"In here?" Sango questioned, the second of their group to reach the proper door. In their haste and competition, Inuyasha and Koga had admittedly gone hurtling past, only ambling to a halt when Kikyo stopped at a closed off hallway. The door had been locked from the inside and out, but that was no matter to the group, especially as Inuyasha rounded back and met up with them, brandishing his claws at the barricade.
"Iron Reaver!" He called as the swipe of his palm sent the locks flying, coming to a resounding spin on the planks of the floor below. He spared no time in racing down the dark hallway ahead, uncaring of what lay in wait for him, leaving everyone else behind in the wake of his indomitable rush.
He could hear with his dog ears tensed the unmistakable velveteen sound of skin on skin, the soft and tormented whimper from Kagome's lips in response to what he was sure was the wretched contact of Naraku's ill-fated hands. I'm going to eviscerate him, Inuyasha promised himself, rounding the corner to come to a complete stop.
In front of him, the half demon Naraku straddled above Kagome, his fangs outstretched to her neck and his hands wandering where they damn well shouldn't. This he noticed before the full jewel lying around Kagome's neck, subject to the northward travelling hands of the demon on top of her. As his eyes fixated on the motion of Naraku's clasp, he saw the demon's fingers clench and the soft skin of Kagome's breast swell, and he realized the bastard had torn off her clothes, the white and green fragments of material laying in scraps beneath her imprisoned body. It was this, he was sure, that kept Naraku from looking at him right away on entry, only raising his head to acknowledge Inuyasha when a thunderous growl burst from behind his fangs.
He couldn't understand what happened next. Fogginess overtook his mind and the room around him began to darken, deepening in shade until the only pinpoint of light he could make out was Kagome's pale white neck caught in the reddened and glistening restraint of Naraku's sharp teeth.
His world tilted, and a sudden rumble of ferocity ripped through him, only blood existed, and the blood he wanted was right in front of him. Naraku didn't have a chance to respond then, any moment of luck he may have had fading with the gold in Inuyasha's eyes.
Sango and Koga reached the room afterward, halting immediately when they emerged to the scene unravelling before them.
"Stop!" Sango cried, turning to hold her arms out and form an obstacle as Miroku and Kikyo approached. Koga didn't move to question her, knowing full well as she did the danger in approaching, and skid to a stop before the slayer.
In the cavernous chambers of Naraku's prison, the spider yokai had easily become crushed beneath the onslaught of Inuyasha's full demon assault; Tessaiga completely forgotten, he ravaged mindlessly with his bare fists, grasping with his claws to tear at Naraku chunk by chunk. It seemed Inuyasha turning full demon was a complete oversight to the spider yokai's plan, and with good reason; no one had ever seen Inuyasha in such a form before, Kikyo not once in all the years he had attacked the village. She hadn't even known it was possible.
"Stay back." Kikyo informed her companions, "Don't move forward."
But Koga had already lain eyes on Kagome, her exposed body shaking where it lay trapped in Naraku's bonds. Seeing her in such a state drove a flare of anger through him, and he quickly forgot the order, abandoning the others with an urgent and reckless haste to cover her naked skin.
"Damnit, I can't leave her like this- Kagome!" Koga raged and bolted forward despite Kikyo's better suggestion.
As soon as the wolk yokai had advanced toward Kagome, Inuyasha removed himself from Naraku, but kept one fist clenched around the neck so he could drag the now broken and flaccid half-demon along pitilessly behind while stalking up to Koga, the red of his eyes deepening with every step. Already the perceived threat in the room had changed dramatically, even Koga sensed this as he froze in his path, his eyes never wavering from the miko who whimpered in the silence that ensued, penetrating his heart with her helpless noises.
"Take… your eyes… from her." Inuyasha's guttural voice held no remnants of its usual tenor, seemingly possessed by the energy of his own demonic aura.
"Sango, isn't the Tessaiga supposed to limit his demonic energy?" Miroku whispered, maintaining a motionless stance in the entryway of the great chamber so as not to draw the eye to any movements. Sango coughed, noting that as Naraku became further demolished, a thick miasma began to bubble in an acidic swell throughout the air.
Raising her protective mask to her face and fastening it swiftly, she countered,
"For some reason it isn't doing what it's supposed to do. Inuyasha has transformed beyond his own control, and if Tessaiga believes this may keep Kagome safe…" She coughed again, motioning for Miroku to cover his mouth.
Kikyo, raising the sleeves of her robe to cover her nose, cast a sidelong glance at the slayer and considered her words. As Inuyasha had once told her, the sword fashioned from his father's fang not only possessed great powers in its attack capabilities, but also in its defense of Inuyasha himself. Apparently, the power of the Tessaiga harnessed Inuyasha's demonic aura, which was reason enough she had never seen it before now.
Even as Naraku's parts began to squirm back together in the same fashion as his latchkey surrogate from the village, Kikyo hesitated to pull an arrow. Any movement could be perceived as a danger to Inuyasha in this state, and even with the wild release of any previous control, his one goal, to protect Kagome, was a clear motive he would die to uphold.
Koga, having stepped back from the Inu-yokai with a snarl of defeat, retreated as slowly as possible toward the entry way where the rest of his travel mates stood in wait to watch what would become of the situation. Once Koga had distanced himself from Kagome where she still lay trembling, her weak limbs abstractly pulling to cover her body, the wolf demon turned to them and barked,
"Everyone turn the fuck around while she's like this!" He himself spun on his heel, his face red. "If I can't help her physically, I'll damn well keep you all from exploiting the situation!"
In somewhat of an agreement, Sango urged Miroku to turn around and join the wolf yokai, who trembled with anger even without seeing Inuyasha's next movements. His helpless position was enough to cause an eruption of snarls from his chest as he listened hard to the sounds coming from behind him, only battling against the relenting urge to sneak a look out of respect for Kagome, and of course, knowing that Sango and Kikyo were able to keep their eye on the events as needed.
Inside the room, Inuyasha approached Kagome as the demon he held in his fist slithered in protest; impatient, Inuyasha dropped him to the ground and unleashed the power of his sword. He heard some gasps behind him but ignored them as the entrancing urge to strike overtook him. On the ground, the dying yokai hissed up at him in his convulsions, meeting his eye with a malicious and pointed stare,
"Do it, hanyou. Kill me. One moment more and the jewel-"
But in no mood for speeches, the hanyou simply dropped his sword with an almost light conviction. The blade swiped at Naraku's neck, and a spurt of blood oozed forth, a strained wheeze rattling through his throat. The eyes of the spider yokai widened and Inuyasha sheathed his sword, reaching down with only his claws, aiming them slowly and purposefully at the cut he had made.
"Die," His dark voice boomed, and he pressed down with his fingers, grinning as he wrapped each one around the inside of Naraku's throat, then pulled with satisfied cruelty. Holding the tendons slick with red indication in his fist, Inuyasha's delirious grin reflected a great release of excitement, and he threw the throat of the demon to the ground with victorious disgust. Wiping his bloody hand down the paled, emaciated face of Kagome's captor, he made sure to leave a streak of fresh claw marks along his cheek, ripping at the skin of his face so it would always bear the stain of his attack. Unfinished, he propelled one fist with direct objective toward Naraku's chest, tearing the muscle and sinew aside in an almost desperate search.
When he found no heart, he frowned, instinct telling him that every creature possessed a heart, and until that heart had been devastated, the demon would not die. Die, he must die. Inuyasha's simplified thinking process guided him with one driven purpose, and the whimpering sound over his shoulder reminded him of that purpose as he dug with more conviction. Rustling around inside of the blackened cavern until he found something small and weak, fluttering in a last bout of denial against Inuyasha's hand, he grinned. Squeezing with a serene expression, he felt the last squelch of blood seeping through Naraku's coronary walls, until the rock like little bud in his chest cavity came to a final rest.
Sliding his arm from within the torso of a now rapidly paling Naraku, Inuyasha listened to the slick of blood releasing his fist, painted red and black in sizzling demonic life stream. Flicking the liquid from himself in disgust and stopping to wipe his arm clean with a remnant of Naraku's clothing, Inuyasha glared down at the wriggling pieces of his former enemy. Had his ego allowed, he may have scoffed, but instead he turned to the sounds that had fuelled his rage, the soft sobbing of the young miko tethered helplessly where Naraku had left her.
Leaving the shell of Naraku at his feet, the full dog demon stood to depart from the heap he had become, hurriedly approaching Kagome where she had given up and relapsed into inconsolable weeping. Across the room, Sango's shoulders trembled with desire to go to her friend and hug her, cover her with her kimono and help her down from where she remained in bondage, her wrists and ankles clamped to the pillar she'd been strewn across. She watched as Inuyasha in his full demon form hovered over her, taking in a great breath of her scent, his nose to her hair, then began to slash at the bonds that kept her immobile with his claws.
Releasing her from the cuffs and pulling her into his arms quickly, but with great care, the red-eyed demon cradled Kagome's body against his chest, holding her wounded frame with another howl of destruction welling in his being. How he let this happen, he didn't know, but he still shook with desire to destroy anything that dared come near. Bundling Kagome close, he turned and leapt only once into the air, bursting through the panels of the ceiling to land skilfully on the roof outside, rushing along the spine of the building's shingles with Kagome in his arms.
Down below, the rest of the group glanced around at one another while the miasma increased, unsure how to follow-up, until the air around them thickened to a point that an obvious decision had to be made; the remnants of Naraku would be destroyed in the odd chance that he ever revive himself, and the area, purified. Miroku got to work ushering his friends behind him and opening his hand, only to realize that the rush of the wind he was used to hearing failed to emit itself. When he held his stance for a few more moments and still felt no pressure sucking forth the atmosphere before him, he chanced a glance at his own palm, and nearly collapsed to the ground as he finally turned his hand all the way around for the first time in years, unclothed.
The middle of his palm lay bare, the wind tunnel of his youth and the curse of his family finally nothing more than a memory.
Gazing upward at the hole in the ceiling Inuyasha had left in his wake, the monk felt an indescribable admiration for the very moment of freedom he felt, breaking the years of torment his family had passed on as inheritance.
"You did it." The monk smiled, clenching his hand together and feeling the skin of his own fingers, a victorious motion.
Soon after, he stood behind Kikyo as she readied a purifying arrow and let loose, bathing the room that had housed such a horrific scene moments before in a light as bright and as cleansing as the feeling washing over Miroku, now freed.