Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me.

A/N: An update. Finally. I don't have any other excuse except that life has been busy. Hopefully there are still people out there reading this. To those of you who still are, thank you very much. *bows*

Italics denote thoughts.

oOo

Sesshoumaru let out a fierce growl as he melted away tentacle after tentacle with the green, acidic poison that dripped from his claws. Miasma spewed out of the large gashes he gave to Naraku, as if in retaliation. But he ignored it; being a poison-user himself, it would take something infinitely more lethal than Naraku's weak miasma to kill him.

The inuyoukai smirked as he charged at the spider hanyou, Tokijin poised and ready to inflict some serious damage. He felt fairly confident that Naraku's flimsy barrier would not stand up against an attack from his demonic sword.

A flash of blue light shot out from Tokijin's pointed tip towards Naraku, its energy so overpowering that several other youkai who stood too near its path were obliterated as well.

Impossible!

Golden eyes widened minutely before narrowing again in anger when Naraku's barrier repelled Tokijin's attack, dispersing it to the wind.

Naraku let out a demeaning laugh as he said, "Did you truly think that such a pitiful attack can harm me, Sesshoumaru?"

He did not reply; the hanyou was not worth it. Instead, Sesshoumaru focused his energy on Tokijin and called upon one of the sword's more powerful attacks.

Another blue bolt, this one several times more intense and powerful than the first, shot out. Again, Naraku's barrier reflected it without even so much as a tremble under the immense power of Tokijin's attack.

"The Shikon no Tama is a useful thing, don't you think so Sesshoumaru? If anything, it makes excellent barriers. I really must thank Kagome properly later for awakening the jewel."

The tone of his voice coupled with the heated look in his eyes left no doubts as to how he planned to thank Kagome.

Sesshoumaru let out a growl. Naraku's life is forfeit for even daring to think such thoughts of Kagome.

Kagome is mine! he thought as he charged forward, thin wisps of red seeping slowly into his golden eyes. His youki, overwhelming to most demons, began swirling around him.

oOo

Biting back a groan, he stood up shakily, Tetsusaiga held loosely in his hand.

"Oh? You're not dead yet?" a voice mocked.

Amber eyes full of hate and loathing glared at the child-like demon before him. He spat, the blood that has accumulated in his mouth from when he accidentally bit his tongue staining the dry ground a dark crimson.

"Keh, as if someone like you can ever kill me!" he cried, Tetsusaiga now gripped tightly in both hands. "I'll waste you first!"

Hakudoshi laughed at Inuyasha's exclamation. The hanyou, with his battered body wanted to kill him! It was merely wishful thinking coming from someone who could hardly stand on his own two feet without swaying.

Inuyasha flattened his ears against his skull as he tried to focus on Hakudoshi's wavering image. Blood, warm and sticky, ran a slow trail down the side of his face before dripping lazily to the ground. Tetsusaiga's shiny surface reflected his image; to say that he looked like a mess was putting it mildly.

A soft rustling sound put him on alert and he quickly raised his sword to ward off the blow. Hakudoshi's blade met his in a loud clang.

"Why don't you make things easier for everyone and just die, Inuyasha? A worthless hanyou like you wouldn't be able to last long anyway."

"SHUT UP!"

With all his might, he pushed the smaller demon back. The sudden burst of energy surprised the humanoid youkai who skidded backwards several feet.

This is my chance!

"KONGOSOUHA!"

Hakudoshi let out a gasp. Pale lavender eyes wide with shock as large diamond shards tore his barrier to shreds before piercing his flesh.

The humanoid demon fell, dropping like a stone from his position in the sky to meet with the hard dusty earth. With his barrier gone, so did his powers of levitation.

Inuyasha wheezed and coughed as he let the blade of his large sword rest on the ground. For a moment there he thought he wouldn't be able to summon up the necessary energy to launch the attack. But thankfully …

oOo

Long sharp claws slashed at his face and had he not brought his shakujo up to defend himself in the nick of time, Miroku was pretty sure that half his face would have been ripped off. Noticing an opening, he aimed a well-placed kick at the demon's torso before jumping backwards.

Just as he was about to take advantage of the fallen demon, something curled around his ankle tightly and pulled him down to the ground.

"Oof!" he exclaimed as his head hit the dry ground with a thud. He had forgotten all about the demon's tail. Damn!

He had barely managed to roll onto his back before the demon was upon him, its jaws wide open to reveal knife-like fangs, no doubt thinking to make quick work out of the human man.

Dear Buddha, please don't let me die here.

A loud whoosh was all Miroku heard before the demon above him disintegrated. Blood and flesh fell upon him but he didn't care. He was only too glad to be alive.

Breathing heavily, he stood up, leaning on his staff for support.

"Thanks Inuyasha. You saved my life."

"Keh, and I thought you could hold your own in a fight. What a pansy."

"You're one to say when you don't look too good yourself," remarked Miroku, taking in the many deep-looking wounds on the hanyou's body.

"Shut up! Don't expect me to come and save your ass again!"

"Inuyasha, behind you!"

The dog-eared hanyou swung his blade behind him out of pure reflex, Tetsusaiga cutting down the bear demon in the nick of time. Had he been a second slower he would have fallen prey to the bear's deadly claws.

"Damn! Is there no end to them?" growled Inuyasha as he looked down at the rapidly disintegrating body of the demon.

A sudden surge of youki he recognized as that of Sesshoumaru's caused him to look up to where his elder half-brother was battling the spider hanyou Naraku.

oOo

Despite Sesshoumaru's demonic aura whipping up a strong gust of wind around the both of them, Naraku could clearly hear Hakudoshi's strangled scream as he plummeted from the sky. From where he stood, Naraku watched with a morbid sense of fascination as Hakudoshi hit the ground and a growing pool of bright red blood formed around the small lifeless body. As with the death of his other offspring, Naraku felt nothing. All his offspring were merely dispensable things formed from a detachable part of himself, nothing more, and Hakudoshi was no different.

Sesshoumaru let out a low growl at the insolent hanyou who dared to look away in the midst of their battle. It was arrogance, pure and simple, on the half-breed's part. This arrogance will cost him. One should never take one's eyes off one's attackers. The hanyou was a fool not to know that.

Sword raised, the now red-eyed inuyoukai charged at Naraku. To his anger, Naraku's barrier once again deflected Tokijin's sharp blade.

"Thought you could catch me off-guard, Sesshoumaru? You'll have to do better than that!"

Long tentacles shot out from all directions, forcing Sesshoumaru to leap quickly away or risk being speared to death.

"You can never hope to touch me as long as I have my barrier up, Sesshoumaru!"

Baring his fangs, the demon lord let out another growl. He hated the fact that Naraku was right. As long as the barrier put up by the Shikon no Tama was in place, there was no way he could even nick the spider hanyou with Tokijin. He needed something that could tear the barrier apart ...

"Sesshoumaru! Move!"

How dare he order this Sesshoumaru around!

Golden eyes narrowed at the figure clad in red on the ground below. A battered and bloodied Inuyasha was standing with Tetsusaiga gripped firmly in both hands in a very familiar stance. As much as he disliked being ordered around, and by his younger half-brother no less, Sesshoumaru knew when to argue and when not to argue about his position as alpha.

In a flash, Sesshoumaru disappeared from view.

"KONGOSOUHA!"

Diamond shards of varying shapes and sizes flew towards Naraku from the ground below. Like hundreds of well-polished arrows that glinted in the sun, the shards surged towards Naraku in an eerily quiet and deadly manner. So fast were they that the spider hanyou had no time to evade them.

The shards, with their sharper than knives edges, cut through the barrier with relative ease. Naraku's eyes widened as the shards from Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga shredded to bits what he deemed as the perfect barrier, with some of the larger shards breaking his dragon bone armor and tearing into his flesh.

"Hah! Take that, Naraku!" exclaimed Inuyasha triumphantly.

The very minute Naraku's barrier was shattered Sesshoumaru wasted no time in attacking. It was now or never. With a strong swing of his arm, Tokijin's blade swung in a wide arc and a bolt of bright blue light that headed straight for the spider hanyou was released.

Naraku's wine-red eyes widened and he let out a gasp. Tokijin's malevolent power hit him at full force and sliced through his body diagonally. The snap of bones being severed and the sound of flesh and skin being ripped apart could be heard clearly by every demon in the battlefield, no heightened sense of hearing needed. The bright crimson blood that had escaped the confines of the hanyou's body in spurts rained down on the ground below, not unlike some kind of ritualistic shower.

Two pairs of golden eyes watched as the half-demon's body was rapidly ripped to pieces, the combined forces from both Tetsusaiga and Tokijin making a quick job out of it.

Suddenly, Naraku let out a long laugh. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. To say that something wasn't right would be a great understatement indeed.

Before the very eyes of both brothers, a dark purple fog steeped in jyaki appeared out of nowhere and began swirling around Naraku's destroyed body. From the scattered breaks in the swirling fog, the shattered bones and torn flesh could be seen melding together to form new limbs and body parts.

"Impossible," gasped Inuyasha, golden eyes wide with shock.

Golden eyes tinged with red narrowed as they took in the hanyou's rapidly regenerating form. Even a Taiyoukai like himself, whose capabilities included the regeneration of body parts, would be very hard-pressed to heal all those mortal wounds in the blink of an eye, much less form a brand new body in mere minutes.

And especially after being hit by an extremely lethal combination of attacks from both Tetsusaiga and Tokijin, he will need nothing short of a miracle to be able to hang on to his existence in the world of the living.

But now, with Naraku standing whole before all of them, it would appear that he had defied the odds and achieved the impossible.

The fog soon cleared and Naraku stood before them, whole and without as much as a scratch on his body, a smug smirk adorning his face.

"That was a spectacular show was it not, Sesshoumaru? Behold the powers of the Shikon no Tama, Sesshoumaru," said Naraku as he opened up his arms.

"It does not change the fact that you're just a lowly hanyou relying on the powers of some trinket," said Sesshoumaru coolly, his usual look of indifference evident on his face.

Naraku raised a fine eyebrow before letting out another laugh, looking very much as if Sesshoumaru had just told him the funniest joke on earth.

"Hanyou? It seems as if your senses have dulled, Sesshoumaru. I am no longer a hanyou. In fact, I have gone beyond being a full-blooded Taiyoukai."

Sesshoumaru furrowed his brow. It was true, the words uttered by Naraku.

Ever since he had gained the brand new body, the spider hanyou's scent has changed. Gone was the half-blood smell from his veins. However, neither was there the telltale full-blood scent every youkai of pure breed possess. There was something infinitely more powerful than a youkai's pure blood humming in Naraku's veins. But just what exactly was that Sesshoumaru had no idea for he had never before come upon such a scent in all his years.

"Well then, just what the hell are you Naraku?" shouted Inuyasha who had been paying close attention to the exchange.

Naraku let out a cold, bone-chilling laugh that seemed to echo ominously off the rocky hills that surrounded them.

"This Naraku is now a god! And you shall now behold the wrath of this Naraku's powers!"

Dark clouds rolled across the sky and blotted out the pale light of the sun, making it seem as if it were night instead of day. Bright flashes of lightning that streaked across the heavens lit up the rapidly darkening sky every once in a while. Thunder that sounded like a thousand large drums being pounded on simultaneously accompanied those flashes of light.

Suddenly the ground began to shake violently. Large boulders broke off the tops of the rocky cliffs to roll down the steep slopes and crash down on to the earth below, sending dust and debris flying everywhere.

"What the hell!" exclaimed Inuyasha, leaping away as a particularly large rock whizzed past him.

Scarcely a second after he jumped away, a loud rumbling sound that originated from somewhere far below the surface of the earth could be heard. A thin, hairline crack that quickly grew in both length and width appeared. In a matter of minutes, a chasm had taken the place of the almost invisible crack. The earth now looked as if it had been split open by an oversized cleaving knife.

From the newly formed fissure, a boiling, viscous liquid gushed out; a scarlet fountain that scattered scalding droplets of molten rock everywhere. The red hot liquid appeared to have a life of its own as they crept across the ground; the dry ground emitting angry spats and sizzles wherever the magma touched it.

It didn't take very long for the ground to be carpeted by the burning lava.

oOo

Violet eyes scanned the area as his hand reached up to wipe off a trickle of sweat running down the side of his face. With the rising temperature, it was becoming more and more uncomfortable just standing there. Thankfully, most of Naraku's army of low level demons had been either demolished by Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga or had fled for their lives.

"Geez, it feels like a sauna here," grumbled Kouga, swiping at his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Yeah," Miroku agreed absently as he furrowed his brow. Something wasn't quite right but he just couldn't seem to put his finger on it.

A sudden, strong burst of demonic aura from the direction of the chasm drew his, and everyone else's, attention to it. Before their very eyes, long tongues of yellow and orange flames appeared over the rim of the newly formed chasm.

From the midst of the roaring fire, a figure with flaming red hair emerged. Garbed in a gold-trimmed robe of crimson and vermillion, he cut an imposing figure with his tall stature and broad build. Yellow eyes took in his surroundings as he cracked the long whip in his hand against the ground. Angry flames burst forth wherever his whip touched.

"The hanyou Inuyasha and his friends are your prey, demon," said Naraku.

The bright yellow eyes trained themselves on the silver-haired half-demon. A smirk turned the corners of his lips upwards as he took a step forward. Flames appeared at his feet with each step he took.

Inuyasha's eyes widened, hardly believing what he just saw. It was a fire demon from the pits of hell that Naraku had just summoned. To be able to call a legendary being out from within the earth's burning fires was already a perilous task in itself, but to command such a haughty creature was equivalent to committing suicide. Fire demons do not take commands from anyone.

The fire demon drew nearer and Inuyasha tightened his grip on Tetsusaiga.

"Kouga! Miroku! Run!"

They wasted no time in arguing with him for they knew that they stood no chance of winning against such a powerful creature.

Out of the corner of his eye, Inuyasha watched them run for the cliffs. A drop of sweat rolled down his dirt-smeared cheek and silently, he prayed to whatever god that would listen that his fire-rat haori will be able to withstand the fires of hell.

oOo

Naraku chuckled in amusement as he watched Miroku and Kouga scramble to higher grounds like a couple of rats. Below him, Inuyasha began a losing battle with the fire demon. A slight lift of his eyes and he could see that only Sesshoumaru remained seemingly unaffected by the fire demon's presence. From his position in the sky, the inuyoukai glared at him instead of at the demon his half-brother was fighting against.

With a wide smile, Naraku said in what appeared to be an apologetic tone, "I'm terribly sorry, Sesshoumaru. It seems that I have neglected you. Don't worry, that shall be remedied immediately."

Once more, long tentacles flew towards him.

"Pathetic," said Sesshoumaru in disdain as he raised Tokijin. For someone who had, not too long ago, proclaimed himself to be a god, such pitiful attacks were certainly laughable.

In a flash, Sesshoumaru disappeared from view before reappearing again after skillfully dodging the tentacles aimed at him, this time a few feet closer to Naraku. A soft whoosh from his left alerted him to another tentacle that was rushing at him. Without batting an eye, the demon lord raised his sword to cut off the offending appendage.

He had been expecting to hear the all too familiar sound of ripping flesh when Tokijin's blade met with the tentacles. Instead, there was a short, sharp clang before he found himself being pushed backwards. There was hardly time for him to contemplate this for tentacles – he had no idea how many – came rushing at him from all directions.

oOo

Naraku couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face at the sight of the Taiyoukai before him.

The arrogant inuyoukai was, quite literally, covered in blood. Dark, rust colored splotches stained his pristine white clothes and his mokomoko-sama. Even his long silver hair was not spared for a gaping wound on his back that had crimson blood oozing out of it colored a good portion of the moonlight strands red. Gone was the dragon bone armor and spiked pauldron that protected his chest, for both had long been shattered and now lay in several useless pieces that were quickly being melted away by the lava on the ground.

Sticky, warm blood ran a new trail down the dog demon's left arm where a tentacle had very nearly cut it off at the shoulder. The sharp, metallic tang of fresh blood filled the air, mixing with the scent of old blood as a growing patch of dark crimson bloomed around the new wound and dyeing the sleeve of his white silk haori completely red.

The bloody trail ended at his clawed fingertips, dripping down onto the ground where he stood, every drop seeping into the dry earth and staining it a dark crimson.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the abomination named Naraku who stood chuckling at him. He still couldn't understand how Naraku's tentacles that had appeared to be very flexible as they twisted every which way could be so hard, harder in fact than his dragon bone armor.

No matter how strongly he struck at them with Tokijin, the sharp blade didn't leave as much as a scratch on the tentacles. More often than not, he was pushed back or had to jump away to avoid being speared to death. His light whip and his poison, they did nothing to the tentacles. Even Tokijin's attacks were easily deflected, with each attack bouncing off like light reflecting off a well-polished mirror.

The inuyoukai let out an angry growl. Naraku's tentacles were coming at him at a speed much faster than before and it had taken most, if not all, of his energy to just keep them away from himself.

"Having trouble, Sesshoumaru?" taunted Naraku.

The demon lord merely glared at him in response as he took in some much needed air.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you couldn't cut my tentacles. Well, let me tell you this, it is all thanks to your dear little brother Inuyasha."

Sesshoumaru furrowed his brow for a moment. Thanks to Inuyasha?

"When Inuyasha attacked me with Kongosouha, my body absorbed the diamond shards and fortified my limbs with them, making them a part of me. Now, there is not an inch on my body that isn't as hard as a diamond, including my tentacles despite them looking so flexible. Therefore, Sesshoumaru, all this while what you have been trying to cut is actually diamond, which, I'm sure you know, is harder than anything else in the world," said Naraku before laughing out loud.

Sesshoumaru let out a growl as he glared at the laughing Naraku. The bastard absorbed one of Tetsusaiga's more powerful attacks and made it his own.

Another tentacle sped towards him and at the very last minute, he raised Tokijin to parry it. The force of it was so great that his sword shattered upon impact and he was thrown several feet backwards. Rising from his crouching position, Sesshoumaru looked down at the hilt that he still held loosely in his right hand. Only a bit of dull steel remained of the demonic blade that was Tokijin. Angrily, he flung it away from him.

Snarling, his fangs lengthened and his eyes turned red. Blatantly ignoring the fact that he was very badly wounded as well as weaponless, he flexed his claws and rushed at Naraku once more.

Naraku let out a laugh. Is he that eager to die? When will the old dog learn that he can never defeat this Naraku?

"You can never defeat me! Die Sesshoumaru!"

The words had barely left his lips when suddenly, something shattered his barrier and pierced his heart where the Shikon no Tama lay pulsating softly.

Naraku let out a gasp as he whirled around.

"Wha-"

Sesshoumaru halted in his advance, brows knitted tightly at the sight of the purifying arrow sticking out of Naraku's back. Kagome?

All of a sudden, Naraku's ruby red eyes widened and he clutched at his chest desperately. An agonized scream filled the air. Something burned and tore at his heart, shredding it into little bits and setting it on fire at the same time. Desperately, he clawed at his chest, his sharp nails tearing through his skin and leaving behind deep gashes that bled profusely.

"YOU BITCH!" cried Naraku as he glared at the figure standing on the rocky overhang some distance away. In her hands was a wooden bow, its arrow trained at him.

No! It's impossible! Her soul was trapped in the mirror. There's no way she could have gotten her soul back! Unless …

There was a soft whizz and before he knew it, another arrow had pierced his heart with a thud, this time from the front. So great was the force with which the arrow hit his body that he was pushed several steps backwards.

The burning sensation at his chest increased tenfold when he was struck by the second arrow. Naraku let out a piercing howl as he doubled over in pain. The Shikon no Tama had responded immediately to the powers of Kagome's purification arrows and was now magnifying the holy powers, slowly purifying him from the inside out.

The jewel was becoming pure again and he cannot allow that to happen. Gritting his teeth, he forced his jyaki around him, centering at his heart in a bid to overcome the purity that came from Kagome's arrows. Pink and black swirled around in the jewel, each fighting for domination.

A third arrow from Kagome dispelled the cloud of jyaki surrounding Naraku and further sped up the purifying of the Shikon jewel.

"You will pay for that, bitch!" shrieked Naraku as a handful of tentacles emerged from his back and shot towards the young woman.

Sapphire eyes widened at the sight of the large tentacles coming towards her. Hurriedly, she fired off arrow after arrow in quick succession. They flew straight and true in a pink path, only to fall to the ground below as soon as they hit a tentacle. Kagome gasped. The tentacles were coming closer and her only weapon could do nothing to them!

They are too hard for my arrows to pierce. I must look for a weak spot. Naraku's weak spot … think Kagome … think … That's right! His heart!

If she can hit his heart, no, if she can hit the Shikon no Tama embedded inside Naraku's heart again, she might stand a chance at completely purifying the jewel and defeating Naraku.

Quickly, she reached behind her for an arrow. Her fingers grasped nothing but air and she froze.

The quiver was empty.

oOo

A short distance away, two pair of eyes, one violet and one blue, watched in muted horror as the ebony haired young woman reached into her quiver for an arrow only to come up empty handed while the tentacles drew ever nearer.

"I'm going to save her!" cried Miroku.

"Stay here! I'm faster!" replied Kouga, as he leapt away.

A sudden, fiery explosion in his tracks threw him off the edge of the cliff.

"KOUGA!"

In his attempt to save Kagome, the ookami youkai had given away their position to the fire demon. As quick as lightning, the demon had lashed out at Kouga with his blazing whip.

The explosion destroyed a good part of the cliff and threw Miroku to the ground in the process. Wheezing and coughing, he attempted to clear out the smoke and dust that appeared to fill his lungs. He had to find Kouga quickly.

Crawling on his hands and feet, Miroku crept to the edge and peered over the rim, hoping to locate any signs of Kouga having managed to survive the explosion. He was not disappointed. There on a narrow ledge several feet below him lay Kouga, motionless but thankfully all in one piece. Were it not for Kouga's naturally fast reflexes, he would have been incinerated on the spot.

Now to see if he's still alive or not.

Gingerly, the dark-haired man began to climb down the steep slope. He did not get very far when another explosion sounded, this time from above him. Rocks rained down on him but he clung steadfastly to the side of the cliff. Silently, he prayed to the Lord Buddha to enable him to reach Kouga safely.

An all-too-familiar crack sounded and instinctively, Miroku squeezed his eyes shut as he held onto a protruding rock for dear life. Several long, silent minutes ticked by and just as he was about to wonder what had happened when a rough voice broke the silence.

"Hey! Don't you turn your back on me as if I'm dead! I'm still your opponent, you bastard!"

Inuyasha!

oOo

"You dare to touch her with your filthy tentacles, Naraku!" snarled Sesshoumaru. Livid did not even begin to describe the enraged dog demon.

He had seen with his own eyes how Naraku's tentacles had shot towards the lone dark-haired figure standing on the cliff. The cloud of dust that rose at that particular moment due to the fire demon smashing into the cliff with his whip obscured his vision.

He did not know whether or not his Kagome was safe, and that made his blood boil.

Sesshoumaru's angry words were followed immediately by long sharp claws that plunged deep into Naraku's chest. Resistance was literally nonexistent for his acid-like poison melted both flesh and bone easily. Sesshoumaru retracted his hand just as soon as it entered Naraku's chest, but not without anything. Something red that throbbed lightly sat in his hold upon the exit of his hand. Miasma began spewing out of the wound.

"You … son of a …" sputtered Naraku as he clutched as his chest, almost doubling over at the intense pain.

Naraku let out an anguished howl as the inuyoukai's claws dug into the heart – his heart – that he was holding with his other hand. Claws as sharp as knives sliced open the heart ruthlessly until the Shikon no Tama embedded inside was revealed. Carefully, he removed the partially pink jewel.

No! The Shikon no Tama! I must get it back! With the jewel I will be indestructible again!

With this thought in mind, he reached out a hand to grab at the jewel, only to have that hand severed in an instant by the very same claws that dug out his heart. Naraku let out a howl.

Now that the Jewel of Four Souls lay safely in his hand, Sesshoumaru didn't think twice about pumping into Naraku's heart a lethal amount of poison. The reason was simple, anyone who dared to even think about bringing harm to those under his protection deserved to die a painful death.

Despite having already had his heart extracted, Naraku could still feel the pain as if his heart was still there in his body. His nails clawed at his chest, tearing away at the gaping wound left behind by Sesshoumaru. It was as if the poison was not just pumped into his heart, but also delivered into his body for he could very well feel the deadly liquid running through his entire system and burning every part with a vengeance.

It didn't take long for Naraku's heart to become nothing more than a runny liquid in his palm.

Without the Shikon no Tama inside him, Naraku was nothing more than a weak hanyou. There was only so long that he can stay alive without a heart beating in his body. Soon, his body began to disintegrate, each limb turning into fine, dark brown ash that was picked up by the wind and blown across the valley.

A dying shriek that echoed against the rocky cliffs for a seemingly endless moment was all the hanyou Naraku left behind.

But Sesshoumaru didn't care for him. Kagome was the only thing on his mind as he sped away to the cliff where he had seen her last, the lightly pulsating Shikon no Tama gripped in his hand. She had better be alive or he'll hunt Naraku through the depths of hell and bring him back to life just to kill him all over again very, very slowly.

oOo