to you." He brushed himself off. "You and Miroku could never bring yourself to kill a young man like myself, none-the-less a human young man. As for Kenshin and Sanosuke they need me to go home. I'm sure that has some value to them." He laughed. He started to circle them and his body seemed to disappear. He was ridiculously fast even without the jewel shard.

Salali of course was nearby at a safe distance frowning. "Dammit, I bet he will die soon. With how powerful he's gotten he must be at the brink of death. He better get this job done quick or Naraku will be most displeased." She smiled at herself. "I better go check up on Naraku." She sighed dreamily. "Though I doubt someone as powerful as Naraku would have any problem defeating a half-breed, a baby kitsune, and some human girl." She spat at the ground and frowned. And a cat demon…" She groaned. She left towards the castle to make sure that the group hadn't caused too much trouble for her master.

The group had finally arrived at the castle and Kirara had landed. The castle was completely unguarded. The night sky gave it an ominous look. Not that it mattered anyways. Naraku's dark aura was everywhere along with his scent. Inuyasha had managed to catch up with the group and he frowned at Kagome.

"Kagome! How stupid can you be?" Inuyasha snapped as he took a few steps closer to her.

"I just was just trying to help!" Kagome retorted. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't just going to sit there and watch!"

"Feh! Whatever!" Inuyasha spat. He took a look at the castle and frowned at it. "You stay here while I go in." He looked at Shippo and Kirara sternly. "You two watch on Kagome." He started to walk in but stopped when a familiar hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned around to see Kagome with tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Am I really that useless?" She said with a quaky voice. She looked down closing her eyes trying to keep the tears from escaping. "I know I'm not a demon like You, Shippo, and Kirara. And I'm definitely not as strong as Sango and Miroku." She looked up opening her eyes. "But am I really that useless?"

"Kagome…" Inuyasha whispered thoughtfully. "I…I…I didn't mean…" He stopped and looked at her with sadness in his eyes. He shook his head violently and began charging into the castle. "I need to get going! Stay here!" He disappeared into the thick mist surrounding the castle.

Kagome stood there staring after him. The tears had stopped coming. She held a clenched fist to her chest and sighed. "Inuyasha…"

Shippo jumped onto her shoulder and looked at her curiously. "You know…if I'm supposed to watch on you…and if I went into the castle…" He smiled at her.

She smiled slightly. The look on her face changed from sorrowful to determined. "Right Shippo!" She started to head after Inuyasha but stopped. "Oh ya!" She turned around and smiled embarrassed. "If you stay here and keep guard Kirara I'll get you lots of catnip!"

"MROW!" Kirara meowed excitedly. It sounded more like a roar though because she was in her larger form. She paced back and forth in front of the castle entrance watching out for intruders and anything else that would pose a threat.

"Thanks Kirara!" Kagome said happily as she ran into the castle while the little fox sat on her shoulder waving back.

When Kagome disappeared into the depths of the castle Kirara let out a sigh and sat down with a thud in front of the castle entrance. She sat up quickly when there was a sudden rustle in some bushes. Her ears perked up and her pupils became thinner. She let out a soft growl and slowly crept towards it. When she was right next to the bush she sniffed it cautiously. A rat sprang out of the bushes and latched itself to her face. She snarled and charged about the front of the castle trying to fling the small creature off her face. She finally managed to whack it off with a quick swat of her paw. The rat landed a few feet away. When it managed to get back up it quickly sprinted into the forest. Being the cat demon Kirara is she sprinted right after it.

Salali jumped down from a tree and smiled as she watched the cat demon chase her minion. "How typical of a one-tracked mind cat." She chuckled to herself. "Now…to go check up on my beloved Naraku…" She let out a dreamy sigh and casually walked into the castle.

The group had been fighting for sometime with Kazuki. They group had surrounded Kazuki. Each of them held their weapon ready to strike if he tried anything. Kazuki looked about the circle looking for weak point.

"Aren't you getting tired Sanosuke?" Kazuki taunted. He directed his attention towards him. He smiled and snickered. "You sure have bled a lot."

Sanosuke smirked at him. "Hardly even noticed the pain in my back." This was a lie of course. Though Kazuki didn't dig the sword too deeply in his back it still hurt like hell. "Feels better in fact." He commented sarcastically.

"Right…" Kazuki said knowing that he was lying. He shook his head smiling. "Whatever, you're still the weakest right now."

After saying that he knocked Sanosuke out with a single hit to the face. Miroku took the time to try and hit Kazuki in the back of the head with his staff. Before he could make contact with this skull Kazuki grabbed it and smiled. He tossed it to the side and unsheathed his sword once more.

Sango withdrew her short sword and growled, "Kazuki! Stop this at once!"

Kazuki didn't reply. He sat there for a moment debating on his next move. It was either hurry and finish off Sanosuke or try to knock out one of his other opponents. Kenshin didn't give him a chance to reply and hit him in the back of his neck with the dull side of his blade. Kazuki tumbled to the ground and didn't move.

Miroku snatched his staff and looked down at the unmoving body. "Is he dead?"

Sango rolled him onto his back and saw he was still breathing just fine. She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." She looked up at Kenshin in disbelief. "I thought you actually killed him for a moment."

"So did I…" Kenshin said sorrowfully. "I thought I did for a second…"

Kazuki stabbed Sango in the back and she fell to the ground. He withdrew his blade and jumped back a few feet away from his last two opponents.

"Sango!" Miroku shouted. He went to her side and looked into her eyes. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'll be okay…" She made a slight grunting noise but then she fell unconscious.

Kazuki held his sides in laughter. "You guys are way to sympathetic! How many times have I pulled that trick on you guys?" He had to lean against a tree for support. "If I wasn't laughing so hard I could've killed Miroku on the spot." He quieted his laughing and looked at Miroku with content. "Lucky for Sango I can never seem to kill my enemy on the first strike."

Kenshin clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "Miroku…" He seethed.

"What…?" Miroku asked with caution.

"Get Sanosuke and Sango out of here..."

Miroku normally would've complained but the look on Kenshin's face stopped him from doing so. He only nodded and picked up Sango. He looked at Sanosuke who was slowly regaining conscious. Kazuki still wasn't strong enough for him to keep his opponents down. He walked over to Sanosuke and let him lean on him. He quickly glanced back at Kazuki and Kenshin who were engulfed in a staring contest. He then ran off to where he might find Inuyasha and Kagome.

Inuyasha walked down the narrow halls in complete darkness. There was no lighting of any sort. The castle was cold and damp. It felt as if nothing could possibly live there—his nose begged to differ. He could smell Naraku scent as he lurked closer and closer. He almost slowed down his steps. This was it; it was now or never. Either he defeated Naraku or he would die at Naraku's hand. He shuddered at the thought. His steps slowed down even more. Naraku must know that he was there. It would be rather shocking if he were to walk up to Naraku and he were to act surprised.

"There's no turning back…" Inuyasha muttered. He looked up at ceiling and watched every beam as it passed overhead. "Though I do wish I could at least tell her…"

Thump

He lost his train of though and froze.

Thump Thump

Whatever it was it was running.

Thump Thump Thump

And getting louder

Thump Thump Thump Thump

And closer.

He turned around and screamed. It screamed back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He grabbed his chest and clenched his teeth. It felt like he was going to have a heart attack. He grabbed Kagome's shoulders and shook her violently. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!"

"HEY!" Shippo growled. "I was sitting on that!" He jumped up and kicked Inuyasha's hand. When Inuyasha withdrew his hand Shippo sat back down and stuck out his tongue.

"Shippo! I told you to watch on her!" Inuyasha snapped. He gave the fox a quick whack on the head.

"Hey! Don't hit him!" Kagome shouted. "If you need to hit someone hit me! IT WAS MY FAULT!"

Inuyasha snapped his mouth shut and looked down at his feet. "Sorry…" He started to walk towards the end of the dark hall. He turned back and saw that Kagome wasn't following. "Hey! If you're gonna follow, follow! Just don't go getting in my way. And don't expect me to go jumping in Naraku's way when he tries killing you."

Kagome jogged up to him and frowned. "Fine, then don't go expecting me to jump in harms way when he's tries killing you!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!" Shippo added.

Inuyasha let out a deep sigh and once again commenced his way to wherever Naraku might be. "Let's go…"

Kenshin switched the blade on his sword and got into a fighting position. "Kazuki…I was really hoping it wouldn't come down to this." He looked down and closed his eyes. "I really don't want to do this…but I can't let you kill everyone."

"Kenshin I don't want to fight you yet!" Kazuki shouted. He turned on his heels and started to dart after the others. Kenshin ran in front of him and gutted him with the handle of his sword.

"I'm not giving you a choice!"

Kazuki jumped up and spat up some blood. "Get out of my way!" He snarled.

"No!"

"Fine! I'll just knock you out!" Kazuki stated cockily. He charged with his sword ready to stab Kenshin.

"I'd like to see you try…" Kenshin scoffed. He easily blocked the strike and managed to get in a slash to Kazuki's chest.

Kazuki fell back and held onto his chest. He looked down in shock as the blood slowly dribbled down his stomach.

"You actually struck me!" He said in shock. Before he knew what was coming Kenshin pushed him back into a tree and held his blade to his throat.

"Either stop this nonsense or I'll slice your throat open!" Kenshin threatened. His voice remained somewhat collected but there was a slight strain to it.

Kazuki smiled at him and closed his eyes while in thought. "If I don't you'll kill me…"

Kenshin didn't move but kept his sword firm to his neck.

"But…then again…" His eyes opened. "I'm going to die either way...I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stop."

Kenshin heaved the blade of his sword forward.

"This is it…" Inuyasha muttered.

They stood in front of an ominous door at the very end of the hall. He could smell that deep inside it stood Naraku. Inuyasha's hands shook in fear. His face remained calm though.

"Wait here Kagome…" Inuyasha gulped.

A hand wrapped around his and he stopped shaking. He looked up at Kagome and she gave him a look of concern. Kagome looked back at Shippo.

"Please go check on Kirara, she must be lonely out there." She ordered.

Shippo nodded and sprinted down the hall towards the entrance. Now it was just Kagome and Inuyasha in the dreary hallway. Kagome tightened the grip on his hand.

"I'm going with you." She stated. "I can't just wait here like some idiot."

Inuyasha hand stopped trembling and he let his hand escape hers. "Just stay here…I won't let anything happen to you."

He knocked down the door with his foot and left her standing there. Inside he could see Naraku in his white attire. Inuyasha growled softly and inched closer to him.

"Hello Inuyasha." Naraku said. "I thought that Kazuki would've killed you by now." He continued to sit there calmly. Inuyasha's presence didn't bother him the least.

"Take your spell off Kazuki!" Inuyasha screamed. "He has nothing to do with us!"

"I've told you once already…I meant to have the spell cast on that wench you hang around."

"Her name is Kagome…" Inuyasha hissed. He withdrew his sword and pointed it at Naraku. "You'll regret harming any of my friends."

"I don't think so." Naraku corrected. He stood up and smiled. "I bet all of your friends are dead now." He rested his cheek against his fist. "That human boy is much stronger than I would've expected."

"I'm tired of your yapping!" Inuyasha growled as he charged at Naraku.

Naraku laughed and easily dodged his attack. Inuyasha reflected himself off the wall and charged again, still no use.

"My, my, have we gotten weaker Inuyasha?" Naraku taunted. His arm turned into a tentacle and snatched at Inuyasha's neck. Inuyasha barely managed to roll to the side. "Hold still would you?"

"Feh!" Inuyasha slashed his sword and the tentacle and it fell to the ground. It squirmed for a few moments before it became motionless. "That's more like it."

"I never was fond of that arm anyways." Naraku said boringly.

Inuyasha smirked and jumped into the air. "Yes, you did seem unattached." He swooped down at Naraku but only managed to get some of Naraku's baboon cloak.

Naraku swung his other arm at Inuyasha and sent him flying into the wall. It cracked slightly and he indented it. Inuyasha tried getting up but his pants had caught on some broke wood.

Naraku smiled with pleasure. "It appears you're stuck…" He started taking small steps towards the dog demon. "A sad way to go out…" Naraku pulled out a dagger from his cloak. "But a way to go out none-the-less. Just be glad you're going to see your friends very soon…"

Blood dripped off of Kenshin's sword and onto the ground. They were the first drops of blood the sword had come in contact with for sometime. Kenshin glowered at Kazuki. The boy snatched onto the sword with his hand and it had sliced his hand open. Kazuki had a look of sheer horror on his face. He didn't think that Kenshin would actually try to kill him. He pushed Kenshin back and ran a safe distance so he could try and regain his poseur. He squeezed his hand in pain as it bled. Without the shard he could now feel pain.

Kenshin frowned. "Kazuki…just stop…please don't make me do this."

"Never!" Kazuki spat. He ignored the pain and charged at Kenshin with his sword.

Their blades met and let out a loud clang. Kazuki's sword went flying out of his hand and lodged itself into a tree. Kazuki grunted and look at his surroundings. There was nothing else he could fight with so he ran for his sword. Kenshin saw this and stopped him by standing in his way. Kazuki fell to the ground and kicked Kenshin's legs from beneath him. Kenshin fell to the ground and landed with a loud thud. Kazuki snatched for his sword but Kenshin kept a firm grip on it.

"GIMME THE DAMN SWORD!" Kazuki demanded.

"If I do that you will go off and kill the others!" Kenshin growled. "Let go!"

"So you can finish me off?" Kazuki asked surprised. "If I'm going to die it's because I've killed you!"

The sword went flying out of both of their hands and it went flying into the same tree as the other sword. Both Kazuki and Kenshin froze for a moment. Kenshin kicked Kazuki off of him and pinned him to the ground. Kazuki struggled beneath the man. Unfortunately for Kenshin Kazuki was bigger in size and easily overturned the man onto his back. Kazuki wrapped his hands around the man's slender throat and tightened his grip greatly.

"Just die…please just die…" Kazuki muttered. Kenshin would've retorted but he couldn't breathe.

The blood from Kazuki's hand dripped all over Kenshin's neck. The boy was becoming lightheaded from severe blood loss. Without the jewel shards he could feel his mortal limitations. For a second he became greatly lightheaded and fell over. Kenshin ran over to the tree and snatched his sword. He walked over to Kazuki who was struggling to stand up.

"I'm going to kill you!" Kazuki screamed. "Every last one of you!" He tried to push himself up but he fell into the dirt. He slowly raised himself. "I have to kill you…"

Kenshin looked down at the boy in pity. He was in a great state of pain, both of them, Kazuki physically and Kenshin mentally. Kenshin had to ask one more time.

"Kazuki…please stop this madness…"

"No…" Kazuki growled.

Naraku was now a few feet away from Inuyasha and laughing. "This is so pathetic."

"Dammit!" Inuyasha growled as he struggled to free himself from the wooden beams. "I'm not going to die this way!"

"We'll see…" Naraku laughed he charged at the defenseless Inuyasha.

Kagome watched in the doorway with horror. She had to act fast, anything to give Inuyasha more time. She snatched an arrow from her backpack and quickly put it to the bow.

"One shot…" She muttered.

She released the arrow.

"One shot!" She shouted.

Naraku turned just in time to see the arrow coming straight for him. He didn't have anytime to react and stood there motionless as it came flaring through the air in a beam of light.

Salali jumped in the way and fell to the wooden ground making an echo against the floor.

"YOU IDIOT!" Naraku shouted. He took his attention off of Inuyasha and over to Salali's limp body. "Great…now she's dead."

"SO ARE YOU!" Inuyasha snarled as he charged at Naraku. He grabbed his sword and dug it into the spider demon's back. The demon's cloak was torn to shreds. By the time Inuyasha was done withdrawing his sword there was nothing left—Except a doll.

"Goodnight Kazuki…" Kenshin said as he stood above his reincarnation.

The boy gasped at the pain that soared through his entire body at that exact moment. He slowly closed his eyes and Kenshin was the last thing he saw before he faded into darkness.