Chapter 2

Disclamer: I do not own Inuyasha I just change things to suit me!

Finally Free

Inuyasha took his time getting back to camp. First, he found the perfect spot he could take Kagome and tell her how he felt. It was near a river, but it had an amazing view. He would bring her here at sunset to tell her. He went back to the campsite, but when he got there, Kagome was no where in sight. Miroku was staring into the fire, as if trying to see something in its depths; Sango was staring away from Miroku with a look of disgust and dislike on her face. She looked at Inuyasha when he walked into the camp and her dislike deepened. Shippo was sitting on the ground, looking as if his world had ended, petting Kirara, Sango's demon cat.

Inuyasha couldn't understand why everyone was so upset. He sat down next to Miroku and looked into the fire, too. It held no mystery for him; he didn't understand how the monk could be staring so intently. He looked up and around for Kagome again, then he noticed all her camping gear was gone. Where was she?

"Miroku," he started, the monk jumped as if he'd threatened him. "Where's Kagome?"

"She, um, decided to go train alone for a while." Miroku answered, "She said she'd be back in a couple of days."

"A couple of days?" Inuyasha repeated, looking at the Monk as if he were stupid, "do you know what could happen to her on her own for a couple of days?"

"Why do you care, Inuyasha?" Sango said, rudely. "You go off after Kikyo every time she gets near, without a thought to Kagome! She needs some alone time, so she can straighten out her feelings. Didn't you think about that when you left last night? Or were you just so eager to see her that you didn't care if you hurt the one person in this group who cares for you unconditionally? If it weren't for Kagome, our group wouldn't be together, and you keep driving her off! One of these days, she will get tired of it, and go live with Koga, if she hasn't already. Then what will you do? Go be with Kikyo permanently? It's what you want, isn't it?" Sango stopped her tirade, not because she was done, but because she saw Inuyasha blanche, which was unlike him.

"I don't want Kagome to go live with Koga," Inuyasha said, "how could you even think that? I love her, and I'm finally free to tell her this, and she's gone? I went to Kikyo last night to beg my freedom!" Now it was Sango's turn to blanche and Miroku ducked his head even lower, however, Shippo began to look hopeful, but Inuyasha was too angry to notice and continued, "I have always loved Kagome, but didn't think it was fair to her since Kikyo had bound me to go to hell with her. Now Kikyo has freed me. She doesn't want me to suffer anymore and wishes my happiness. She even acknowledged that Kagome is a better match for me than she could ever be. And now she's gone. Which way did she go?" He asked, with almost a sob in his voice.

"She went North," Miroku said, "but you won't be able to find her because I gave her a charm to protect her from being found by those she didn't want to be found by. Unless she breaks the charm, you won't be able to smell her."

"That doesn't matter," Inuyasha said confidently, "As long as I know what direction to look in, I will find her." He headed North, looking for the woman he loved, confident that Miroku's charm would protect her until he found her.

Meanwhile, someone else was also looking for Kagome. Sesshomaru was coming south looking for the young priestess and his brother; he needed them to do a favor for him. Unfortunately, he had lost track of her scent, and needed a more menial way to find her. He sent Jaken to find some men who had experience in tracking down people to bring her to him. However, Jaken hired some of the worst men he could find to track down the priestess, and told them that while his master would make it worth their while to bring her alive, it was not necessary to bring her unharmed. The men looked at each other and smirked, wondering who would be the first to have the young woman they were looking for.

Well that's it on chap. 2! Sorry it's still really short, but the chapters won't get longer until something eventful happens. Right now, I'm setting the stage for you. Don't forget to let me know what you think, good or bad! Thanks!