InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Woman Scorned ❯ The Final Showdown! ( Chapter 19 )

Kagome stood proudly between Sesshomaru and Inu-yasha, no trace of the apprehension she was feeling showing in the cold expression that she had learned from her future mate. Together, the small group stood and watched as Naraku and his minions continued to make their way towards them. Finally, the day that everyone had been waiting for. Everyone in the group had their reasons for wanting the hanyou Naraku dead besides the fact that he was pure evil.

 

Koga, who had recently joined the group just that morning with his two friends, wanted Naraku dead for slaughtering almost all of his pack.

 

Miroku wanted him dead before his cursed wind tunnel grew too large and sucked him into it. He wanted peace from the family curse and to be able to settle down and raise a family of his own without the wind tunnel lingering over him.

 

Sango wanted him dead for murdering her entire village and for turning her beloved brother into nothing but a mindless slave to his evil wishes. Maybe then she could begin to heal the wounds in her soul.

 

Shippo wanted him dead for giving the Thunder Brothers the jewel shards that had helped kill his parents and for all the pain and suffering he had inflicted on his adoptive mother Kagome. He perched on her shoulder, ready to use his fox fire to help distract wherever it was needed. Kirara stood in front of the group in her big form, ready to help protect Kagome, Shippo and Sango.

 

Inu-yasha had been looking forward to this day since he had found out that it was Naraku that had tricked him and Kikyo into turning on each other. While he did not love her like he used to, he still vowed revenge against the monster that had killed the young priestess. The Tetsusaiga was fully transformed and propped against his shoulder as he waited impatiently for the bastard to get there.

 

Sesshomaru wanted him dead for a few reasons. One, the hanyou had kidnapped his young ward Rin. Another is that as long as the evil hanyou lived, Sesshomaru and his family would know no peace. The final reason was for all the pain and suffering that his beloved Kagome had been through both physically and emotionally due to his evil schemes. He glanced over at her, at the way her long black hair gently waved in the breeze and felt a sudden need to swiftly carry her away from this place and keep her safe. But he knew that she had trained long and hard for this very battle and he would not deny her the chance to avenge her friends. He would just have to keep a close eye on her and the kit so that neither of them would be seriously wounded in the battle.

 

The most important member of the group, the heart and soul of it, was Kagome. She wanted Naraku dead for the simple fact that he had caused nothing but heartache and pain for everyone. Even the times with Kikyo stirring up trouble in the group were due to his evil influence. Until he was gone, no one could put their past behind them and start a new life full of love and happiness.

 

Finally, Naraku and his minions arrived and were taken aback to find the small group ready and waiting for them. Naraku's plan had been to catch the group off guard and quickly slaughter them, leaving no one except the powerful young miko who guarded the remaining shards of the Shikon jewel alive. The miko Naraku had planned to torture and use until he grew bored with her and then turn her loose to live with the memory of her friends' deaths on her mind. Apparently the miko was much more powerful than he had originally thought.

 

“Why I had no idea you thought so much about me to form a welcoming party!” he called out in a mock cheerful voice. Inu-yasha growled slightly but said nothing. He knew that Naraku was trying to goad him into making the first stupid and careless move. He wasn't going to play that game this time, for the stakes were too high.

 

Naraku frowned when he realized that the taunt was not having the desired effect. Normally, the hanyou should have already lost his temper and charged him, thus ensuring an easy victory. Instead, he continued to stand there next to the young girl and Sesshomaru, watching him with cold and deadly glares. For the first time in his long existence, Naraku was starting to feel something akin to fear and apprehension about the outcome of this final battle. But his desire for the full Shikon jewel and the undead Kikyo drove him forward, sealing his fate.

 

“Give me the shards wench and I shall make your death as quick and painless as possible,” he said, ignoring the rest of the group and focusing his eyes solely on the young woman who had thwarted his plans for the last three years. He stopped only when he saw the protective aura around her flare higher at his approach and in her anger.

 

“No way you creep! And my name is Kagome! Ka Go Me got it?!” she exclaimed angrily as she notched an arrow in her bow. She moved to raise her bow and fire the arrow, but the fighting around her suddenly erupted and threw her off. By the time she had refocused her attention, Naraku had already moved back behind his minions and many demons. Noticing a demon coming at her, she quickly dropped the bow and arrow and pulled her sword, deftly beheading the demon in one blow. After that she lost track of the number of demons she had killed as she fought for her life as well as her friends' lives. She felt Shippo clinging onto her shoulder, occasionally using his fox fire to distract the demon so that Kagome could kill it easier.

 

A sharp laugh from her right alerted Kagome to the fact of approaching danger. She whirled around to face the approaching Naraku, absently putting up a barrier around the both of them so that no one could interfere.

 

“So Miko, it comes down to just the three of us,” Naraku laughed. Kagome looked puzzled until she remembered that her kit Shippo was still clinging onto her shoulder.

 

“Let Shippo go and it will be just the two of us,” Kagome snarled. Once again Naraku just laughed the sound grating on Kagome's already over sensitive nerves.

“Now why would I want to do that? After all I still have unfinished business with the kit. He should have been killed long ago alongside his parents but unfortunately you and that damned half breed came along before the Thunder Brothers could finish the job,” Naraku purred. Kagome heard a choked cry come from Shippo, alerting her that he was fixing to do something stupid. She quickly grabbed hold of him, preventing him from launching himself at Naraku and ensuring his own death.

 

“For those cruel remarks I will gladly make sure that you are soon delivered into the fiery pits of hell that await you!” Kagome hissed as she gently tucked the now sobbing Shippo into the backpack on her back and zipped it almost completely shut. She then picked her sword up and began advancing towards the still smirking Naraku. He sent wave after wave of miasma filled tentacles at her, only to watch in shock as she almost effortlessly cut them down. The miasma that escaped from them didn't seem to be affecting her either, due to the fact that she had erected another protective barrier around her and Shippo.

 

Naraku, sensing that his time was quickly running out, made one last effort to escape the powerful angry young girl. He was stopped quite painfully by the large barrier that Kagome had thrown around them at the beginning of the fight. Outside the barrier, the rest of the group was finishing up destroying the last of Naraku's incarnations and demons before turning to watch Kagome finish off the evil hanyou.