Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, but I do own Makoto. Yay Makoto!

Chapter 34: Final Battle Part 1

Half the humans were set in the front lines hidden by the foliage of the forest. Not that it would help against the strong sense of smell of the youkai they were up against, but it made them feel better none the less. A few hundred yards back waited the rest of the humans and the youkai temporarily at truce with one another under the leadership of the inu lord, Sesshomaru. He stood in the front of the youkai line; his half-brother, InuYasha, to his right and the wolf-youkai, Kouga, to his left.

Behind him stood the remainder of his loyal inu-youkai brethren and the wolf-tribe members that followed Kouga, including Ayame. Behind them were the rest of the humans and youkai ranged from the small, thin figured snake-youkai of the south to the muscular tiger-youkai of the east. All stood with either hands on various weapons or with their own natural weapons at the ready.

As soon as the youkai stepped across an invisible pre-selected line, the human front stood and grabbed smoke bombs, stink bombs, and anything else they had created to numb the senses of youkai and hurtled them across. The youkai in front took the blunt of the blow, some falling to their knees, others passing out completely. The remaining more lucky sensitive nosed youkai made way for the lesser sensitive youkai and oni to break through. The humans on the front retreated back behind the lines and the first wave of youkai followed close behind.

InuYasha drew Tetsusaiga from its sheath, his trademark cocky smirk clear across his face as the weapon transformed into its full form. His sharp eyes scanned the oncoming youkai for any sign of Haru or his son, but only lesser youkai could be seen at this point. The first wave hit full force, and the battle had started.

"Wind-scar!" the force of InuYasha's attack took out most of the front line, but the next wave came right behind them. He growled as the two fighting groups got so tangled together it was impossible for him to use the technique without taking out youkai and humans on his side as well.

"Looks like you'll have to get your hands dirty like the rest of us, mutt-face!" Kouga's claws were already dripping with freshly spilled blood as he brought them down again, slashing his victim in half before moving to the next one.

InuYasha put his sword away and cracked his knuckles. "Keh. I can take out way more then you could ever dream of, mangy wolf."

"Oh really? I'll call you on that. The one with the most dead count at the end wins." Kouga stated as his hand smashed through another youkai's chest.

"You're on!" InuYasha yelled, blocking a particularly angry youkai's gnashing teeth from ripping a hole in his side. He grabbed the upper and lower jaws, prying them apart until a snap proved the strong bone was broken, then he tossed it into a pile of carnage quickly forming behind him.

Sesshomaru stood in the same place he had been when the battle first began, just as blank-faced as ever and he lashed out with his poisonous whip, sending youkai after youkai to the ground in a pool of their own blood. All in all, something did not feel quite right to the inu-lord. As the commander of the western lands he had fought many battles such as this, but wasn't this suppose to be a battle of epic proportions? Wasn't this battle to decide the fate of humankind and the youkai's place in it? Surely there was more to it then this poor excuse for a battle. No, Haru had other plans. He may have not of been the most loyal inu in the castle, but he was among the most cunning when it came to matters such as these. Not long after the battle had begun, the waves of youkai slowly started to diminish.

"Two ninety-eight, dog-breath, and barely a scratch on me." Kouga smirked as the onslaught stopped.

"Keh. Three-oh-eight for me. Looks like the best man won." InuYasha stated with a smirk of his own.

"If you two are quite done, this Sesshomaru would like to point out that your bickering has blinded you to the fact that this battle has yet to truly begin." Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at his half-brother.

"I knew that! I'm ready for Haru whenever he decides to show up himself, instead of sending these weaklings to do his dirty work." InuYasha crossed his arms and huffed. Of course he knew that those bunch of youkai weren't the real battle. They were just toys, just distractions…from…whatever Haru really had in mind… "If…if they came from the west and not the northeast like we thought, then…"

"The castle!" Kouga and InuYasha yelled at the same time. Even Sesshomaru's eyes glinted with a hint of realization.

"But there's no one there to fight him! Why would Haru storm the castle while anyone worth his time is standing right here? Isn't he after Sesshomaru?"

InuYasha growled deep in his throat. "What if Sesshomaru isn't the one he wants?"

"Of course he's after Sesshomaru. He wants the Western Lands, doesn't he?" Sesshomaru cocked his eyebrow.

"I'm not so sure about that anymore. If he was just after Sesshomaru's place, why wait till now when things have calmed down? Why not during the warring years, or when Naraku was around? That would have made better sense; more distractions. Everything was fine for him, until Sesshomaru brought Rin around…" Sesshomaru's eyes glared freely in the distance. "…and I brought Kagome." InuYasha flopped to the ground. "Huh. Then Sesshomaru stripped him of everything he had left of his 'pure' heritage."

"Are you saying Haru is using the conflict between youkai and humans as some kind of ploy in his vendetta against you?!" Kouga tightened his hands into fists.

"I dunno… he seemed to be the kind that relied on his heritage to get what he wanted. It must be what got him his position in the castle, trying to stay close to the higher-ups. That has to be it! Haru doesn't want control of the Western Lands, at least not by force. He still just wants to get rid of the taint. THAT's why he had Kita looking for us and why she was sent to the castle…he's after Kagome and the pups, and Rin. With an added bonus of everyone's pups and mates all grouped together."

Sesshomaru let loose a feral growl from deep in his chest and his eyes flicked red. "This Sesshomaru will not be made a mockery of. We leave for the castle. Now."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Haru and Taru were running at the front of the horde. It was a close call for them. As soon as Haru heard that most of the inhabitance of the castle had survived the first group's attack, he had to revise his first plan. He had rather kill the half-bloods with his own hands anyway. They were expecting to have at least a few more days before Sesshomaru gathered his troops for the east, but no matter. Haru was able to carry out most of his plan. The small legion of lesser-youkai were sent to the front, allowing he and the others to safely escape around the encampment to the west. But Haru and Taru both knew that the lesser-youkai would not last long, and the inu lord would soon figure out his true plan. After that, it was merely a race against time.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Makoto's ears swiveled around to where Kita sat with the pups, Sango's girls, Keiji and the little tiger-hanyou named Tao. For the moment she had a smile on her face as she played with the kids. When she awoke the night before, the two had a long talk. At first there were tears, and a lot of yelling, but eventually things settled. Kagome would get Toutousai to make a charm to bind Kita's youkai as soon as she was able. Makoto was against it, but after seeing Kita's eyes light up at the notion he couldn't say no. The problem with her tribe had yet to be decided.

"Makoto!" Shippou ran up, Kigai coming up from behind and reaching the hanyou first. Makoto's blood went cold and Kita looked up from the kids. "Gotta get everyone up and moving out of here, now!"

"There's no time for that!" Kigai yelled back. "They're already sniffing around at the castle. The rest of my men are trying to through them off track but that still won't give us much time."

"Shippou, how bad?"

Shippou's look was grave. "Full forces."

"What… but Oyaji, and Oji! They were supposed to take care of the forces."

"I smelled Haru with them. Either they slipped by Oyaji and the others, or…" Shippou let the end of his sentence hang.

Makoto took in the information and nodded. "Tell Okaa to get everyone out. Anyone who can still fight should take up the front line. Kita," he turned to the she-wolf, "you help Okaa. Get Sango, Miroku, and Kilala to go, too." Kita nodded and took off. Kigai, Shippou, Makoto, Yukio, and Kigai's men were the best fit for battle and gathered the few others that were able or willing.

"This isn't going to work, Makoto. Most of these men are too old for battle." Kigai whispered in his ear.

"We have no choice now." He stood still as stone. "Haru is already here." On the edge of the clearing where they had come from the castle lined several youkai. Two inu where in front, both with burnt scars on their foreheads: Haru and Taru. Yukio growled from Makoto's side and slid his foot into a battling position. Makoto noticed his fist was tightly clinched around a baby-blue cloth, no doubt a good-luck token from Rin before she had set out with Kagome and the others. Shippou had a fierce look about him. With Tani nearby and heavy with kit, there was no doubt he would be fighting twice as hard as anybody. Kigai and his wolves had already locked their eyes on potential targets, just as they should being the great hunters they were.

Just as the other battles, this one started with one slight movement from either side, and it was on. Makoto quickly lost sight of Haru as his minions flooded into the clearing from behind him. The baka wasn't even going to fight unless he had to. Makoto clashed with the youkai around him. A bear swiped at him with its massive claws while another inu jabbed at his back with a sword. Makoto got hold of the bear by shoving his claws in the bear's abdomen and slung it around in time to catch the inu's sword in the carcass. The now disarmed inu switched to using his claws and almost succeeded in carving Makoto's eye from its socket before Makoto broke his arm in half with a snap and tossed the inu aside in his search for Haru.

Further down the clearing Shippou was having a hard time keeping one of the enemy's tiger-youkai from clawing him to death. The beast was frenzied and striking madly at the kitsune leaving deep, angry gashes up and down Shippou's chest and arms. "Fox-fire!" Shippou yelled with one hand next to the tiger's face. The blue flame swirled from his palm and the tiger hissed and stumbled back at the burning of his flesh. A sharp pain shot through Shippou's leg and he reached down to dislodge a spiked tentacle from around his calf. The spikes cut through his palms and made it almost unbearable to get the thing off his leg, but his fox-fire deemed useful once again and he burned the tentacle from his leg. No time to waste, Shippou sprang back into the battle, throwing fox-fire after fox-fire at the surrounding youkai.

Kigai had one inu-youkai in a head-lock and twisted it around until the neck snapped. The limp body fell to the ground and another inu took his place in the fight. Kigai's brethren made a line to either side of him and had their own battles to face. He was struck a hard blow from the massive-sized inu and doubled over for a second. In that second the inu brought his clasped fists down on Kigai's back and sent the wolf-youkai to the ground. He rolled out of the way just in time to keep himself from getting a face full of foot and brought his leg around to leg-sweep the inu. The inu hopped backward to avoid the attack, giving Kigai enough time to get back to his feet and lunge forward. His claws struck the inu's stomach, sending the youkai sprawling to the ground.

Yukio raged on, always trying to keep one eye out for his father and brother. But, obviously, they took off as soon as the battle had started. The battle hurt him the most. Not only was it the fault of his father and brother, but he was also forced to fight against his kin and other inu-youkai he had grown up with in the castle. Yukio was shamed by his family. Lord Sesshomaru had never done anything that wasn't for the good of the entire Western lands. If not for the inu-lord, Yukio's love wouldn't have made it past childhood. That alone spiked Yukio's loyalty to Sesshomaru enough for him to throw down his life if his lord only asked it of him.

For every youkai that was slain, three more appeared in the clearing to take its place. Makoto could see that their forces were dwindling, and even though he and the others would fight forever to keep the others safe, some were bound to get through. With no other choice he reached for the hilt of his sword. "Youkai."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

InuYasha and the others moved out as quickly as possible and it didn't take long to find the scents of Haru and his army of youkai. Making it back to the Western lands in record time, leaving most of the humans behind, it took seconds for InuYasha to catch the scent of Kagome and his pups. He and the others skid to a stop. The trails went separate ways. To one side was Haru's scent, Makoto, Shippou, Kigai: the other side Kagome, the pups, Miroku, Sango and countless others. InuYasha growled.

"We will make sure the others are not harmed, first. Then we will take care of Haru." Sesshomaru spoke up, sensing InuYasha's internal conflict. He merely nodded and took off down the path where Kagome's scent was the strongest. He didn't care if the others were following behind him at this point or not. Her scent was already filling his senses and he realized just how much he needed to make sure she was alright.

"Kagome? Kagome!" He ran up the back of the group and pushed past several youkai, hanyou and humans. Then he saw her. "Kagome." He said in relief.

At the sound of her name she turned, her raven hair twirling around her shoulder. When her brown eyes found his gold she smiled and her entire face lit up. "InuYasha!" tears rimmed her eyes as she handed Gina to Rin and made a mad dash for her hanyou. InuYasha stretched out his arms and she ran to him with full force. The impact sent him spiraling backwards and sprawled on the ground with Kagome on his chest. She quickly wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face in his haori. InuYasha wrapped his arms around her and hugged just as fierce as she did. Although she felt like she could stay like that forever, Kagome forced herself to sit up.

"InuYasha, Makoto and the others are fighting Haru. Not long after you left, the castle was destroyed and just now they attacked again."

"I'll take care of it. Is everyone here alright?"

"Nothing too serious. We're all okay, just go and help Makoto."

"Right." He pulled her close once more and kissed her forehead. "Stay safe, Kagome. Keep moving away from here and I'll find you when it's all over."

They stood and parted. Several other youkai and hanyou were also stepping away from their mates and pups, others looked a cross between a deep depression and hate. Not everyone had survived. InuYasha gulped and took one last look to Kagome who had already picked up both pups who were reaching out to him. He turned away where Sesshomaru, Kouga, and Ayame were already waiting.

"Those of you who have lost mates or pups and wish may stay behind. All others shall join now." Sesshomaru turned his back and sped off in the opposite direction. A few youkai stayed on their knees, tucking their heads in their hands trying to muffle cries and whimpers. Most stood with eyes burning red and fierce looks on their faces. Those were the ones no one would stand close to during the battle. InuYasha ran off after his half-brother down the path that led to Haru. The closer they got, the more blood he could smell. Further away he could smell something burned: the remains of the castle. The trees quickly gave way to another clearing. The ground was already littered with bodies and blood, and further down the battle was still going on.

InuYasha pinpointed an area where youkai seemed to be gathering in a group attempt in the fight. That's where he headed, still keeping his senses alert to Haru's scent. A few of the youkai noticed the newcomers and turned to attack. InuYasha wasted no time taking care of his attackers with his own claws until he could see the center of where the youkai had grouped together. "Makoto!" His son was the cause of the commotion, a full-youkai version anyway. Makoto turned his head to the sound of his voice and, spotting him, gave a toothy grin. InuYasha slashed and shouldered his way through till he stood back to back with Makoto, surrounded by youkai.

"Glad you could make it, Oyaji."

"Keh. Why are you transformed?!" he yelled over the growls and screams as he slammed his fist into the face of a youkai.

"Long story. You know, you should be more careful who you give a fang to. That toutou guy is either really good at what he does or he's just running on dumb luck." He took the time to knock out a youkai trying to take a nip at his arm.

"Trust me, it's dumb luck. You're lucky not to be a dog or something the way that old man's mind goes." InuYasha turned and smirked, then got serious again. "Have you spotted Haru?"

"Nah. He showed up for the first seconds of the battle and disappeared again." Makoto reared back his fist in anger and punched a rampaging youkai in the gut. InuYasha almost felt sorry for the youkai as it's backbone snapped in two from the impact and slammed into the youkai behind it. Many of the youkai backed off, a few brave souls stepped forward to take their place. The two grew silent as they each fought their own battles. Waves of youkai kept flocking in, even with Sesshomaru and the others finally fighting with them. Makoto's youkai strength was holding out well, but the rest of his group had been fading for quite a while now. He was about to yell for them to retreat and follow the others but the fighting completely stopped and the entire clearing grew quiet.

A/N:

Oooo… cliffie. Not much of a battle to start, the next one is the real battle. And, yay! Everyone is finally back together, and not three or four separate groups that keep running away from me…

Shameless insert here, if you like vampires and romance, or vampire romances, you have to check out Stephenie Meyers' "Twilight" series. The BEST. Go read it now.

Very few chappies left now. :\