(Note: Beginning of quest - 1496/1996; end of quest - 1501/2001; peace treaty proposal - 1503; start of treaty - 1509; Kaede's death - 1511/2011)
Prologue
Japan, 1511
With Naraku's demise and the completion of the five-year crusade for the jewel, a brief period of peace settled over Japan. People came together despite their differences to rebuild communities, showing the strength of a nation united. Two years following the devastating battle there came an announcement from the Emperor: a proposed peace agreement between demons and humans. Outrage followed by riots and massacres ushered in a dark age that bred further hostility between two opposing species. Despite the turmoil that raged, diplomatic meetings commenced in June of 1503. It soon became clear Go-Kashiwabara had not considered that youkai had a different form of politics and were not a consolidated front but four territories acting in their own interests. Negotiations took a full six years in which time Lord Fusao of the North, an elderly panther, and Lord Akimichi of the South, an even older ookami, were assassinated in an attempt to halt further discussions. Kouga had married Akimichi's daughter Ayame and inherited his father-in-law's lordship. In a smart move, he promptly extended an offer for alliance with Sesshomaru. They had no prior relationship but came to the realization that they both shared a vision for an undivided Japan using the treaty as a foundation. The Northern lands swiftly fell into a full-scale civil war as Fusao had left no living heir. Many a vassal made an attempt at the throne but were thwarted by Sesshomaru and Kouga, who had instantly mobilized their forces to take the land for their own and struck while the iron was hot. Conflict stopped as immediately as it had started; no one wished to wage war with the great and fearsome Inu no Taishou, and the lands fell without much effort. With three-quarters of the territories and resources at their command, the Dragon Lord Ryuunosuke was inclined to join their proposed alliance and agree to the terms of the treaty. Humans were now required to not only respect the laws and boundaries of their own daimyo, but their youkai counterparts as well. No longer would demons ravage countrysides, terrorize villages and kill without consequence. Among other changes, every adult and child would be carefully accounted for in an annual census to ensure that no group grew too powerful to overthrow the other.
With all of these changes, Inuyasha and his group of friends had little time to readjust to their new lives as heroes of Japan. The seven-day campaign had left them all scarred and weary. Naraku had managed to collect more than half the shards, tipping the scales in his favor, but in the end, it hadn't mattered because the Shikon had called to it's missing part, becoming whole in a blinding array of lights and was immediately absorbed back into Kagome's body in an anticlimactic addition to their battle. Ultimately, the incarnations were picked off one by one until Naraku was ripped to shreds against the power of Inuyasha's Meidou Zangetsuha. Villages mourned the losses of their husbands and sons who had volunteered to fight alongside the band of warriors. Hordes of youkai, some who had been directly affected by the Shikon, and some, who simply despised Naraku, fought valiantly but fell at a simple sweep of Kagura's fan. The Inu-tachi spent an additional week burying the dead and coming to terms with their own losses. Kohaku, slain in battle, used his final breaths to ask his sister to remember him as he was before the war. Sango and Kirara had made the trek to their old village to bury him next to the rest of their fallen family and held a small vigil. Kikyo had finally welcome death and her body was laid to rest in a large ceremony performed by Kaede as a final goodbye.
Free of his promise to join Kikyo in hell, Inuyasha spent several years helping to rebuild anything destroyed by the black touch of Naraku. He eventually settled down with Rin, who had become a lovely young woman, and together they founded a town for hanyou outcasts. Miroku and Sango had married and taken up a nomadic lifestyle; combining Sango's understanding of youkai traditions and Miroku's sutras to protect villages from an occasional straggler, they established several schools in each corner of the nation to teach humans to safely live alongside demons. After three children and ten years of wandering, they came back to Kaede's village. Miroku assumed the position of resident monk with his daughter taking up as a shrine maiden while Sango became an instructor, training her sons in the ways of demon hunters. Shippo joined Inuyasha and Rin after spending some time at a kitsune school to hone his craft. He assisted in the diplomatic affairs of running the place, as he had, like a true fox, become quite a charming individual. He often was sent as Inuyasha's proxy to various figureheads to curry favor, eventually managing to secure several agreements with local daimyo who pledged their resources to the quickly expanding sanctuary.
For most of the Inu-tachi, life had become simple-even harmonious; their long and perilous journey had finally come to an end.