AN:Hello everyone!!This is my first story so..ummm.. yeah that is it I hope you enjoy!!
This was going to be a one-shot but writing it chapter wise will probably get me to finish it faster...i hope!!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA!! that completely burst my bubble!!

Chapter 1:Unbelievable!!

"I cant believe that you would endanger our friends like that wench!"

The words hit Kagome harder than the youkai the group had battled earlier had.

"And its all because you cant shoot straight"

The group had been surprised when a youkai had popped out of nowhere looking for the jewel shards. The attack had shocked Kagome that she did not acknowledge that the youkai was heading directly towards her until Inuyasha had pushed her forcefully out of the way.

Piece of Crap!

Kagome where is the jewel shard?

ummmm...

Hurry up!

Give me a minute...ummm...it is in its neck.

The youkai had been very fast and had put up a very good defense against Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku but with one well placed punch Inuyasha was sent flying into a big boulder a couple of meters away.

"Inuyasha!!" Kagome yelled wondering if he was okay. She had been standing with Shippou out of harms way but as soon as she saw Inuyasha get hit she ran towards him.As she was making her way towards him, she saw that the youkai was poised to attack Miroku and Sango and not stopping to think she grabbed an arrow and let it fly.

It all would have worked out just fine if the arrow had hit its intended target but it did not. What it did succeed in doing was starling Miroku and Sango which unfortunately gave the youkai enough time to attack, sending both Miroku and Sango flying.

" NO Sango.. Miroku!! Kagome yelled hoping that her friends were okay, but she did not have enough time to check on her freind for the youkai had started advancing on her.

Grabbing her arrow, she prepared herself but the youkai was too fast for her,after all the demon had seen what she was capable of and had an advantage.
With the youkai so focused on his seemingly easy prey it never saw the blinding flash of light that came from a royally ticked of hanyou.

"Keh!!Think you could defeat me, bastard?

Kagome just stood there, still trying to process what had happened, but after a quick shake of her head she remembered the jewel shard and went to retrive it before the youkai could regenerate.With that done she quickly went to check up on Miroku and Sango worried at what she might encounter but was greatly relieved to see that the pair were alive and breathing but sporting numerous cuts and bruises.

"Are you okay?" she quietly asked.

" Do not worry Kagome! We are just fine." replied Miroku all the while dusting his robes off.

"And Sango are you okay too"

"Ohhhhh yeah I'm fine don't worry that youkai barley got me!
"Are you sure?"

"Yes dont worry Kagome we are fine!"

That's when Inuyasha had decided to make his entrance and well... the rest did not go so well.

"How could you do that?Are you stupid on purpose or were you just born stupid? How long have you been practicing and still you can't hit anything. If you were any bit as good as Kikyou you would have been able to hit that thing."

Silence was all that followed Inuyasha's little tirade. As soon as those words were out of his mouth Inuyasha wished he could take them back. He knew that she had not missed on purpose and that she had tried her best but the words had come out all wrong like they always did. Silence continued to shroud the tiny group, Inuyasha worried about Kagome turned around to look at her. She was kneeling beside Sango her bangs covering her eyes and her small hands balled up into fists.
" Ohhhhh crap here it comes , thought Inuyasha preparing himself for the sit or rather sits that were sure to come but what happened next surprised not only him but everyone else as well.
"I give up."

There was utter silence, no birds chirped, no crickets sang and the wind no longer blew. It seemed as if the whole world upon having heard Kagome's statement had shut down, hoping that if no movement was made then the declaration would not be true.She had said it gently but she might a well have yelled it out at the top of her lungs because the group continued to look at her in shock. This was the last thing that they had expected they had thought that this would be the same as all of the other times.

Inuyasha says something stupid.

Kagome yells back.

He compares her to Kikyou.

She sits him. He yells some more.

She sits him again and goes home.

What had happened? Were was the firey and stubborn young woman they they had come to know and love for the person that stood in her place was a tired and broken young girl.
Kagome feeling the tension in the air looked up from having been staring at her fingers to meet the shocked faces of her companions. At that moment the only thing that they resembled were a group of fish that had been plucked out of the sea.. To say that Inuyasha was shocked would be an understatement. As soon as he had brought up Kikyou he had wanted her to start yelling and sitting him then he would apologize and that would be the end of that but when he heard those three little words he knew, no, felt that something was not right.

"I give up." Kagome said a little louder this time rising her face to meet the stares of her friends. She was not crying instead she had a look of determination in her eyes that was desperatly tring to cover something more. With a shakey sigh she continued, " Its just that i have been thinking lately and i realized that... I realized that I have been selfish-"

"What the fu-"

"Kagome-chan what-"

"Kagome-sama what-"

"Kagome, no-"

She raised her hand to call for silence."Please you guys listen to me for I do not know if I will ever be able to finish telling you if you interrupt me." With that the group settled down to listen to what the young miko had to say.

"Its true I am selfish and it took me three years to realize that I am what is holding the group back. Sure I may hate Naraku but I dont and never will be able to understand just how strongly all of you want to kill him. The hold that he has on all of you is nothing compared to what he has done to me. The only thing I do is hinder our journey,honestly how many times have I been attacked, threatened or kidnapped? I can't fight and I can't protect any of you."

"Oi!! wench that's my fuing job!

She turned around and gave him a look that made his insides crawl. This look wasn't the normal Inuyasha-shut-up-or-I-will-sit-you but a completely new and different look.It seemed as if her eyes were willing him to understand the reasons behind her decision, the reason for why she was doing what she was doing.

"Please Inuyasha... let me finish"

He keh'd but continued to fidget uncomfortably in his place. He didn't understand, he couldn't understand that she had tried to show him just how broken,
bruised and tired her soul was but he couldn't see. By God how he wanted to understand but he couldn't see!

"I cant protect any of you and im afraid that one of you will get badly hurt,I want to finish collecting the jewel shards as soon as possible but I know that I am not the one to help."She got up and paced for a little trying to stall the inevitable but knew that she had to finish what she had started. "So ...what i wanted to say was that I give up. I need to know that you are prepared for whatever will come and I am not helping which I why I went to Kikyou to ask her something..."

She broke off, looking at the even more shocked faces of her friends except for Inuyasha... she was already hurting and looking at his face would have hurt even more. She laughed a sad little laugh and continued, "Don't be so shocked I mean everything Inuyasha said is true. I have always know that i'm not as good as Kikyou I mean I'm not stupid, I guess I never really wanted to accept it, but, its the truth. After all everyone knows that it is ,but unlike you inuyasha everyone is too nice to not say anything, well at least not when I'm around."

"Deep down I have always known but I still had a small ray of hope that I could one day release myself from Kikyou's shadow and be free. Free to be me without worrying about what everyone else thinks, free from the expectations that everyone had because I look like her. But enough is enough, its time for me to accept reality and that's why I am giving up. No more trying to pretend to be someone I'm not, endangering loved ones. NO.." she stated forcefully with so much conviction that her words rang clear and firm through the clearing, "I am putting an end to it."

Grabbing the vial of jewel shards around her neck she took it off she and calmly walked straight to the silent hanyou; looking him straight in the eyes she grabbed his hands and gently placed the bottle in them,"Inuyasha I'm so very sorry for all of the trouble that I have caused you but i have one last favor to ask of you."

At this the hanyous eyes became wider, he could not think or speak for the situatuin was getting far out of control... "What was going on??"

AN: hmmmm... thats it for this chapter..it probably doesnt make a lot of sense but it will do not worry!!
Please review!!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo