A/N: Here's chapter eight! Hope you like it! Please review!

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What the Future Holds
Chapter Eight

"Which way does it go from here?" frowned Jin. "Inuyasha is back in that direction, so…it's this way. Come on, guys!" he called.

The group followed Jin. Bringing up the rear was Shippo, Sango, and Miroku.

Shippo glanced at Sango and Miroku, blushed, and quickly looked away.

Sango noticed quickly. "What is it, Shippo?" she asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"I think it's something." Miroku smiled. "What is it?"

"Is your daughter…is Hikari here in this time period as well?" Shippo finally managed.

Sango's eyebrow rose, and she grinned. "Why do you ask, Shippo?"

"I saw…I thought I saw her one day. I bumped into this girl from the human school, and she looked exactly like Hikari. Her name was even the same…but I didn't think it could be her…since she died so long ago. Or at least I didn't think it could be her until you guys came back. Now I'm not so sure about it…and I was just wondering…" Shippo was blushing furiously now.

Sango laughed, and nodded. "Yes Shippo, that was Hikari all right…"

"We will tell her you said hello." Miroku said, a hint of interest in his voice as he studied the young fox demon in front of him. Sure, Shippo was over five hundred years old, but he was still a child by most aspects, and his interest in Hikari was fascinating to the monk.

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"Kagome…stupid enough to wear the jewel around your neck as if it was some kind of decoration." Naraku smirked. "How unwise, letting it fall right into my hands…and I even got you as a consolation prize on top of that. What a day this has been."

"You have the jewel. What more could you want with me?" Kagome demanded.

Naraku could only manage a cold, dry laugh. "You don't get it, do you? What more could I want? You are the perfect tool…the perfect weapon against Inuyasha and your friends. They will come for you, and then I will wish upon the jewel. When the jewel has fulfilled my desires, nothing will stop me."

Kagome frowned. "You can't do that." She spat.

"I do not think that you are in a position to be giving anyone orders…" he replied.

"It won't work." She blurted.

Naraku's smile fell quickly from his face. "Excuse me?" he growled.

"It. Won't. Work." Kagome repeated boldly.

"What did you do?" Naraku screamed, pinning Kagome to the wall by her throat and hoisting her into the air. "Tell me now." He demanded.

Kagome couldn't help but smile. "You don't get it, do you? What do you think we did when you locked us in my house? We didn't just sit around. The jewel of four souls has no soul. The power within it is gone. It is nothing more than a shiny rock now. A completely useless, shiny rock…" she laughed. "I believe that's checkmate now, isn't it?" she smirked after a short pause.

Naraku's cheeks reddened in anger. "You are a liar!" he screamed.

"What motives would I have to lie?" she challenged.

Naraku glared at the jewel with a hateful expression unmatched by any Kagome had ever seen him wear. There was no glow coming from it…not even his powerful energy was having any effect. He threw it down so hard that it shattered, and squeezed Kagome's throat tighter than before.

"For that, you will pay with your life." He swore. "I'd like to see Inuyasha save you this time…"

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Inuyasha gasped in pain. "Kagome…no…"

Suddenly, he felt as if he couldn't breathe. He could tell that somewhere, Kagome was in trouble. She needed him to be by her side. She was in pain. He could sense her distress.

"Inuyasha…" came Kagome's voice. "Help me. I can't breathe…"

"Kagome!" he yelled out. The pain in his chest grew, and he could feel his temper finally beginning to boil over. How dare they all leave him behind? Kagome was in trouble. His mate needed his help. Now. It wasn't too long until he felt himself go over the edge. He clutched at his sword, but the Tesseiga's powers of containment did not seem to have any effect on him. His eyes reddened, and he felt a surge of power shoot through his body. In seconds, he was out the door, and tearing off down the street, following Kagome's scent.

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Kagome screamed in pain as Naraku slashed at her one more time. She paled as she watched the blood trickle from her wounds. She was growing weaker and weaker as the moments went by, and still, she could sense that her friends were not near. Inuyasha was not near. She was all on her own.

"Why don't you just scream? Cry?" smirked Naraku. "I can feel it. You're growing weaker…you won't last, and you know it. Just give up."

"No. I won't." Kagome swore.

There was a growl from somewhere in the room, and Naraku wheeled around in surprise. He must have recognized the scent just as quickly as Kagome had. For some reason, she felt stronger just seeing him standing there like he was.

"Get away from my mate…" said Inuyasha, a frightful amount of warning in his voice. "Leave her alone."

Kagome paled. Yes, Inuyasha knew she was here…but he was very far gone. His eyes were a bright blood red, and his fangs and claws were longer. He was holding the transformed Tesseiga in his hands…proof to Kagome that this was a much bigger problem than even Naraku thought it was.

Naraku bravely took a step toward Inuyasha, although there was now a cautious look in his eyes. "You're nothing but a monster now, are you Inuyasha?" he smirked.

Inuyasha growled, and charged forward.

Kagome gasped. The next thing happened so quickly, she wasn't even sure if it had really happened or not. One minute, Naraku was standing between her and Inuyasha, and the next minute, Naraku lay on the ground, not moving, and Inuyasha stood over Kagome, staring at her intensely.

"Inuyasha?" she whispered. She wasn't scared of him at all, but his current state did worry her quite a bit.

He bent down, picking her up carefully and looking over her wounds. He frowned at a particularly nasty gash on her shoulder, and he began to lick it. Kagome yelped in pain, and Inuyasha looked up.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome repeated. "I'm okay. Calm down. Calm down and come back to me…" she whispered to him.

Inuyasha seemed to be calming slightly. There was a low purring sound coming from somewhere in his chest. He took a deep breath, and Kagome could feel his muscles relaxing. She reached up, placing a hand on his cheek, and kissed him lightly on the lips.

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Jin stopped dead in his tracks. "Guys…" he whispered. "Do you sense that? There was a huge surge of power just then. Almost like…" He paused. "Something has happened with Kagome and Inuyasha! Come on! It's this way!" He charged into a three-story building, and the group followed after him.

Jin stopped in his tracks as he reached the top floor. In front of him, Inuyasha was holding Kagome in his arms. The Tesseiga lay forgotten on the floor next to Naraku's lifeless body, and Inuyasha looked completely normal.

"Are you two…" Jin began.

"We're fine." Kagome smiled weakly. "Is everyone else all right?"

The group nodded.

"Is it…finally over?" whispered Miroku, cautiously gazing downward at his cursed hand. He looked for a moment as if he was afraid to do anything. Finally, he reached down, and removed the prayer beads that usually kept the kazaana in check. When the beads came off, nothing happened, and Miroku sighed with relief.

"Finally…" smiled Shippo. "Now we can get on with the rest of our lives…"

Inuyasha and Kagome looked up with interest twinkling in their eyes. Kagome smiled at her son. "We know what you mean, Shippo...and we think that it is about time we got to live our lives as well. Now we are finally going to get the chance. It's exciting, isn't it? We're free. Free of the jewel, and free of Naraku's threat..."

The twins nodded. "Let's go home," suggested Taka, patting her brother on the shoulder. "I think we've all had enough excitement to last is quite a while."

The entire group nodded, even the usually skeptical Sesshoumaru.

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"Shippo, why so quiet?" Sango wondered out loud.

He blushed. "It's nothing. I was just wondering about...never mind..." he paused, looking away quickly.

"Would you like to talk to Hikari, Shippo?" Miroku blurted. "She loves your tail..." he added, laughter in his voice.

Shippo once again went scarlet, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes." He admitted. "I would."

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A/N: Well, there's that chapter for you! Please review and let me know what you think, and I will try to update as soon as possible. This one is shorter than My Only Hope…quite shorter…but I have several other projects in the works right now that will be out soon. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!