A/N: Sequel to My Only Hope! Yay! I know many of you wanted one, and I finally got around to starting it! Good for me! Ahem…anyway, please review and let me know what you think about it. Chapter four!

Summary: Sequel to My Only Hope, we finally see Inuyasha and the gang in the future. What other types of problems could the gang possibly run into now that the hard stuff is supposedly behind them?

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What the Future Holds
Chapter Four

"Has anyone tried opening the door?" Inuyasha asked, his eyebrow rising at each person in the room in turn.

Shippo blinked. "Maybe you missed the part where the chair bounced off the wall, father?" he smirked. "Although I thought for sure you'd gotten that one..."

"Shut up." Inuyasha snapped. "We have got to figure this out."

Kagome nodded. "I've figured it out. We're all stuck in here. And Naraku is somehow behind it all..." She took a deep breath. "This isn't happening..." she whispered, trying to convince herself that it wasn't.

Inuyasha wrapped her in a hug as Izayoi and his father returned from the upstairs. Akira and Jin shook their heads, but Akira was the first to speak. "There wouldn't be any real way out up there anyway. Inuyasha usually just jumped through Kagome's window...but I can already guess that didn't work, right?"

Izayoi nodded. "Unfortunately..."

The children, having only actually once faced Naraku (with the obvious exception of Shippo) stood around their parents looking as clueless as the day that they were born. The twins shivered slightly, and Sumire looked up to her parents for answers.

"How bad is this guy?" she demanded.

"We were lucky the last couple of times we faced him...but it was so long ago." Inuyasha admitted. "He had to have gained in strength by now. We have no clue what his abilities may be...and with the jewel apparently back yet again...that means he isn't our only problem..."

Sesshoumaru stroked the sleeping Rin on her head before standing up to face the group with Yuka. "Yes" he agreed, "we do have multiple problems right now...but our first step to solving any of them is to find a way out of this house..."

"Anyone got any bright ideas?" Inuyasha growled as he sliced at the barriers with his sword. When nothing happened, he permitted it to fall to the ground in anger. "Obviously this is getting us nowhere, so we have to think of something else."

Kagome shrugged. "We don't even know what he wants, so how do you expect us to get out of here before then? Most of us already know how his sick mind operates..."

Akira nodded. "That is not a reason to let him manipulate us." she reminded everyone.

Kagome sighed. "Well, that appears to be what he's good at." She said under her breath.

Sesshoumaru coughed. "He hasn't tried anything yet...so, we all need to be on our guard, but I doubt there's any good reason to just all stand here in the middle of the room like sitting ducks..."

"I'm going to go up to my room and take a nap for a bit. I don't feel very well." Kagome announced, and made her way up the stairs.

Inuyasha turned to Akira. "I'm going to leave her alone for now. I think we should all have a bite to eat and think about what we are planning to do next." He suggested.

"That sounds like a lovely idea..." Izayoi agreed.

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Kagome tossed and turned in her sleep, which was light enough without the constant interruption of her own nightmares. Her room was the same as she remembered it, and while that offered a small bit of comfort, Kagome still felt very uneasy about the current situation in which she and her family found themselves. Last time Naraku was around, she had barely been able to protect herself...but now she had four children to protect as well. She did not want to fail them. She couldn't.

"Kagome..."

Kagome sat bolt upright. "Who's there?" she demanded, although she could sense no one.

"Kagome..." The voice repeated itself, sending a scared shiver down Kagome's spine. She jumped up, lunging for the door, but it slammed in her face. She pulled and pushed and pounded it with her fists, but it would not budge. He had managed to do it. He had separated her from her family...and this time, it was her own fault.

Downstairs, Inuyasha frowned as one of his ears twitched. "Did you guys hear that just now?"

"It was the door slamming..." Sesshoumaru told him.

"No, not that." he snapped. "The other noise. Kagome is up there!" Inuyasha jumped up from his seat and bolted up the stairs, all four of his children on his heels as he went.

"Inuyasha! Inuy..." Kagome stopped. A barrier had just appeared in front of her door. To scream for Inuyasha now would be nothing but a waste of her breath. She sank to the floor in defeat and placed her head in her hands.

"Giving up already?" It was that voice again, only this time Kagome recognized the scent that went with it. She jumped up in alert.

"Naraku you jerk! Where are you?" she yelled.

"Boo..." he smirked, grabbing her from behind. She struggled, but he was stronger than she remembered him, and his mere scent was making her ill. He jerked her sideways, and she yelped.

"Let go..." she demanded, a little less than polite.

"Here's how it's going to be this time around, Kagome," Naraku hissed in her ear. "You will help me find those jewel shards, or I will make sure that even Inuyasha won't recognize you..."

Kagome paled.

"...and then, I'll go after your children...one...by...one..." he continued, as Kagome's skin started to turn even more white than before. "Do you understand? I take it we have a deal?" he smirked.

Kagome gulped. Naraku wasn't known to be one who joked with anyone. He never had been. However, even knowing that, she could not and would not allow herself to accept his offer. If she was to lead him to the jewel shards...she shivered at the thought of the consequences a stupid act like that would surely cause. He had promised to hurt her...and he had brought her children into the situation...but still, Kagome could not bring herself to accept anything on Naraku's terms.

Again, she gulped. She was going to have to deal with the consequences of this on her own. This time, Inuyasha wasn't there to help her out of it. She looked up at Naraku, her eyes glazed in thought, and growled, "No!"

Naraku took the news as if she had slapped him squarely across the face. He stared at her blankly for a moment before the expression on his face turned to one of anger.

"What?" he screamed.

"I won't do it." Kagome whispered. "I refuse to help you..." Again she tried to struggle free of him, but his grip tightened in such a way that she was almost sure that her arm would break soon if he did not let go.

He did, too. Letting go of her arm, his grip replaced itself around her neck, and she struggled and coughed in an effort to get some air into her lungs. She felt like her lungs were on fire. She was beginning to lose consciousness, although she fought it valiantly. The thought of what Naraku might do to her then was frightening to her more than anything he could do while she was still fighting to resist him.

Outside her door, Inuyasha dropped to his knees and latched on to his stomach in pain. Kagome was being hurt...and he was useless. He couldn't even get through the door to help her. She had been in there for quite a while on her own, and his sword wasn't helping him get to her as it usually did.

"Dad! Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha screamed down the stairs. "Help me! Kagome needs help!" he pleaded.

Suddenly Shippo detected two very familiar scents...although these were scents that he was sure he hadn't smelled in over four hundred years. He jerked around just as he heard the voice behind him.

"Stand up quickly, Inuyasha! Get that useless sword of yours and help me knock out this barrier!" the man commanded. Inuyasha wheeled around. Standing behind him were two very familiar people. It was them...his friends from the Feudal times...Sango and Miroku...here to once again help him save Kagome. He nodded and stood quickly, despite the pain, and latched on to his sword.

Miroku hollered something, and threw one of his sutra papers at the door as Inuyasha once again tried to slice down the barrier that kept him from being at his mate's side. Inuyasha watched the barrier a moment, and finally it dissipated. By the time he got into the room, Naraku had once again disappeared, and Kagome was lying on her bedroom floor. She was conscious, but only barely. She tried to lift her head as Inuyasha and her children rushed into the room, but such an action caused her head to spin, so she laid it back down.

"Always getting my sister into trouble, aren't you Inuyasha?" groaned Sango, kneeling at Kagome's side to help address her wounds.

Kagome gasped in surprise and pain when she saw Sango. "Sango..." she whispered. "How did you..."

Sango hushed her friend and smiled. "That, Kagome, is a very long story, and right now you shouldn't be doing any talking. You're hurt badly. Miroku and I will explain everything as soon as your wounds are taken care of. For now, just rest..."

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A/N: There's chapter four for you! I hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what you think!