Authors Notes: Oh my god, I've been so incredibly lazy lately, you have no idea. I just couldn't get this chapter done, and it was bothering the hell out of me. But it's done now, kinda, pretty short but it's the best I have to offer. So, again, sorry about the wait. Read and review! (I'm sorry, my friend told me Kirara was a guy, haha. I fixed it!)

Kagome's POV

"Ugh.. LET ME GO!" I struggled against the chains binding me to the wall but to no avail.

"Oh, keep quiet. You won't be alive much longer anyway, so make your last minutes a little less irritating." Kagura noticeably rolled her eyes at me, tending to her wounds from earlier on. "You'd better hope that your lover boy gets here fast."

"Hmph.. He'll come and get me. You'll see! And this time he won't go so easy on you." I had nothing on me that could successfully pick the locks and the more I struggled the deeper the chains cut into my hands. All I can do now is wait patiently for InuYasha and everyone to come and save me. They must know by now..

"Kagura, leave us at once."

"Naraku! Of course.." Kagura quickly scampered away, bowing her head as she ran past him.

"Kagome, is it? It seems our trap has been a successful one, they're attacking my army as we speak. At last, I will defeat Inuyasha." Still he hid behind his stupid mask, not ready to show himself to me just yet. But it wasn't as if I hadn't seen him before, he's just too proud of himself to take it off.

"If you're so strong then why are you always using armies of sorts, why not just fight us yourself? Is it because you know we can beat you or are you just afraid?" What a moron, he knows he's not that strong. He's not nearly as tough as he makes himself out to be.

"I'd be quiet little girl, we won't be needing you pretty soon. Without InuYasha to protect you, you're nothing but an unusually weak human." A scalely hand slapped me hard across the face, drawing a drop of blood out of my pale skin. "Next time, you won't be so lucky."

"InuYasha.. Help me."

InuYasha's POV

"Kagome!" Damn it, how the hell am I supposed to save her now? There's thousands of guards left and already Miroku has used his wind tunnel all that he can, Sango is losing strength and Shippou is just plain useless. The only one still fighting to their full potential is Kirara and I don't want him to over do it. Damn it..

"Go to her, InuYasha. We can hold on a little while longer, no sense in you staying here with us." Miroku took what was left of his sacred sutra's and threw them about, hoping to kill more than one of the beasts with each throw.

"Miroku's right. We've got it covered, don't worry about us." Sango threw her Hiraikotsu, taking several of the demons out at once.

"..Be careful everyone." They were right, Kagome definitely needed my help and they could hold off the demons of a little while longer, even if they were already tired. I'll never really understand why friends are always ready to risk their lives for someone they care about, but I guess the reasoning doesn't matter. I'm lucky to have my friends, or so I hear.

"Kagome! I'm coming, just hold on!" Running through the undead beasts wasn't easy to do, but I managed to reach Naraku's hideout after some slicing and dicing. But I had a feeling that this wasn't the place he'd always been hiding, that the real place was somewhere else far, far away. And usually, I'm right about this stuff. His scent hadn't been filling the air for that long.

"Grr.. Naraku, where the hell are you keeping her!" I stumbled through the front opening, searching for a hidden room of any kind. There was only one other door in the entire room, or at least it was the only door I could see in the darkened area. I knew it was a trap, or they would have left Kagome behind. But still, even knowing that.. I can't just forget about her. I need to protect her, no matter what it takes.

"InuYasha!"

Alright, it's settled, I'm going. "I'm coming, Kagome!"

Miroku's POV

"Damn it.. Why didn't he go sooner?" I had no options left, other than smacking the hell out of them with my staff.

"I know what you mean.. Shippou, how are you holding up?" Sango looked terrible, beaten from head to toe. She was far more pale than usual, and sweat dripped from her face with every move. We can't keep this up much longer..

"I'm okay.." Shippou was lying on the ground in a daze, struggling to keep himself awake. Even he was doing his very best for a change, but I knew after this whole ordeal he'll never want to fight again.

"Kirara!" The poor thing was forced to transform back to her smaller form, and fell to the ground in a heap of blood and sweat. "It'll be alright, I'm here. I'll protect you, Kirara." Sango worriedly brushed the fur from her friends eyes, and held onto her tight.

"Is he gonna be alright?" I rested my hand on Sango's shoulder, keeping a close eye on the fallen demon lying in her lap.

"Yes, he'll be fine. I have to carry Kirara to a safer place, can you hold them off without me for a while?" Kirara was in bad shape, and Sango loved her like a sister. There was no way I could talk her out of it, and I didn't want to anyway.

"I'm not sure if we'll last all that long but we could give it a shot. Good luck, Sango."

"Thanks.. Be careful!" Running as quickly as her wounds would allow her, Sango was out of sight after a moment of two. The beasts kept flying at us from every direction, and although thier number was shrinking, it'd still take forever. Especially with only me and the fallen Shoppou left.

InuYasha's POV

"Naraku, you bastard. Let Kagome go! Take the jewels but leave her.." Damn it, I don't care about the jewels. We'll get them back eventually.

"You value this girl here more than the sacred shikon jewel?" He seemed a little shocked, and I couldn't blame him. I was just as shocked as he was.

"Obviously. Now hand her over! Or I'll have to make you.." I drew my tetsusaiga, aiming it towards where I thought Naraku was standing.

A ruffle of chains, a loud booming sound against the ground, and quick footsteps echoed the room. Kagome ran into my arms, crying into my kimono.

"You think I'll let you get off that easy, InuYasha?" The castle suddenly exploded, and the ceiling was ready to crush both of us. He was smart, but not nearly smart enough. I'm not about to give up on my life or Kagome's, I still have a lot of things to get done. Including destroying Naraku and putting Kikyo's pain to rest.

Throwing Kagome onto my back, I jumped out of the collapsing building and onto the safety of ground next to Miroku, Sango, Kirara and Shippou.

"Is everyone alright?" It was more than obvious that they were all in bad shape, and would need a week or more to recover.

"We'll be fine.. Hows Kagome doing?" Sango pointed weakly to Kagome's sleeping form, still safely against my back.

"She'll be alright. Just a little shook up. So how many people am I gonna have to carry out of here?" Always the carrier, never the carried.

Everyone hopped onto my back, careful not to stir Kagome. "This isn't gonna last long so don't get too comfortable. As soon as I can find somewhere safe to go, you're on your own."

"We wouldn't expect anything less, InuYasha." Miroku smiled, "NOW MUSH!"