Previously:

Part of him felt reluctant to come to her aid. This was supposed to be her final test. She has to settle her past without his help for her own satisfaction. Her journey will end with Naraku's death by her blow. She would have proven herself to any who dared to doubt her.

But for him, this wasn't his apprentice he was going after. The fact that this was her battle didn't matter to him for the moment. Kagome was no longer an inferior human who didn't deserve his attention. Nor was she his subordinate apprentice in need of guidance and support. No, he was going to save the beautiful woman he was in love with.

Chapter Nineteen

Everything He'd Imagined

Iuko looked up at the angry priestess as she stepped closer to him. He pressed himself to the stone wall. His eyes gravitated to the wooden door on the opposite side. But the clever prisoner stood in the way.

Despite the aura that swirled about her, whipping her hair around like a vicious hurricane and her glowing irises, he stood taller and gripped his weapon firmer. With a menacing growl, he lashed out with the taloned whip.

Kagome's hand flashed. Iuko stared on in disbelief as her hand gripped the leather strips. Suddenly, pink electricity began to travel up the weapon. He stared in confusion until it reached the hilt and his hand began to burn with fiery intensity. With a yelp, he released it and attempted to sooth the burning flesh.

When he looked back at his captive, she held the whip by the handle and glared at him menacingly. The whole weapon sparked with pink energy.

He gulped. "You know, Naraku will—"

With lightning speed, Kagome slashed the demon. "—die," she finished his sentence as his head separated from his body before they disintegrated, leaving behind only his clothes.

Bringing herself out of her trance, her eyes returned to normal and the whip regained its normal color. Immediately, she sank to the floor in exhaustion. Looking down at her crimson body, she knew she'd lost too much blood.

But her plan had somewhat worked. She figured that going into her trance would stimulate the jewel's own healing powers. And it had. Most of the major lacerations on her body had already healed. But it still stole some of her physical strength to get most of the job done, so now she lacked the energy to finish the healing. As she looked down at her naked body, she could see that scratches still marked every inch of her body, blood pouring from each of them.

Gathering what strength she had left, Kagome picked up the shirt of the deceased Iuko and wrapped it around her naked torso. She took a few extra breaths, picked up the whip and made her way out of her cell.

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The two sat in silence as they contemplated their dilemma. Their cell was dark, the only light coming from the sliver of the moon outside the barred window.

Miroku propped his palm under his chin, making his chains rattle. "So," he began. After a moment he said, "Any ideas?"

Sango sighed. "Not one." She crossed her arms over her chest, but returned them to her side since the wrist cuffs and chains made it uncomfortable.

The silence followed.

Suddenly, Miroku smirked as he inched closer to her. "Well, I do have one idea…" He reached out greedily.

"Miroku…?" Sango said cautiously.

As soon as the red hand print began to form across his cheek, she growled, "Could you please be serious at a time like this?"

Before he had a chance to answer, the two heard soft footsteps approach them. A hint of fear trickled into their eyes as they looked at each other. They'd both already figured out that they were only there as a negotiation tool of Naraku's. It was probably about time for him to take advantage of that.

The footsteps stopped for a moment before speeding up. A bluish light began to get brighter the louder the steps got. The couple unconsciously held each others' hand as they waited.

"Sango? Miroku?" a whisper came from the darkness. A mew sounded shortly after before Kirara bounded up to the metal bars followed by Shippo with a glowing blue hand.

"Shippo?" the couple said in unison with the same tone of surprise and joy.

"Hey guys," Shippo said happily as he used his fox fire to melt the metal lock on the barred door.

"How did you escape?" Sango asked for the both of them.

Shippo smirked. "They thought a few puny ropes could hold me. Luck for me, I've been practicing my fire magic," the fox said with pride. "Kirara was in the same cell as me, but they used metal chains for her. It was easy to melt." His statement was punctuated by the lock falling to the ground, red from heat.

"We have to hurry though," Shippo said as he worked on their binding chains. "Naraku and his guards probably already know we've escaped."

Sango and Miroku rubbed their wrists as Shippo started for the hallway. "I saw a storage room on the way here. Maybe your weapons are in there."

The two looked at each other and then at the fox with respect. "Thank you Shippo," Miroku said warmly.

"Yeah," Sango added, "you've done well."

Shippo smiled with pride as he led the group through the halls.

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"What the hell is taking so long?" Inuyasha's voice boomed as he glared at the demon guards scurrying across the field and into different buildings. "How hard is it to find a stupid fox child and a cat?"

Inuyasha's head whipped back and forth as he waited for a guard to answer him. Before he could continue his rant, a demon approached him. "Lord Naraku?"

"What?" he roared.

"The monk and demon slayer are no longer in their cells." Naraku bubbled with rage. The messenger was silent a moment before he timidly added, "And the priestess' cell was empty as well with no sign of Iuko."

With a crack of his knuckles, Inuyasha sliced the demon to shreds in his frustration. "You insolent fools!" he bellowed at the demons, causing them all to stop and pay attention. "How could you let all five of the prisoners escape?" No one moved or spoke. "Well don't just stand there you bastards! Find them! They couldn't have gotten far." At once, activity resumed in the camp.

He stood at the foot of the stairs to his room building, fuming. In less than an hour, he'd lost complete control of the situation. A few slow inhales and exhales later, he calmed down enough to consider his options. Regardless, the hanyou's friends wouldn't hurt him while he was still using the dog's body. The only one who wouldn't care and attack anyway was Sesshomaru. But he would never make it to the camp in time for that to matter.

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Sesshomaru came to a stop at the top of a hill overlooking the valley. Purple miasma filled it like a bowl. His eyes and nose began to sting slightly. Through the haze, he could make out several buildings. It looked like a well developed town, but judging by the presence of Naraku's miasma, he must've wiped it out before taking over. It was a very well hidden town, so the daiyokai could understand why the hanyou would want it. Kagura hadn't been leading him into a trap after all.

As he looked at the rooftops, he imagined what he would see when he got there. Perhaps he'd find Kagome standing over Naraku's dead body. The thought made him hesitate. It'd be just like that time with Pancho when he'd overreacted.

Or maybe he'd find Kagome defenseless against Inuyasha's imposter, unable to bring herself to harm her old friend. He highly doubted that she would believe Naraku's bullshit now though.

A final image settled in his head: Kagome's limp body on the ground before Naraku's feet with a completed Shikon Jewel in his hands. He could only imagine the torturing techniques the bloodthirsty hanyou would use on her in order to get what he wanted. Maybe he was too late and she'd already given up and gave Naraku the last shard.

He forced the idea out his mind with a shove of denial. He had more faith in her than that. Still, he ran faster than he ever had before toward the town that contained his woman.

Anticipation continued to build as the miasma got thicker and heavier. The sting in his eyes and nose was more noticeable now, but he ignored it completely. Suddenly, he burst into the camp's main field. The miasma was strangely cleared from the town, creating a sort of bubble around it.

Sesshomaru's eyes settled on the figure standing in the middle barking orders. He recognized Inuyasha's silver hair, red kimono, and demanding voice, but his aura was all wrong. Why hadn't he noticed it before? It was so obvious now.

"Naraku!" Sesshomaru yelled. The hanyou whipped around to face him with a look of utter disbelief plaster on his face.

"You-What are you doing here?" he sputtered. He could feel his sanity slipping away with every passing second. The one thing he'd counted on working in his favor had just disappeared. With realization, he growled, "I'll kill that wind witch!"

Ignoring his inner torment, Sesshomaru growled, "Where is she?"

"How the fuck should I know?" he answered, clearly still losing it. "In all of an hour, total chaos has just taken over." All his confidence, smugness, and arrogance came from the fact that he was always in control. It all disappeared now, as he was obviously not controlling a thing.

Sesshomaru almost believed the imposter was his brother with those words. It definitely seemed like something he would say. Before he could dwell on it longer, four figures ran out from between two buildings. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara made their way to the clearing, armed and ready. He was briefly irritated at the fact that they were here first until he realized it was probably the work of Naraku again. He must've planned to threaten them in order to convince Kagome.

Just as he thought of her, the girl burst out the doors of one of the buildings. Her bloody linen shirt, the only clothing covering her, was open and flapping in the wind to reveal a body of bloodied scrapes, cuts, sores, and bruises. Her face was twisted in the agony of pain and the struggle to catch her breath. She held onto a wooden beam of the building for support, dragging a bloody talon whip.

He stood frozen staring at her. When she had the strength, she observed her surroundings. Her eyes stopped on his, lighting up in surprise. She tried to say something but instead, choked and coughed up blood. When the fit was over, she looked up at him again. "Sesshomaru?" she croaked.

But he had lost it already.

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Kagome looked on in horror as Sesshomaru drew his sword and went after Inuyasha. His eyes were as red as her blood and took on an almond shape. His lips drew back to reveal a row of gleaming sharp teeth. The claws that gripped his sword were so long that they dug into the palm of his hand.

She'd only seen the demon transform once or twice ever. But she knew that if he finished the transformation, he'd kill Inuyasha. It may be Naraku's mind, but it was still Inuyasha's body. She stumbled down the stairs to the clearing where the two danced. Naraku couldn't use Inuyasha's Tetsaiga so it remained at his waist. All he could do was dodge Sesshomaru's bloodthirsty attacks.

"Sesshomaru! Stop!" she rasped. She coughed more blood as she saw her friends enter the clearing as well. As he dodged, Naraku ordered the guards to attack. The group expertly handled the demon army. Before she could turn her attention back to the Sesshomaru, a demon guard ran at her. To minimize fight time, she summoned her miko powers to her whip and sliced him to pieces before they dissolved. Her lungs struggled to catch up with her body. Every movement, even every thought, felt like an enormous task.

Kagome stumbled to the clearing. "Sesshomaru, stop! It's still Inuyasha's body. Don't kill him!" But the daiyokai was oblivious. He had only thought in his mind, and that was to destroy the one responsible for Kagome's injuries.

The imposter landed a few feet in front of her. "Yes," Naraku said, "you'll only be killing your brother. My body is safe and sound elsewhere."

The demon's body twitched and morphed more. His face began to elongate and dog ears grew from the tangles of his silver hair. His jaw stretched to accommodate the rows of dagger teeth and his eyes were such a deep red, they almost looked black.

Kagome watched in fear. He couldn't listen to reason now. Inuyasha would surly die with his next attack. Her mind raced as she searched for a solution.

Sesshomaru's inner beast had almost completely taken over. He'd soon be in his full demon form. He tightened his grip on his sword for one last attack before that happened. Just as he began to rush forward, a voice shouted, "Sit boy!"

His target disappeared in an instant. All that filled his vision was a girl's worried face. She was so close, he could've touched her with his tongue. Suddenly, her worried expression transformed to one of pain. She gasped for air then choked and coughed up thick blood. It spattered against his face, hair, armor, and clothes. He blinked. The sound of her whip falling to the ground as she released it made him look down. He still held the hilt of his sword, but its blade had disappeared into the girl's body and through the other side.

Realization hit him like a brick and all traces of his inner demon vanished. His red eyes returned to their amber color as he stared into her pained cocoa irises.

For the first time in his life, horror plastered itself on his face. He drew his sword out her torso and tossed it aside. She cried out and fell to her knees. Sesshomaru knelt and held her arms. She stared at him, tears beginning to pour from her eyes. But he saw no emotion, only exhaustion and pain.

"Kagome," he whispered, "I…" She shook her head and gave him a weak smile. He stared at her helplessly as she struggled to ignore the pain. He could feel her life force trickling out her body.

Sesshomaru gazed as she held onto her mere thread of life. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. They were soft and warm, everything he'd ever imagined. She put what strength she had left into kissing back. He hugged her naked bloody body as closely and tightly as he could without hurting her more. He let his surroundings slip away to leave behind only this girl and this moment. He pulled away and looked at her. Her eyes stayed closed, lost in unconsciousness.

The world caught up with him as a voice interrupted. "Ugh, my head," Inuyasha said groggily. He caught sight of Kagome's unconscious half-naked bloody body in Sesshomaru's arms. "What the fuck are you doing here Sesshomaru? And what are you doing to Kagome?" He drew Tetsaiga instinctively and it transformed instantly.

"Good to see you're back," Sesshomaru said flatly.

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha growled. A wave of dizziness overtook him as images flashed through his mind. Naraku must've taken over his body again. Then suddenly, he woke up and was eating dirt. "I'll kill that bastard," Inuyasha growled with a swing of his sword.

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes as he laid Kagome's body down. The rest of the gang hand finally fought off the last of the demon guards and hurried over. They eyed Inuyasha warily, but seeing his transformed Tetsaiga convinced them he was back.

"Kagome!" Sango shrieked when she was close enough to see the damage done to her. She fell to the floor and gathered her in her arms as Sesshomaru watched on.

As Sango huddled over her best friend, Miroku eyed the daiyokai. "I saw that," he stated. Sesshomaru glanced at him and narrowed his eyes. Miroku shrugged. "I wouldn't let Inuyasha know what just happened if I were you."

"Know what?" the hanyou demanded from Kagome's side.

"Where's Naraku?" Sango broke in, shifting the group's attention.

"My guess is he's back in his body, which should be…" Sesshomaru trailed off as the ground began to shake and buckle. Suddenly, Naraku's body burst from beneath the earth. He floated back to the earth and stood across the field from them.

"Nice to see you all again," he cooed. "Since I've got you all here, I'll let you witness the completion of the Shikon Jewel." His arrogance and confidence had been restored. He had finally come up with a plan of action to stop all this nonsense.

"You'll have to go through me first," Sesshomaru growled and stepped in front of Kagome's weakeded body.

Her friends formed a wall beside him. "You'll have to go through us," Inuyasha corrected.

"Oh, I think not," Naraku smirked. He opened his hand to reveal the nearly completed Shikon Jewel. He brought it to his mouth and, in one easy gulp, swallowed it whole.

The group stared on with wariness as Naraku closed his eyes. Black globs began to mutate on his back. They extended further and longer until they came to look like black roots. The bottom half of his body began to mutate in a similar way until his torso stood on top of a tall, black sphere made of what appeared to be mud.

Naraku snapped his eyes open with a malicious grin. Suddenly, the six roots sprouting from his back darted into the earth. Before anyone could react, the black roots appeared behind them and wrapped around the wounded girl.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted just as the roots dragged her beneath the earth. He whipped around to face their enemy again. The roots retracted from the ground in front of them holding Kagome's limp body. The linen shirt that she'd been wearing slid from her shoulders to the ground, revealing her pale naked skin mixed with crimson blood.

"If she won't take the last shard from her body," Naraku growled, "I'll just take her whole body." The group stared on with horror as the roots folded into the muddy sphere. When they appeared again, Kagome's body was gone, swallowed by Naraku's. "Our bodies are one now." He closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky. "I can feel the jewel becoming whole again," he said with triumph.

As he spoke, the black roots and his spherical body began to harden until it became stone. The roots' ends took on a more pointed look until they were as sharp as daggers. Despite their stone consistency, they still retracted and extended from Naraku's body as if they were still made of mud.

The hanyou looked down at the onlookers and grinned. "Shall I make my wish now and let you see my glory before you die? Or should I just kill you now?"

The group looked at each other in uneasy. Their normal confidence seemed to crumble without the priestess. She had always been the glue of their pack. And now she was gone.

The only one who looked on without fear was Sesshomaru. He knew Kagome was very weak after everything she'd been through. But he had faith in her. She would pull through. She had to.

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Hello all! Yes, I have finally posted the next chapter after almost three months. For the record, it wasn't my fault though. First, my computer blew up and I lost all my previous data for this next chapter. Then I moved to live with my mom in another state. Then my new laptop decided it wasn't going to get internet. Then I had to send it out to my dad so he could fix it... Nevertheless, I apologize for the long wait.

So I don't know if you can tell or not, but I really struggled with this chapter. There are several sentences that seem so retarded to me. And everything that you see here was pretty much made up on the fly. Except for the "sit boy" part. I'd already decided that was how Inuyasha was going to come back to his senses. (Sorry for the predictability by the way.) And I knew I wanted Shippo to be the one who broke everyone out to show how much he's grown in power. But the rest of it, I pretty much just had to wing it. It was kinda funny though because the idea of how Naraku would complete the jewel by combining Kagome's body with his just came out of no where and it all flowed and tied together pretty nicely.

Still though, I'm not really satisfied with it. Not to mention that I'm not really sure where to go from here. I have like one idea, but that's not gonna fill the whole next chapter, lol. Oh well, I'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, lemme know what you thought of this chapter and any suggestions you might have for upcoming chapters. Thanks for being patient with me. Till next time!

Hiko

P.S. I've checked over this for errors, but probably not very well, lol. Some things changed in the storyline as I was writing it so sometimes I forget to change other places too so it all agrees with each other. If you ever see a sentence or two that seem out of place, that's probably why, lol.