Love Blossoms In Time - Chapter 1: The Sandbox

Disclaimer: I do NOT InuYasha in any way, shape, or form!

A/N: Hey! This is just something that popped into my head when I was having a little brainstorming session. It's going to be my first multi-chapter story! I wanted to take it slow and start with just one-shots, but this idea came and once I started I couldn't stop! The length of this will depend on how my inspiration flows. So far I have a couple of cute little chapters forming in my brain :). Anyway, I'm rambling. Let me just let you get to the story. So here it is. Enjoy!

P.S.: There are demons, hanyous, and so on and so on in this. I'm a bit rusty on the topic though, so I may need help at times on the subject so I appreciate all that I can get.

P.S.S.:

Kagome is five.

InuYasha is five.

Kouga is five.

Sango is six in a half.

(I will be putting up all the main charactersages like this in the beginning of each chapter. You'll see why as the story progresses.)

Chapter 1

The Sandbox

"Patty cake! Patty cake! Baker's man! Bake me a cake as fast as you can!"

Kagome's little voice rang across the playground as she played the timeless game of Patty Cake with a little Sango, who went through the motions of the game unenthusiastically. Kagome on the other hand, happily sang along to the song, clapping her hands against the older girl's. Sango rolled her eyes when they were finally finished.

"Okay, we finished playing like I promised! Now let's go play in the sandbox." Sango declared, sticking like glue to her tomboy attitude. Kagome attempted to roll her eyes, unsuccessfully. Sango laughed at the younger girl's try, ruffling her hair in a friendly, teasing notion.

"Fine." Kagome huffed, allowing her friend to pull her away to the sandbox area. Sango cheerfully skipped over to the sandbox, ignoring Kagome's reluctant vibe. Only images of giant sand castles floated through her mind.

Shouting brought Sango out of her little reverie in a flash. Both girls looked over to the sandbox to find a brawl taking place. The participants in it: a certain white haired hanyou, InuYasha, and black haired wolf demon, Kouga. Surrounding them were a bunch of other little children wondering what was going on and why they couldn't play in the sandbox.

"What's going on?" Kagome asked one of the bystanders, a girl around her age.

"Kouga and InuYasha are fighting again." The little girl responded in an annoyed tone of voice. She crossed her arms over her chest and furrowed her brow in an angry expression. "It's not fair! They always fight in the sandbox and then nobody else gets to play." The girl continued, stomping her sandaled foot on the ground to add effect. She glared at the two boys, who where hogging up the sandbox.

Kagome turned her attention to the two boys, tuning in to what they were saying.

"You did too kick sand on me!" Little InuYasha yelled at little Kouga angrily. His face was red with anger, a slight contrast to his milky white hair that fell in long sheets on either side of his face. The two white fluffs for ears atop his head twitched occasionally in irritation.

"Nah ah! No I didn't!" Little Kouga yelled back, arms crossed over his chest. His black hair was tied in its usual high ponytail. His face scrunched up in annoyance at the little hanyou before him.

"Ah huh! Yea you did! And you keep knocking over my sand castle! And you're not giving me enough room to build anything!" InuYasha yelled in complete frustration, his fist clenched tightly at his sides.

"You're just a big baby!" Kouga retorted, wearing a smug look on his face at such a brilliant comeback. He smiled maliciously at InuYasha. "What do you have to say to that, mutt?" Kouga asked laughing meanly.

"Don't call me that!" InuYasha screamed before lunging at Kouga. The two rolled around in the sand, pulling each others' hair and shirts. All the other children watched unsure of what to do. A couple looked around to see if any parents were coming over to break them up, others simply walked away, and still others chose either InuYasha or Kouga's side and cheered them on. Surprisingly no parent made their way over to the fighting children to break them up as usual.

"They're so stupid." Sango rolled her eyes at their ridiculous behavior. "Come on Kagome! Let's go play on the swings instead." Sango took the girl's hand and started pulling her off toward the swings.

"But I wanna play in the sandbox." Kagome whined wiggling out of Sango's grip she carefully made her way over to the two boys killing each other in the sand. She stood over them, her hands on her hips. "Stop it you two, right now!" She yelled at them in her best grown-up voice. The two boys stopped to look up at her. Grains of sand clung to their clothes. "Now you two better stop fighting right now or else I'm gonna beat you both up." She told them sternly. Both boys separated from each other, sitting crossed legged on the sand in front of her.

"You can't beat us up! You're just a girl." Kouga said from his spot on the sand. He crossed his arms stubbornly.

"You wanna bet?" Kagome glared at him. She reached over and punched him hard on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Kouga exclaimed. He jumped to his feet and was poised to push Kagome down onto the sand when instead he found himself pushed back onto the sand instead. He looked up to find InuYasha stationed protectively in front of Kagome, a low growl emitting from the hanyou's throat. To any adult the growl would be anything but menacing, but to the little wolf demon it was threatening as hell.

"You leave InuYasha alone or I'm gonna tell my mommy that you almost pushed me down on the ground." Kagome threatened Kouga from over InuYasha's shoulder. She stood on her tip toes to fit her head on InuYasha's shoulder to look down smugly at the little wolf demon on the ground.

"Fine." Kouga agreed reluctantly, refusing to look either of them in the eyes. He glared down at the sand.

"Yay!" Kagome squealed as though she had won a huge victory at war and not just a small fight at the sandbox. She wrapped her arms around InuYasha's neck from behind in a reverse bear hug. She let go of him seconds later, walking around him to look down at Kouga, not noticing how red InuYasha's cheeks were.

Kagome kindly outstretched a hand to help Kouga up. "Come on. Let's build the biggest, most gigantic-est sand castle in the whole wide world." She told him, her eyes lighting up at the thought.

Kouga took her hand and let her help him pull himself up. "Okay." He answered simply. Kagome clapped her hands together happily when Kouga was back on his feet. The little wolf demon softened a bit at the sight.

Kagome called over to the other little children enthusiastically telling them about her plan to make a giant sand castle. All their eyes lit up as well as they fell under the spell of Kagome. Kouga and InuYasha stood a short distance away watching her awestruck.

Kouga caught the look in InuYasha's eyes and glared at him. "Paws off mutt, she's my woman." Kouga told him. He had no idea what it meant, but he had often heard his father refer to his mother as "his woman" so he simply said it. InuYasha, who also had no idea what it meant, didn't like the sound of it and growled at Kouga all the same.

Before he could lunge for Kouga again however, Kagome was calling him over to her with her warm smile and shiny blue eyes, her voice was sweet and welcoming. He started his way over to her, pausing only to throw a smug smirk at back at Kouga, who stuck his tongue out in return.

He was barely even a foot away from her when an enticing smell grabbed the attention of his sensitive nose. He sniffed at the air, much like a dog, until his hanyou senses told him the smell was coming from Kagome. He deeply inhaled, drowning in her heavenly scent, letting his eyes slowly close.

"InuYasha?" Kagome's confused voice brought him back. He snapped open his eyes, coming face to face with the curious girl, her scent filling his nostrils. He jumped back in surprise, causing Kagome to do the same. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" The girl asked concerned. InuYasha responded in his signature "Keh" shrugging off Kagome's concern.

"Then what were you doing? You're eyes were closed and you kept sniffing the air. Like this," Kagome closed her eyes and stuck up her nose, sniffing the air in a way nearly identical to InuYasha's. "You looked like a puppy." Kagome giggled when she was done mimicking him.

"Keh. It was nothing." InuYasha snapped embarrassedly. He watched as Kagome's happy smile turned into a slight frown. He watched guiltily as she nervously bit her lip. "I mean," He started again, grasping for words, but only coming up with the truth. "You just smell really good." He mumbled under his breath, deciding to tell her the truth. He felt his stomach do a flip flop as he watched Kagome's face light up in a huge smile. A light pink dusted the girl's cheeks.

"Thanks InuYasha. I think your ears are really cute." Kagome beamed at his blushing face. "Now come on! You have to help me build this castle!" Kagome exclaimed, grabbing his wrist and pulling him over to where the other children were chattering excitedly with one another. Even Kouga stood talking to the girl Kagome had talked to earlier, who had been upset about Kouga and InuYasha fighting in the sandbox to begin with.

Then the serious business of building the most gigantic-est sand castle in the whole wide world came into play.

A/N: Hey! Did you like it? Fingers crossed that you did! Sorry if I'm not very accurate on how a five year old would act. I haven't been five in a long time.

P.S: The rest of the story will consist of little scenes like the one you just read taking you throughout the life of Kagome and InuYasha together. I don't even know if I could call this a story. In my head it's really just a bunch of short, sweet scenes revolving around the same people as they get older. I'm new to fanfiction so I don't know what the special fanfiction term is (or if there even is one) for what this is I'm writing, so I guess we'll just call it a story for now. If it does have another special name, feel free to let me know. I hope that makes sense… Well just grin and bear with me. I have a really good feeling about this and I want to try my best to make it great for you guys.

P.S.S.: The rating will be K+ for now but it might go up as Kagome and InuYasha get older for language because let's face it, all teenagers curse. I for one curse like a trucker in the company of my friends.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Lots Of Love,

Runaway Smiles :)