Jenn- silent breed: Kiaaa… I remember you! Awesome to see you here! Hmm, that reminds me… probably should update that other story. Thank you so much for supporting me. I'm a newbie Inuyasha fan, but I try. (hugs)

mizz Tasuki: yeah, I tried to figure out a way to make it totally unexpected, but I just couldn't find anything to compare to that. Cravings, huh? Mmm… Inuyasha stories! My favorite! (hugs)

Neo-Crystal: Oh. I'll be fixing those then. Thanks uber much for the advice. I'll make the alterations. Glad you love the story. (hugs)

InuyashaKougaLover: Wow, a movie? Awesomeness! Oh man, now I'm off daydreaming about it. Thanks a bunch! (hugs)

LanierShazar: You're my first reviewer! Thank you uber uber uber much. And I would be glad to give you more. I live for this stuff. (hugs)

Five reviewers! Yeah, I love you guys! Thanks so much. I was really wondering if anyone was gonna read it with all those Inuyasha fics to choose from. Glad I'm not being left in the dark. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I don't think that Kaede actually has a "door" to her house, but I don't know. I'm pretending for Kagome's sake. Enjoy and RESPOND!

Chapter 3: Slipped Truth

The rest of the team sat in the other room by the fireplace where embers continued to crackle. The fire was almost out, but nobody even noticed or made an attempt to rekindle it. All looked quite downhearted, most especially Sango. A pale sickly hue had risen on her cheeks that had never been seen before on the fiery exterminator. Her fists were clenched tightly in anger to the point where she was shaking. Her forehead was also wrinkled in anger. It was obvious to the others that she knew something she wasn't telling. Shippou approached the exterminator once to ask what was wrong, but the look on her face quickly told him to keep his thoughts to himself, and he backed off. Sango knew that she would be questioned, but she didn't even want to think about answering. She couldn't possibly tell them what happened. It was too personal for Kagome.

Inuyasha gave one last glance at his loved one, feeling quite sure that she could sleep through anything around her. He felt confident that he would be able to force answers out of Sango without getting sat for it. The team looked up as Inuyasha carefully immerged from the other room, a look of determination across his face. Sango sighed hard. She knew that now he would want to know why Kagome was the way she was now. It was painfully obvious that she knew the truth, and she knew she was doing a terrible job of hiding it. But the emotional trauma of it all was still there in the air and in the tears. How could she tell them what she knew… when she found her?

Inuyasha didn't speak at first, but approached the group. Of course, he looked directly at Sango. He could tell that she was nervous about telling him, but he had to know. Sango was known for being a tough girl and a hard fighter, and he knew that getting answers from her by fighting would only end with a boomerang implanted into his skull, and no answers. Being patient wasn't easy for him, but for Kagome he hoped he could somehow put that aspect of himself aside for the time being. Thinking hard, he tried to ease his way into the interrogation, "Where did you find her?"

Sango shivered as she thought of that place, but this question wasn't nearly as hard to answer as the one she had feared the most. "Um… In the forest on the other side of the valley. Down by where the mountains start forming."

'Okay, well at least she's answering something,' Inuyasha thought, and lowered his brow as he thought of another question that would he could ask without actually asking what he wanted to know.

"Was she alone when you found her?"

She shook her head, "No, not from what I could tell."

"Was… was there any trace of a youkai?" he asked.

Sango again was relieved that it wasn't that question she feared. She replied in truth, "She was alone. There was no sign of any youkai nearby."

He continued, trying to word things just right, "What… condition was she in when you found her?"

Sango sighed and held back more tears. She knew now he was trying to ease a confession out of her, but she didn't have the heart to tell him, not when the horrific event was so near. "She was… she was very afraid, so much so that she was afraid of me when she heard me coming… and she was dirty from mud… and… and she was crying…"

She couldn't stop some tears from escaping her eyes as she remembered the horror of it all. Inuyasha was losing his patience, but he tried his hardest to be gentle with the questioning.

"What happened, Sango?" He asked as gently as he could possibly speak.

Sango's breath was shaky she spoke, "I… I can't tell y-"

"Don't give me that crap, Sango! I want answers and I want them now!" Inuyasha's voice got slightly louder as his patience was slipping from him with every passing second of not knowing what to do.

'Damnit,' Sango thought, 'How can I get out of this one?'

Sango ran her own hands over her shivering arms, though it wasn't the cold that bothered her. Miroku noticed and spoke up, "Shippou, could you please get more firewood for the fireplace? We could use some more heat at a time like this."

The kitsune nodded and went to retrieve more wood from the other side of the room. Sango sniffled a few times and wiped fresh tears from her cheeks with her sleeve, but still couldn't look up at Inuyasha, for she knew he would be angry and could practically see all the waves of heat start to form on his skin and inside his muscles, "It… isn't my place to say."

"You are the only one who knows what happened, and I'm sure as hell not going to expect Kagome to tell me anytime soon, given the state she's in," Inuyasha countered, his voice steadily growing louder and louder.

Shippou looked up for a moment as he continued to grab as many logs as he could carry. He could tell by Inuyasha's change in tone, this was not going to be pretty. The little one wanted answers too, but he didn't even understand what was wrong with Kagome. Was she sick? Was she injured? It was obvious that it was terrible from the behavior of Sango, and Inuyasha's pressure wasn't helping at all.

"It's none of my business," Sango stood strong and was trying to convince herself more than the others that see had no involvement, but she knew this wasn't true.

Inuyasha yelled at her harshly, "Don't you dare tell me it's none of your business. She's your friend, Sango! You have a responsibility to help her! I need to help her! But I can't help her if you just stand by and won't tell me what I need to do to save the woman that I love!"

He didn't catch himself in time to save his statement, but in truth he really didn't care. He momentarily looked away from his human comrades, still fearful of showing weakness to anyone, and his friends were looking a little shocked at his confession. The hanyou clenched his fists. "So now you know…"

He stared back at Sango, forgetting any strategy of gentleness at finding answers, "If you don't help me, I can't help her. You may not care about her, but not in a million years will I ever let Kagome continue to suffer! If you do not tell me what the fuck is going on, I swear you will regret it!"

Sango looked up at him with anger in her eyes. He said she didn't care about Kagome at all, that heartless hanyou, and it infuriated every inch of her body, and she spoke through clenched teeth, "How dare you? You don't deserve to know a thing!"

Inuyasha lost it then. Just as Shippou walked towards the group with some firewood in hand, the hanyou grabbed one from the pile and raised it to strike his friend, a deep growl fresh from his throat. Miroku reacted quickly to hold him with his arms and kept him from coming any closer to the woman by erecting a barrier in front of Sango. Shippou also dropped the logs, jumped, and latched himself onto Inuyasha's leg in an attempt to hold him back. Despite the danger of trying to get through such a barrier, Inuyasha lost all coherent thought and sought to get answers from Sango no matter what the outcome.

Sango got up and moved back slightly out of fear for her safety, but was able to stand her ground. Miroku had somehow managed to hold Inuyasha back long enough for him to come to his senses. He no longer sought to fight Sango, but the hanyou still screamed hateful words to her, "You bitch! You're really willing to let her suffer! You heartless wench! You… you weakling! You are no friend of Kagome's! This is not friendship! This is cruel! You are condemning her, aren't you! You really don't give a damn about what happens to Kagome!"

The exterminator felt rage consume her, releasing her of rational thought. She became intoxicated with it all: of the realization of the day's events, of the injustice of it all, of the heartbreak that would surely be the outcome, and now more than ever, of Inuyasha's stupidity. Sango had heard enough, "DON'T YOU FUCKING GET IT, INUYASHA! SHE WAS RAPED!"

At the last word, her own voice seemed to echo through her brain and the entire valley, and she lost all strength within her, bringing herself to her knees in defeat. She then buried her face in her hands and started to sob. She was relieved of her secret, but not her burden. Miroku staggered on his feet at the news of what had happened. He placed a hand to his forehead, as if dizzy by the revelation. In less than a few seconds, it was more than he could bear as well, and he fell to his knees along side Sango and clenched his fists in anger. Sango's body continued to shake in anger and pain for her best friend.

Thunder clapped outside loudly, not as a warning of rain, but as a filler of the emptiness than engulfed the entire village. Lightening flashed through the windows, setting everything in flashes of black and white. The two humans heard something snap and they looked over to see two torn pieces of wood fall to the floor. They looked up at Inuyasha, fearing the worse, knowing it would definitely come.

Inuyasha… never before in their lives had a face looked such as this.

To be continued…

Very sad! As depressing as the theme is, I hope you'll stick around to see that there is a lesson to be learned from it, especially for Inuyasha, and for anyone who ever suffers something as horrible as that. I'm all about morals and what not. Respond please! Toodles!