Me: Sorry for the long wait, guys. I did warn everyone on the last chapter, but it seems like many of you still send me messages to update sooner. :P I'm sooo sorry to those that looked forward to this story.

Also, since years had passed, I decided to go back to chapter one to read a bit of it to get a feel for this story again, and OH MY GOSH! This story is so bad. My writing style back then was so horrible. I don't get how people were able to read each chapter. I think I'm going to try to get a beta reader for this story so that it's not completely horrible to the eyes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Inuyasha. They belong to their original owners.

Inuyasha/Naruto crossover

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

Chapter Fifteen: We Will Meet Again

Kagome fixed up her hair and tied it up in a ponytail. She walked across the room to grab her pouch and fasten the strap around her waist with the pouch resting against her hip. As she went to grab her bag, she passed a full body mirror in her rented room. She looked and gave her reflection a sad smile, knowing what kind of day today was going to be. She sighed and went back to getting ready. It would not be good to delay their schedule any more than it already was.

Once she was dressed and prepared to leave, she went down the apartment complex they had rented for a few months and was greeted by Kakashi at the bottom of the steps. "Ready?" he asked her, giving her upturn of his closed eye, indicating he was smiling under his mask.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said. "I'm guessing the three of them already know."

Kakashi nodded his head. "They were listening in when we went to talk to the Kazekage just as you thought they would." Kagome turned and began walking toward the front of the village without a reply back. Kakashi accepted her silence as a replied on its own and followed the young girl.

As the two of them got closer to the door of the village, they noticed three small figures already standing there waiting for them. Kagome could already guess who the figures were before one of them ran up to her and cried into her chest. "Kagome, don't go," Gaara cried as he clutched her ninja outfit and continued to wet her shirt with his tears.

Kagome wrapped her arms around Gaara and pulled him close. "I'm sorry, Gaara, but if you were listening to our conversation with your father last night, this is something I must do," she told him softly as she continued to hold the crying boy.

"No, you don't!" Gaara shouted in her chest. Kagome was surprised by the sudden shout. She had never heard the boy raise his voice before. She wasn't sure if anyone had heard him be louder than talking volume. "You can stay here with us. With me. You don't have to go anywhere anymore."

Kagome couldn't help but smile at his futile attempt to make her stay. "Gaara...you know there are people out there just like you and Naruto who need me. If I'm not there to comfort them, then who will?" she stated. "If Naruto had told me not to leave and stay in Konoha, I would have never met you, and would you like that?" Gaara shook his head, which was still against her chest. "If I had stayed and never met you, who would've known what you would've done without me to stop you. Things could've gotten out of hand with Shukaku."

Gaara looked up at her but never let go of their hug. "I don't know what I would have done if I never met you, Kagome. You've already changed so much in my life and I'm just going to miss you a lot."

Kagome smiled at him. "And I'll miss you. You're apart of my life now, and I'm going to miss all the memories I've made with you and everyone here." She took her arms from around his body and instead cupped his cheeks in her hands and bumped her forehead with his. "You're one of the most important people in my life and no one will replace you." Gaara's tears had stopped but his eyes were still watery and red. "And don't worry, we'll meet again one day. This will definitely not be our last meeting," she told him.

Gaara looked into her eyes. "Promise?"

Kagome held out her pinky. "Pinky promise." Gaara smiled at her and took her pinky in his.

"I'll hold you to that. I better not hear you getting hurt or in danger from my father," Gaara threatened, but since he was so young, Kagome just found it super cute.

Kagome crushed him in another hug. "Aw, you're so worried about me. How cute."

"I'm not cute," Gaara replied with a pout and a blush on his face.

'He's so cute,' everyone thought, watching the blushing boy.

A thought struck Kagome. "Oh! Before I forget." Gaara watched as she reached into her pocket to take out a small object. "I made something for you so that you won't lose control of yourself again while I'm gone," Kagome said as she held out a small necklace of a glass ball containing some sort of herb content. "This necklace holds herbs that are able to absorb energy and hold it within its leaves. I let it absorb some of my powers so that when I'm gone, you'll still have part of me to calm you down. When Shukaku's dark energy starts to leave out, this necklace will help control it."

Gaara took the necklace in his hands and could already feel her soothing energy resonate from the herbs within. He clutched the small glass orb in his fist and began to cry. "T-thank you, Kagome. T-thank you," he said in a choked voice. He couldn't imagine how his life would've been like without her. She had already done so much for him and yet she still continued to think about him even when she was about to leave.

Kagome smiled at the crying boy. Instead of saying something in reply, she leaned down to place a kiss on his cheek. "Grow up healthy and strong, Gaara." She wiped the tears from his face. "Grow up and be a leader. Be the kind of person no one thought you would be because of what they thought you were. Show everyone how a person they thought was a monster can be a leader."

Gaara nodded with determination in his still puffy and red eyes. "I will." He gripped the necklace in his hands, not wanting to ever let it go.

With that said, Kagome took her hands off Gaara's cheek and walked to his two siblings. "And I trust you two will take good care of your brother. You're his family and he needs the two of you on his side. If others turn on him, I trust the two of you to stand by his side."

Kankuro and Temari looked at each other wondering how such a young girl was so sensible before turning back to her. "We promise," they said together.

"We will do everything in our power to protect our little brother," Temari said.

Kagome smiled at them. "That's all I wanted to hear." She pulled the two of them into a hug. "Thank you for the memories. I hope to see you guys in a few years." The three of them pulled away from the hug.

Kankuro pats her on the head. "And you stay safe now, Kagome. I don't want to have to deal with any tears from my brother just because you decided to be stupid and get yourself hurt." Temari elbowed him in the gut for his statement.

"Don't go threatening our brother's friend, stupid," Temari scolded.

Kagome began to laugh at the friendly banter the two began to have. 'I'm going to miss these guys.' Kagome looked over at Kakashi, who gave her a look that told her was time to leave.

"Guys." The two of them stopped what they were doing to look at her. "As much as I would love to stay to hear the rest of this lovely conversation, we really do have to leave if we want to stay on schedule."

The word "leave" made Gaara jolt to his senses and made a sad expression come onto his face. "K-Kagome," he began to whine and have tears appear in his eyes again.

Kagome turned to him. "Oh no, oh no." She ran to him and embrace him in a hug again. "Gaara, you can't keep crying, I have to leave."

"Kagome…"

Kagome tried to think of something to make him feel better. "If I am able to make you feel better, will you let me leave?"

Gaara looked at her. "I-I guess…"

"OK." Kagome leaned in and placed her lips on his, which caused everyone's eyes to grow wide. The action caused his face to darken with embarrassment, but he couldn't say he disliked it. Her lips felt soft and warm. After a couple of seconds, Kagome pulled away. "Do you feel better now?" Gaara couldn't verbally answer her question, but by his dazed look and the fact he was no longer crying told her his answer would've been "yes."

Kagome then lets him go and with a last pat on the head, she began to walk to the gate where Kakashi was waiting. With one last bow toward the village, as a way to show her gratitude towards it, she waved goodbye to her friends. "Until we meet again." With those final words, the two of them were off, running into the dry, sandy landscape, getting further from the village with every step.

Gaara watched as her figure began to disappear into the distance. "See you later, Kagome. You will always be my most important friend," he whispered into the sandy wind. Letting his words be carried by the sand to wherever she was going.

As Kagome ran side by side with Kakashi, she felt little grains of sand brush against her ear, delivering Gaara's message to her. His words brought a smile to her lips.

'Even though we're going to be apart for a while, this will definitely not be our last meeting. In the future, we will definitely meet again. So...until next time.'

Me: Oh my goodness! I can't believe I'm finally done with this story. It took me the longest time to finish this because I got super lazy towards the end and I have not watched Naruto in years. Can you guys believe this story was created in 2010? It's been a little over six years since the beginning. SIX YEARS! I really took my sweet time finishing, huh? (^-^;) But anyway, Thank you for reading this story and sticking with me for all of these years.

And as the ending has stated, I hope to see you guys another time when (or if) I decide to write the second part to this story where Kagome is older and back in Konoha. So I'll see you all next time!

(This story is "completed" but I will update this one more time if I end up writing the second part when she's older just to let you guys know if part two is up. I had ideas for later chapters, but I've sort of moved on past Naruto from when I first started this story, so I don't know when part two will be coming out.)