A/N: Hi! I'm very proud of myself... I posted this chap, what, three days after I posted the last one? Haha... I'm getting faster at this... Or maybe I just want to get to the lemon part/parts REALLY fast!? LOL!

As usual, domo arigatou gozaimasu to all those who reviewed my previous chaps. My fic would not be here without you!

And before I forget, there's a tiny, limish part in this chap. Nothing serious, not even enough to be R, but if you have a REALLY big aversion to non-lip kissing, watch out for that little part. It's a tiny flashback thingy and I'll put a *---* before and after it.

So, on with the ficcy! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Go figure, dude.

-----/---@

SEVEN WEEKS

Love and Hatred

-----/---@

"Hiraikotsu!"

The shout echoed repeatedly within the palace garden, taking down a myriad of dead trees as it swooped dangerously close to the ground.

Sango stood in the middle of the garden, her hands ready to catch her weapon once it swung back her way. She tensed and straightened slightly as the weapon drew close and she reached up one hand, effortlessly catching her large boomerang.

"Hiraikotsu!" she yelled as she threw it again, taking down another set of trees and the tops of a few large boulders. She caught it again and was preparing to swing again when another shout resounded in the grounds.

"Kazaana!" she heard Miroku's voice say loudly, and she stilled when she saw that he had used his wind tunnel to effectively throw a large boulder at her.

'Moving target eh?' she thought as she released hiraikotsu again with a loud yell.

The hiraikotsu cleanly cut through the middle of the rock, sending both halves of it flying to opposite sides of Sango. She grinned madly as she caught her weapon yet again, turning to regard the monk who stood near the palace entrance, watching her amusedly.

"Arigatou, houshi. I needed that," she said, giving him a small smile.

"Think nothing of it, Sango. By the way, have I ever told you how extremely good you are with your weapon of choice?" he asked playfully.

"I believe you have," she said with a silvery laugh.

Miroku looked at her with smiling eyes as he asked, "Excited?"

Sango practically screamed. "Oh, YES! I can hardly believe that we would be leaving the palace tomorrow!"

"Well, believe it then! In about a week or so, we would be walking alongside Inuyasha on his quest," he replied with a curt laugh. "Kirara is very fast, and we know the path to take because of his little reports. We would catch up quickly."

"We had better! Inuyasha only has fifteen remaining days here!" Sango exclaimed.

"Yes, I know. We will help him defeat Naraku, and take Azalea-sama back."

Sango grinned widely at that. "Oh, I can't wait to see Kagome-chan again!"

"Kagome-chan?" Miroku inquired.

Sango stiffened at that. She had just let something slip, something that only she and the princess knew of. But there was no turning back now. "Azalea's real name... the one that her parents had given her, is Kagome. She had asked me to call her that from the very beginning, but it was only between the two of us."

Miroku stared at her questioningly. "Sango, you DO know that THAT is not allowed?"

"I do," she insisted. "Demo, hime-chan had wanted to retain a piece of her past with her, even though it is not proper. I remember one time - do you remember that time when I had to leave the palace for Western Crystallia? I had called her 'Kagome' too loudly, and she had panicked!"

"Have you been calling her by her true name for all this time?"

Sango hesitated, but nodded. After all, surely Miroku wouldn't tell on her!

"It's alright... but once we get her back... refrain from doing so, ne, Sango?"

"Alright. Now, you have seen me using Hiraikotsu. Do you think you could show me how you use your Kazaana?" Sango asked.

"Why of course, Sango!" Miroku said enthusiastically, before taking his prayer beads off his hand. He effortlessly sucked in the ruins of Sango's hiraikotsu.

"Well," Sango commented. "I think we are about ready to leave the palace, ne?"

-----/---@

Inuyasha yawned widely and stretched his arms above his head. He tilted his head to one side then another, intending to take the kinks out of his neck muscles. As he moved around however, his gaze fell upon the sleeping form of Kagome, who slept mere feet away from him.

"Kagome," he murmured softly, watching her shift on her sleeping mat.

Two days ago, he had confessed his love for her, and she had confessed hers for him. The morning after that, Inuyasha had once again woken up to the wonderful smell of cooking breakfast. Kagome had smiled at him sweetly, saying that she had made something extra special for their "12th hour- sary."

That day had been filled with laughter, hugs and kisses, and Inuyasha noted that he had laughed more over the past two days than he ever had in his whole life. They had traveled with their usual bickering and share of complaints, of course, but they had held hands all the time, and everything seemed considerably brighter to the hanyou. His relief at having Kagome with him made him almost forget that his world was in peril. Almost.

But what he couldn't forget what what happened the night before. They had been bickering harmlessly as usual, and Inuyasha had pinned her down onto the mat when he felt he was losing the argument.

*---* -Flashback- *---*

"Are too."

"Am not!" Kagome shouted, a blush coating her delicate cheeks.

"You are sooo afraid of the dark, Kagome. Just admit it!"

"Haven't we already had this argument before?"

"Yup. And you didn' t prove me wrong then."

"Well I'm telling you now, Inu-chan. I am not afraid of the dark."

"Oh, come on. I still remember that day... haha! That was the day I admitted to trusting you, ne, Kago-chan?" Inuyasha suddenly said with a small grin.

That gave Kagome pause. She looked down at her hands that were pressed against the sleeping mat she was sitting on. "Well... hai... I guess... eek!" she exclaimed as she looked up and saw Inuyasha practically above her.

Inuyasha laughed as he pounced on her, pinning her to the mat. She giggled and gave him a mock glare, as he held her hands above her head.

"Gotcha," he whispered softly against her cheek, his warm breath tickling her face and lips. "You get mad pretty easily. Did you know that?"

"Hmmph," she replied. "Look who's talking."

"Yeah, but you actually look beautiful when you're mad. I'd bet you can't say the same thing about me," he snickered.

Kagome gave him a wicked grin and leaned up, brushing her lips against his as she spoke. "That's where you're wrong, Inuyasha," she said, before fully capturing his lips with her own.

Inuyasha eagerly responded, parting her lips with his tongue as he deepened the kiss. He let his tongue trace the roof of her mouth, absently letting her hands go free as he moved his own to grasp her sides. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he nearly swooned on the spot when he realized that Kagome was unconsciously giving off a very enticing scent... she was aroused, and that was turning him on.

He knew he had to stop soon if he didn't want to lose control, but as usual, his bull-headedness persisted. He was barely aware that he had now left her lips to trail small, seductive kisses along the line of Kagome's neck. The girl arched back, bringing her throat closer to his exploring lips. Moaning his name, Kagome allowed her fingers to tangle in his silver tresses, pulling his head closer to her.

He began to nuzzle the hollow of her throat, only to kiss his way back up to her ear. He could sense her pulse beating wildly against her neck, and he sucked lightly on that pulse, grinning as he earned a gasp from Kagome for his attentions. He could practically hear his heated blood rush thorugh her veins, and he felt his heart pound madly against his ribcage.

He rained more kisses along the neckline of her clothing. He pressed open mouthed kisses along her jawbone before reaching lower and nibbling lightly on her exposed collarbone. His hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they stealthily creeped up, under the hem of her tight shirt, and he splayed his fingers across the smooth, warm skin of her abdomen.

His eyes abruptly popped open when he realized where the two of them were now heading. He pulled back and stared into hazy gray/blue eyes, shaking his head to clear it. His breathing had gone harsh and ragged. Hers were no longer controlled.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome softly muttered, staring at him through her long lashes.

He smiled at her and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "Gomen, Kagome. I lost control. I know you're not ready for that and... I love you and I admit... I want you. But I don't want to do anything you wouldn't want me to do."

Kagome smiled softly at him. "Daijobu, Inuyasha. It's ok. I love you too... and in time, I'll be ready to show you just how much I do."

*---* -End Flashback- *---*

Yup... he could *definitely* get used to that happening every night.

He crawled over to her, his stealth putting a ninja's to shame. He leaned over her to take a whiff of her wonderful scent, breathing in deeply as her hair tickled his nose.

She turned slowly and regarded him with heavy-lidded eyes. "Ohayou."

"Ohayou," he greeted back. "How was your sleep?"

"Fine. You?"

He shrugged. "Ok, I guess. Sorry, I haven't managed to cook breakfast yet. I just woke up."

"It's ok. I'm up," she said, lifting herself from her mat. "Where's my bag?"

"Right beside you," he replied, pointing to a spot a few feet from her.

"Aha... there it is! So... I'll start cooking now, shall I? Inu, would you mind if I borrowed your flask again? I'll need water to cook," Kagome said.

He fished around his robes and easily found his self-filling flask in its usual place. He tossed it at Kagome. He felt around his robes again as he absently searched around for his pouch of money and that other thing that Miroku had given him... an image of Azalea. He had only looked at that image once - the time when the houshi gave it to him - and he had never bothered since.

He took his pouch out and continued looking for the picture. 'That's strange,' he thought. 'I put all my stuff in only one pocket...' he mulled in puzzlement as he began to feel around himself for the missing thing.

Kagome noticed his unease. "Inu-chan, daijobu?"

"Hai... I just... Kagome, have you ever noticed a small piece of paper in my robes? You know, whenever I let you have my haori..." Inuyasha asked.

"A piece of paper, Inuyasha?"

"Aa. I can't find it."

"Well, I have never noticed anything of the sort... did you lose it? Maybe I could help. Is it important?" Kagome asked helpfully.

"Well," Inuyasha began. "It's not really important but... Miroku gave it to me when I left the palace."

"Well, what's written in it? Directions?"

"No... It's an image of the princess. So I'd know it's her when I find her," Inuyasha replied. He noticed, however, the way Kagome seemed to stiffen at the mention of the image. "Oi... daijobu?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine. I just... an image? Why would you need an image of the princess?" Kagome asked with a nervous smile. 'Shimatta... I kept the image... to keep him from finding out about me being the princess.'

Inuyasha stilled his search and considered. "Yeah... why would I? YOU know how she looks, ne? You've seen her, so you'll know her when you see her. I don't need the dumb image."

Kagome nodded halfheartedly. "Hai, I know her," she said. 'A lot better than you think.'

-----/---@

Kagura watched intently as the pair left the cave that they had spent their previous night in. She had planned to sneak in during the night, but the Tetsusaiga's barrier had prevented her from doing so. Perhaps... now she could do what Naraku had ordered. She would only need the 'help' of a certain ookami youkai...

-----/---@

"But master Kouga..."

"No buts! Who's the prince around here?!"

"You are, Kouga-sama."

"Then do as I say!"

"Yes, Kouga-sama."

Kouga looked around his camp in annoyance. They dreadfully lacked females in their tribe, and they especially lacked cubs...

'I need to find my woman fast... I need an heir badly. We're gonna die out if I don't find my Kagome,' he thought, seething. He had taken her from her stupid dog companion. She had even warmed up to him already! And then she just... suddenly disappeared. He left her for a few moments and when he came back, she was gone.

The strange thing was that he didn't smell any other scent in the cave where he had kept her except for hers, his tribesmen and his. Then, as he ran off outside the cave in search for her, he came across the scent of the dog turd, and another strange stench that mingled greatly with the scent of his Kagome.

"Where the hell is my Kagome?!" he suddenly shouted, making all heads turn in his direction.

"Wouldn't you want to know?"

The voice that answered his stormy question came out of nowhere, and all heads turned towards the entrance of their den. The shock was that nobody even stood there.

Kouga stood up, fists at the ready. "Who the fuck are you and what do you know about my woman? Show yourself!" Kouga shouted in anger.

"As you wish, ookami-sama," the disembodied voice said in a tone laced with sarcasm. "Here I am," the voice took form slowly, and from a soft mist, emerged the form of Kagura.

Kouga tried to sniff at the woman and paused. 'She smells familiar,' he thought, glaring at Kagura.

"Teme... How dare you step into my den without my permission," he snarled, and all the other wolves were now growling at the intruder.

"You ingrate. I have come here with information about your abducted potential mate," she said with the tiniest of smiles.

"My potential... Kagome! You know where she is!?" Kouga asked, about a second before he recognized the scent. "Oi... you carry the scent that I found in the cave when Kagome disappeared!"

"So I do," she replied. "That was because I was there when Inuyasha took your Kagome from the cave."

"NANI?!"

"You heard me. Kagome went out the cave looking for you, when he swooped down and nabbed her. I was there because I was after Inuyasha."

Kouga bristled at what he heard. "That mangy mutt took my woman?"

"Yes," Kagura said. "She couldn't fight him off even if she wanted to, of course. He is much stronger than her."

Kouga was seething. "Where are they? Do you know?"

Kagura hid a smirk behind her wide fan. "I thought you would never ask."

-----/---@

Inuyasha suddenly paused and sniffed the air around him. A familiar scent was fast approaching, and he couldn't quite put his finger on who that scent belonged to.

'Hmm... it's not Naraku. And it's not those two kids. Now who...' his eyes widened as he finally recognized the scent.

"Kouga!" he exclaimed, turning to find a small blue hurricane approaching him and Kagome.

Kagome turned abruptly at his exclamation. "Nani?"

"Kouga's here!" he said more clearly, pulling Kagome towards him. He let out an audible growl as Kouga's scent bacem more prominent in the air. He noticed something else too... Kouga's scent was mixed with jealous fury.

Kagome clutched his arm as Kouga fully came into view.

Inuyasha had been right - Kouga looked just about ready to kill. He growled loudly and clenched his fists tightly at the sight of Kagome holding on to Inuyasha like he were her last lifeline.

"Inu-kuro... let go of my woman you bastard!" he shouted, taking a menacing step forward. Inuyahsa, however, looked nonplussed.

"YOUR woman? I think not," Inuyasha remarked with a slightly smug smirk. "She belongs to no one, and if she does, she most definitely does not belong to you! She's my woman if no one else's."

Kagome blushed wildly at his remark, but decided to ignore it for now. She held on to Inuyasha's haori more fully at Kouga's outraged snarl.

"Teme... you asshole!" Kouga shouted at Inuyasha. "I know what you did to her, Inuyasha! You took my woman away from me and made her yours! You are not just a dog turd, you are a sorcerer!"

'A sorcerer?' Inuyasha and Kagome thought at the same time. Both had confused expressions on their faces as they turned to look at each other questioningly.

"Oi," Inuyasha said, moving a bit out of Kagome's grasp. He gripped the hilt of Tetsusaiga in his right hand, prepared to use it if need be. "What the hell are you talking about, wolf?"

Kouga seethed. "You know damn well what I am talking about, you bastard!"

"No I don't."

"Shut up and get ready to die, yuuwakusha!" Kouga screamed in blind fury as he lunged at Inuyasha suddenly. Inuyasha barely avoided the move.

"Just what the fuck are you talking about, you wimpy wolf?!" Inuyasha snarled questioningly as he unsheathed Tetsusaiga and lunged at his opponent. But Kouga was very fast, and he ended up slicing another dead tree.

"Just shut the hell up and die!" Kouga responded yet again.

Kagome stood, confused, a few meters away from the two snarling canine youkai. 'Sorcerer?' she asked herself yet again. What Kouga had said was quite weird, and she had a hunch that someone had somehow gotten to the ookami prince.

She turned as she heard Inuyasha shout of pain and anger. She gasped at the realization that as her attention was turned, Kouga had somehow managed to strike Inuyasha's left arm with his claws.

"Inuyasha!" she shouted in worry, and Inuyasha was too busy dodging attacks to even spare a glance at her. Kouga was fast, they all knew it, and the wolf was using that to his full advantage.

Inuyasha, however, was puzzled. He had been trying to use the Kazeno Kizu since before he got wounded, but somehow, the winds didn't seem to want to cooperate. He could not find enough youki to base the Kaze no Kizu on, and the winds weren't even blowing.

He was frustrated, and since he couldn't use his wind attack, he turned to his last resort - his claws.

"Sankontessou!" he attacked kouga headlong, and thankfully managed to scrape the wolf youkai's cheek.

Kouga snarled some more and attacked more ferociously, all the while shouting at Inuyasha's being a sorcerer.

Kouga swung his left hand at Inuyasha, who was too distracted sniffing the air. He got a full blow on his chest, leaving four deep gashes. He stumbled back a bit, and kouga took advantage of his loss of balance, landing Inuyasha a punch in the jaw.

Inuyasha half-heartedly fought back, faintly recognizing another scent in the air. He stilled as he realized the scent. He leapt away from Kouga at the realization of who the other scent belonged to, and he instantly jumped for Kagome.

"Kagura!" he shouted in Kagome's direction, just as he saw the kimono-clad woman swoop down on her usual white feather and grab Kagome from behind.

"Ack! Let me go!" Kagome cried as Kagura pulled her up onto her feather. She tried to pry herself free from Kagura's grasp, but before she managed, she was already too high up in the sky to attempt to jump. "Inuyasha!"

"Kagome!" he called back, just as he heard Kouga shout.

"Kagura! Where are you taking my Kagome?" the stupid wolf asked, and Kagura simply ignored them both.

Inuyasha lost no time in charging after the swiftly flying demoness, who had taken HIS woman! He faintly realized that he was running alongside Kouga, both of them shouting obscenities at Kagura.

Had he not been running in blind panic since Kagome had been abducted, he would have marveled at the fact that he was now running just as quickly, if not even faster, than Kouga. (A/N: Adrenaline is quite remarkable, ne?)

Kagome looked down and saw Inuyasha bounding along with Kouga after her. She called out to him and leaned over the feather, deciding on whether or not she should take a risk and just jump off, but Kagura had read her well. A painful, deathlike grip suddenly seized her body, pinning her arms to her sides and knocing the air out of her, preventing her from calling out to the hanyou once more.

She looked around and over at Kagura, wondering what had suddenly held her back. Kagura simply sat on one edge of the feather, smirking at her, holding her fan out.

"I have used a binding spell on you. I usually use that grip to control corpses, but just for you, Azalea, I'll make a exception," Kagura answered her unasked question.

Kagome glared as hard as she could at Kagura. The vise-like grip was cutting of her circulatin, and soon enough, Kagome realized that she could no longer feel her arms.

"Kagome!" she heard Inuyasha call out to her as the lack of oxygen began to take a toll on her senses. Her stomach was bound by the unseen force very tightly, and she could barely gasp out. She couldn't breathe, and the world seemed to spin around her as she desperately tried to focus on Inuyasha.

Inuyasha was desperately trying to reach her, and he leapt up, only to come a few meters short of her. Kagura had flown up well above his jumping reach, and the hanyou snarled as his feet unsuccessfully grazed the ground again.

He kept shouting her name, and a few moments ago, she was also shouting back. But now, it seemed as if Kagome's eyes had started to take on a glazed, pained look, and her chest was heaving, as if she was trying to unsuccessfully suck in air.

Kagome was struggling to keep her eyes open, but the lack of oxygen made it quite a struggle. She was going dizzy, and she realized that she would pass out if the bonds were not loosened. Kagura seemd to have no such intention, and her eyes rolled back into her head as she lost consciousness.

"Kagome!!!" Kouga and Inuyasha shouted at the same time as they saw Kagome teeter and nearly fall, had Kagura not been holding her somehow.

Inuyasha made larger bounds acroos the field in his haste to get to Kagome. He had to save her! He was totally blown away, however, when he ralized that Kagura was headed for a place that lay beyond a large, deep ravine. He couldn't very well jump over the huge land crack without cracking his own bones. The gap in the ground was large, the space between the two edges of the canyon about twenty meters apart. He paused in his steady run, thinking about how to get to Kagome, who was noe on the other side with Kagura flying swiftly away from them.

"KAGOME!!!" Kouga shouted as the two feather-floaters disappeared from their viewpoint. "This is all your fault, sorcerer!" he yelled at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha seethed and stilled himself, backing up a few feet to attempt jumping over the canyon. He had to get to his love, fast. He didn't know where Kagura was taking her, but he had a very good hunch.

He tensed as he mentally calculated the jump. 'I could do this,' he thought to himself as he ran bravely towards the gap in the ground, bracing himself for the impact.

-----/---@

Kagome slowly opened her eyes as she felt air fill her lungs once again. She coughed and sputtered and took a long gulp of air, which, she noticed was rather stale. She looked up for the first time, and noticed that she was no longer flying high up off the ground on Kagura's feather.

She squinted again as she felt a vague pounding on her head. Yup... suffocation nearly did the trick. She nearly died and did not wish to have to repeat that experience.

She put a hand to her head as she slowly sat up, wincing. She realized that she was in some sort of strange cave and she had no idea WHERE on crystallia that cave was.

'Inuyasha!' her mind screamed, wanting to know how he was. Inuyasha IS her boyfriend... she had every right to worry about him. She vagueky wondered why he hadn't come to save her yet.

She let her aura search him out, and stiffened when she felt another familiar aura near her. It was not Inuyasha... quite the contrary... that aura belonged to the person that she wanted to have nothing to do with.

"I took you long enough to realize that you are not alone," the person's voice remarked in a slightly sarcastic tone. "Have your powers begun to wane already? I'm disappointed."

Kagome turned slowly, reluctantly, dreading the scene that awaited her eyes. But she would not show weakness. She turned fully and regarded the vile person that sat but a few feet from her, giving off the thickest cloud of dark youki around himself.

The man had long, greasy black hair and narrow scarlet eyes. He wore a long robe of black and he was staring at Kagome intensely, making her shiver in dread. Kagome nearly gasped as she realized that in his hand, he held none other than the Shikon no Tama.

He smirked widely as Kagome's eyes narrowed in fury. "What do you want with me, you bastard? Where am I and where is Inuyasha?!"

"Ku ku ku... such language. You have sure changed a lot over such a short time," he paused. "Azalea."

Kagome's eyes popped open. She shouldn't have been surprised - after all, he already held the Shikon no Tama, which means that he had discovered her absence already. But it still surprised her.

"I have got to hand it to you, Azalea. You had me fooled for a long time... you led me into thinking that you were still in the dome. But now I know," he said with a frown.

"I don't want to hear your voice, Naraku," she hissed angrily. "I want to see Inuyasha!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, my beloved princess," he stated plainly. "Because now that I have you back, I do not intend to let yo go. I'll be keeping a better eye on you from now on, my Lady Azalea."

-----/---@

A/N: Another chapter done! Yahoo! I am soooo excited! I'm gonna be getting to the more exciting parts soon. You know... the part where Inu finds out who Kag really is... the part where Miroku and Sango catch up... and don't forget, Inuyasha still has one more human night in this fic! And then there's the ending! I have a great idea for the next chaps.

To those who asked, I THINK I have more or less ten chaps to go before I end this fic. But then again, I'm not quite sure! Not even the local psychiatrist can tell what goes on in my head, lol!

One more chapter and I'll be getting to that lemon part. Wahaha! And oh yeah...

Responses:

Niku: I'm glad you like my ficcy. You're Hispanic? Cool! I'm part Japanese. ^_^ I've only seen up to the 106th episode, so far, and the download for the movie is sooo worth it! Thanks for the review!

BlazinRuby: *Blushes* I'm glad you think I'm a good writer. You never fail to flatter me! Thank you so much!

Litwolf689: Thanks! I'm glad you like my work. You'll update soon? COOL! I can't wait. And to tell you honestly, I have the same problem... I have the later parts of the fic all planned, but now I don't know what to put in between! I'm almost over that stage though (thank the gods), because I'm actually nearing the end of the fic.

RavenShadow: I'm glad you liked my last chap. I was very nervous about it when I posted it... I thought people might think it's cheesy or something! Arigatou! ^_^

Hyperchica11: I'm glad you think it's cute. ARIGATOU!

Lilacks: YEAH!!! Me love fluff too!

Justmeh: Yeah... took them long enough, ne? Don't worry, Inu will find out sooner or later! But I promise a good scene with that, so please keep an eye out for that part. I'm glad you like my fic!

Soli-chan: I'm glad you like my fic. About Miroku and Sango... let's just say that I don't think it's fair if Inu and Kag have a scene and they don't. I love Miroku and Sango - almost as much as I love Inu and Kag.

Blubber: Yeah! Die, Kikyo! DIE!!!!

Hanamaru285: What a way to welcome you home from vacation, ne? Cliffies - you gotta love 'em. Gomen for that... I can't help it! LOL!

SO, THERE! Thank you so much, to all those who read and reviewed my previous chaps. *goes teary-eyed* You guys are my LIFE!

I hope you all don't mind that I slightly altered Kagura's spell of control over corpses. I just couldn't think of anything else at the time!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chap! Please tell me what you think! It only takes a TINY bit of time, and the smallest comments are enough to make my day. If my day is good, my brain works faster, I type faster, so reviews = faster updates.

Thanks again to all of you people! Ja ne!

ScarletRaven1001