InuYasha Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Through your Heart ❯ WAR- Shikon no Tama...Times 2? ( Chapter 23 )

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Through your Heart

Chapter 23: WAR-Shikon no Tama…times 2?

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Naraku realized his mistake a little too late as Sesshoumaru zipped out of existence, only to reappear behind him with a ferocious snarl. The seething Lord swiped his poisonous claws at the hanyou's back and used his whip to slash him on the ground farther away… and Naraku did cry out in pain this time.

The poison was dripping from Sesshoumaru's glowing claws, green and almost bubbling hot. The surprise at being swiped in the back more than the fear made Naraku loose his grip on Usagi and she yelped as the evil hanyou was thrown viciously into the ground.

Sesshoumaru caught Usagi the moment Naraku's dirty hands weren't on her anymore, not even leaving her the time to drop from the sky. He held her protectively against his chest and he got back on the ground slowly.

Naraku would be out for a couple more minutes; he was presently letting a couple of demons nurture his rapidly infecting back and broken bones. When his half-brother landed, InuYasha had to stop Kagome from getting near Usagi.

The miko looked at him questioningly when he asked Katsura to take care of her. The general nodded without asking any questions; the look in his Lord's eyes clearly meant "Back off or I'll disembowel you".

The Inu general moved in front of Kagome and the rest of the Inu-Tachi to shield them as InuYasha dared to take a few tentative steps towards Sesshoumaru, caution written in his eyes.

The red eyed Lord snarled loudly, fangs showing unflinchingly, and threw his youki against InuYasha without a second thought. Tetsusaiga pulsed as if to protect him but the Inu Lord was too far gone; InuYasha got thrown away but he managed to land on his feet, albeit with some difficulty. His fire-rat haori was in tatters and he growled in annoyance, taking it off.

'I've never seen Sesshoumaru act like this before! Could she be the one to have caused this?' InuYasha thought with a small frown.

One thing was clear, Sesshoumaru obviously wanted to be the one to kill Naraku, if only to defend the honor of his mate-to-be. "Keh!" The silver haired hanyou smirked, "Do what you want, Sesshoumaru. I won't be the one to stop you."

The red eyes Lord growled approvingly at InuYasha's submission but kept his hold on the blonde woman, his fluffy tail coiled around her and stroking her back in reassurance.

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Usagi had never seen her love act like this before, not even against InuYasha a couple of days ago. Instead of angering him further by trying to get out of his embrace, she just let him smell her and hugged him back, leaning her head against his warm chest.

He just kept sniffing her, burying his nose in the crook of her neck. Sesshoumaru growled when he smelled the stench of Naraku on her and worked his way to make the nauseous half-breed smell go away by licking her neck. He gave a low rumble in his throat when she gasped at the contact and shivered against him.

"Sesshoumaru…" She moaned silently, and when he heard his name being uttered from her sinful mouth, his eyes became golden again after flickering many times to red. He managed to come back to reality just in time too because his beast hadn't been against the idea of taking her here and there.

"Usagi…" He mumbled with a low raspy voice, and caressed her cheek with his hand. "You're alright… This Sesshoumaru was afraid for your safety. Please accept my apologies; I could not protect you against this foul creature."

Usagi shook her head and put a digit on his lips. "It's okay, Sesshoumaru. His reaction had been too fast for me too. I would've used my powers anyway if things were to become more dangerous but you stopped him before I could do anything. You just focus on your safety. You know my powers are different than yours, ne?"

Sesshoumaru nodded and kissed the fingers resting on her lips, becoming more serious when the ground began to shake.

Naraku burst up from the ground from where he was previously laying and yelled angrily, his black aura pulsing maliciously. His demons were beside him and looking pretty impatient for a fight.

Kagome gripped InuYasha's arm and she shivered at the evil power she felt. "InuYasha" she whispered.

The hanyou looked down at her and wound an arm around her shoulders. "What's the matter, Kagome?" He asked calmly and seriously.

"It's Naraku! He's feeding off of the power of the jewel shards!" The miko answered somewhat shakily.

InuYasha stifled a gasp and opted to warn his brother about the 'small' detail. "Hey Sesshoumaru! Naraku is using the jewel shards to boost his power! You should watch out!"

Sesshoumaru turned to InuYasha momentarily with a superior air, eve though he was wincing mentally. "I already know this, InuYasha." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'The problem lies with my missing arm. It's going to be more difficult to fight him with only one arm.' He added as a silent afterthought. He snapped back to reality and his famous emotionless self emerged when Naraku's Ki skyrocketed. He jumped in the air after he was sure Usagi was safe and attacked Naraku head on with his whip.

Naraku wasn't smirking anymore even if the whip now looked harmless beside his new power. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes with Sesshoumaru as his enemy; underestimating him would be very bad.

When the whip was about to reach him, Naraku extended a hand towards it and a couple of demons came out of his body. They were huge! Dragon youkai, they looked like ancient demons and really loyal to the dark hanyou.

One of them snarled and flew in front of Naraku, acting as a shield. The huge dragon caught the whip with his bare claws and he didn't even twitch a muscle as the whip burned his paws. The dragon tightened his hold on Sesshoumaru's weapon and pulled on it viciously until Sesshoumaru scoffed and let go of it.

The whip disappeared as soon as he let go of it and he narrowed his golden eyes when the dragon's paws healed right in front of everyone's eyes. 'So, using the whip is out of question now…' The Inu Lord thought darkly, cursing Naraku who seemed amused to see him loose a precious advantage.

The dragon retreated when his master commanded him to and Sesshoumaru found himself facing the same sword he had used countless times around InuYasha; the sword he had created with the help of the sword smith ( ) with Goshinki's teeth some years ago. 'I've created an abomination' was his thought before he had to dodge an impressive attack from the traitor sword.

InuYasha yelped as the attack went straight for them instead and he jumped out of the way with Kagome and Shippou in his arms. Kirara, who still had Kohaku on her back, quickly growled to Miroku and Sango and motioned for them to get on. The fire neko youkai jumped away with another hiss.

Usagi was shouting for Sesshoumaru worriedly but she let Katsura take her in his arms and jump away in the same direction as InuYasha. The attack hit the ground where they previously stood head on and Kagome gulped audibly when the dust finally cleared; there was a very big crater where the attack had hit.

Usagi frantically searched for Sesshoumaru up high and she relaxed slightly when she finally spotted him. He hadn't lost his time and was fighting Naraku head on with his claws, his movement still as graceful and deadly as ever.

'He's fast, but his missing arm is beginning to be a problem!' Usagi truly didn't want to doubt Sesshoumaru's victory, but she wasn't blind. Without an arm, it took a lot more energy to the Inu Lord to move, thus giving Naraku a pretty big advantage.

Naraku was in a bad shape, but it was nothing compared to Sesshoumaru. His clothes were bloodied, either by his own blood or another demon's, and claw marks smeared his good arm and chest. His armour had been discarded a long time ago so he had no protection for his body, making him vulnerable.

Sesshoumaru was beginning to tire when Naraku smirked and let go of his demons. Thousands of them got out of his body and attacked the Western Lord with the intention to kill, or at least make him suffer for a while.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly and he flew backwards a little in surprise as the flock of youkai went towards him. They were about to attack when a tornado blocked their path. Kouga jumped out of it with a dark smirk and took his sword, slashing anything in the vicinity…except Sesshoumaru, of course.

But what could 2 demons do against a thousand of them? That thought helped InuYasha, Sango and Miroku make the decision to fight again even if they were in a bad shape.

Kagome wanted to help too but InuYasha heavily protested. The miko pressed the subject with a threatening mouthing of 'The Word' until he relented, afraid of being splattered on the ground. "I won't be going up there, silly InuYasha! I want to fire arrows at them! Just ask our group to stay away from them or they'll be purified." Kagome explained hurriedly.

InuYasha nodded and asked for her to be careful. He jumped in the air and joined Sango and Miroku, who were on Kirara. Miroku kept using his hand, and closed the Kazaana whenever he spotted a poisonous insect. His hand was hurting and he could feel the tunnel trying to open even more but he held on.

Sango used the Hiraikotsu as hard as she could, trying to hold onto her limp brother at the same time. She hadn't wanted to leave him on the ground in fear that a demon would take him away.

InuYasha couldn't fly like his half-brother, but he could certainly jump high enough to make it look like he could. Unsheathing Tetsusaiga, the sword pulsed red and he slashed away with ardour using the Bakuryuuha. He smirked when 100 demons were killed instantly but Naraku only laughed at his attempt; the more they killed, the more Naraku called forth other youkai.

Sesshoumaru attacked the evil hanyou again but it wasn't easy with all his servants protecting him. He killed a dragon viciously with his poisonous claws and cut it in hundreds of pieces with his whip.

On the ground, Kagome kept firing purifying arrows but each time she thought they would reach Naraku, a youkai would throw itself in the way. The miko shrugged it off. 'Oh well, at least I'm destroying demons.'

Katsura was on his guard at all times and repelling Naraku's followers away from his Lord's mate-to-be and the miko. His sword and claws proved to be an asset and his speed was almost as fast as Sesshoumaru's, which impressed Usagi.

Yet, the circle around them seemed to get smaller and soon they were being encircled by Naraku's army. So many youkai had died or been gravely wounded, and it still wasn't finished.

Up in the air, things looked as glum. Naraku was totally overpowering the others and youkai were still coming out of his body, making Usagi ask herself how many more he actually had in his body.

She snapped back to reality when she heard Katsura cry out in pain; a bear youkai had actually been able to sink his teeth in the general's arm and it looked pretty nasty. They were all back to back now, Shippou on Kagome's shoulder and crying in fear; the poor thing was still a child, damnit!

Usagi couldn't take the feeling of being trapped anymore. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she wouldn't be surprised if Sesshoumaru heard it even in all the commotion. She could feel the Ginzuishou try to exert its power and her senses were overloading her thoughts.

With an almighty yell that surprised even Katsura, she lifted her hand in the air and, after it began to glow and form a ball, she threw it viciously on the ground towards her enemies. "URANUS WORLD SHAKING!"

The ground shook as something underneath zoomed in the evil demons direction. The attack emerged from the ground and destroyed everything in its path with such a force that nothing was left behind but a wide 200 meters long fuming crater.

Kagome was frozen on her feet and she let go of her bow, overwhelmed by what she was seeing. The blast caught the attention of many, human and youkai alike, and Naraku narrowed his eyes at the wide destruction.

InuYasha's and Kouga's eyes widened and their mouths went slack, as well as Ryuu's and Kurama's who were now trying to keep the evil at bay in the air. "What the hell?!"

On his side, Naraku was pensive. 'This human…can't possibly be a human after all' he thought darkly, yet his black heart pounded in eagerness to own that force. "I need that power! I just have to know who… what she is!" He muttered to himself.

Ordering his youkai to keep attacking, he flew downwards only to be stopped by a livid Sesshoumaru. "You will not lay a finger upon her, Naraku" Sesshoumaru spit out the name like a curse and used his speed to get behind the shocked hanyou.

With his only arm, Sesshoumaru caught the dark haired hanyou in a headlock and tightened his hold as hard as he could. Naraku growled and put his hands on the Lord's prying arm, trying to fight back the suffocation.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru snarled as he felt an intense pain shooting down his arm; Naraku had planted his claws in it violently and fed the Western Lord a good dose of his evil power, aided by his shards of the Shikon jewel.

Sesshoumaru bit his lips to prevent himself from crying out; this dark power was trying to override his youkai senses and he felt light headed for a moment, until he gathered his strength and sank his own claws in Naraku's shoulder. Naraku hissed and got his claws out of Sesshoumaru's arm, pushing the clever Lord away to gather his breathing.

"Must you always be so resourceful, Sesshoumaru? You are exactly like that half-brother of yours; hard-headed and hard to get rid of. You're like a plague that refuses to go away!" Naraku ground out. He had thrown the honorific away long ago and his voice was now filled with malice and hatred. His black aura pulsed. 'I need more power.'

Not even for a second, he glanced down where InuYasha's wench stood, away and unprotected. She was still busy looking at the crater the blonde woman had created with that mysterious power of hers and had yet to realise the battle still raged on.

He smirked secretly and in an instant, he wasn't in front of Sesshoumaru anymore. The Inu Lord looked frantically on the ground towards Usagi and he couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped his mouth when he saw her unscathed. Then, he was filled with unease; if he wasn't with Usagi, where was he?

He, InuYasha and Kouga whirled around when they heard a scream. "KAGOME!!!" InuYasha shouted as soon as he spotted Naraku right in front of the unprotected miko.

"Hello Kagome. You have something that belongs to me in your possession, please give it back." Naraku said in a mock voice. He didn't wait for the young woman to speak and swiped his claws at her.

The sudden move caused her to shriek and fall backwards rather hard, her eyes closed tightly. A few seconds passed and nothing was happening; she had been sure Naraku would've killed her instantly!

She cracked an eye open, and then the other, only to see Naraku with something in his hands. He looked overjoyed and didn't spare her another glance. Kagome's eyes widened when she caught on; Naraku had stolen her fragments of the jewel!

Save for Kouga's fragments, he practically had the whole thing in his hands! InuYasha howled in fury and tried to hit Naraku with his fist but unfortunately the other hanyou was too fast for him. Naraku only reappeared in the air and laughed darkly in victory.

His voice seemed to boom over the thick crowd and everyone could only watch with dread and fear as he reassembled the 2 big fragments together. Kagome's part wet from pink to pure black in an instant and Naraku laughed even more. The sky went from grey to black and the air chilled everyone's blood.

Naraku then turned to Sesshoumaru, his face twisted into an ugly grimace. "Now it's your turn, Lord Sesshoumaru. Let's see how you enjoy me being the plague! Ku! Ku! Ku!" A blast of dark power shot out of his body so fast that Sesshoumaru could not dodge it at the last second; Sesshoumaru grunted in pain as it slammed into him full force.

"SESSHOUMARU!"

Many shouted out his name in worry as he dropped from the sky, but Usagi's cry was the loudest of all. The Inu Lord fell on the ground with a loud thump and it didn't look as if he was going to be able to get up soon.

Usagi ran up to him and kneeled on the ground, putting Sesshoumaru's head on her lap and stroking his hair softly. "Sesshoumaru? Sesshoumaru answer me! Open your eyes! Oh god! Please open them!" Usagi pleaded, on the verge of panic.

The hard intake of breath he took was enough to make her sigh in relief and hug him closer to her body. "I'm…so sorry. I have failed you, love. The power of the dark Shikon no Tama simply is too strong for me to handle by myself." Sesshoumaru spoke with difficulty, his voice no more than a whisper.

His life wasn't in danger despite the serious wounds on his body, but it would take him time to heal; something they didn't have at the moment. Hearing Naraku laugh again made her livid with anger. One could feel it roll out of her body in waves until it just stopped.

InuYasha and the others looked at the blonde worriedly, whose head was now bent. Her hands hung limply at her side as she slowly stood up.

Naraku narrowed his eyes when he felt nothing coming out of the girl, not one emotion. It was as if she had cut herself from the real world. He, now turned full demon with the help of the tainted jewel, smirked and held up his power source proudly.

"Have you given up yet? My army is now crushing yours and I beat the once Great Lord of the Western Land! With the help of this jewel, I can conquer the whole world! HA HA HA HA HA! HA!" The jewel pulsed sorrowfully in his hands.

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Usagi was sailing on the sea of indecision. 'Should I get rid of him? Or should I let the others deal with their problem? I know that I shouldn't mess anymore with this dimension that I already have but isn't it my dimension a little, since Sesshoumaru and I love each other? He got hurt so much and I promised myself I would not let anyone I cared about get hurt anymore! I lied to myself all this time!' She was basking in her own sorrow when she felt a pull in her heart.

It was the Shikon no Tama in Naraku's hands! Kagome had told Usagi about the story behind this jewel and now Midoriko was loosing her battle, her very own soul. 'If that is what it takes…' She opened her glazed eyes half way and glanced at her hands, which were now clasped together as if she was praying.

The world became clear again and sound returned to her ears; she could hear Naraku's laughter boom over the people and he was starting to absorb the Shikon no Tama into himself.

Usagi gulped silently and let go of her power. 'Here goes nothing…'

Naraku suddenly stopped laughing and seemed to freeze for a moment, searching for the source of that immense new power he could feel. Needless to say everyone else could feel it too and their heads snapped to Usagi when they heard Sesshoumaru's pain filled voice.

"U-Usagi? What are you-huh-doing?" Sesshoumaru tried to get up and failed. He had never felt anything like this before in his 900 years of life; and it didn't look like something she had showed him at all. For once he was scared, scared of what was going to happen to her.

"InuYasha! What's happening to Usagi?! What is she doing?" Kagome gripped InuYasha's sleeve nervously and could only watch as her friend's forehead began to glow. InuYasha's eyes were wide opened and he found himself incapable of giving an answer to the miko in his arms.

"What is going on?! What are you doing, you foolish human?!" Naraku spit out angrily. Yes, he was angry because he had felt fear for a moment, he, the great Naraku! Unthinkable!

The attention was once again brought to Usagi when her hands began to unclasp. Something shining emerged from her body and flew into her open hands. The glow was so intense everyone had to shield their eyes to prevent being blinded by the light.

When they finally opened their eyes, they gaped. Some were surprised, other scared, but everybody was filled with at least a little bit of dread. There, resting in her hands was… "Is that the Shikon no Tama?" Kagome whispered, her throat refusing to let out a louder sound. Though whispered, her voice seemed to fill the entire silent field.

"IMPOSSIBLE! I HAVE THE SHIKON NO TAMA IN MY HANDS!" Naraku screamed in disbelief, showing the black jewel for emphasis. In a fit of rage, he used created a black ball of power coming from the Shikon no Tama and hurled it at the still entranced Usagi.

"USAGI-SAMA!!! SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!!!" Katsura yelled in despair. But as he was about to run to her, Ryuu gripped his arm and pulled him backwards viciously. "YOU FOOL! DO YOU WANT TO DIE ALSO!?"

Katsura fought the grip and soon Kouga and Kurama helped the dragon Lord to hold him down. But they all froze when Usagi's eyes snapped open and she lifted the mysterious jewel in her hands.

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"

Using one of her less powerful attacks to keep her energy as intact as possible, she brandished the Silver Crystal and countered Naraku's blow easily. The 2 attacks collided in the middle, one black and the other pure silver. Usagi's attack pushed Naraku's until the evil demon had to get out of the way to prevent from being crushed by the pure power.

"I can't believe it…" Kouga muttered in awe. "That -thing- in her hands is matching the Shikon no Tama's power!"

"Is it another Jewel of the 4 Souls? But how could it be?" Ryuu asked, looking completely lost and powerless before such a force.

Usagi heard Ryuu's question and she lowered her crystal. Her moon insignia shone softly.

"That mark on her forehead… What could it mean? She can't be from here; only higher ranked youkai have markings on their brow. She is not mated with Lord Sesshoumaru yet she has a crescent moon. It's slightly different from our marks, though; Sesshoumaru's crescent, Kurama your flame and my water drop, as well as Kouga's wind marks concealed by his hair band, they're far from shining like her mark." Ryuu stated while the other Lords nodded (with the exception of Sesshoumaru who was still behind Usagi and healing).

"That's because I am not from here like you said, Lord Ryuu." The attention was brought back to Usagi. Her voice almost seemed regal and she looked calm.

Kurama was about to ask what she meant by that when the blonde's eyes narrowed. "The Star Seed is crying out, Midoriko is loosing her battle."

Now she had everyone confused.

"What are you talking about? What is a Star Seed?" asked InuYasha. Usagi turned to him and the silver haired hanyou held his breath.

"A Star Seed is what Naraku holds in his hands, what I hold in mine. It's the very life force of every living being. You call Midoriko's Star Seed the Jewel of the 4 Souls. Mine is called Ginzuishou- the Silver Imperial Crystal. Its power is by far stronger than Midoriko's, however."

Total silence reigned after the explanation. But the silence coming from Naraku was for another reason; he was seething! 'How DARE she say she is more powerful than me!' His fists tightened painfully until he just smirked coyly.

"Then you won't mind if I take YOUR jewel also!" Naraku ordered his dragons to kill her and take the 'second Shikon no Tama'. As the dragons flew towards her, she extended her arms as if offering the Silver Crystal to them.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU CRAZY GIRL?! IF THAT IS YOUR LIFE FORCE, WHY ARE YOU GIVING IT TO THEM FREELY!? DO YOU ACTUALLY WANT NARAKU TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL?!"

Usagi ignored Kouga's screaming and Naraku's dark laughter. One of the dragons moved faster and tried to reach for the crystal. As soon as he touched it, the dragon hollered as it was purified instantly and vanished in a flurry of sparkles. The other dragons stopped in their dive with wide red eyes but it was too late and the rabbit at this point didn't feel any pity for the dark side. "MOON CRYSTALPOWER!"

The crystal pulsed and Usagi sagged slightly but she held on as the Ginzuishou blasted the rest of the dragons away.

Naraku was slacked jawed. "WHAT?! But my dragon touched it! It should've turned black like the Shikon no Tama! I don't understand!"

Usagi was panting slightly and her eyes were starting to drop but she still managed to smirk at him mockingly. "True, a human Star Seed like Midoriko's can easily become tainted but who ever said I was human?" As she said that, the seemingly round jewel pulsed and opened, revealing a flower shaped crystal.

Kagome looked at it with awe. "Beautiful…" She murmured.

Naraku's eyes widened slightly in surprise and confusion while she prepared another blast just for him. "This crescent moon on my forehead isn't there for nothing and I'll be damned if I let you hurt the people that I care about any more than you already have!"

Sesshoumaru desperately tried to get up but his body refused to cooperate. "Please love! Don't do this! What's going to happen to you?"

But it all fell on deaf ears. Naraku scoffed and prepared a blast of his own. "Then I'll send you back to where you came from indefinitely! RHAAAAA!" He roared as he let out a surge of energy directly coming from the dark Shikon no Tama.

Sesshoumaru froze on his spot when Usagi turned her head to look at him. Her face was serene and she was smiling to him, determination written in her beautiful blue eyes. But what was that? Was it a flash of resignation that crossed her blue depth before she looked back in front of her? A sudden sense of dread filled the Inu Lord's heart as her own Star Seed erupted in a blinding light and clashed with Naraku's attack.

The energy emitted by those 2 was so immense! They continued to pour their energy into the Star Seeds until Usagi smiled again and closed her eyes. 'Kagome-chan, InuYasha-san, Miroku-san, Sango-chan, Kouga-kun…I met so many people here… And Sesshoumaru, I hope you know how much I love you. You were so cold outside but a beating heart has always been waiting under that emotionless attitude of yours. I must admit I envy your power, your determination and your passion for the ones you love…I just wish…'

The Ginzuishou obeyed its mistress' thoughts and again Usagi's energy surge augmented, not letting Naraku enough time to adjust. His lack of understanding of a Star Seed was his last mistake as his blast was turned back against him and he screamed as the purifying light engulfed him.

Usagi grunted as she asked the Ginzuishou for another burst of power just to be sure he would be completely destroyed; her Moon insignia shone brightly and the Silver Crystal cracked slightly, before it spread on the entire surface of the shining jewel.

The blonde was encased in a cocoon of light. Naraku's last scream echoed through the entire land and as the last crack was heard from the Ginzuishou, Usagi's world went black.

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R&R&R&R!!!

Eternal Cosmos ^_~