Hhmm, it seems like you all liked the tree scene. Don't worry, there's more to come! ^_~

Man in black suit finally left, but he threatened to come back *cringe*. Let's keep that from happening!

Disclaimer: I do not Inuyasha or any of it's characters.

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Chapter 4

Kaede entered the hut about a half an hour later.

"I'm glad to see you are all awake." she said as she put her few groceries away.

"Well it's about time, old hag!" Inuyasha snarled as he followed her into the hut. He had been sitting in his tree thinking while he waited for her to return. He was getting more and more impatient as he waited.

"You've wasted precious time while we sat on our butts waiting for you, you know!" he growled. "We could've been long gone by now!"

"Anxious to start the journey I see." Kaede replied calmly.

"Keh, I just want to get this done and over with!" He was beginning to lose his patience.

"I picked up some information that ye may find useful." She walked over to her usual spot and slowly sat down. She noticed Inuyasha getting antsy and made sure she took her time to get situated.

"Just spit it out already! We don't have all day you know!" Inuyasha snapped. Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. He looked at her and she slowly shook her head. He relaxed a little. He hadn't even seen her get up from her seat on the floor.

"Calm down Inuyasha!" Kaede said sternly. "Sit down and I will tell ye what I have learned." Inuyasha reluctantly sat down in his usual position. Kagome sat next to him, ready to calm him if he began to loose his temper again. Sango and Miroku came closer to the others and Shippo climbed into Kagome's lap. She absently petted his head, waiting for Kaede to begin. When Kaede seen that everyone was situated, she began.

"I went to talk to a friend of mine. Her husband has been digging wells for many years. I thought he might have some information on the Bone Eater well or possibly knew someone who did."

"Did he know anything?" Kagome asked anxiously. The though of going home again excited her.

"Patience child, I am getting there. He told me of a man who lives in a village not far from here. His name is Tomeo Yamakashi. He may be one of the people we seek."

"How can you be certain?" Sango asked.

"He told me Tomeo was a friend of his father's, who also dug wells for a living. Tomeo moved away a long time ago and never returned."

"Well, it's not much to work from, but it's something." Inuyasha replied coolly. "Where exactly is this village?"

"It's about a two day journey in the East."

"Let's get going then!" Inuyasha called to the rest of the group as he walked out the door. Kagome sighed . Kaede looked at her.

"Good luck child." Kagome nodded and left to catch up to the others.

The first day of travel was pretty peaceful. Inuyasha walked ahead of the rest, occasionally looking back to be sure they were all still there. They were traveling much slower then he liked.

"Can we please stop and rest?" Kagome pleaded. They had been walking for hours and she was exhausted.

"Keh, weak humans!" Inuyasha mumbled.

"SIT BOY!"

*BAM*

Inuyasha's face hit the dirt. He quickly jumped back to his feet.

"What the hell was that for!" he screamed.

"Hmph! Serves you right! Not all of us are blessed with an endless supply of energy you know!" Kagome replied coolly. Inuyasha mumbled something incomprehensible and jumped into the nearest tree. Kagome sat down in the grass and leaned back on a tree. She let out a loud sigh.

"It feels good to finally be able to rest." She stretched her legs out in front of her and Shippo climbed onto her lap. She smiled down at him and patted him on the head. Sango and Miroku were resting under a nearby tree. Miroku took this as an opportunity to try to grope her. He didn't walk away empty handed, however. He got a nice slap in the face, which left a huge red handprint, and a very angry Sango for his effort.

A few minutes later, Inuyasha jumped down from his tree. He had been watching Kagome from the solitude of his tree, high enough that he couldn't see him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her beautiful smile and soft hair, gently blowing in the breeze. He watched her for a few minutes when his stomach rumbled, interrupting his thoughts.

"Do you have any food, Kagome?" he asked shyly. She looked up at him and smiled. 'He's so cute when he does that!' She shook the thought from her head.

"Yeah, I'm sure I have something in here." she replied while rummaging through her bag. Shippo climbed onto her shoulder, suddenly realizing his own hunger.

"Do you have anything for me too?" he asked pleadingly. Kagome took her head out of her bag.

"Of course Shippo!" she replied, pulling out a few bags of potato chips. "I have enough for everyone!" Sango and Miroku heard her yell and went to get their share.

"It's going to be getting dark soon." Inuyasha said after he had eaten his fill. "We should travel a bit more and find someplace to spend the night." Everyone agreed and they were off again. They hadn't gone very far when they heard a rustle in the bushes. Inuyasha jumped between Kagome and the bush, ready to protect her at all costs.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said quietly. "I sense a jewel shard." No sooner had she finished her sentence, a wolf-like youkai jumped out from behind the bushes. It had gray fur covering most of it's body and the snout of a wolf. It's hands were not really hands but paws. Kagome saw the shard as soon as it jumped out.

"The shard is in its forehead!" she yelled and the fight began. Inuyasha attacked first, pulling Tetsusaiga and slashing at the beast in one fluid movement. The youkai easily dodged and jumped at Inuyasha, claws out, ready to strike. It swung it's arm downward, aiming for his head. Inuyasha dodged the attack and hit the youkai in its side with Tetsusaiga. The youkai flew into a nearby tree. It slowly got up.

"Damn hanyou, you're going to pay for that!" he growled.

"Doubt it!" Inuyasha chimed back at him. "There's no way you can even touch me with attacks like that!" The now very peeved youkai lunged at Inuyasha again, only this time, he didn't try to dodge it. Instead, he parried with an attack of his own. He hit the youkai in the forehead, killing it. The shard fell to the ground. Kagome slowly picked up the shard and put it with the others.

"So something good did come out of this trip!" Inuyasha said without thinking. He realized his mistake when he seen the hurt in Kagome's eyes. This journey was very important to her.

"Kagome...I..." he began.

"Forget it Inuyasha." she said sadly. "Let's just find a place to camp for the night. The sun is already setting."

They walked on a bit further before finding a place to stay for the night. They started a fire and prepared for bed. Within an hour they had all fallen asleep, except Inuyasha. He sat in a tree and watched Kagome. 'How could I have said that! I know how important this is to her!' he scolded himself. Kagome suddenly became restless in her sleep. He jumped down from his tree and quietly walked over to her. He knelt down and gently stroked her soft hair.

"Shh...It's ok, it's only a dream." he whispered to her. She calmed down a bit and once again slept soundly. He got up and started to walk back to his tree.

"No, don't go..." Kagome mumbled. She was still asleep, but must have somehow sensed his presence. He once again knelt down next to her and stroked the side of her face. She smiled. He slowly laid down next to her.

"I'm right here." he whispered. Despite his effort to stay awake he soon drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Kagome was the first to wake. She slowly began opening her eyes, blinking against the sun that shown on her face. She tried to roll to her other side to avoid the bright sun. That's when she noticed something holding her down. She looked down and saw a familiar clawed hand resting on her waist. She gasped in surprise, causing Inuyasha to tighten his grip and nuzzle his face further into her hair. She froze. She didn't want to move despite the oddity of the situation. She liked the attention he was showing her. She also knew, had he been the first to wake up he probably would have left, not wanting anyone else to know he had spent the night with her, no matter how harmless it had been. Especially after the reaction they received last time.

"Ka...go...me..." Inuyasha said groggily bringing Kagome from her thoughts. She didn't move. She had no way of knowing if he was awake or dreaming.

"Kagome, are you awake?" he asked quietly, as not to wake her if she was still sleeping. Part of him wanted her to be awake, to know he was there. But another part wanted her to be asleep so he could leave before she noticed. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked to be sure everyone else was still sleeping. He took a deep breathe before looking at Kagome, his arm still around her waist. 'I guess he's awake.' Kagome thought to herself. She turned her head to look into the wide, amber eyes which were now looking intently at her face.

"Yes, I am awake." she replied quietly. She didn't want to wake anyone else either.

"Good morning." Inuyasha said as he removed his arm from her waist, suddenly realizing it was there.

"Inuyasha, um...why...?" she trailed off, unsure of how to word her question. She didn't want to scare him off, she was rather enjoying this, but she wanted to know why he was with her like that. 'Was he like that all night?'

"You must of had a nightmare because you started kicking and tossing in your sleep." he replied with a shrug, as if he could read her thoughts. He got up and Kagome looked at him.

"I'm going for a run to wake myself up." he explained and ran off before she could say anything else. Kagome just watched his retreating figure, dazed and confused.

When Inuyasha finally returned everyone else was up and eating breakfast.

"Here Inuyasha," Kagome said, handing him a bowl. "I saved some Ramen for you."

"RAMEN!!!" Inuyasha quickly grabbed the bowl and started eating like he hadn't eaten in days.

"Calm down!" Kagome laughed. "No one is going to take it from you!" He looked up from his bowl for a second before turning his back on the now laughing group and continued to eat, in the same manner. As soon as Inuyasha was finished (which didn't take too long, even though he had seconds...and thirds) they resumed their walking. Inuyasha seemed to be ignoring Kagome. 'I don't get it.' she thought to herself. 'How can he be really nice one second, but then arrogant and thick-headed the next? I just don't get it!! Why does he have to be so confusing!! Are guys really worth all the trouble?' She stared at him, as if trying to see what was going through his head. 'Oh, I give up!'

"Hey look, I think that's the village!" Sango said suddenly. And there it was, just over the hill. A quaint little village bustling with people going in and out of stores, child laughing and playing in the streets. Everyone looked so happy. It was such a beautiful scene, with the mountains set behind it, that Kagome couldn't help but smile. She looked over at the others and saw the same reaction. Getting to the village was easy, now they had to find Tomeo, which was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

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Ok ok, I'm not that good at fight scenes (as if you couldn't tell). I can see it in my head but putting it into words is a whole other thing. Sooo, there aren't going to be many of them in this story. Anyway....Review please!! Until next time!

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