InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ True Love ❯ Naraku's Challenge ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: Naraku's Challenge

Inuyasha's eyes opened slowly. He yawned widely and rubbed the back of his neck as he sat up. Feeling something drop into his lap, he looked down.

`Shit I forgot to put this back!' He glanced down t the others, who were still, thankfully, sleeping. Quietly, he replaced the CD player. He was building up the fire again, when he heard a sleep filled voice.

"Morning, In'y'sha." He turned in time to catch the sight of Kagome stretching. Her shirt pulled tight against her breasts. Inuyasha gulped. He stared and started to feel a warm tingling throughout his body. He turned quickly back to the fire, trying to cool down. `What going on here?' He thought to himself.

"Uh… morning." The sounds of the others waking soon reached his ears and he breathed a sigh of relief. His relief was short lived though when Kagome leaned over his back to throw some twigs on the fire. Kagome leaned back but kept her hand on his shoulder. `What's wrong with him? He's really tense.' Kagome thought.

"So where are we going today? I haven't felt any shards recently. Maybe the only ones left are his." They went silent for a few moments at what that would mean. They would have to fight Naraku then.

"If that's so then we'll just go kill him."

"Inuyasha! Have we ever been able to kill him? It's always been a puppet or he goes somewhere to recover."

"Whatever!"

Sango and Kagome shared a look. Kagome bent down in front of Inuyasha and stuck her face right up to his.

"Ahh, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed… er… branch this morning?" She pinched his cheek.

"Hey! Quit it, that hurts!" Only a giggled followed this remark. A rustle in the bushes drew their attention just then. Sango grabbed her boomerang and Miroku grabbed his staff. Inuyasha slowly stood, drawing Tetsusaiga and pushing Kagome behind him. From within the bushes, a figure clothed in a baboon pelt walked out.

"Naraku!" Inuyasha growled.

"This is not the real me, halfling." Inuyasha bristled at the words. Kagome edged toward where her bow and arrows were.

"I have discovered that there are no more shards left. Which means it is time for me to kill all of you. Come to my castle and I'll make it as painful as possible." Naraku- puppet laughed and threw a piece of paper at them. "This is where you can find me and your graves." With those final words Inuyasha leapt to attack but the puppet collapsed and turned to ashes.

"Damn you Naraku! It is you who will die!" Inuyasha shouted to the sky.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Inuyasha walked ahead of the group holding the map. His stiff posture warned the others from approaching him. Kagome decided not to heed the warning and jogged up to him.

"Inuyasha?"

"What do you want?"

"Hey, don't yell at me! I haven't done anything to you."

Inuyasha stopped and rubbed his face. "I know. Just the thought of fighting that bastard… it just… I don't know." His hands clenched into fists so hard that blood began to drip from his fingers. Kagome bit her lip at the sight of his pain. She pulled the scarf from around her neck off. Gently, she took his hands in hers. She stroked the clenched hands until they unfurled revealing the bloody gashes he had made. She bent her head to keep him from seeing the tears in her eyes. Wiping the blood gently away she said, "I know what this must mean for you. Finally, after so long, you can avenge Kikyou. Just don't… just don't act rash." Inuyasha pulled his hands away.

"He'll pay, Kagome. For everything. And then I'll have the jewel. Nothing else matters." Kagome sighed and handed him the bloody scarf.

"No, I guess nothing else does matter." She turned and walked back to Sango, Miroku, and Shippo. Inuyasha stared at her for a moment before starting to walk again. He pushed the scarf into the waistband of his pants.

All too soon it seemed to Kagome they arrived at the castle. A dark cloud of miasma surrounded it like a dark omen. She shivered. `I could die today. We all could. I never had a chance to marry the guy I loved, to have had kids, to grow old. Why? Why does stuff like this have to happen?'

Sango couldn't take her eyes off the dark castle. `Soon. Soon I can avenge you all. Soon Kohaku will be free, as will I. Even if I die today, I will see that bastard die before me!'

Miroku paled and lowered his head. `Oh, dear lord. Please keep my friends safe and me. Please help us rid the world of this evil. Please, God.'

"Let's go." Inuyasha glanced back over his shoulder at his friends. "Just… if it looks like he's going to win… just leave me there, don't look back." They looked at him stricken. "Promise me now!"

Kagome licked her dry lips. "But, Inuyasha…" He glared at her. "Alright, I promise." She whispered. The others promised him after receiving glares of their own. Kagome and Sango fell behind Inuyasha and Miroku.

"Sango, I won't leave him alone. I… I couldn't. I would rather die with him than leave knowing he will die."

"I understand. I'll… I'll keep Miroku and Shippo away if it comes to that. It won't though… It can't." Sango whispered.

The closer they got to the castle the less life they saw. Trees thinned. Animals disappeared. Ash and soot covered spots where trees or animals who couldn't get away. Kagome looked up at the red-clothed back of Inuyasha and prayed. She prayed harder than she ever had before. She prayed that her friends would live.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

They walked into a courtyard. Instead of bustling with life, it was deserted. The rotting corpses of those who had tried to get away from the castle when Naraku had attacked lie sprawled throughout the courtyard. Kagome and Sango gagged at the sight of those poor people. No one had been spared. Tears slipped down Kagome's face as she turned her head away from the body of a young girl, arm outstretched, as if she were pleading for help.

"This… this is so cruel! They were going away! He… he didn't have to…" An arm went around her shoulder and she buried her face in the red cloth. Inuyasha looked down at Kagome's shaking shoulders. Miroku had Sango in a similar position, while Shippo stood staring about him in shock.

"We're… we're not going to make it this time, are we?" He looked up at Inuyasha with large tear-filled eyes. "I… I don't want to die."

"Shut up Shippo!"

"No, Inuyasha. He's only stating a fact. We are not going to survive this. Just look at how many people he killed here. How many has he killed in total? We… we are just going to be added to his victims."

"Don't say that Kagome! We will survive this. You all will. I promise you, I will not let him kill any of you!" Kagome was about to mention the fact that he hadn't said anything about himself when…

"How noble, halfling! Although, that is a promise that will remain unfulfilled." A figure dressed in a baboon pelt stepped out of an archway leading from the castle itself. "I promise to kill you all."

"Naraku!"