InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Freedom of Choice ❯ Who's your Daddy? ( Chapter 6 )

A/N: I know, I know! It's been like a month since I last updated, so I would like to say sorry! I've been busy with school and adjusting to the new semester, plus having hard subjects (Chemistry, Biology, Geometry and discrete Math, and English; all university prep. Courses; remember I'm in grade 12.) doesn't help.

So to apologize, I made this chapter super long, and I mean super long. It's 16 pages typed without the author notes, review responses, and translations! So ENJOY!!!

Thanks to Starry Nights for editing! ^_^

REVIEW RESPONSES:

Cokkie6: Thanks for reviewing again. I know, but don't worry, Kagome will teach him not to interrupt people, LOL! Don't worry, it'll just make their first REAL kiss so much sweeter.

Chibi Senshi of Saturn: Thanks for the review and here's the next chapter.

Battousi Girl: Ya I thought it was funny too. Thanks for the review, but I added a little MS, just a little though, the rest is Inu/Kag. The next chapter will have Sess/Rin.

Vino-chan: Hey, how have you been doing? Montreal really? My sis has been there, but I haven't. I like French, it's ok and it is hard to learn. Thanks for the review and review again! I know about the kiss, but they will kiss, not telling when, but they will!

anonymuose1: Sorry for the long wait! Thanks for the review, here's the next chapter.

Translation:

Miko: priestess

Hanyou: half-human, half-demon

Haori: top part of a kimono, well the red top of Inuyasha

Sasori: Scorpion………I really couldn't find a Japanese name for him! You won't know what I'm talking about until the end, just know it's a name.

Jii-chan: grandfather * is it jii-chan or jii-san? Someone please tell me

Houshi-sama: monk

Hentai: pervert

Goshinboku tree: God tree; the tree that Inuyasha was pinned to

Youki: demonic energy

Ki: spiritual energy

"………" Talking

`………' Thoughts

*~*~*~*~* Scene change, or some time later

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, maybe someday ^_^ I don't own Finding Nemo, Fast and The Furious or 2 Fast 2 Furious either.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*

Chapter 6: Who's your Daddy?

Amber eyes slowly drifted open and came upon the familiar sight of his secret love's room. Inuyasha slowly got up from his position on the floor while rubbing his sleepy eyes. He turned towards the alarm clock, which he had learned about it from Kagome a year ago, to check the time. According to it, it was 9:00 in the morning. He realized he had slept more than usual when he didn't even do anything the day before to tire himself out. Though, as he turned to the still sleeping figure, he realized that he was always more calm and felt more safe in Kagome's time.

He twitched his ears towards Kagome and listened to her deep breathing, indicating that she was still sleeping.

The sweet smell of breakfast wafted through the closed door to tease at the hanyou's nose and he almost drooled at the wondrous smell as he walked to the door. He heard a creaking of springboards and turned towards the sound. A smile graced his lips as he saw his sleeping beauty waking up, still in half slumber as she stumbled out of bed. Inuyasha stood there as she staggered towards him, unaware of his presence until she crashed into him. Before she could fall, strong arms came around Kagome's waist.

She slowly opened her eyes and came in contact with a smirking, amber-eyed hanyou.

"Are you always this clumsy in the morning?" He asked in amusement at the sleepy girl.

"Are you always this annoying in the morning?" She retorted back as he let go of her.

"Nope." He said as Kagome stumbled out of the room, still in her cat-paws pyjamas, down towards the kitchen for breakfast with him following her. They both walked into the kitchen with Kagome's mother cooking breakfast. As they settled themselves down, Souta and jii-chan soon arriving after, they began to eat.

"Kagome are you going back today, or are you staying?" Her mother asked the ebony haired girl.

"Yes, I'm going today. I have been away for two weeks." She calmly replied. Inuyasha was more than surprised at her answer. After all, just yesterday she had said that she was staying in her time for a couple of days. He wondered what had managed to change her mind.

Actually, though he wouldn't know it, it was him that changed Kagome's mind. After yesterday, Kagome realized how vulnerable Inuyasha could get and she never wanted to see him like that again. He had already suffered too much to last his lifetime. She realized that their friendship had deepened without either of them knowing it and it was too late to turn back, though Kagome didn't mind except that she might experience a heart break if Inuyasha left her for Kikyo. She didn't think she could live without him. She took a glance at him quietly eating his breakfast with table manners. She almost giggled at the sight. The almighty, untamed, wild Inuyasha eating dignified and with table manners. It was laughable really, but she had managed to teach him how to eat properly, though he would only eat like that in her time and not back in the Feudal Era. She thought he didn't want to ruin his reputation. However, she realized there was an exception and limit to his table manners. Whenever they had ramen, table manners, so to speak, flew out of the window and he slurped it up like a wild animal that hadn't eaten in months. She found the idea very amusing.

Kagome was brought out of her thoughts of Inuyasha by her mother's voice.

"All right! Be careful and be back in a couple of weeks." Mrs. Higurashi stated. All that she received was a confused look from all other members at the breakfast table.

"Why? You never had a problem before about when Kagome comes back." Asked a confused jii-chan.

"Oh! I wanted it to be a surprise, but your father's coming back in a couple of weeks." She received a happy cheer from her family as Kagome and Souta asked if she was telling the truth.

Inuyasha sat still in his chair surprised at the unexpected news. He never knew Kagome had a Father. Where was he for the past three years and would he be all right about her time traveling? Inuyasha decided to be patient for once and ask Kagome in private.

After breakfast was done, Kagome went to her room to bathe, get dressed, and gather her humungous backpack with all her supplies, while Inuyasha waited by the Goshinboku tree in her time.

After her shower, Kagome went to her closet and put on a pair of blue low-rise jeans and her favourite shirt, a white t-shirt that had a picture of Dory (A/N: the blue fish with the voice of Ellen DeGeneres) from the movie "Finding Nemo", and it said "Just keep swimming" three times on the front and back of the shirt. It fitted her figure quite well.

When she was dressed, she grabbed her heavy backpack, trudged downstairs, slipped into her sneakers, grabbed her bow and arrows, and called `good-byes' to her family before she left. Once she was outside, she called to her ever-faithful friend, Inuyasha, and he swung the backpack onto his back with one arm.

He took a good look at her and was very shocked at what he saw. He had always seen Kagome in her school uniforms and in skirts when she was in her time. He never had seen her in these types of clothes. As he looked her over from head to toe, a nervous and blushing Kagome waited patiently for him to finish.

"Why are you wearing different clothes?" He asked, still looking at the unfamiliar clothes.

"Well, school's done forever, so I never want to wear that uniform ever again. Besides, now I can move without any problems and it'll be easier to fight wearing this than that skirt. Plus, now nobody will look at me weirdly. I know that skirt was way to short for that time period."

Inuyasha nodded his head in understanding. He hated it when they went to villages and some of the men there would stare at Kagome and her exposed legs. He nearly wanted to go over to them and gouge out their eyes, but he knew that would cause trouble.

"They look good, but why is there a fish on your shirt?" He again asked.

Kagome blushed at the rare compliment and answered his question.

"That's Dory from the movie `Finding Nemo.' Remember you watched it a couple of months ago with me and Souta when we rented it?"

"Oh ya. That blue fish that said `Just keep swimming'. It was a good movie, though that racing movie was better." Inuyasha said arrogantly.

"You mean `The Fast and Furious' and `2 Fast and 2 Furious'."

"Yup."

Over the years, Inuyasha had settled well in Kagome's time and basically knew everything about all the new technology, well, basic technology, as he couldn't really go near a computer without wanting to destroy it.

They slowly walked to the well house in silence until Inuyasha decided to ask his question that he wanted to ask since breakfast.

"I didn't know you had a father."

"Oh, that's right, I never told you."

"Feh!"

"You probably thought he died or something, right?"

"Um………ya."

"Well, before I met you, my dad had to leave to go to America to open up a new branch for his company."

"Company?"

"You know, a big………."

"Ya, I know what a company is, you told me before when we were walking past those big building when I was human that one time I came here a year ago." He interrupted anxiously.

"Oh ya. Anyways, he's the co-president of the company. That means that there are two presidents that own the company and he's one of them. Got it?"

"Ya."

"Ok, Well, his company had decided to set up a branch in America. You know where that is right?"

"Yes, over the ocean."

"Yup. Well, he had to go there and he's been there for three years. I guess he's coming back now, since the company over there has started up and is doing fine. I can't wait to see him. He'll like you Inuyasha and you'll like him too!"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. My dad is a relaxed, easy-going person. He'll probably think it's cool that I time travel. He'll probably want to come too." Kagome joked with a smile.

Inuyasha smiled at Kagome's relaxed manner and hoped that what she said was true and her father would accept him. He wouldn't know what he would do if her father forbid her to go to the Feudal Era because he was a dirty half-breed. He always wondered why Kagome didn't care that he was one, but she accepted him for who he was, or he hoped that was what she thought of him. She had never told him of how she felt about him being a hanyou, though with the incident involving Kaguya, she had told him that she preferred him as a hanyou. He then thought about the kiss she gave him to stop him from becoming a full-demon. He still remembered her soft lips on his and always wondered if she kissed him to stop him from turning into a full-demon or if she kissed him because she wanted to. He was too embarrassed to ask her, but he longed to kiss her again, which he almost did last night, except that Souta had to interrupt them. There was always a next time, he thought as they reached the well.

Inuyasha put his free arm that wasn't holding Kagome's bag and put it around her waist, pulling her close to him. With that done, he jumped into the well, a familiar tingling going through their bodies, indicating that they were passing through time. Once they reached the bottom, Inuyasha, with his load, jumped out of the well and onto the Forest floor.

There waiting for them was the gang consisting of Shippo, Kirara, Sango, and Miroku. Shippo was asleep in the shade of a nearby tree with Kirara, while Miroku was knocked out with a bump on his head and Sango was polishing her Hiraikotsu. She looked up from her work and smiled at her friends as they made their way to her. Kagome greeted her friend while Inuyasha started kicking the monk to wake him up.

"Get up you lech, we gotta get going." Inuyasha grunted out, waking his male companion. Miroku moaned as he came to consciousness. He slowly got up and dusted himself off. He looked calmly over to Sango and then turned around and started walking onto the trail heading west. Inuyasha and Kagome looked over to Sango, finding her face flushed. The hanyou and miko were shocked to see the demon exterminator blushing as she gathered up her things.

"I think we missed something." Kagome whispered so that only Inuyasha could hear it with his keen hearing. He nodded his head in agreement as they both looked at the monk and the demon exterminator.

"I'll find out what happened." Kagome again whispered so that only the hanyou heard. Inuyasha nodded his head in understanding before squeezing Kagome's hand and leaving to go after the monk to get anything out of him.

As Kagome willed the blush to go away, she made her way to the two sleeping demons. As she crouched down she nudged the young fox demon, trying to get him to wake up.

"Shippo?" She said as the kitsune began mumbling as he woke up. He sniffed the air and his eyes snapped open as he recognized the scent in front of him to be that of his adopted mother.

"KAGOME!" He shouted as he launched himself at her. She fell back on her bottom and started giggling at the young kitsune's familiar behaviour. The others looked at the miko and the kitsune and smiled, even Inuyasha. Though he wouldn't admit it, he thought of the young kitsune as his own. He understood what Shippo went through by losing his parents and he was glad that Kagome and him had come upon Shippo before he lost his childish innocence like he had done when he had to live by himself. He again looked towards the two chatting and a thought crossed his mind that made his smile widen.

`Kagome would make a great mother and Shippo would make a great older brother.' He thought as he turned to catch up to the monk. He wouldn't tell anyone of the thought that had crossed his mind. No, not anyone yet!

When Sango was done gathering her things, she, Kagome, Shippo and Kirara made their way onto the trail that led west hoping to come upon Shikon shards.

"So, Sango, what happened while Inuyasha and I were gone?" Kagome said after ten minutes of silence. Shippo had gotten up ahead and was now sitting on Inuyasha's right shoulder.

"N-nothing h-happened……….I don't know what you're talking about." Sango stuttered as her face flamed up.

"If you don't know what I am talking about, then how do you know nothing happened." Kagome said smirking a very Inuyasha-like smirk at her friend.

"All right………but don't you dare tell ANYONE!" Sango hissed out.

"All right, I won't tell ANYONE!" Kagome said. `I won't tell ANYONE, but I'll tell SOMEONE.' She thought.

"Okay………well houshi-sama and I were waiting for you two to come back right………

*~*~*~*~*FLASHBACK*~*~*~*~*

Kirara and Shippo slept under the shade of a nearby tree as Sango polished her boomerang and Miroku stared at the well. The silence was comforting yet tense in a way, until it was broken.

"Sango? Do you ever wonder about love?" Miroku said suddenly.

"L-love?" Sango stammered, as a small blush appeared.

"Did you ever notice that it comes upon us unexpected."

"N-no."

"Well it does. Love is mysterious, you never know who you fall in love with."

"Houshi-sama, what are you getting at?" Sango asked suspiciously.

"I've fallen in love, Sango." Miroku breathed out. Sango's face fell at his declaration.

"Congratulations! Do I know her?" Sango said, masking her pain. She never told him, but she had fallen in love with him, even his lecherous ways. He had helped her forget about the pain of losing her family by making her always being irritated by him and trying to dodge his wandering hands. She always had to be alert around him. Though she fell in love with his serious and caring side, which he showed very little of, she always welcomed his lecherous ways to help her laugh or relax.

"Yes, I think so." Miroku said vaguely, looking at Sango from the corner of his eyes. He knew Sango loved him, but he couldn't let that happen. No, it was too dangerous.

"Is she from the village?" She asked again while her heart was slowly breaking.

"Not really." He could never lie to Sango. He was in love, but to Sango and he wasn't going to tell her. She did know herself and she wasn't from Kaede's village, though they did stay there a lot.

"So she's from one of the other villages on our travels."

"Yes." He answered truthfully. Sango looked at the monk. He had turned away from her, then a sliver of hope reached into Sango's heart. She wasn't from Kaede's village but another village that Miroku had crossed in his travels with Inuyasha and the others. Maybe he was talking about her! Suddenly she felt a certain perverted monk's hand on her bottom. A twitch formed on Sango's head as she grabbed her Hiraikotsu and brought it down on the monk.

"HENTAI!" She screamed as the monk fell unconscious.

*~*~*~*~*END FLASHBACK*~*~*~*~*

"……….and that's how you found us. I don't really know if he was talking about me or some other village girl. Is he in love with someone else? I don't know what I would do if he was in love with someone else." Sango whispered out. Kagome put an arm around her friend in a comforting way.

"Don't worry I'll try to find something out. You two were meant to be." Kagome said to her friend.

"I hope so. Now I know how it feels when the person your love is in love with someone else." Sango whispered so only Kagome heard. Kagome gave a sympathetic look before the words that Sango had said truly sunk in. She was talking about her and Inuyasha and how Inuyasha was in love with Kikyo when she, Kagome, was in love with him too. She bowed her head, her hair covering her eyes. Sango looked over at her and an alarmed look crossed her features.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kagome-chan, I didn't mean to remind you………" Sango said sincerely. Kagome just nodded her head and slowed her pace down so that she was walking at least six feet behind Sango. Sango understood that her friend needed some alone time, so she left her alone.

Kagome was thinking about Inuyasha and Kikyo, but everything came back to what she thought about yesterday, not to mention what almost happened yesterday as well. Just like yesterday, she went over the last meeting with Kikyo. Last time she was there, Inuyasha didn't go with her when she asked him.

`Come to think of it, he hasn't been paying attention to Kikyo for a while. He has stopped going after her whenever one of her soul-searching demons has come for him. Maybe he has moved on and really doesn't love her anymore, but I wonder what brought about this change. Was I right in what I said yesterday? Does he really love m………no, don't get your hopes up. But what about what almost happened yesterday? He almost KISSED me yesterday, before we were interrupted by my brother, ……… I'm so gonna get him when I go home next time……….that's not the point, the point is that HE was the one to start the kiss, so maybe he does feel the same way as I do. I should tell him of my feelings, but when and how? Why do I have to be a coward when it comes to this? But girls are not meant to confess these feeling first, guys are! It's the same with getting married; guys propose and not girls, because we get too emotional! Why do I have to love him so much. A silly schoolgirl crush soon developed to this. I hope it's true love. I've always wanted that. It feels like it is, even if he doesn't return the feelings. I will tell him or I'll regret it for the rest of my life. Now that I made my decision, I just have to find the guts to say it. Harder than it seems I suppose.'

Kagome looked back up to the rest of the group to see that the others were ahead of her by at least 20 metres. She hadn't realized that she was walking that slowly. She looked towards Inuyasha and saw that he had his head turned towards her and was slowing down as well so the others were ahead of him. He had a concerned look on his face and Kagome quickly smiled towards him, silently telling him that she was fine. She quickened her step so they were walking side by side. Inuyasha's concerned face was gone but was replaced with a curious and confused look. He turned towards Kagome to ask a question, but when he had turned, he was greeted by a giggling miko.

"Sorry, but you looked too cute with that face, like a lost puppy." She giggled out as his ears drooped down and hugged his head. Inuyasha had a faint blush from the `cute' comment before he remembered the second part.

"Are you calling me a lost puppy?" He said in mock anger and lowly growled at her, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"No!" Kagome said innocently as her hand travelled to one of his fuzzy ears. He drew back before she touched him. Kagome pouted and turned away from him, stomping ahead of him. He easily caught up to her, when she hadn't even taken five steps.

"So I found out what happened between Sango and Miroku." He said to the still fuming miko to calm her down. She turned back to him quickly, surprising him.

"Great, now I could find what is really happeni………Inuyasha, I sense some shards, three actually heading this way!" Kagome said as she stiffened. Inuyasha called to the others to get ready for a demon. Kagome secretly sent out her ki to see what kind of demon it was, but because of the corrupted Shikon shards, all she could manage to find out was that it wasn't in humanoid shape. However, the demon was huge.

The ground began to shake and Inuyasha took hold of Kagome around her waist so she wouldn't fall. Kagome had a small blush that crept across her cheeks as he held her to his chest. Suddenly, out of the forest on the right of the path they were walking on crawled out a giant EARTHWORM demon, covered in slime.

Now even though she was eighteen years old, Kagome was still afraid of worms, especially a giant one that was even scarier. The thought of that she was a miko who could purify the demon, flew out of her head as she screamed.

"Oi! Kagome!" Inuyasha growled at her.

"Gomen, but I hate worms!" She whispered as she clutched onto Inuyasha's haori.

"Feh! Really Kagome, you've agone against powerful demons like Naraku, Kaguya, heck, even Sesshoumaru without fear and now you're telling me you're afraid of measly worms!?" He shouted.

"SO!!!!!!!!!????" She shouted as Inuyasha smirked and got into a battled stance, the others already fighting.

Sango was on a transformed Kirara, swinging her boomerang, trying to cut the worm. Miroku was down on the ground, swinging his staff and throwing ofundas to immobilize the worm, though it wasn't really working. From a safe distance, Shippo was sending out his `foxfire' to the demon. Inuyasha settled Kagome's bag on the ground beside her, before he took out Tetsusaiga from its scabbard, transforming it into a huge fang and then lunged towards the demon. He swung his sword, managing to slice the demon, though it wasn't deep. It always dodged away before they got a perfect hit, plus its skin was tough.

Kagome was slowly backing away from the worm as quietly as possible, her eyes shut in the process. She sensed the shards and realized that she had to help her friends. She opened her eyes and managed to see Sango being thrown off Kirara by the worm's tail and crashing into Miroku, who then took out Shippo who was behind him. Inuyasha shouted over to Kagome as it turned to him.

"Where are the shards?" He shouted.

"On his head!" She yelled back.

"Which end is the head?" Kagome gave him a blank look as a sweat-drop formed on her head.

"Um………maybe the end that's not on the ground!?" She gasped out. He just smirked at her before he went after the worm. Kagome shook her head as she got her bow from her back and strung an arrow, ready to shoot.

Inuyasha jumped over the worm. Before the worm had time to register what had happened, he brought his sword down on its head, slicing off the end of it. It rolled away and landed before Kagome's feet. She gave a shriek, before she unwillingly got out the three shards from half of the head, scraping it out with her arrow and cleaning them by pouring water over them using a water bottle that she got from her backpack. Once they were out, she picked them up, instantly purifying them and placed them in her pouch around her neck.

As she took hold of her bow again, she looked up to see the hanyou still fighting. Before Inuyasha released the wind scar, the tail of the worm knocked him towards a tree. By this time, Sango, Miroku, Kirara, and Shippo were up too. Kagome pulled her arrow back to shoot the worm as Sango got ready to throw her boomerang and Inuyasha got ready to release the wind scar, though none noticed that the others were going to attack too. Miroku has his hand on his beads in case he had to suck it up if Sango failed. As Kagome released her purified arrow, Inuyasha released the wind scar and Sango threw her boomerang at the same instant. All three hit the demon almost at the same time and luckily for Sango, her boomerang didn't get destroyed with the demon since it went through the demon before the wind scar reached it. With the purified arrow glowing with miko energy mixing with the wind scar and striking the demon, it made the demon explode. It's destroyed body parts went flying through the battlefield landing on the various members of their group, actually only on one member of the group, the one who was afraid of worms………

Once the explosion died down, the demon was in ruin. Those that were standing looked at each other and then at their miko friend covered in demon guts. Poor Inuyasha was getting a little nauseous from the smell of blood.

"Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!" Kagome whined as she started to pick out the demon parts from her. The others stifled a laugh at their distressed friend trying to get worm guts off of her.

"Get it off! Yuck! I HATE WORMS!!!!" She shrieked.

"Don't worry, there are hot springs in the forest. I smelled them before the demon attacked." Inuyasha managed to get out from his laughter. The others were already on the ground laughing their head off.

Kagome grabbed her bath supplies, a towel, and a change in clothes before she stepped towards the forest where Inuyasha had indicated the location of the hot springs. The others walked after her and came upon a clearing, while Kagome walked through the clearing heading towards the hot springs. They decided to make camp there for a while and settled themselves down and built a fire. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo instantly fell asleep after a tiring battle. Inuyasha, who was resting on a tree got up and told Kirara to keep guard as he leaped into the forest.

He landed by the hot springs and saw Kagome, her back to him, bathing. Kagome knew he was behind her, but didn't want him to ask her how she knew, so she slowly turned to the rock beside her that had shampoo on top of it. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him with a look on him that she never saw in him before. She quickly dunked into the water, knowing she now had a good explanation on how she knew he was there and shrieked.

"Inuyasha! What are you doing?" She stated, her face flushed as he still had that strange look on his face. Her voice snapped the hanyou out of his trance and he turned his back to her.

"Happy? It's not like I haven't seen you like that before. " He said while hiding his blush at being caught looking at her in that manner. A manner that a certain houshi would be proud of. After that statement left his lips, his blush deepened as he recalled all the other times that he had seen her naked, though they hadn't affected him like he had been affected when he learned that he loved the miko. The miko in question was just as red as she recalled those times as well. One time she saw him naked when he had come to her and Souta had taught him how to take modern baths. He had come into her room covered in soapsuds complaining that the water was too hot. She was so embarrassed that she threw her garbage can, hairspray, in other words, anything she could get her hand on at him. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and got back on track.

"Ya, but what are you doing here?" She asked.

"To talk about Sango and Miroku! We won't get interrupted." He quickly lied as inappropriate images flashed through his mind. He willed them to go away and focused on his friends' problem.

"What did he say?" Kagome said as she started to wash herself, seeing that Inuyasha had his back to her.

"All he said was that he had to make Sango hate him. He couldn't let her get close to him, whatever that means." Inuyasha said.

"Really? Well, whatever he's doing is sort of working. Sango feels that either Miroku is in love with someone else or her, though she really thinks that he loves someone else." Kagome stated, a puzzled look on her face. They both pondered this for a couple of seconds, before it dawned on them, well Kagome actually.

"OH! He doesn't want Sango to get close to him, because he's afraid that he's going to die soon and doesn't want to leave her heartbroken." She told the hanyou.

"Well, he's leaving her heartbroken anyways." He growled out.

"Ya, but it'll hurt less than if they were together and admitted their feelings and then he died."

"How would it be worse?"

"It would be worse because then she would always wonder how their family would have been like, how many children they would have had, their lost love and other stuff. If he doesn't tell her, then she would be saved from an even bigger heartbreak since he hasn't made his feelings known."

"OH! Is that a good thing?"

"No Inuyasha! Miroku isn't going to die anytime soon. We'll kill Naraku before that time." Kagome said confidently. Inuyasha smirked at her answer and even though he had his back to her, he could still see how she would look at that same moment. Her hands would be curled into fists and settled on her hips and her face would be scrunched up and her eyebrows drawn together, making her look even cuter than she would normally look. If he had looked at her, he would have matched his image to how she looked perfectly. Her voice called him out of his thoughts.

"Right Inuyasha?" She asked as she got out of the hot springs and got dressed.

"Right! Of course we're gonna kill that bastard." He said arrogantly with his trademark smirk. Kagome came up behind him and lightly yanked on one of ears playfully.

"All right dogboy!" She joked as she turned back to gather up her bath supplies. Suddenly she was lifted up from the ground, picked up bridal style and held right above the hot springs. She looked up to see the smirking hanyou.

"Say you're sorry for calling me dogboy!" He growled playfully.

"NEVER!" She bellowed out. Inuyasha made a show of almost dropping her, but she held on tight.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me." She stated. Inuyasha laughed as he settled her down on firm ground. Kagome just smiled as he laughed. She had gotten used to it, though the first year that they had travelled with each other, he had never laughed. When he had laughed the first time, she had thought he was sick or something and had stuck her thermometer into his mouth to check his temperature. When she realized that his laugh was for real, she was proud of herself because she had made him laugh and not anybody else. Now whenever he would laugh, that pride was still there telling her that it was she that first made him want to laugh and opened him up to laughter and amusement since his childhood.

She gathered up her clothes that she had worn from her battled. She had cleaned them, but they were still drying so she settled upon herself that she would dry them by the fire once they got back to camp. She turned back to the hanyou to see him gazing at her with a softened look in his eyes. She had begun to realize that he had looked at her like that for some time. She had seen that look before, but she really couldn't remember where.

They walked back in a comfortable silence. They walked into the camp to be greeted with three sleeping figures and a cat demon slowly drooping off as well. They both shared a laugh then at the sight before Inuyasha told the tired Kirara to go to sleep.

With their companions sleeping on one side of the clearing, Inuyasha and Kagome settled themselves on the other side so that they wouldn't disturb their friends. As Kagome placed her wet clothes by the fire to dry, Inuyasha took his time to see what she was wearing. She had on black low-rise kaki pants and a red short-sleeved tank top that stopped when it met her kakis, he had to admit she looked really good. Her clothes hugged her in all the right places and he was almost drooling. However, the thing that intrigued him was what was on the shirt. On the front of the shirt was a picture of a dog, not only that, but the dog was white and had amber eyes.

"It reminded me of you!" Kagome's voice interrupted him while he was staring at her chest. (A/N: Not in that way! LOL! Her shirt people!)

"How so?" He answered hotly, a scowl on his face. "Do I remind you of a lost puppy that follows you around everywhere." He retorted.

Kagome stepped back at his response. She looked down at her shirt, she wanted to cry and yell at him, but she knew better than that after three years. Maybe in the beginning when she didn't know that well she would have yelled at him for his response, but now she understood him. She knew he didn't like it when others teased him about being a dog and how dog were suppose to follow others and be sort of lap dogs. It was bad enough for him that Kouga called him `dog-turd'.

She walked to the hanyou who was sulking with his back to her facing away from the fire and facing the forest. She kneeled down behind him and placed her hands to hug him from behind. He stiffened at first, but then relaxed and leaned back towards her, while she leaned forward, her arms still around him. She knew that he could never stay mad at her for long. A smile graced her lips and she settled her forehead on his shoulder.

"That's not what I meant. He reminded me of you because of your hair and eyes. Besides I think it's cute." She said as she noticed how he turned his head to look at her by the movement of his head. Her forehead was still on his shoulder, looking down at the ground so she wasn't looking at him. She knew he was smiling and trying to apologize. He was never that good at apologizing.

"You don't have to apologize. I already know." She told him. She felt him nod and he got up, Kagome's arms sliding off him. Before she could question him, she was picked up bridal-style and lifted up into the tree by the hanyou. He settled himself on a branch, with his back to the base of the tree and Kagome in his lap. He draped his outer haori on top of Kagome and himself, well a red-faced Kagome actually, and settled down for the afternoon break. Underneath the haori, Inuyasha had wrapped his arms around Kagome's waist and leaned her back to his chest, with his chin on top of her head. Kagome sighed as she settled down and didn't say anything, thinking the spell would break if she did.

She closed her eyes and leaned against her love, though he didn't know at the time, and settled for one night or afternoon as it was, to believe that he loved her and wanted to be with her. With that though she slipped off into a dreamful sleep.

As her breathing got even Inuyasha looked down at his heart, well more likely the person who held his heart, body and soul. He gazed at her, the softened look upon his face again, just like the look he gave her at the hot springs. He tightened his hold on Kagome and leaned down to take in her scent, her unique scent with a trace of lavender. It always made his head spin. As he settled himself in the crook of her neck, he nuzzled her neck very lightly so he wouldn't disturb her. She shifted in her sleep and murmured something, which he caught with his superior hearing.

"Inuyasha………" She murmured as she settled down with a content smile upon her face.

Inuyasha had a full-blown smile or a smirk as some would say, when he heard this. He settled himself back at the crook of her neck, checked one more time for any danger before he fell promptly to sleep with HIS Kagome.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

One Week Later………………………… ……………..

"Inuyasha can we stop for lunch?" The tired miko yelled out to the hanyou who was at least 50 feet in front of her.

"NO! We gotta start looking for shards. It's been a week since we last got some!" The hanyou yelled back at the miko with a smirk gracing his face.

"Oh really? Well how in the name of Kami are you going to do that, all mighty Inuyasha when the rest of us can HARDLY STAND UP!?" She retorted back. That wiped the smirk of his face as he stopped and looked at the rest of the group and not just Kagome. Sango was a little bit behind Kagome, Hiraikotsu on her back, Kirara at her heels, walking slowly, dragging her feet. She looked close to dropping right then and there. Miroku with an unconscious Shippo (He had already dropped dead a little while ago) also dragging his feet, his staff supporting him as he walked.

Inuyasha smiled as he called for a break. The others sighed in relief as they settled down by the edge of the path that led to the west.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

One Hour Later………………………… …………….

"We might as well have lunch since we're here." Sango said as she got out the right utensils.

"So what are we going to have for lunch Kagome?" Shippo asked as the others turned to their miko friend. She was turned away from them, her back stiff and her breathing laboured.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" Inuyasha said worriedly as he settled himself behind her, his right hand reaching out to touch her right shoulder.

"I sense shards, five of them coming this way. The demon is strong, it's in a humanoid shape." Kagome said as she tried to find out more about the demon. It's youki felt familiar.

Inuyasha took a sniff of the air and started growling.

"NARAKU!" He rumbled out. Kagome gave a gasp when he said this.

"One of his detachments, a new one!" Kagome informed them as the others got ready for the battle that awaited.

Suddenly a man stepped out of the forest, though he was far from a man. While his shape was that of a man, he had a scorpion tail and his arms and hands were pincers. His red eyes spoke volume to the gang, informing them that he was the one that they were after. His black hair was pulled back in a ponytail as he sneered at the group. His clothing consisted of a simple blue kimono.

"Give us the shards and it'll be much easier!" Inuyasha shouted as he stood in front of Kagome and unsheathed Tetsusaiga and transformed it to the great fang.

"I think not half-breed! I will take those shards as well as kill that miko of yours." He screeched out glaring at Kagome, while snapping his pincers.

"Not on your life buddy." Inuyasha roared as he went after the scorpion man named Sasori. Miroku, Sango, and Kirara were behind him as they all attacked, while Shippo went behind a tree to seek refuge. Inuyasha dodged at their attacks and striked back with his own attacks, which the others blocked.

This went on for the next couple of minutes, until the scorpion managed to unarm the monk. He quickly swung at Miroku. Before anybody knew what happened, the monk went sailing into a tree. An enraged Sango went after Sasori and that was her mistake, attacking in rage. He quickly ripped Haraikotsu from her and grabbed her in between his pincers and squeezed a little before he threw her into a tree. Blood was pouring from her wounds and Kagome looked on in horror. She grabbed her arrows, just in time to see the hanyou and Kirara receiving the same treatment. As the evil demon's eyes set on her, she pulled back her arrow and let loose, he quickly dodged the arrows, on account of the shards increasing his speed. He caught Kagome in pincers and snapped shut, blood began dripping from the wounds she received from the pincers.

Kagome faintly heard the yells of Shippo and Inuyasha as she willed herself to raise the bow in her arms, which she hadn't let go in the pain. She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and pulled back and let loose at point blank range. It hit dead centre as she was released from the pincers. She heard Inuyasha call out the wind scar and destroyed the demon. All five shards landed close to the miko and she reached out to collect them in her right hand, purifying them instantly.

Her vision was getting a little bit blurry from the blood loss, she needed to be bandaged up. A face blocked her vision. Instantly she knew who it was. It was Inuyasha with his amber coloured eyes. He looked down at her with a concerned face, yet his gaze had that softened look. Then, it hit her. Her father always looked at her mother like that, the look of undying love. With that thought racing through her mind, she fell into unconsciousness.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*

A/N: How was that! It was sort of a semi-cliffhanger. Please review to tell me! For all this Sess fans and Sess/Rin fans, stay tuned for the next chapter! Also, if anybody has a suggestion for Kagome's dad's name, feel free to tell me!

Note: Was Sesshoumaru left or right arm cut off. I'm thinking it's the left arm. Also, where does he live? A den or palace? If anybody knows please tell me by either emailing me or put in your review. Thanks.

R & R

Ja ne