Disclaimer: I disclaim this story. You all know what that means.

wk: This is it... the last chapter! (Squeals and faints) Okay, as you all may know, I'm going to write a sequel for this story, so all is not over yet! Do not worry your pretty little heads about it. Now, since I left you all with such an evil cliffhanger last time, I'll shut up and let you read the story.

Chapter Seventeen (The Last Chapter)
Hanging

Sesshoumaru calmly entered the room, using his claws to tear a hole through the wall. The poisonous gases were swept out to be replaced by hot, muggy air of the rainforest.

Sesshoumaru looked on the bed. There was no Rin, and yet Mukotsu had said that she was in here. Sesshoumaru had taken his private jet here, knowing it would take less time. Sesshoumaru's eyes flicked to a bundle next to the bed. Still, he had encountered his half-brother outside, fighting a mountain of a man. He had become even larger as they had begun to fight. Using only his claws, it looked like his dear half-brother was having quite the tough time.

It did not matter. He had what he came for now, Sesshoumaru thought as he eyed a bundle next to the bed.

Sesshoumaru walked over, lifting the blanket off two bodies. There was a young woman, and his Rin. He remembered seeing the woman—Kagome—at the pointless ball Myouga had set up. "Rin."

Rin did not stir, but he could tell she was breathing, as was the woman on top of her. They were both unconscious. "Rin."

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" A nasal voice called to him. "Sesshoumaru-sama! Is it safe to come inside?"

"Rin is in here. Make sure you take care of her and her companion," Sesshoumaru said, walking out and carefully stepping over the body.

Sesshoumaru decided that Naraku would die for even thinking of blackmailing him. Not that it would have worked, not with a human girl. Sesshoumaru went down to what looked like an office, and settled himself into the leather chair to wait for Naraku, or possibly, his thick-headed brother. With a cold look in his eye, he wondered which was actually worse for him.

Inuyasha was panting like a dog and for good reason had taken his shirt off. God, he felt like stripping naked and it still wouldn't help quell the heat. This humongous bastard was strong, and was quite stubborn. When he had caught the slightest whiff of Kagome's scent, he leaped the rest of the way here, and was now in front of a large house, fighting with some stupid, large half-wit that wouldn't tell him where Naraku was. Sesshoumaru, the bastard, had arrived mere minutes after in a private plane he had landed himself in the large clearing around the house, and had used the distraction of Inuyasha to slip into the house without getting attacked by Kyoukotsu.

Sneaky bastard! Inuyasha thought, avoiding a hand swipe of the large Kyoukotsu.

"Give it up," Kyoukotsu said, another hand swipe missing Inuyasha.

"I should say that to you!" Inuyasha flexed his claw as he leaped into the air. "Sankontessou!" Mr. Mountain received many cuts, but he didn't seem to feel them as he barreled into Inuyasha, his fangs revealed as he smiled cruelly at Inuyasha's yelp as he went rolling.

Panting, Inuyasha sprang to his feet, and grit his teeth. "Dammit, what the hell am I supposed to do?" Inuyasha drew his claws back, felt something against his hip, and remembered the sword that Myouga and Toutousai had made him bring. He tried to pull it form its scabbard, but it would not be removed. Growling, he struggled with it, and stopped when he heard Kyoukotsu's taunting laughter.

"Puppy can't draw his little knife? Is he that weak?" Kyoukotsu didn't wait for an answer, and ran towards Inuyasha again, a claw outstretched with deadly intention. Inuyasha held the sword up, using it to take most of the impact, but something unexpected happened.

The sword glowed, and a barrier was suddenly formed. Kyoukotsu screamed as his hand met painful energy, and he was tumbled back onto his behind. His hand was smoking and irreparably damaged. Inuyasha, with a growl, retaliated.

"Sankontessou!" This time, Kyoukotsu disappeared with a scream. Inuyasha watched distastefully as chunks of flesh dissipated, and a large skeleton was left. Inuyasha didn't care. He ran into the house.

"Sesshoumaru!" he yelled, knowing that Sesshoumaru had most likely found Kagome by now. What the hell was Sesshoumaru doing here, looking for Kagome anyway?

Inuyasha heard some stumbling upstairs, and looked up. A green face peered down to him from above.

"Oh, it's only you. Vile half-breed," Jaken said as he wobbled back inside the room.

"Shut it, you fucked up shit. Where's Kagome?" he snarled, opting to jump up the stairs. He paused when he saw the dead man in front of the room. "And where's Sesshoumaru?"

"Are you speaking of this young woman?" Jaken asked, ignoring his second question and frowning at the older human girl. Inuyasha came inside the room, and a strangled yell ripped from his throat. He quickly went over, falling to his knees beside Kagome. He didn't dare lift her, in case that might make whatever worse.

His fingers trailed over her skin, and he felt like gathering her in his arms and crushing her in his embrace if only to absorb her body into his. Instead, he turned to Jaken with a horrifying snarl.

"What the hell happened to her?"

"Well, from her state of undress, I can intelligently deduce that she was nearly raped, had not Sesshoumaru-sama come to the rescue." Jaken said this with pride, his chest swelling out on Sesshoumaru's behalf.

Inuyasha grabbed the little green demon by the front of his robes. "You better tell me where the fuck Sesshoumaru is right now," Inuyasha growled out.

"You are not my master!" Jaken choked out.

"Jaken," a calm voice said from the doorway. Inuyasha turned to see Sesshoumaru's cool glare. Inuyasha dropped Jaken. The demon choked and hacked on the floor before lightly coughing and giving Inuyasha a dirty look.

"You should have left him for me to kill," Inuyasha said coldly, his eyes flicking to the body behind Sesshoumaru's feet.

"Well, that would have taken too long, now wouldn't it? He was trying to kill your mate. And he would have succeeded if I had let him live." Damn him, Inuyasha thought. The bastard sounds like he's amused!

"How did you get here so fast?" Inuyasha bit out.

"I do believe private airlines are so much better than the planes you have to endure," Sesshoumaru said mildly. "Where is Naraku?"

"Oh, so the almighty Sesshoumaru doesn't know everything," Inuyasha mocked. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed fractionally. He turned.

"Come Jaken. Bring Rin. It seems Inuyasha does not know. We will have to go back."

"He took Rin? What for?" Inuyasha asked, eyeing the small toad like creature struggle with the little girl's weight. Sesshoumaru did not answer. "Why not wait until Naraku comes back?" Sesshoumaru turned back to Inuyasha.

"Not a good idea," Sesshoumaru pointed out, although he had been doing the same thing before Inuyasha arrived. "This is his territory. Besides," Sesshoumaru said, his eyes almost imperceptibly flicking to Rin, "there are some circumstances that won't make it a fair fight. And, of course, he won't be coming back if he's smart. He's not one to leave the care of his bargaining chips to the care of dead men. He will be watching the place, and he would have seen everything that has transpired so far. No, he will not come back to this place unless he wants to be arrested. Come Jaken." Sesshoumaru turned around and left.

"Arrested? But we can't really prove he did anything," Inuyasha said with a rare insight of logic.

"Stupid little hanyou," Jaken panted from the floor. "Do you not smell the reek of blood in this place? If this place was searched, no doubt they would find many illegal activities being done. There is both demon and human blood here." Jaken awkwardly carried Rin carefully down the stairs

Inuyasha took a long, searching sniff, and frowned. What Jaken said was true, but he wasn't too worried about that now. He was worried about getting Kagome out of there,

"Damn bastard," he muttered, but his attention altered when he heard Kagome's low moan. He pulled her up to a sitting position, letting her rest on him.

"I'm right here," he murmured to her, pressing a kiss to her temple. She groaned, and her eyes started to open.

The first thing she saw was Inuyasha's amber eyes staring down at her concernedly. "Inuyasha?" she called uncertainly. "Am I dead?"

Inuyasha pulled her into a relieved embrace, stroking her hair and noting how limp she was against him. "No," he choked out. "You're not dead."

"Oh, good. I was hoping I could have this baby with you. Love you," Kagome said tiredly, her hand gesturing towards her stomach. Inuyasha stilled, and his hand went to her belly as his heart swelled with emotion.

"Yeah. We're gonna have a baby. I love you, too. Come on. Let's get you to a doctor. I'll get you out of here."

"Mm… Okay… Sorry, Inuyasha, but do you mind carrying me?" Before he could answer, she slipped back under. He lifted her and jumped out the gigantic hole Sesshoumaru had made. He knew why Sesshoumaru had made it; he could still smell some of the lingering poison in the air. He was careful not to tighten his claws while he held Kagome.

He walked around the house to the front lawn, and was astonished to see the small plane taking off. Sesshoumaru—who Inuyasha was sure had been the one to pilot the plane—was leaving without them. Damn bastard!

"Sesshoumaru!" he yelled, but quieted when Kagome shifted in his arms. "Damn fucking piece of a shitty heifer," Inuyasha spat quietly. "I'll kill him when I get my hands on him!"

He started the long trek back in the direction he came from. He might have to stop for the night, but even during the night he would try to continue to keep moving. Afraid Kagome would hit her legs or her head while he was carrying her bridal style, he maneuvered her to his back, so that he was piggybacking her. Finding that this way was a lot easier, he ran.

It took him a longer time to get back, but it was because he was not moving at a breakneck speed, and he had another person to worry about. Even while running, however, he was grinning. He finally had her back. He finally had her back in his arms. Or on his back. Whatever.

Once he arrived at any sign of civilization, he would get out his phone to inform everyone that Kagome was okay. In the meanwhile, he would just be happy that Kagome was back.

"Well, I guess you didn't have to use your father's fang after all." The appearance of another voice nearly made Inuyasha trip and send him and Kagome headlong into the trunk of a tree.

"Myouga!" Inuyasha yelled, halting to a stop. Myouga coughed from his shoulder, where he had been sucking blood.

"Yes. I thought I would come along to try to help you with the sword. I'm glad you didn't have to use its power."

Inuyasha snorted. "Oh, yes. The rusty old sword's powers would have helped me to swat you. It wouldn't even come out of the scabbard while I was fighting," Inuyasha said sourly.

"Don't take the sword lightly, Inuyasha! It's a great legacy that your father—"

"Blah blah blah. Shut up or you're hopping your way back to Mexico City."

"We're in Brazil."

"Whatever." Inuyasha started to run again.

"You will have to return it to Toutousai—"

"I will! I don't want the piece of shit anyway! Now shut it!"

Thoughts of Naraku and how he would deal with him tried to push their way into his mind, but all he thought was, later. Later, he would deal with Naraku. Later, he would kill him.

When they reached a city with a good clinic, Kagome was looked over. She had roused from unconsciousness, and was asking all sorts of questions to both the doctor and Inuyasha. Not that the doctor understood. Inuyasha explained everything to her while the doctor spoke choppy English to Kagome.

Kagome attempted to speak English with him, but even that was a bit iffy. And she had no idea how to speak Portuguese. Inuyasha also refused to be separated from Kagome, not even when the doctor asked Kagome to sit on the examination table. Inuyasha pulled up the chair with a loud scraping noise on the floor, and held her hand the entire time the doctor checked out Kagome's general health. When it came to the health of the baby, however, they needed more advanced equipment to tell if any damage was done, and Kagome and Inuyasha agreed that it was much too early in the pregnancy to tell if anything was wrong with the fetus.

When the doctor released her, they reached the problem of payment. Inuyasha had no money with him, and Kagome certainly had no money with her. Inuyasha sighed and took out his cell phone. He called Miroku, asked for the number on his credit card. He watched as the nurse typed it in, and it was processed.

"Yeah, it worked, thanks," Inuyasha said into the phone. "Now, get online and get me any two tickets out of here and back home. The soonest flight you can find, all right? I don't care how much… Well, just don't make it too expensive." Inuyasha hung up.

He put the phone back into his pocket, and his arm went around Kagome's shoulders to pull her to his side. He buried his face into her hair, breathing in the scent. Kagome leaned into him a little more, comforted by his gesture. The arm around her shoulders made her feel much more secure than walls made of steel surrounding her.

When they were free to leave, Inuyasha stood outside with her, waiting for Miroku to call back. Both found the blistering heat to be annoying, but they continued to wait outside. Inuyasha took off his red jacket that had been tied around his waist with his shirt, and put it over Kagome's head.

"I know it's stifling hot," Inuyasha murmured, "but it'll keep the sun off of your head. It's better than getting sunstroke." Kagome pulled the flaps apart, sucking in a breath.

"Yeah… Thanks," Kagome murmured. Inuyasha started to pant as the minutes passed.

"I'm sorry," Kagome said quietly. Inuyasha was startled, and turned to her, his mouth still open in a pant.

"What?"

"You heard me," Kagome said sourly. "I shouldn't have gone walking alone. Especially in my 'maybe' condition. Although it's not really a 'maybe' situation anymore, now. And of course, I had to get kidnapped and play the damsel in distress, and wait until you came to save me—"

"Kagome, none of this is your fault," Inuyasha said with a sigh. "You know it just as well as I do. Now, if you knew Kagura was waiting for you, and you went to take a walk anyway, then I would have been pissed. But as we both know, you had no clue that Kagura was waiting for you on a damn feather. Stupid bitch," Inuyasha muttered. He left Kagome to decide who he was referring to as the "stupid bitch." Kagome gave him a faint smile.

"Thanks Inuyasha. I don't know what I would have done without you," Kagome said with a smile, and squeaked when Inuyasha swept her up into a fierce embrace, despite the heat. "Inuyasha?"

"Kagome, I don't know what I would have done without you," Inuyasha said tightly in a thick voice. "I was scared… really scared for the first time in my life…"

"Liar," Kagome said teasingly, her hand rubbing his ear in a comforting manner. "I know you were scared of me plenty of times."

"Never," Inuyasha mumbled, and Kagome felt his lips curve at her shoulder. He kissed the shoulder, and stepped back. "Don't ever go anywhere without me. I don't think I could stand another experience like this," Inuyasha said seriously.

"You can't keep me in a cage, Inuyasha," Kagome said with a sigh. Inuyasha snorted.

"I can if I have to throw you into a large box with a pillow," Inuyasha threatened.

"Inuyasha…"

"Shut up, you bitch. You must have taken at least a couple of centuries off of my life," Inuyasha grumbled. She gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," Kagome said sincerely, reaching out a hand. He met it midway with his own, enveloping her small hand in his larger one.

"Let's go back inside. This heat is killing me," Inuyasha said after a silent moment of understanding. Kagome smiled and nodded.

"Okay. Let's go."

Oh my goodness. Kagome was pregnant. Inuyasha watched her practically inhale food. He winced when he reached for a sandwich and got his hand slapped.

"It's not for you," she snapped, and continued to devour.

"But I'm hungry!" Inuyasha whined, although the curve of his lips told Kagome that he was more amused. Now that they were back in Japan, Kagome was eating while Inuyasha was getting things from the moving truck. He was permanently moving into her home, although Kagome's grandfather had demanded they get married first. Inuyasha had disagreed, saying this was important so that he could keep an eye on her. That had kept her grandfather at bay, but now that Inuyasha was moved in, her grandfather would start his complaints about marriage again.

She had nearly torn her grandfather's head off when she learned how he had blamed Inuyasha for everything. Her grandfather had looked properly ashamed, and had gruffly apologized to the hanyou. Kagome had not managed to hear the "Evil demon," that her grandfather had muttered as he walked away.

Kagome had also quit her job, and she heard that Myouga was close to tearing his extra legs off. After Kagome quit, her secretary, Kanna, had quit as well. Myouga was now short-handed, and Kagome was tempted to return to help him out, but the thought of Inuyasha's job kept her away. She went with him to the radio station, and came back with him.

The threat of Inuyasha being exposed kept her near him. If anything of the sort happened, she wanted to be with him. And, of course, Kagome's kidnapping had been reported to the police, so if Inuyasha's identity got out, there would also be hell to pay with the media. The police were currently investigating Naraku's house, but hadn't found any incriminating information, except the old smell of blood. The only thing other than that was disturbing and suspicious was Naraku's disappearance.

However, Naraku must have decided to stay silent, although the reason for doing so was lost on the people that knew his real character. Naraku had a reason for staying silent. There was no other explanation. In the future, it would benefit Naraku more to keep silent than to tell Inuyasha's real identity now.

Kagome finished the last bite of food, leaned back, and patted her stomach. "I think I want some ice cream," she murmured.

"You're getting fat," Inuyasha said. He was instantly hit on the head by her metal spoon. "What the hell was that for?"

"What do you mean what was that for? You just called me fat!" Kagome said, then burst out into tears. Inuyasha's ears flattened on his head, and he got a panicked expression on his face.

He hadn't meant to make her cry! He had expected her to get angry, and she had, only with tears! He didn't know how he was going to survive her pregnancy without ending up feeling like shit.

"I didn't really mean that! I mean… I just meant you look pregnant!" Inuyasha threw out. Kagome stopped crying abruptly, fixing a wet glare at him.

"Of course I look pregnant! I am pregnant!" And to his frustration, she broke out into tears again. He simply scooped her up and sat down, placing her in his lap. He held her in his lap as he stroked her hair. She quieted, sniffling, and she buried her face against his neck.

"I don't know what's wrong with me these days," Kagome hiccupped. "I feel so emotional. And I think I should be getting morning sickness, but I'm not. I have to go ask the doctor about that…" Kagome rattled off the things she needed to do, and he half-listened, but was too preoccupied tracing patterns on her slightly rounded belly to really pay attention.

Inuyasha hadn't made love to her since she had come back. After they came back to Japan, Inuyasha couldn't handle the physical separation, and reassured himself with what he later said was a selfish gesture. Never mind that she had enjoyed it just as much, if not more, than he had. Now, he was worried he might hurt the baby. They still hadn't found out if any of the things she had been exposed to had affected the baby or not.

"…and… Are you listening to me, Inuyasha?"

"Mm-hm…" Inuyasha leaned down to nose the shell of her ear, and his eyes became heavy-lidded. Kagome sighed with the pleasure of his nuzzling, and turned her head slightly to give him a kiss. They both sank into it, but Inuyasha pulled away. Kagome sighed, frowning.

"I think the baby's fine," Kagome said, pouting. Inuyasha laughed, nipped her nose and making her yelp.

"Don't be a bitch, Kagome. If there's any chance that I might hurt the baby, I'm not going to take it," Inuyasha said seriously. Kagome sighed.

"I know. I wouldn't let you, either. I was just joking," Kagome said ruefully. Inuyasha laughed. "Inuyasha, you have to promise me something," Kagome said drawing back and looking at Inuyasha in the eyes. He looked at her warily.

"Depends on the promise," Inuyasha said slowly. Kagome smiled.

"You have to promise that when I'm big with our baby to the point where I can't even see my feet and I'm groaning and moaning about back aches, you'll still find me sexy," Kagome said with a big smile. Inuyasha laughed, pulled her close to land a long and deep kiss onto her mouth.

"Love, I don't think that'll change no matter what or who you look like," Inuyasha murmured. "Besides… I think I find you sexier when you're pregnant," Inuyasha growled, his mouth going over the fabric over her shirt on her shoulder to bite down with his teeth lightly.

"Do you really?" Kagome murmured, slightly distracted by his scraping teeth.

"Mm… You… glow with this… energy… It's quite sexy," Inuyasha said, grazing his teeth over her pulse point. He felt it jump and smiled against her skin.

"Well, that's good to know," she mumbled, tilting her head back, but Inuyasha pulled her away.

"So when do you want to get married?" Inuyasha asked. "I already have the marriage license, so all we need is someone to perform the ceremony. Your family, Sango, Miroku, and whoever else you want to invite. That should be good enough, right? Small, simple, short…"

"How 'bout this weekend?" Kagome suggested. Inuyasha raised a brow at her.

"Kind of a short notice, isn't it?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome raised a brow right back at him.

"So?"

Inuyasha stared at her for a moment, then began to chuckle. "Okay. Yeah. Sure. It's going to be a hectic week, but that's all right. It gives me something to talk about on the radio anyway."

"Happy to give you something to gossip about," she said with a slight smile. Then she frowned. "Oops. I have to pee. Mind helping me up?" With a sigh, Inuyasha helped her to her feet, and watched her walk off.

Picking at her leftovers and making a face as he smelled tuna, he smiled softly as he wondered how he had gotten such a perfect life.

Now all he had to do was find Naraku, and go from there.

wk: Why did I name this chapter "Hanging" you ask? Well, first of all, thanks for asking, Billybob Joe Bob. I named it such an appropriate title, since I kind of left you guys hanging about Naraku. Where did he go? Where does he live? Does he come back to Japan? Does he get caught? Does Kagome have a girl or a boy? Will Inuyasha be a good daddy? Will they have their wedding? Will Kagome come to see that sequins are in right now? And, of course: Why didn't Naraku tell Inuyasha's secret as revenge?

I assume those are the questions that will be asked. Now, I know that normally, authors do not divulge any secrets. I, however...

Will continue on with that tradition, and not reveal anything, suckers! Just kidding. But I'm really not going to tell anyone squat, as I don't really have an idea for the sequel either. It'll come to me, though.

Anyways, I will now thank EVERYONE who EVER reviewed...

Again, I'm just joking. I haveshortened the RoR, since there were just too many people who reviewed, and it severely cut into the story. I thank you all for giving me so many reviews to write back to, and I hope no one is offended that I'm cutting it short. I will now only answer reviews with questions that need an answer, or just the reviews that I think deserve a comment.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE READERS, WHO MADE THIS STORY COME ALONG SUCH A LONG WAY. When I started the story, I never expected it to get the response it did. I'm glad it did, and I'm very honored. I hope the sequel will do just as well, and I will (hopefully) see you all there!

(Shortened) ReViEw oF rEvIeWs:

Haha... No, Daddy's Pixie... I am not any type of pimp, so I don't think I'm going to whore her off... whatever that means. If that means she's going to have sex with anyone other than Inuyasha, than no.

Yep! I was going to do that already, Sango the lecher slayer! I need to go back and edit a couple of things here and there. Some of my writing has changed drastically too, so when I'm done with my other two Inuyasha stories, and I have time, I'll get my ass on it right away!

Haha. I like answering the reviewers, but unfortunately, I'm going to have to cut them short, since it takes too long to scroll down to the bottom. If you have any questions or anything like that, I'll answer them, evilinupunk! I hope you're not offended or anything like.

Don't you mean update, dvgw4u?

Haha... I don't expect rainbow-like compliments all the time, ArtemisMoon. Besides, it's not like you went out of your way to call me a stupid, arrogant, blah blah blah that can't write and should go sleep in a sewer where I will be eaten alive by rats... Unless it was implied by context? Haha!

So sorry to be cutting off the ReViEw oF rEvIeWs now, Liz! I wish I could comment on every single review, but it takes me about a week to just reply to everyone! And I'm sure everyone would like their udpates sooner... I hope you're not offended!

Well, to be completely honest, I never watched the shows including the band of seven, so I didn't really know which ones were the nicest, and so forth. I just knew they were all bloodthirsty, so I kind of closed my eyes and randomly picked a name with my finger, Karinu. Hehe...

You won't be kayzer anymore, kayzer? Well, just inform me of your new name, and I'll try to get a look at your story when I find... some... what's it called? Oh yeah: "time."

wk: By the way, THANKS FOR HELPING ME HIT 900! I believe I'm at 940 reviews now... I am truly impressed by the love all of you have for my story! I thank EVERYONE for being such fans, and for supporting my story throughout the whole thing...!

Remember everyone: There's a SEQUEL!