PREVIOUS CHAPTER: SANKU THE SAEMSTRESS

"What I can't help it!" he said stepping closer to her and putting his hands into hers.

Before she could lean in to kiss him a scent caught her nose and it seemed very familiar. She just couldn't put a finger on it.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha said turning around the meet Koga's face staring at Kagome.

CHAPTER 8: THE NORTHERN WOODLANDS

Kagome stifled a groan as she turned around to face Koga. She didn't hate the wolf demon, but she knew Inuyasha did and she hated it when Koga referred to Kagome as "his woman." Koga also always tended to show up at some of the most inconvenient moments. Just then Kagome had hoped that she could enjoy another of Inuyasha's kisses and the wolf demon had showed up. Inuyasha's usual growl towards Koga began to grow louder as Koga looked Kagome up and down. "So mutt face who's this? Did you get tired of Kagome already? Figures you lousy half breed!"

This time Kagome growled. She was used to Koga's comments towards Inuyasha being a half-demon, but now that she was one as well she was offended. She stepped out of behind Inuyasha and glared at Koga. "You better take that half-breed shit back Koga!" she said walking up to him.

Koga looked a bit surprised at her remarks. "Who the hell are you and why do you seem so familiar? And another thing how do you get off talking to me like that?" he asked raising his voice.

Inuyasha laughed. "You should just kick his ass Kagome he sure as hell needs it."

Koga was taken aback and a little shocked. "What are you talking about dog shit? I think I would recognize Kagome and she isn't Kagome!"

"You'd be surprised how much you know about Kagome. You can't even recognize her when she's standing in front of your own fucking face. This is really sad Koga."

Koga glared at Inuyasha and turned and took another good look at Kagome. He hesitated and then spoke, "Umm, Kagome is that really you?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah it's me Koga."

"What…what happened to you? I…mean…ahh you don't look bad, but what happened?"

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It didn't take Kagome long to explain to him what happened and what didn't happen. After her explanation Koga acted shocked. "Wow, Kagome you a wolf demon like me? Now we'll be able to have really strong pups."

Kagome coughed and looked at Inuyasha's flaming eyes. "She ain't havin' pups with you!"

"Oh and you think she'll have pups with you dog boy? She'd have pups with me before she would you!"

Kagome coughed again and she was blushing profusely now. Do they have another thing coming! I'm not going to have any kids for a long time! Before Inuyasha chopped Koga into dog kibble Kagome shot up. "I'm not having anyone's pups! I think I have a say in this more tham you two!"

Koga looked back at Kagome and walked over to her leaving Inuyasha standing there with his sword. He took her hands and said, "I agree my dear when you decide the time is right. I'll come back to you when you're ready." With that said he left.

Kagome growled. "That fucking wolf! Inuyasha if you don't kill him I'll sure as hell will!"

Inuyasha laughed. "Now you finally see it my way! Took long enough!"

She smiled at him. "I can't believe he actually thinks I'm gonna have kids with him! He's such a bastard!"

He laughed again. " I think you're picking up my bad habits Kagome."

She grinned, "What do you expect? I'm around you all the time it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Well are we gonna find your aunt or not?" he asked looking towards their destination.

"I guess so, but umm I wanted…" she hesitated a little.

"You wanted what?" he asked stepping in front of her and pulling her into his arms.

This feels so nice! "I think you know what I want."

He grinned leaning towards her and putting his lips to hers. His lips tasted of sweetness and everything that he was. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever felt. Time seemed to stand still as they stood there for who knows how long. He gently pushed open her lips with his tongue and she allowed him to do so. She let him take over her mind and clung to him. It seemed like forever, but when he pulled away it was too short. She opened her eyes and looked up into his large amber ones. She smiled and in return he did so as well. "Sorry, but if we don't heard off now we'll never find you're aunt," he said in almost a whisper and a little short of breath.

She nodded, "I know lets go then," she said kissing him again and putting her hand in his.

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They found a small clearing in the forest beside the path they had been following. Kagome was getting a fire started with some of the matches from her bag while Inuyasha was hunting. She couldn't help but think about the hanyou. She wrapped her tail around her feet as she thought about the events of the day. The new clothing kept her very warm against the chilling night breeze. Oh Inuyasha…She sighed. It seemed a bit odd between them. They now knew exactly how they felt about each other, but it was just new expressing their feelings. She had dreamt of being with him for so long that she just always felt like she was already with him. The flames licked at the timbers as she watched the reds and oranges of the fire. She had been to deep in thought that she didn't even hear Inuyasha's approach. He placed a hand of her shoulder and she jumped up almost knocking him over. "Watch it Kagome! It's just me!"

"Sorry bout that," she said sitting down while Inuyasha put their dinner on a stick so it could roast over the fire.

He sat down beside her. "So you ready to meet your pack?"

She didn't really know what to say to that. "Well I don't really know. I hope that most of them are like Natilruh though, but I know that that's not possible."

He didn't say anything. The rabbit was done in a matter of moments. Kagome was famished and she ate her part in seconds. Inuyasha smiled at her, "If you keep eating like that you're gonna get fat!"

She stuck out her tongue at him, but smiled. He tore off a piece of what was left of his portion and handed it to her. "Are you sure?"

He nodded and she gulped it down without a second thought. They sat there in the silence staring at the fire. "So, do you want me to show you how to fight?" Inuyasha asked suddenly breaking the silence.

She glanced at him. "Well I guess so."

He smiled and nodded a little ways away from the fire to where they could go.

They remainder of the night was Inuyasha showing Kagome some of his moves that he used in battle. He was able to outsmart most of her moves and was able to tell what she was going to do next. He moved a lot faster and was quicker at his moves than Kagome and this annoyed her. The only time she really was able to touch him was when he thought she was going to kick him, but she actually jumped over him and slapped him in the face with her tail. She had laughed at the time, but he had accused her of cheating and had jumped on her and pinned her to the ground. Inuyasha had called it quiets after Kagome had begun to really pant and was moving a lot slower than before. She didn't admit it to him, but he knew she was aching all over. All she really wanted to do was sleep and she found just the spot to do it. Below a large tree was a hollowed out region near the roots that looked very nice. She fell down and cuddled into a ball. She wrapped her tail around her sore body and fell asleep.

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Inuyasha felt a little sorry for Kagome. Maybe I shouldn't have been that rough. Poor Kagome. Before he could apologize he found her cuddled up at the base of a tree fast asleep. He stood there taking in her beauty. You really don't know what you do to me do you Kagome? He jumped into a branch above Kagome and made sure that he had her in his sight. He thought back on the day's earlier events. He'd been almost shocked that Kagome had admitted that she cared about him and what had shocked him more was that she had allowed him to kiss her. Just the thought of her kiss made him shiver. Her lips had tasted so wonderful and were so warm and sweet. He had melted when she had returned the kiss. I love you so much my Kagome. He looked down on her one more time before closing his eyes and falling asleep himself.

The early mornings rays woke him and he yawned. A mist had settled over the valley that they had slept in. His gaze slowly found Kagome still sleeping below him. She had turned during the night and was now facing towards him still cuddled up beside the tree with her tail wrapped around her exposed legs. She must've forgotten her Kimono in her bag. He jumped down and found her bag lying near the long burnt out fire. It took awhile to find the green garment, but he finally found it. He took it and made his way over to Kagome and placed the Kimono on her and tucked it up to her chin and around her legs. She snuggled a little and then lay motionless once again. There now you'll be warm. Now for breakfast. He trotted off into the surrounding woods for some meat.

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The smell of roasting rabbit woke up Kagome's senses and she slowly opened her tired eyes. She groaned. Her muscles and body were still sore from Inuyasha's training. She forced herself to sit up. Inuyasha was sitting next to the fire looking at her. "You're finally up. Did you think you could sleep the whole day away?" he asked showing a hint of a smile.

Kagome yawned and pushed herself up onto her feet. She winced at the excruciating pain that wracked her sore body. "You ok Kagome?"

She looked at him and said, "Yeah I'm ok."

Once they were done eating their breakfast they began their walk.

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It was difficult for Kagome to walk. She had bruises all over and her muscles just couldn't take it anymore. "Kagome are you sure you're ok?" asked Inuyasha looking worried.

"I just need a little bit of a rest. That's all." She said sitting down on a fallen tree trunk.

He sat beside her. "I didn't mean to hurt you this bad. I'm sorry Kagome."

She studied his features. "It's ok I need to toughen up a little I guess. Don't worry about it."

He looked at her with sad eyes. A sudden scent caught her noise and her instincts told her that it wasn't a good one. "Inuyasha do you smell that?"

"Yeah it's a youkia," he said blankly rising to his feet.

A bear like youkia stepped out of the woods across from them. The youkia growled and looked from Inuyasha to Kagome. "I sense the Shikon Jewel. Now hand it over you pathetic half-breeds."

"Fat chance!" Inuyasha said pulling out his sword.

"You think you can defeat me with a lousy sword?" it said in a mocking voice.

"He won't need his sword to defeat the likes of you," Kagome said rising to her feet.

"Kagome stay back I can handle this one," Inuyasha said stepping in front of her.

"Inuyasha let me help I need to learn," she whispered into his ear.

She could tell that he didn't want her to, but he put his sword back in its sheath.

"This will be simple and then there will be two less half-demons walking around." The bear said growling.

The bear charged the two of them and they dodged the bear. Kagome thought of Inuyasha's "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer" attack and decided to test her own claws out. She jumped into the air and made a slashing motion. To her complete surprise ice shot from her claws and hit the bears face. A large roar escaped the bear's lips and he turned to swipe at her with his claws. Kagome barely missed its attack before landing on the ground beside Inuyasha. He glanced at her before using his own "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer" move on the youkia. A shriek pierced the woods before the bear perished. "That takes care of that," he said turning around to smile at Kagome.

"Not bad Kagome for your first youkia," he said walking over to her. "That move was incredible!"

"It's was wasn't it? I never realized I could do that." She said looking at her clawed hands.

"You keep training with me and soon you'll be as strong as me!" he said as they returned to their walk.

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Once the sun began to fade out of the sky the two of them stopped for the night. After their dinner Kagome endured more of Inuyasha's training and again fell asleep at the base of a tree with Inuyasha sleeping in the branch above her. It only seemed like a couple of days before Inuyasha and Kagome found the crystal clear lake. Kagome was confident that only after 8 nights of Inuyasha's training that she was already stronger and more agile. It took awhile to find the waterfall at the northern end of the lake. She couldn't help, but notice how there wasn't a village near this beautiful lake or how it just seemed that this area hadn't seen human inhabitants. It seemed that the wilderness was the only thing that occupied this region. No wonder they call themselves the northern woodland pack. They sure are north and look at this huge forest! It must go on for miles! She thought to herself. Before entering the waterfall Inuyasha grabbed her hand. She gave him a questioning look and then she understood.

He smiled at her and then kissed her. For some reason his kiss felt stronger and fuller. They were lost in each other for at least ten minutes before Kagome pulled away and took a deep breath. "Well this is it lets go."

He nodded and followed her into the waterfall. There was a large tunnel behind the flowing water and Kagome stepped into it and began their trek through the wet and dark tunnel. It was hard to see even with her eyes. The tunnel wasn't long and when they stepped out they were greeted by the suns rays. They stood on a cliff overlooking a massive forest. In the center of the forest smoke rose and they spotted a large village. "That must be them," Kagome said slowly making her way down the cliffs face and down to the ground. They began their way towards the village hand in hand just as they heard something behind them. They turned and Inuyasha drew his sword. "Put that toy away Inuyasha or you'll regret it," a voice said from the shadows of the darkened woods.

"Who's there?" Kagome asked looking around wildly. The wind wasn't working in Kagome's favor so she couldn't smell anything.

"You don't recognize my voice Kagome?" the thing asked. Kagome could tell the thing was getting closer and she grew nervous. The voice did sound familiar she just couldn't put a face with the voice.

"I was wondering when you would finally show up. I thought you might have forgotten about me." Natilruh said stepping out of behind a tree.

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Ok there's the chap. And I hope you enjoy! Thanx for the previous reviews and I hope that I get more! Love ya guys!

Disclaimer: I sadly don't own Inuyasha or any of the original characters of the anime/manga. However Natilruh and Sanku are my own creations and they're all mine!