Disclaimer: I had fun writing this story. As you know that I don't own them. I wish I did. I think that they are really awesome characters and I love to watch the series and read the stories on fanfic. You'll have to forgive me if I misspelled any of the Japanese words. I'm still learning to speak and read the language.

Friends?

Inuyasha watched them from a tree where they were setting up camp. It had been four years since Kagome had released him from goshinbakuro. (the sacred tree) They had fought from the very first day that he had met her even before she had taken the arrow out of him and the tree. She had ended Kikyo's curse.

Now he was up here steering clear of her because he sensed a fight in the air and had no desire to be osuwari'd. He didn't want to confront her in front of anyone else though. He waited. He knew that she and Sango would find a hot spring to bathe in but he would find a way to talk to her then.

"Inuyasha, won't you come down so that you can eat." Kagome's voice called to him. "Keh, you worry too much wench!" He jumped down anyways but cringed when he saw the look Sango threw at him.

Kagome had gone back serving the soup from the pot that she had brought with her. "What is that?"

"Beef vegetable soup," she answered, "I mixed it with the ramen noodles so that we could have something a little bit different and yet still easy to make." She answered before she sat.

"keh, what's the matter with plain ramen noodles?" he muttered.

"I heard that Inuyasha." Her bowl was sat down not even noticing the hot liquid sloshing onto her hands.

"Crap!" Inuyasha ran after her. With his sense of smell it wasn't hard to find her. He found her near the hot springs that he figured she would be using later. "Kagome, what's wrong?"

"What do you care?" She whispered stepping away from him.

"What do you mean?"

"You just keh, and act like any extra effort that anyone takes is not such a big deal whether or not we are doing it for you or someone else." She turned away from him and began to climb a tree not too far from her.

Inuyasha shook his head. He had noticed that she had taken up tree climbing not too long ago. He couldn't remember the first time he had seen her do it but she had started doing that when she wanted to get away from everybody and to be honest he didn't really know where she had gotten it from. It wasn't like anyone else in the group did the same thing that she was doing. He sat in the trees so he could protect her and the group. He didn't tell anyone this, though he suspected Miroku knew at least that he liked to watch her without being noticed.

"What do you mean that I don't care?"

"I mean just that. As if none of us matters to you, after all of this time and yet you run off to… her every time without a second thought."

Inuyasha paused for a moment, "Kagome what are you talking about?" He jumped up to the branch she had climbed to.

"Why do you have to come up here?" She tried to shove him off but his balance was far better than hers when it came to staying in trees.

"This is where you are Wench. It's easier to talk to you this way." He touched her cheek but she turned away.

She measured the jump to the ground mentally. She knew that wasn't going to be able to get away from him that easily but she could at least try. She couldn't think straight.

She started to make the jump down but Inuyasha took her hand and wouldn't let her down without him. "You're going to kill yourself!" He muttered loud enough for her to hear before he joined he in the jump down. She was pounding against his chest and crying by the time that they jumped to the ground. "Oi! What is it with you today! One would think that you didn't know what you wanted to be. You're angry you're sad, and you're more confused than I have ever seen you."

"What would you know about it!" She yelled.

"What would I know about what he yelled back?"

"About feelings, about women, about humans, about us?" She shot at him.

The last part caught him by surprise but again let it drop for the moment. "Remember that I'm part human? Women I will never understand! Feelings….." he didn't know what to say.

"You have them you just don't show them! You hide them with your keh's and your attitude." She turned and threw a rock into the forest.

"I show them just in a different way than you see." He was hurt slightly that she didn't know.

"Yeah, you show them. When Kouga tries to claim me as his woman, but then when it comes to me you don't say anything but to cross your arms most of the time. You show them when Kikyo has tried to take my life, or even when Naraku tried to kidnap me. How about when the water god in that village was trying to get me and those two boys? How about when Tsubaki kidnapped to bring back Kikyo? How about when…" the whole time she was yelling out instances she didn't notice exactly where she was. "YOU show them when we're in danger but you don't any other time Inuyasha! Why not any other time! Don't touch me!" She backed away and came up sputtering water out her mouth. "Why didn't you tell me that was back there?"

"You wouldn't let me talk." He answered gruffly. He didn't care that she was wet and angry, which by the way when she had that fire in her eyes he thought she was gorgeous. It was still burning as bright as when she had been yelling at him a few moments ago.

She tried to climb out but found herself pushed back into the water by the hanyou. "You…" She was stopped when he was in there with her almost fully clothed with exception of his hoari.

"No more!" He ordered her. He had her cornered on a rock. "I don't know how to talk to you sometimes. I'm afraid I might say something wrong." He glared at her. "I don't know that I can always control myself around you or them. Look at what I am! I am a half demon that could possibly be the end of everyone I know and love if everything were to go wrong." She opened her mouth to speak. "Iie," he shook his head. "You listen. I tend to especially lose control when it comes to you being in danger. What do you think that Naraku, Kouga or someone else just as dangerous were to know that!" He remembered how every time with the exception of once that he had changed in to a full youkai when she was in danger. Sesshomaru had forced it out of him; well now that he thought of it so had Kaguya with her mirror. "I'm trying everything in my power to protect you! They can't know that I'm so in love with you that I can't think straight, that I see you in my dreams, that your scent is intoxicating to me, or even that I have considered taking you as my mate!"

Kagome didn't know what to say to him. He had never talked this much in one of their arguments before. "Would it make such a difference if we were to be..." She didn't finish.

"What do you think? Naraku already uses you to get to me and has done it more than once through the years. He'll continue to do so."

"Then what's stopping you."

"Other than that, I don't know how you feel and I didn't want to ruin our friendship." Kagome had unshed tears in her eyes when she looked at him. She blinked releasing the silent salty tears down her cheek.

"Onegai, don't do that." He wiped the trail of tears off her cheek. Almost on instinct he kissed the wet trail down her cheeks. "I hate when you cry."

Kagome had stopped noticing that he had her backed against a rock. What she did notice that his other hand wrapped around her when he wiped the tears from her cheeks, him gently kissing the wet salty trail of water down her cheek and the way that his hand kept her from turning away from him when she couldn't look at his begging eyes any longer. "Don't. Look at me." He whispered. "I love you Kagome Higurashi, I have for a long time, and I will protect you with everything that I have in me." He promised before caressing her cheek with the backs of his clawed fingers. "I want you to be mine." He whispered before he touched her lips gently.

Kagome was vaguely aware of his proposal when he kissed her. She hadn't known that this was coming, never heard him talk like this or that he had improved so much in kissing. She wasn't questioning him. Her arms had snaked around his neck pulling him closer not allowing him to pull away.

He didn't want to. He had pulled her closer to him around the waist and at the back of her head. He hadn't realized just how much he wanted to hold her and touch her like this. They stopped breathless. "I won't lose you." He whispered finally noticing that they were both very wet wearing their clothes. "Keh," he whispered, "we're all wet."

-In the bushes-

"Well, it's about time." Sango sighed in relief. "I was wondering if he was ever going to make a move." Miroku sighed as his hand made its way to her. "Don't even think about it." She gave him a glare. She didn't want to be caught spying on her best friend and sister. She found it amazing that Inuyasha hadn't heard them. Shippo had tried to push her hand away from his mouth and had already tried to cover his eyes but he wouldn't allow for it.

Miroku sighed as they walked away from there. "Lucky guy. You think we should make them explain why they are all wet when they return?"

Sango smirked. "That just might be fun." She answered.

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Hey as I said in the beginning of the chapter this is a one shot. It's my first one and I will not be adding anything else to this story. I have another story to finish and it is almost finished. Anyways I don't really think that there are enough one shots of Inuyasha and Kagome.