A/N: I'm glad I have at least a couple people interested in this little story of mine. Anyway, please keep the reviews coming! Your feedback is awesome!

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My Only Hope
Chapter Seven

"I've said it before, but obviously your ears have failed you: they aren't here. If you insist on continuing to act like this, I will have to kill you." Sesshoumaru warned again.

"Your father wouldn't want me dead," Jiro smirked.

Sesshoumaru let out a low growl. "You have no right to speak about him! You caused nothing but problems for him!" Sesshoumaru drew his sword, pointing it threateningly at his uncle.

Sesshoumaru ran forward, slashing at the demon in front of him, but Jiro moved out of the way before the sword made contact in the proper place. Sesshoumaru lost no composure. "Remember the last time you pulled this? I won." He smirked.

"True…but it appears that you have grown several soft spots since then," Jiro commented under his breath.

"Don't you dare bring Rin into this!" Sesshoumaru warned.

"Is that the human's name?" he smiled.

Sesshoumaru took another swing at his uncle, this time with the poison-laced whip that hung at his side. It made contact with the side of his uncle's face, and he hissed in pain. Sesshoumaru showed no sign of content at his small victory, but found himself smiling on the inside. Jiro was not one to hang in a fight for long, especially when it clearly did not benefit him.

Jiro rose his nose to the air, and began to try and find a hint of either the girl or Inuyasha. He frowned deeply. "They haven't been here for a long time. You've been stalling me here…."

"Took you a while to figure that out," laughed Sesshoumaru. "Surprising, considering that I already told you that earlier."

"I have no time for this." Jiro growled.

"You were never one to stick it out in a fight for very long…" Sesshoumaru smirked. "Go if you must, but I will warn you: you are not to stay in my lands. If I even catch your scent on the wind I will make sure that you are disposed of."

Jiro nodded, frowning deeper than before and lowering his eyes to the ground. I will get them. He vowed to himself. Sesshoumaru's rule only extends over the Western lands. He will not be able to do anything when they leave the safety of his boundaries…and with that Kagome and Inuyasha searching for those jewel shards, they will not stay within these boundaries for very long. In fact…that may be just the bait I need. He glanced defiantly at Sesshoumaru before pivoting on his heel and heading back towards the forest.

Sesshoumaru watched him with interest, not putting his sword away until after his uncle had disappeared beyond the trees.

"He'll be back," Sesshoumaru whispered to himself, glancing thoughtfully at his sword before putting it back in its home. "He's too stupid to stay away…"

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"I want to leave." Said Kagome sternly.

"No!" Inuyasha growled. "It's not safe!"

"But it smells like…"

"I know."

"So I can go?"

"No!"

"Sit." Kagome finished the small argument with a smile as Inuyasha's face greeted the ground roughly. Kagome laughed. "I've still got it…" she whispered in satisfaction. She began to walk towards the waterfall.

"Kagome…" warned Kouga. "If this guy is looking for you two, it would be good of you to stay here."

"I'm not an idiot. I just want some fresh air." Kagome sighed.

"You can get fresh air when it is safe to go back outside. For now, the wolf stink will hide us until Sesshoumaru or someone else comes to get us."

Kouga jumped, for almost just as Inuyasha said this, Kirara landed inside the cave carrying Sango, Miroku, Rin, and Shippo on her back. She growled.

"Yay!" smiled Kagome. "Can we leave now?"

Miroku smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for helping us, Kouga." Kagome smiled, hugging him lightly. "See you later!" she waved.

Kouga blinked. Well, he sighed, it could have been worse.

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"So, Kagome, how's it feel?" Sango smiled at her friend. "You look great."

"I feel a lot better," she admitted.

Kagome didn't look entirely different from the way that she used to look. She had a set of ears perched atop her head just as Inuyasha did. Her hair was the same raven color it always had been. She had grown small fangs much like Inuyasha's in the front of her mouth. She wasn't quite used to them or her claws yet. In the short time that Kagome had these things, she found that she had to be much more careful with how she talked and carried herself.

Inuyasha grew increasingly more interested with Kagome's changes. Her scent had completely changed, and her new look was awe inspiring, as far as he was concerned. He was still worried about the threat that his uncle imposed on his and Kagome's lives, but Sesshoumaru was taking care of that. Inuyasha sighed. The next thing on their agenda was to take Kagome once again back to the well to visit her family. He didn't want her to go anywhere, but he had promised her, after all…

Kagome gasped. "Hey guys! Kohaku is up ahead!"

Inuyasha blinked. Kagome's outburst had thrown him out of his momentary stupor. "How do you know?" He sniffed the air. "Can you smell him?"

Kagome shook her head. "No. I don't know his scent." Kagome smirked at him.

"Then how…"

"The jewel shard in his back," Sango whispered. "You can still sense the jewel shards?"

Kagome nodded. "Yeah. I'm glad too. I didn't feel like feeling useless…"

"You are not!" Inuyasha whined.

Sango took a deep breath. She could tell that they were getting closer and closer to her brother. Recently, they had found out that he had remembered everything. She was surprised that he was still alive, especially considering the company he was in. Someone had to have noticed the change in his demeanor…but if they did, no one was saying anything…and that made Sango glad.

Kirara landed next to the well, where Kohaku was standing as if he'd been waiting forever for the group to arrive. He smiled at his sister.

"Hi Sango." He waved. "I can't stay long, but I wanted to tell you…Naraku has killed Kagura…" he paused a moment. "However, either he hasn't heard about what happened to Kagome, or he just doesn't believe it…"

Miroku nodded. "I have to agree. That has to be good. Naraku need not know what's happened yet."

Sango shook her head. "Yeah. I'm not entirely sure that would be a very good thing at all. Thank you for warning us, little brother." She smiled.

Kohaku looked around worriedly. "I can't stay for long," he whispered.

"Kohaku, why don't you stay with us?" Miroku suggested. "Naraku can't do anything to you if you stay with us. We won't let him…"

"If I risk it now, he'll know something has happened…" Kohaku worried.

"We don't care." Kagome shrugged. "He'll find out eventually, anyway."

"Maybe…" Kohaku frowned in thought. "Okay. But if anything happens, I am going to get as far away from you all as possible."

Sango wrapped her little brother in a hug. "Glad to have you back," she smiled at him.

"Kagome, your mom went to the village about an hour ago…it was right after I got here. She said to tell you that your brother and your grandfather were really anxious to see you," Kohaku remembered suddenly.

Kagome nodded. "I'd figured that out right after my mom left," she sighed. "Well, it should be interesting…"

"You want me to come along?" Inuyasha suggested.

"Would you?" Kagome breathed a sigh of relief.

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"She's busy on the other side, you know? She can't come by every day!" Akira explained. "She'll be home as soon as she can."

Gramps nodded. "I'm interested in seeing her."

"Be nice." Akira warned.

"I'm not going to be rude!" Gramps whined. "I'm just curious!"

"I'm home!" Kagome's voice rang through the entire house.

Souta ran down the stairs so fast that the pictures on the walls on the way down shook. Gramps and Akira stood calmly in the living room as Souta tackled Inuyasha and his older sister. "You're home!"

Kagome laughed. "It's nice to see you too, Souta." She smiled. "Are mom and gramps home?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "In the living room. Hey, Inuyasha!"

"Hey, squirt." Nodded Inuyasha.

"Kagome looks neat, doesn't she, Inuyasha?" Souta asked.

"Yeah, she does." He agreed.

"You look beautiful, Kagome," it was her mother. Kagome wrapped Akira in a hug and smiled at her. "Do you feel better?"

"Yes." She paused. "Oh, and I can still sense the jewel shards."

"That's great, honey!" Akira laughed. She had heard of the jewel, but in truth, was not entirely sure of just how important that the jewel was. All she knew was what Lady Kaede had managed to tell her, and she didn't want nor need to know anything more than that.

"Welcome home, Kagome." Her grandfather nodded to her.

"Gramps," she nodded.

"So, do you like being like…that?"

Inuyasha's ears twitched. "Like what?" he growled. "The way she is supposed to be? Well, I think she looks great! I don't understand why people in this time period have such a problem with youkai and hanyous…"

"I don't." said Gramps sternly. "I'm just not used to it. She is my grand daughter, after all."

"I'm not used to it, either, Gramps, but I feel better this way. Kaede says I shouldn't get sick anymore." Kagome announced.

"Well, if you like it, then I do too." He smiled, wrapping her in a hug. "Although I would have liked to have been told a little bit sooner…"

Akira glared at him, and he quickly shut his mouth. "But it's okay…" he finished. "I know you didn't know either. Your mother has explained everything."

Kagome sighed. "We can't stay long. We left the others behind, and not to mention this whole thing with Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's uncle. We don't want him to figure out where we are or how we got here, so we may want to get back as soon as we can…"

"Kagome, about Jiro…" Akira frowned. "There's something I need to tell you. Something I left out when I told you everything earlier…"

Inuyasha and Kagome both paled.

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"Sesshoumaru, quit brooding." Kaede frowned. "You chased him off, didn't ye?"

"But I didn't kill him," Sesshoumaru finished, "and that means that he will most certainly be back soon. Especially if he knows that Inuyasha and Kagome are still alive…"

"Aye. That he will." Kaede whispered. "But you will be prepared when he returns. Take comfort in that."

"Whatever." Growled Sesshoumaru.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Sesshoumaru looked up as the little girl Rin ran into his arms. "Did you get the mean demon, Lord Sesshoumaru?"

He frowned.

Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kohaku stared at him. "Lord Sesshoumaru?" Miroku whispered. "Did everything go well?"

"He'll be back," Sesshoumaru grumbled.

Sango nodded. "Uh huh…" she sighed.

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"Inuyasha's uncle killed my father?" Kagome whispered.

Akira nodded. "I'm sorry, sweetie. We couldn't tell you."

"Couldn't tell me? It would've been nice!" Kagome growled. "Did you know?" She turned on Inuyasha. "Did you know about what happened to my father?" she paused. "Why in the world didn't you tell me?"

Akira frowned. "Honey, calm down. Inuyasha only heard recently, when I was talking to Sesshoumaru about it. I asked him not to tell you because I didn't want you to think differently of him…"

Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat. "I see…" she whispered. "Well, we really ought to be getting out of here…"

"Kagome…" Inuyasha frowned. "I'm sorry about all this…"

"It's fine, Inuyasha…."

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"Well, let's just hope we don't run into him any time soon." Shippo nodded.

"He's been banished from my lands…again," Sesshoumaru told them. "Let's hope he heeds my warning."

"What if he doesn't?" asked Kohaku.

"Then we have to make sure that Kagome and Inuyasha will be prepared to face him when the time comes," answered Sesshoumaru.

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A/N: Well, this one was longer than the last one, and I did more explaining in this one than action, but there is a method behind my madness…which you will discover in the next chapter….if you review….smiles