Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

A/N: Woohoo, an epilogue! (All because I want to avoid the number of chapters from being odd lol.)

Epilogue:

The Dog Brothers

It had been months since the group encountered with the creepy puppet. Their encounter had almost costed Inuyasha's life, yet, that same encounter had allowed Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru to fix their familial relationship. Both good and bad were the outcome of the events that had happened, and they weren't sure which one was more than the other. Nonetheless, they were glad that everything was all over, and now, they were back to searching for Naraku and the remaining jewel shards.

Everyone didn't know at first that Naraku was also involved in capturing Inuyasha, until the hanyou himself revealed it. Ever since he revealed it, everyone was eager to search for Naraku in order to take revenge for what he had done to him. Inuyasha, too, wanted to fight the guy, but he wasn't so eager, since he knew that one day, Naraku would be defeated. And no matter what, he would be the one to deliver the final blow, and teach Naraku not to mess with him.

He stopped walking when he caught the scent of his brother's. The rest of his companions stopped too, and they knew what it meant when he calmly waits for a person to made their appearance. They had long become accustomed to Sesshoumaru visiting them. Though, they were always prepared, in case Sesshoumaru decided to turn his back on him—which Inuyasha had reassured he doubt that would happen. Unless an unexpected situation occured.

"It's Sesshoumaru, right?" Kagome asked, looking at him.

"Yeah, it's him all right."

Not long after he said it, Sesshoumaru emerged from the forest in front of him, and started heading towards him. Behind the daiyoukai, Rin was waving at them as she was sitting on Ah-Un, while Jaken was trying to catch up with his master's pace.

Sesshoumaru stopped in front of him, and gave a nod in greeting. "Have you heard anything about Naraku?"

"No," Inuyasha said, and shook his head. "Met him last week, but haven't seen him since. I think the guy's plannin' something."

Sesshoumaru gave a small inclination of his head, before he extended his arm to give something to him. Inuyasha lifted his palm, and felt something small and rocky dropping onto his hand. His eyes widened when he realised it was a jewel shard.

"How did you find it?" Inuyasha asked, handing the shard to Kagome.

"I didn't," Sesshoumaru said, and explained, "A demon made an attempt to attack me. The demon had unusual strength, so I assumed there was a shard in its body."

"How were you able to see it? I mean, it could be anywhere in its body."

"I chopped off every limb until I was able to find it," Sesshoumaru said, and smirked at Inuyasha's reaction. "Do you really think that this Sesshoumaru is incapable of such task?"

He gave his elder brother a crooked grin. "No."

The two of them stared at each other, before realising that there was nothing else to say. Even if they were trying to achieve that brotherly relationship, they realised that it wasn't easy. After years of expressing hatred to one another, it wasn't so simple to change and pretended that nothing happened before this. But still, it was better than the relationship they previously had. Even if the process to fix their relationship was slow, they would take it. It was better to take things little by little anyway.

"If there is nothing else, I will be taking my leave," Sesshoumaru said, and spared a glance at Inuyasha's companions. He gave a nod of acknowledgement, before turning around to his retainer and ward. "Let's go."

Inuyasha watched as his brother's form become smaller, until he was no longer visible. He exhaled, before a smile made its way to his lips.

Unfortunately for him, his expression didn't go unnoticed. "Awww," Kagome cooed, and grinned from ear to ear. "I'm glad you two made up."

Inuyasha's face was flushed, and he took a few steps back away from her. "What are you talkin' about?"

"Inuyasha, we all could very well see you grinning like an idiot," Miroku said, and rubbed his chin with a wide smile. "It reminded me of the time when those beautiful female villagers—"

Sango smacked Miroku's head.

"Ouch."

Shippou, who was standing near Kirara, shook his head with his arms crossed. "Idiot."

Kagome laughed, and grabbed Inuyasha's hand in a reassuring matter. "It's okay to be happy, Inuyasha. In fact, I've never seen you this happy before. You deserve it."

Inuyasha wanted to tell her that half-demons like him usually doesn't deserve this. By this, he meant having friends and having your brother to accept you. But he decided against it, because it will only earn him a scolding about how he was worth it and all. He really wanted to believe it, but the words people had spat to him for years still haunted him. He remembered that there was a time when he was on the verge of giving up; because he had to continously fight each and every demon he met. That is, until Sesshoumaru made an appearance. He remembered his brother's harsh words that had insulted him, and ever since then, he tried to prove to his brother that he was worthy.

In other words, Sesshoumaru had deeply hurt him, but because of him, he was able to pull himself together and get through the hardships of life. So maybe it was safe to say that Sesshoumaru had saved him?

All of a sudden, Kagome tensed, and spun around in a random direction.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, his hand resting on Tessaiga's hilt.

"Jewel shards," she answered, and pointed to the direction ahead of her. "That way."

Miroku stepped forward, and glanced at him. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

Inuyasha smirked at the thought of having to battle. He crouched low, and Kagome got onto his back. Kirara transformed into her huge fire cat form, and allowed Miroku, Shippou, and Sango to get onto her. Sango got ready with her Hiraikotsu, and Kagome fidgeted with her bow; all preparing themselves for an upcoming battle.

Inuyasha bent his legs, then pushed his body into a high leap.

He was glad that they were back to hunting shards.

A/N: Sorry that it's short, but hope you guys still enjoy it. Thank you for reading (even the epilogue). Until next time.