Chapter One

The Last Battle

"TETSUSEIGA!"

Inuyasha yelled with all of his might and swung his mighty blade at his opponant: Naraku. Naraku barely dodged the attack, making a long cut along his upper body make cranberry-red blood flow to the ground. Naraku panted and stood still for a moment, obviously stunned from the attack.

The silver-haired hanyou smirked comfidently. It had been three days straight that he and his friends have been battling him and his minions. Kagura and Kanna were killed long ago last night. They just had to defeat Naranku, and then everything would be fine again.

Kagome, Sango, Kilala, and Miroku all ran to Inuyasha's aid. Kagome tightened her grip on her bow and arrows, turning her knuckles white. Miroku's hands were bleeding and calloused, wrapped only by a tear from Sango's skirt as a substitute for a bandage. Sango's side was badly injured, and it gave a sharp pain everytime she moved. The only one who was still in good enough condition to move freely was Kagome, who had most of her attacks shielded by one of her friends.

"Fools," Naraku whispered in his cruel, uncaring voice. "You have gotten a lot stronger since our first encounter, but it still won't be enough to defeat me and get the Shikon Jewel shards I have in my possesion."

"Naraku..." Sango bared her teeth at the man. The memory of when he took the Jewel Shard out of Kohaku's back and killed the boy was all she needed to make her blood boil. Tears stung as they washed down her face, her hand getting a firm grip on the giant boomerang at her side.

"Naraku, you're truely a monster. Anyone that kills all around him-even his own comrads- doen't have any excuse in the world on why he should live." Miroku stared daggers at the man. Although he was usually laid-back and perverted, he still had a burning hatred for the man that cursed his entire bloodline.

"I don't care that you may have almost all of the Jewel Shards, Naraku. All I care about is seeing that you get to hell myself, even if I have to die to see you get there!" Inuyasha got in a ready position with the Tetsuseiga in his claws. He felt tired and worn, almost all of his stregnth was gone. All he wanted to do was lay down and get some well-deserved rest, but that couldn't happen. At least, not until he avenged Kikyo, his first love and the undead priestess that gave her life to protect the Shikon Shards from Naraku. Unfortunaly, Kikyo was killed again by Naraku on the first day of the battle. He couldn't help but let silent tears fall down his face to mourn the priestess's second death.

Naraku charged at the speed of light at his opponants. He grabbed Sango by the neck. She didn't even have time to take out Hiraikotsu bafore Naraku bagan to choke her.

"D-damn," she swore. Naraku just chuckled as an evil smile spread across his pale and sickly face. His eyes looked into hers with a look of satisfactory it them. "You will be the first to die, Demon Slayer. I will have great pleasure in watching your last breath leave your fragile body," he whispered into her ear.

"Get away from her, Naraku!" Miroku and Kagome ran to the man. Kagome launched an arrow at Naraku's hands, making the arrow pierce through them. He lat go of Sango, who was caught by Miroku.

"Sango, are you alright? Can you hear me?'' the monk asked, afraid she was already dead. But, she nodded and coughed for a minute. Although a little shakey, she was otherwise alright.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango called out as she flung the enormous boomerang at her opponant. It flung him backwards, falling down on the dirt. The boomerang came back to Sango, who caught it as smoothly as she let it go.

Naraku grasped his side, blood falling from his wounds. Miroku took some magic scrolls from his sleeve and they flew to the man. He got hit by three out of five scrolls. The smile was gone from his sulky face, and it only sported a calmly angered expression.

"Give it up, Naraku. You're no match for us!" Kagome said cooly. She quickly got an arrow and aimed it at the vile villain before her. Naraku kept his face expression the same, no sign of fear or a drop of self-esteem.

"Getting a little cocky there, huh young incarnation? Is Inuyasha rubbing off of you, I wonder," Naraku raised his hands and black blasts of energy came out. They hit Kagome, making her fall backwards over a stone. A snap was heard as Kagome cried out in pain. She grasped her ankle lightly, sucking her teeth from the harshe pain.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said, kneeling down next to her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, but I think I broke my ankle with that attack. Darn."

Naraku laughed evilly. "Aha! Who is the one that should give up now, huh?"

"Naraku, you bastard. I'm sick and tired of you always killing innocent people for your own amusement. The Slayers, Kohaku, Kikyo, Miroku's father and grandfather- they all didn't deserve to die. I swear I'll be the one to take you down."

Inuyasha concintrated on Naraku and his own demon aura. In his mind, he saw the two energies that met together to form the Wind Scar. He raised Tetsuseiga over his head and brought it down in one final swing. A blast of light covered Naraku from view. Smoke and dirt came together. But when they all cleared, it showed Naraku still standing. He was in ruins, barely alive and had one arm missing, but he was still alive and stsnding.

"What the fuck? That was supposed to blast him all the way to Kingdom Come!" Inuyasha said in disbelief. The others couldn't believe it either. Inuyasha had used the only attack that he had energy for, and the man still wasn't dead. What was it gonna take?

Kagome saw it. There was a bright glowing in Naraku's stomach. It was all of the Jewel Shards he had collected. The collectiion had all melted together, forming an orb the size of a small golfball. It was almost complete, except for the three Jewel Shards the others had taken from Kouga in battle earlier on. The rest were stolen by Kagura.

"You see. You can hit me all you want, but with the power of the Shikon Jewel, I can never die!" And he laughed evilly again.

Kagome couldn't stand it. Naraku just insisted on staying alive, no matter what was thrown in his way. She, Inuyasha, and the others worked so hard, battling all of the demons he threw at them, getting almost every bone in their bodies broken twice per battle over just one Shikon Jewel, and sacraficing their own loved ones' power and souls just to get to the last battle, the final showdown.

If they didn't get him then and there, all of that would just go to waste. No way were they gonna let that happen.

Kagome coulden't get up, but she still had one arrow left. She drew back her arm and took the best aim in her life. Narake was in range. She closed her eyes and she could feel and see a pink light cover the bow and arrow. It was her miko powers, and they were all going into that arrow. That was it, it was all or nothing, riding all on the outcome of a girl, her arrow, and her terget.

"Please," Kagome whispered, tears falling down her face. "PLEASE, HIT THE MARK!"

She let it fly.

The arrow flew.

Silence.

It was like the world stood still. As if the sun stopped shining, the birds stopped singing, and every breath was shortened to a gasp. As if the whole world could feel the tension of the arrow and the target getting hit. so guess what?

Naraku got hit.

It was a moment that was priceless. It was like that feeling you get when it came down to that last ten seconds before New Year's Day, minus the countdown. All you could see and hear was Naraku moving slightly, touching the arrow pierced through his chest. He chuckled lightly, looking as slime and vile as ever toward Inuyasha and the gang.

"Parting... is such sweet sorrow. I swear... I will see each and every one of you in hell, burning in the flames along with me." After that, blood sprayed like a fire hydrant slammed open on a hot summer day all over the ground. His body fell into the pool of emptiness. Naraku was dead.

Naraku was dead.