Chapter 26 It's not over yet, Kagome.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. Sorry I didn't get it out as soon as I would have liked, but please Read and Review anyway.

Special thanks to: LonelyxSoul, inuyasha1818,

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"INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed as Naraku's tentacle pierced his heart.

Inuyasha sputtered and gasped for breath as he staggered back, in deep shock. He seemed unable to realize what had just happened to him as he clutched the deep wound. A pool of crimson red blood had already begun to pool around his feet. Kagome ran to him and a second later he collapsed.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed again. He was breathing, but barely. She glared at Naraku.

"How could you do this? How could you be so evil!" She demanded.

"Kukukuku!" Naraku cackled. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"

"No! I want you to die!" Acting upon her anger Kagome stood and glared daggers at Naraku. Her power fluctuated, causing her hair to billow around her. Her energy surrounded her, gathering strength with each passing second.

For the first time since they had arrived Naraku looked scared. And Kagome liked it. She wanted him to cower in fear at her feet, wanted him to beg for his life. Kagome wanted him to pay for what he had done. But most importantly she wanted him to die a painful death and never hurt anyone ever again.

Especially her Inuyasha.

"What's the matter Naraku? You scared now?" Kagome taunted, her grin sending shivers of slight terror even down her friends backs.

Naraku cackled again, his laugh betraying him. "Never!" He shouted, sending tentacles of miasma towards Kagome.

Behind her, her friends gasped but Kagome moved not a muscle. Seconds before she should have been hit, the tentacles disintegrated into a pile of purified ash. Kagome grinned triumphantly at Naraku.

"Now are you scared? You can't even touch me!"

"No… But I can hurt your friends!" Naraku let out hundreds of tentacles from his horrid body all headed for the people Kagome cared about most.

"I don't think so!" Kagome's voice shook the area around them. "You will not lay a finger on my friends!" A burst of pink energy shot out in all directions from Kagome, destroying most of the offending tentacles.

And of the few that did manage to get by, they were immediately destroyed by Hiraikotsu.

"Now what do you plan to do Naraku? You can't kill us, obviously. But I can kill you…" Kagome trailed off in a threatening tone.

"Kagome…" Ayame began. She glanced at the open window, noticing night had already fallen. But then moon had yet to rise…. Had they really been here that long? Ayame looked back to Kagome. "Kagome…." She said again.

"Not now Ayame! I'm about to kill Naraku!"

"But Kagome!" It was Sango this time.

"Just wait a second!" Kagome snapped. Couldn't they wait to interrupt her until after Naraku was dead and buried ten feet below the ground?

"So you think you can kill me, do you Kagome?" Naraku taunted, back to his old self. He was up to something…. "Kagura! Come forth! And bring the prisoner with you!"

(Author's note: You all know who it is right?)

XXX

Kagura sighed. It was only a matter of time before Naraku realized her presence and ordered her out.

"Come human." She glared at Hojo, as he liked to call himself. "Naraku wants you." She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him towards her master. For this human, he was walking on his last few minutes of life.

"Hojo… no…." Kagome whispered unbelievingly. How could she have forgotten about him? Damn it! This definitely complicated things.

Naraku now had Hojo in a neck lock and the grin on the evil hanyou's face only served to anger Kagome even more.

"You kill me, you risk hurting you friend here." Naraku laughed menacingly. "Do you really want to take that chance?"

Kagome hesitated, glaring at Naraku. He was right. Despite what Hojo had done he was still human, and we all make mistakes. She was angry at him for what he had done, but not angry enough to kill him just to get rid of Naraku.

Naraku smirked, realizing he had won. "Kagura! You distract them while I make my escape!" He ordered never taking his eyes off Kagome.

Kagura nodded, effortlessly kicking up a gust of wind.

"See ya later, Miko!" Naraku kuku'ed before disappearing, taking totally helpless Hojo with him.

"Damn it!" Kagome cursed. Why is it that the bad guys never played fair?

"Kagome!" A voice called from behind her. It was Kouga. "You go after him! We'll take care of Kagura."

Kagome nodded wasting no time. With one last look at the sleeping Inuyasha, and her determination strengthened, she went after Naraku.

XXX

Kagome could feel his demonic aura still nearby. Meaning he hadn't left yet. He was still somewhere in the building. Just where…. Kagome had yet to figure out.

She rounded a corner only to come face to face with a little girl. She was oddly pale and Kagome wondered why she hadn't sensed her before now. She looked innocent enough and Kagome couldn't waste her time when Naraku could be making his escape.

"Are you another one of Naraku's prisoners?" Kagome asked. The girl said nothing, just moved the mirror she was holding up into her arms. "My friends are back that way. They'll help you." Kagome began to step over the girl.

"Look." The girl's emotionless voice said. Kagome stopped and turned wondering what the child wanted. Just as her eyes were about to make contact with her own in the mirror, a figure jumped in front of her.

XXX

"Kikyou?" Kagome sputtered disbelievingly. "What are you doing here?"

Kikyou's eyes were locked on the mirror, her life slowly draining from her. "Saving you." She managed to choke out. "But I didn't to if for you. I did it for Inuyasha. And plus I feel guilty for what I did to you two…" She rasped.

"Kikyou…" Kagome whispered, suddenly feeling more compassion for Kikyou than she had ever dreamed of feeling.

"Just go! Kill Naraku before he escapes!" Kikyou ordered, showing her old self, but only for a moment.

"But what about you!" Kagome wanted to know. It looked like the strange girl was pulling pieces of Kikyou's soul from her body.

"I'll be fine! Just go before it's too late!" Kikyou ordered. "This is not the time for you to be worrying about me!"

Kagome nodded and took off. She had to trust Kikyou right now if he wanted any chance of killing Naraku.

"I'll come back for you…"

XXX

Kagome entered a room that resembled that of an office. The only difference being that it was dark and reeked of Naraku's evil aura. But there was no sigh of Naraku himself. Where was he hiding?

She continued inside the room, alert as ever. "I know you're in here Naraku. Come out now and I promise I'll go easy on you." Kagome lied. She was going to milk the life out of this bastard as painfully as she could. But he didn't need to know that. A little white lie never hurt anyone.

Kagome stopped suddenly, hearing a scuffling noise off to her side. She changed directions and followed it. Behind a desk she found Hojo bound and gagged. He was moaning through his gag, trying to tell her something…

"Hojo? Where's Naraku?" Like he could tell her. Hello! He was gagged.

The boy's eyes looked pleading off to the left behind her… was someone there? Just as Kagome started to turn around something hit her hard on the back. She was sent sprawling on the floor, stars clouding her vision.

"Why Hello, Kagome!" Naraku's voice said from somewhere in front of her. Kagome's head was still reeling from the blunt force of Naraku hitting her. "Ya know, if you hadn't followed me right now I might not have had to kill you…" He sighed dramatically. "But I knew you would. You were never one to give up so easily."

Finally her vision cleared and Kagome saw Naraku making his way towards her. How she hated him so much right now! Just the sight of him sent rivulets of disgust through her body.

Kagome risked one look at Hojo only too see him passed out on the floor, before jumping to her feet. No way was she going down so easily. If Naraku wanted to kill her he wasn't going to do it without a fight.

Naraku lunged for Kagome, grabbing her around the wrist and bringing her to him. She hadn't totally recovered from her initial attack from Naraku, it seemed.

"We could have been a great team, Kagome." Naraku whispered in her ear. Kagome shivered in repulsion. "Working together to one day rule the world… can you see it?" Naraku's anger seemed to return to him. "But you had to go and ruin it! You just had to get back together with that pathetic hanyou, Inuyasha! Did you even think of me at all after you abandoned me?"

Kagome began to feel a tickling sensation running down her body. No! This can't be happening! Not now! The moon shown in through a window, lighting upon Kagome, in all its midnight glory. She began to make her routine change beneath Naraku's grasp. He was so shocked by what was happening, he let her go and Kagome fell to the floor.

When the change from human to hanyou was complete she rose to her feet. "Do you still want me now, Naraku? You see what I become every night of the full moon?" Kagome asked. Her thoughts ran back to Inuyasha. 'He must be human now! I hope his wounds healed enough before he lost his demon blood. I hope he's okay! If Naraku killed him…'

"What happened to you?" Naraku wanted to know. His eyes showed his evident revulsion. "What did you do to yourself!"

"I was cursed even before I was born. 'She will spend one day a month as a disgusting hanyou.'" Kagome told Naraku, replaying the words of her curse. "This is what Happens to me once a month! I become this!" She pointed to herself, smirking at Naraku. She then wasted to more precious time and charged at Naraku, her claws her extended, purification energy surrounding them.

Naraku reacted too slowly and Kagome's claws hit their mark. Naraku screamed in pain as the pure energy surrounded his demonic form. In mere seconds his body melted into purified ash.

Kagome fell onto her knee's sighing with relief. Naraku was dead. Finally. He would never hurt anyone every again.

But the night was not over. She still had one more trial ahead of her. As if to prove this the jewel around her neck began to pulse and grow warm….

XXX

Sango sent forth Hiraikotsu only to have it thrown back at her by Kagura's strong winds. They were winning this battle but still feeling the fatigue bearing down on them. Time was not on their side as they began to grow weary. How much longer could they hold out?

But fate seemed to be on their side as Kagura suddenly fell to the ground, clutching her heart and screaming bloody murder. "Naraku is dying! He's dying and taking me with him!" She screamed. "No! Help me!" She pleaded. And then only ash remained. It was all over. Kagura was dead.

And one person was on all their minds. "Kagome…"

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Kinda short, I know, but I wrote it all in one sitting. I hope you liked it because I think I could have done better than I did. This chapter had a lot of breaks in it too, I noticed. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Until then, please read and review.

Clouds of the Sky