I really fail at updating fast.

[for teensie-sama] It's been my Sport Holiday for the last week (and it includes this week too!), and my host family took me to the Austrian Alps for skiing! It was an amazing experience, but I had an OLD and UGLY ski teacher who spoke the weirdest german, and english, I had ever heard. Total let down. Weren't ski teachers supposed to be young and very very good looking? I guess that isn't the way in Austria.

Oh, Teensie, how I tease you.

Anyways, here's chapter seven.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

--Chapter Seven--

"Kagura," Inuyasha growled between his clenched teeth. Why didn't I pick up her scent?!

A small smile graced the incarnation's blood red lips. "Inuyasha. It would've just been easier for you to fall into our little distraction. This sure is unplanned."

"So the absence of the demons was Naraku's doing!" Kagome shouted, putting the pieces together.

A miniscule but sarcastic laugh passed through Kagura's lips. "Very good, girl. But it doesn't matter now."

"What doesn't matter, Kagura?" Sango shouted. The demon slayer placed one hand on the weapon that was slung against her back. She was ready for any surprise attack that the wind sorceress would pull against them.

"Even without the Jewel of Crystallized Tears, you are no match for me, or Naraku." Kagura's ruby red eyes glowed, triumph and the promise of slaughter in their depths.

"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha swung his Tetsusaiga, warming up his swing. "Why don't I just take that bet on?"

"Don't be so hasty, Inuyasha. Something doesn't feel right here. And it's not the fact that Kagura is standing in front of us," Miroku warned the hanyou, his right hand gripping his staff tighter.

Kagura flicked her fan open again, toying with it. "A very smart monk," She hummed to herself. "But it's too late now."

Inuyasha was about to open his mouth to say something, but he stopped when the earth started grumbling underneath their feet. They didn't see it coming, and they didn't have enough time to react.

Naraku erupted from the earth, just behind them.

His red eyes were flashing as his laughter pierced the afternoon air. He stood, high in the air, tall and proud: menacing in his glory. Even as his face held signs of humor, his eyes were ice cold, emotionless and fathomless as he studied and fed off the fear on the faces of his rivals. The tentacles that hung from his back were swinging in the sudden breeze, along with his long black hair.

"Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled, with all his hatred poured into his opponent's name. He spun around, facing the confident half-demon, totally ignoring the incarnation at his back.

"Inuyasha," Naraku said with a small smile, his voice slightly sarcastic. The red eye in the middle of the hole in his chest fixed itself intently on the hanyou.

"Sango, Miroku, Shippo." Inuyasha barely moved his head to their direction. "I will take care of Naraku. You guys take Kagura."

He heard their confirmations, and Shippo's scared whimper. "I'm just a kid!" Shippo cried.

"We're counting on you, Shippo." Miroku's voice was soft and caring. Shippo seemed to smarten up at that and the young demon grunted in response.

"Inuyasha, I will be right behind you," Kagome confidently told him, her tone suggesting no argument. She pulled her bow out and her arrows, aiming them swiftly at Naraku's form.

"Kagome, you be careful," He replied. She only nodded, determination set in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Naraku!" Inuyasha shouted to his opponent and enemy, anger sketched onto his features. "I'm going to kill you, once and for all!"

Naraku let out a small snort, a wicked smile playing on his thin lips. "I'm waiting, Inuyasha," He mocked.

"You won't have to wait long!" Inuyasha shouted, jumping into the air in front of Naraku, his blade swinging dangerously. "Wind Scar!" Tetsusaiga threw out a blinding flash of light towards the other half-demon at Inuyasha's command, its aim deadly accurate.

Laughter was already erupting from behind the light before the Wind Scar faded and Naraku was still in mid-air, unharmed. His barrier glowed pink, making his blood red eyes even redder. "You're so pathetic."

"You bastard!" Inuyasha swore, landing back on the ground next to Kagome. Red Tetsusaiga isn't strong enough to break through Naraku's barriers, but Adamant Barrage is. At this thought, Inuyasha carefully altered his fang's wind course with his mind, Tetsusaiga's blade freezing over with adamant at his will.

"Try this, Naraku!" Inuyasha swung his fang again, this time with a bit more strength. "Adamant Barrage!" His command to Tetsusaiga echoed through the air as light and spears of adamant were thrown at the sadistic monster in the sky. The result was a bit more satisfying; Naraku wasn't laughing as before. But by the time his attack had faded, the half-demon was still behind his barrier, untouched.

"Impossible," Inuyasha cursed. The fucking bastard found a way to strengthen his barrier? Now not even Adamant Barrage can weaken him?

Naraku narrowed his eyes, his face dark. "You think you can defeat me with that useless attack, Inuyasha?" After the words had left Naraku's thin lips, his barrier disappeared at his will.

"Take this Naraku!" Kagome didn't waste a moment in firing a sacred arrow at the vulnerable half-demon. The shaft flew through the air, the purple light scaring the orange sky. It flew past Naraku's shoulder, sizzling and burning his armor. With satisfaction, Kagome watched as a part of his bone armor fell to the ground below his feet.

Naraku didn't move, nor did he react to his loss. A sarcastic smirk snaked its way onto his lips as long shafts of bone grew from the spikes on his armor. He broke one off, and without a second's hesitation, he threw it with blinding speed at Kagome.

"Watch out Kagome!" The priestess was snatched up, as the shaft grew nearer. Inuyasha safely pulled her out of the way of the flying bone shaft, landing a few feet away. He shielded his nose from the gathering dust that had collected and blown over to them after the bone shaft had hit the ground where Kagome had been standing.

They didn't see the second shaft flying heading for them, and when it hit, it struck the ground at their feet, throwing both the hanyou and the young priestess in opposite directions.

Kagome was still coughing hard as the dust cleared. She watched with wide eyes as Inuyasha jumped to his feet, a snarl in his throat, eyes on fire. Tetsusaiga was clutched in his hands, his silver hair blowing wildly behind him, and the painfully determined expression on his face was plain for all to see. He was ready to make the monster pay for everything he had ever done to them.

"You're going to pay for that!" Inuyasha snarled, swinging Tetsusagia again. This time, Naraku was barely quick enough to erect his barrier as Tetsusaiga's Wind Scar scorched the sky towards the unprotected half-demon.

"Damn!" Inuyasha swore as once again, Naraku came out unharmed. "Adamant Barrage!" The second command that left Inuyasha's lips came a second later after his first attack had proved to be useless. Throwing his fang in a second attack, he watched as the light erupted from Tetsusaiga's blade once again, along with thousands of little crystal shards.

Naraku's barrier was momentarily weakened, leaving the monster once again vulnerable. Kagome shot another arrow at the same time Inuyasha threw his Wind Scar.

The purple light from the arrow was lost in the blinding yellow light given off from the Wind Scar, but as soon as they bonded together, the attack became twice as strong.

But Kagome didn't get to see if the two attacks combined hit Naraku. As soon as her arrow left her bow, she felt the presence of more jewel shards. The feeling was unmistakable; a sharp recognition that ran down her spine in warning. With adrenaline pumping through her veins, she turned to the shadows between two little shacks.

A slight shuffling of tired feet attracted Kagome's eyes to the shadows to the right of the little pathway, where the light was most absent. The young girl had to squint her eyes in order to get a shape. "Is there someone there?" She called, some primitive instinct telling her it didn't mean her any harm.

The figure shuffled a couple of steps more, Kagome's name torn from pained lips as the person fell to their knees in a muffled cry of pain. When the figure lifted its head to plead for help from the young girl, its face was bathed in the light from the setting sun.

"Kikyo!" Kagome rushed forward without a second thought. She went to put her arms around the other priestess to lift her, but she stopped, seeing Kikyo wince in pain. "What happened?" Kagome demanded.

Kikyo clutched at her side, her eyes clamped shut as her face showed all her insufferable pain. Blood rushed from between her cold fingers, little streams lacing themselves down her pale skin and down the soft fabric that was already stained red. "It… doesn't matter…" She rasped out, pained-filled eyes colliding with Kagome's wide fearful ones. "Save… Inuyasha…"

"But Kikyo-" Kagome tried to plead with the priestess. Kikyo needed serious medical attention, and now. She wasn't going to survive if nobody did anything to stop the bleeding.

"Kikyo?" A voice from behind cut the young girl's words off. Kagome spun around to see Inuyasha, his eyes focused on the shadows. His eyes saw past the young girl, to his dead priestess. An unreadable expression crossed his features, pain and worry burning themselves deep inside his naked eyes. He was relived at seeing she was okay, but tortured at the sight of her in pain, again. He took a few steps towards the two girls, for a second forgetting about his opponent.

"Inuy-" Kikyo managed to hoarsely rasp out, wincing from the pain in her side.

"Kikyo-" But Inuyasha's plea was cut off. Without seeing the attack, the hanyou didn't even register what had happened before long tentacles from Naraku's armor pierced his skin, lifting him high off the ground. Looking down as if he didn't believe it, he stared at the points of impact: his chest, and both his shoulders.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, petrified on the spot. Inuyasha was helpless, caught in a vulnerable position. She watched in horror as Naraku's smirk got larger while his bone-like tentacles dug in deeper into the hanyou's body.

"Fuck you… Naraku…" Inuyasha grunted painfully as the three shafts continued to bury themselves deeper and deeper. The hanyou let out a loud howl of agony as the three tentacles broke through the skin on the other side of his body, leaving him completely skewered, dangling high in the air.

"Inuyasha, no!" Kagome screamed, instantly acting. She fired an arrow at an impossible speed and watched as sailed through the air towards the wicked half-demon.

Naraku's eyes narrowed dangerously at the sacred arrow as it came at unbelievable speed towards him. It distracted him for a second as he dodged it with ease. Smugness worked its way onto the half-demon's face as he focused on Inuyasha's form at the end of his bone tentacles. Inuyasha's dark blood ran down his already red haori, dripping from the ends of his soles to collect in a sticky puddle underneath him. The hanyou was paralyzed with pain, but with unbelievable strength, he lifted his head, not allowing himself to be defeated.

"Blades of Blood!" Inuyasha's bloodied hand wiped out, sending out blood red blades at Naraku.

Naraku didn't see the attack coming, and it costed him another piece of armor and a tentacle.

/- to the other side of the battlefield--

"I've had enough of this, just die!" Kagura shouted, irritated at how she couldn't just kill them as easily as she had previously thought. She whipped her fan again at the two humans in a violent gesture. Blades flew towards them, narrowly missing Miroku and Sango. A few hit the unsuspecting Kirara and Shippo as they tried to dodge the attack, knocking the big cat and little demon down.

Sango's mind wheeled. She was seething with anger and was trying hard to keep it in check. How dare you take this out on Kirara and Shippo! The demon slayer was about to throw her weapon when Kagura suddenly smiled as if she had a wicked secret.

Kagura slightly turned around. "Kohaku," She called softly.

The little boy, who had been hiding all along in the bushes, stood up and walked over to Kagura at her demand. Sango's heart skipped a beat as she noticed his blank stare while he handled his weapon. Naraku is controlling him!

Sango couldn't move, her heart was crying a million tears while being ripped into a thousand pieces. Kohaku, don't you remember me? My little brother, please stop!

Kagura's smile widened at the pain etched across Sango's face. "Kohaku, kill her." The wind sorceress' voice held no emotion as it cut through the thin air.

He nodded slightly in Kagura's direction before taking off at full speed towards his sister. He held his axe at his waist before lifting it high over his head as he jumped, towering over Sango.

Miroku acted fast, knowing there was no way Sango would protect herself against her only brother. He whipped his staff at Kohaku's weapon, sending it flying, before it could collide with Sango.

Kohaku landed in a crouch just a few feet in front of Sango, dead eyes boring into her pain stricken ones. He suddenly jumped to the right and grabbed a hold of his axe, throwing it again before anyone could react. The blade tore through the skin and muscle in Sango's shoulder. With another flick of the possessed boy's hand, the axe ripped itself out of his sister's body. Pain threatened to engulf her, but she braced herself with one hand covering her wound. She fell to her knees, struggling to keep consciousness. With unbelievable effort, she lifted her head to her only brother.

"Kohaku, no…" She whispered, throwing her hand out towards him. Her eyes pleaded with him to come back to her. She would rather die than fight her brother.

Miroku faltered for a second, seeing Sango being pierced through the shoulder by her brother's weapon. He stood in another stance, ready to fight Kohaku if he came at Sango again.

Sango's eyes flew towards the ready monk. Anger was sketched on his brow and in his eyes. He wasn't going to hesitate to hurt Kohaku if he came for her again. Standing up and turning her back on her possessed brother, she faced her monk.

"Don't hurt him, Miroku-" Sango's sentence was cut short as a blade dug itself in between her shoulder blades. She turned around, unmasked sorrow deep in her eyes, to stare at her brother. He held the end of the chain in his hands, a blank look on his face. His face held no emotion; as if he didn't know he had just attacked his one and only sister. With a tug, he pulled his weapon out of his sister's back. She fell to her knees again unwillingly. With a sudden burst of anger and pain, she grabbed a hold of her weapon.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango shouted, throwing the huge boomerang at the wind sorceress. How dare you bring my little brother into this! It narrowly missed her head, making Kagura's blood red eyes narrow dangerously.

"Thought that was smart, wench?" Kagura flicked her fan again, sending Sango's massive boomerang back at her. Sango didn't see Kagura's attack coming, and she didn't have time to react. The Hiraikotsu hit the demon slayer dead on, sending her sprawling.

"Sango!" Miroku ran over to the unconscious girl as Kagura's laughter filled the air. He put out his arms to shield himself and Sango as more wind blades came down on them, cutting their skin in various places.

"Sango, please get up!" Miroku pleaded, gripping her shoulder. But the girl didn't stir. She was deathly pale with small and deep cuts all over on her delicate skin. Blood streams ran down from her mouth and nose, and the huge gash in her back.

Noticing Kohaku crouch down low, getting ready to spring again, Miroku silently steadied himself, waiting for the boy to pounce. When Kohaku did jump, Miroku came up with his staff, knocking the boy's weapon out of his hands again, and then proceeded to hit the boy on the head with the other side of his staff. Kohaku slumped to the ground beside his sister, and closed his eyes as he fell unconscious,

"What's wrong, monk?" Kagura mocked. "Ready to die for her?" She waved her fan, and Miroku watched in horror as the place behind her filled with thousands of Naraku's demons, coming from the shadows of the woods. They snarled and hissed at him, not moving unless on her command. With a smile apparent on her lips, she waved her fan again, sending a huge group of demons from the crowd that was waiting behind the incarnation.

Miroku cursed, handling the beads on his right hand. Kagura wanted him to use his wind tunnel to suck in the demons and Naraku's poisonous insects, killing him. Looking back over to the girl that he loved, he let the emotions she caused him to feel flood his senses… Pain when he angered her, jealousy when she talked to other men, frustration when she took his words wrong, confusion at her body language… but most off all: love. Turning back around to face his opponent, he knew that he was ready to die to save her. Smiling wickedly at the wind sorceress, he ripped off the sacred beads and cloth.

"Wind tunnel!" He cried, shoving his right hand in the direction of the closing in demons. A strong wind picked up, sucking in all the demons and insects into his outstretched palm. It wasn't long before his hand started to pulse and Miroku's forehead started dripping in sweat, trying to keep control. Pain coursed throughout his veins, but he fought it off.

Kagura laughed bitterly at the monk's foolishness, sending another wave of demons at him. She watched with mild interest as he sucked them all in, his features pained as he took in the poison.

It was after the third wave of non-stop demons that Miroku's control started to lapse. The pain became too unbearable, taking over his mind and thoughts. With his last spurt of control, he sucked in the lat of the wave, and then collapsed onto the ground, clumsily placing his prayer beads back over his right hand. He struggled to keep conscious but the black curtain came down relentlessly, and he was engulfed by black.

Sango's eyes opened a little bit, and she was surprised to find Kohaku lying next to her, his face peaceful and his dark eyes closed. "It's going to be okay, Kohaku. I'm here for you," Sango promised the boy, her voice only a whisper.

Kagura grew bored, seeing the humans lie unconscious before her. This fight was more boring than I would've first anticipated. Oh well. Now, to finish off Naraku's orders… She flicked her wind again, sending more blades towards them.

Sango watched in horror as Kagura's blades hit Kohaku's body. The boy didn't stir, but his eyes did open wide as one of the blades cut deep into his throat, extracting his jewel shard, sending it flying in the air, back to Kagura.

"Kohaku!" Sango shrieked, her body too weak to move. Her eyes filled with tears and horror as recognition came into the boy's brown eyes. He smiled a little at his only sister, eyes fading.

"Sango…" He whispered. She reached for him, her body screaming in response. Holding his hand, she watched the light fade from his eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Kagura smiled. I guess that's done. And now to wait for Naraku to finish off the others…

Sango, engulfed by pain and sorrow tried to lift herself up. She had the will power left to kill the bitch that had killed her only brother. But a searing pain surged through her, sending her back towards the ground, seeing only blackness.

/-back to the other side--

Naraku was enjoying every moment of his triumph. Kikyo was nearing death, hiding in the shadows from him. Naraku knew she pushed herself this one last time to see Inuyasha before she died. How pitiful, he internally chuckled. Inuyasha was held fast by his bone tentacles, high in the air, and Kagome was helpless; she had no more arrows in her quiver.

Just before he thought everything was going better than he had planned, the sun disappeared under the horizon, allowing the moon to take over the position of lighting the land. The land was plunged into darkness; its only light was the pale sphere in the night sky.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. Her heart was gripped in terror's cold grasp. How could Inuyasha survive if he's human?

Naraku's eyes questionably narrowed at the hanyou in his grasps. His unspoken question was answered when Inuyasha pulsed faintly before his eyes. His already faint demonic was aura fading, along with his golden eyes. Brown eyes were filled with incomprehension and horror as silver hair blackened, sharp claws blunted, ears disappeared to reappear in a normal human fashion, and fangs shrank.

Naraku laughed sadistically. How well this was working to his advantage. He hadn't realized that tonight was the hanyou's night of weakness. It was now that much easier to kill Inuyasha.

"I shall leave you to die by your wounds, Inuyasha. No normal weak human can survive by wounds such as those." Naraku's voice was cold and slightly sarcastic. With a smile alighting his icy lips, he withdrew his bony tentacles, and watched with satisfaction as Inuyasha plunged to the ground, landing in his own pile of blood with a hollow thud.

Screaming his name in a frantic, disorientated way, Kagome jumped to her feet and ran towards Inuyasha. Her mind was centered on Inuyasha, and so she didn't Naraku's attack until it was too late. The shaft entered through the skin on her left thigh, tearing mercilessly through bone and muscle until it was wedged tight, protruding out the back of her thigh.

She screamed out in pain, dropping to her knees. Pain shot up her left leg, paralyzing her completely. She couldn't think beyond her pain. It engulfed her, controlled her. She couldn't move, couldn't get to Inuyasha. She hardly felt her own blood pour down her pale thigh to stain her socks and shoes. It gathered in small puddles around her knees, growing larger and larger with every passing moment. She couldn't see over the black dots clouding her vision, nor could she hear over the roaring in her ears.

"He… will… not win…" She rasped out, gasping for breath. She fell forward, her hands curling painfully in the hard dirt. She clenched her eyes closed, gathering herself together. Lifting her head slowly, her eyes landed on Inuyasha's body, not ten feet away from her.

His brown eyes were watching her, and yet were seeing past her. They held a blank look, his face peaceful. Three wide gaps were easily seen in his abdomen, blood pouring from his wounds at an alarming speed. His own puddle of blood had expanded, to Kagome's horror. He's loosing too much blood…

"Inu… yasha…" Kagome looked up to see Kikyo's form moving slowly on hands and feet, to her beloved hanyou. The dying priestess' body gave up when she reached him, falling beside his limp body. With her clothes soaked through with Inuyasha's blood, she reached with one small white hand to touch Inuyasha's own hand. He didn't seem to notice she was there. He remained where he was, staring blankly at Kagome, his face expressionless.

"I'm here…" Kikyo whispered through torn gasps of air. "We can… finally be… together…"

Panic filled Kagome amidst her pain. Inuyasha… you can't leave me. I can't live without you… Tears filled her fear stricken eyes, streaking down her pale cheeks. "Inuyasha!" She cried out in the night.

Naraku's laughter was piercingly audible in Kagome's head as she watched with terror filled brown eyes as the light slowly faded from Inuyasha's human eyes. His brown eyes closed for the last time, his breath escaping through his bloodied lips as his body sunk deeper in defeat into his own pool of blood.

NO! "INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed. She couldn't comprehend. She kept waiting, even as her vision grew blurry from her tears and as sobs wracked her tiny frame, waiting for the hanyou to open his eyes and smile at Kagome, just like always. He wasn't gone… he couldn't be.

Sudden fury and pain surged though Kagome's veins. The need for blood, Naraku's blood, made her see red. She wanted to see and hear him suffer, suffer for all the things he had ever done to them. She wanted to make him pay for all the pain and sorrow he had ever placed on their shoulders. She wanted him to feel pain; she wanted him to fear.

Turning to the hanyou that had been watching the whole time, an amused smile on his thin lips, she let all the hate she had ever felt for him flood her senses and veins. With her bright pink miko aura crackling angrily around her in a death threat, she raised her hands to his smirking form, palms open.

"Die!" She screamed. Ancient power flowing through her veins stirred, and surged through her body in an almost painful manner to collect in bright purple balls of light in each of her out-stretched palms. At her outburst, the spheres of lights shot from her hands towards the monster that had ruined all of their lives, engulfing the world around them in a bright light. As the light entered her mind, Kagome smiled, a small sad curve of her lips. Her last thought was forgotten as she fell deep into the light.

I have to point out that I actually wrote this chapter a few times before I was actually satisfied with it. To my standards, it wasn't that great, but I'd love your opinions!

Also, if anyone has any great ideas on story plots, I'd love to hear them, IN A PRIVATE MESSAGE! We don't want to spoil the rest of the story if I were to choose your plot, now would we? And, if anyone is good at writing summaries, you want to help me write one for this story? I fail at writing those too.

Read and Review! You know, keep my confidence up?

xxx. bumble.