Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha

Saying Goodbye

For two hours, the pickpocket just laid in the couch, starring blankly up at the ceiling. Needless to say, Inuyasha could not sleep. Not tonight. The thought of Kagome's funeral tomorrow kept his thoughts too jumbled up for him to fall asleep. This is it, he'll be saying goodbye. He'll never see her again. Now Inuyasha isn't in love with Kagome, he knows that, but she's the mother of his son. That makes her a significant person in his life.

Besides, what's love anyway? I Inuyasha has never had any 'love' in his lonely life. Infatuations, yes; but not love. In the thief's opinion, love is over rated. He doesn't see what's so great about it. People who fall in love are just setting themselves up to be crushed. Either the person they love won't return the feelings, or the person dies. Then they end up feeling more miserable than he does now. He's content with the few people he allowed in his life thus far.

Inuyasha always told himself he'd keep himself from falling for someone or from letting anyone get close to him. Yet he was a hypocrite, he tried getting close to Shippo and Kagome. But Kagome wanted nothing to do with him, and she tried everything in her power to keep Shippo far away from him. Those were the only two Inuyasha was willing to get close to. They represented the family he never had, and in the end, couldn't have. Before he got accepted to the family, they were taken from him. Two people he was willing to get close to, gone, there never was anyone else.

Now Inuyasha finds himself thinking of the woman in the other room. He knew that there isn't a good idea to think about the police officer. Yet, he couldn't help himself. Sango, more or less, intrigues him. She's willing to help him, someone who's scum, a thief, a dirty street rat with no real purpose in life. He even stole her necklace and went so far as to selling it. Still she helps him. She doesn't seem to hold it against him at all that he robbed her, she's willing to forgive and forget.

Not only that, but she believes someone's out there trying to get him, and she wants to catch them before they manage to kill him. She's even convinced Inuyasha, himself, that he's not responsible for Koga's and Kagome's murders. Not that he really believed he murdered Kagome, he was just confused.

It isn't just that Sango wants to help him either that intrigues him. Every time he sees her starring at him, he begins to feel strange. Her gaze makes him feel self conscious, ashamed, guilty, and scared all at once. It's like she's starring right into his soul with her soft gaze. Inuyasha wanted to figure out why exactly she makes him feel this way. He's never really felt ashamed for the things he's done before. But with Sango, she always finds away to make him feel guilty, driving him more and more crazy each time. And the most annoying thing is that she isn't doing it intentionally. She can mean one thing when she talks to him, and he'll take it in another.

Inuyasha gives a frustrated snort before rolling to his other side. He stares out the window, seeing the first traces of light brightening up the early morning. With a moment's contemplation, Inuyasha sits up on the couch and reaches for his sneakers that are at the side of the couch. Some fresh air could do him good, it might clear some of his thoughts. 'I wonder if the cop will mind if I go out.' Inuyasha thinks for a moment as he stands up. Inuyasha just a shrugs, deciding that he doesn't care whether she cares or not.

Walking towards the door, Inuyasha opens it up and steps out into the crisp morning. He puts his hands in his ragged jacket, trying to keep his hands warm from the chilly morning air. The thief glances side to side, checking out the empty street for a moment before stepping down the few steps to the sidewalk. Inuyasha keeps his gaze down to the ground as he walks away, counting the cracks in the pavement as he walks to pass the time and to busy his mind on something other than his thoughts.

A block away from Sango's house, Inuyasha ducks into an alley and leans against the side of the building. Feeling more at home in the back streets rather than in someone's house who he hardly knew. Down at the other end of the alley Inuyasha sees someone in rags scavenging through garbage cans, their hood hiding their face.

Inuyasha's nose scrunches in disgust, 'Bum...' He wouldn't be caught dead looking through garbage cans for food. Inuyasha doesn't stoop that low, even if he's nearly starving to death. Even when he was younger, he refused to be as desperate for food to get it out of the garbage. If he couldn't steal some money or food, than he'd just go without until he got what he needed. More than a few times he found himself nearly collapsing from neglecting to eat. When he was younger at least, now he's skilled enough to get what he needs. It's rare for him now that he'll collapse from lack of nutrition. Neglecting to eat out of the garbage was one thing that pushed him to try harder to steal from others. The need to survive depended solely on him stealing some food or money.

Inuyasha shakes himself out of his thoughts as the bum begins to walk pass him. Inuyasha keeps his eyes trained on him, not forgetting that Sango told him the person after him could be following him. That makes everyone suspicious in Inuyasha's book. Inuyasha reels back a bit as the bum coughs, staggering into Inuyasha, "Get the hell off me." Inuyasha barks.

"Sorry, friend." The man speaks as he pushes himself away from Inuyasha. He continues on his way until he disappears around the corner of the alley.

Inuyasha stood there a minute or two in thought. He's heard that voice before, he can't remember where but he knows he's heard it before. 'Where have I heard that voice before..."

'Who the hell are you?'

'I'm you're second chance.'

Inuyasha's eyes widen, "The night I was arrested!" With that thought in mind, Inuyasha quickly runs out of the alley and looks around the street. He could stand there looking around all day and come up with nothing. His mysterious savior had disappeared, again.

Inuyasha scuffs, frustrated, "Damnit... If I was just a bit quicker." He grumbles and shoves his hands in his pockets. The thief blinks a bit surprised as he feels something in his right pocket. Pulling it out, he discovers that it's an envelope. "How the hell did he..." Needless to say, Inuyasha is surprised. The 'bum' managed to slip it into his pocket without him realizing it. His pocket, Inuyasha, the pickpocket.

Inuyasha carefully opens the envelope and reads the letter inside:

Glad to see you made it, friend. From this point on it's best to be careful who you trust. I can vouch for the police officer. However, be careful. The person after you can be anyone. So here's a word of advice. Don't take her for granted, she'll help you, I know it.

Inuyasha glances up from the letter and looks around, seeing if anyone is around or not. Frowning a bit confused, he shoves the letter back into his pocket and begins to head back towards Sango's apartment, hoping he makes it back before she wakes up. He doesn't need her to be angry with him for leaving without notifying her.

Upon reaching the steps to Sango's apartment, Inuyasha is caught off guard by her stepping out. "Oh.. There you are." Sango says once she notices him. She releases a breath of relief, "I thought you might have run off." Inuyasha gives a small shrug, "Well.. ready?" Sango asks.

Inuyasha stands in his spot, a bit dumbfounded for a moment, "It's this early?" He asks, the surprise clear in his voice.

Sango slaps her forehead and shakes her head in disbelief, "If you forgot, the police ARE looking for you. You need some new clothes, and something to hide your appearance."

Inuyasha crosses his arms, his brows furrow in annoyance, "Feh, I'm not going to go shop for some clothes."

For a moment, Sango doesn't respond. Suddenly, an idea crosses the officer's mind, causing her lips to curl up. With a casual shrug, Sango replies, "Alright... I thought we'd get some breakfast too but if you don't want to go..." Sango trails off, letting him fill in the rest by himself.

At the mention of food, Inuyasha stomach gives a hungry rumble, begging it's master to accept the offer. Inuyasha scuffs, his bottom lip sticking out slightly in a small pout, "Damnit... that's cheap." He mutters to himself before following a smirking Sango. "This isn't going to happen again, cop." Inuyasha makes sure to say cop in the most disgusted voice he can muster.

Sango glances over to the other side of the car where the sulking pickpocket stands waiting for the door to be unlocked. "Of course. After all, you're used to stealing, thief. You've probably never gone shopping before." She comments before unlocking the door to her car and getting in.

Inuyasha's eye twitches slightly in anger. He silently curses to himself as he slips into the passenger side, 'She thinks she's so damn smart. But what she doesn't know is that I have shopped before. I've bought my own food at the fast-food restaurants. HA!' Inuyasha didn't even bother to think of how sad that would sound to the woman driving if he actually said it out loud. Nevertheless, it made him feel that he one the short battle of words.

Inuyasha crosses his arms. Leaning the seat back, Inuyasha places his feet up on the dashboard of the car, much to Sango's disapproval. The officer quickly swats his feet off the dash, shooting him a look that clearly told him to Keep-His-Feet-Off. Inuyasha gives an annoyed growl but decides to obey... this time, at least. 'I don't think I can put up with this wench much longer.'

Sango tried to will her growing headache away. It hasn't even been thirty minutes and the pickpocket is already grating on her nerves. She's trying not to be harsh towards him, after all, today is the day he'll have to say goodbye to his wife, girlfriend, or whatever the woman is to the him. Sango still isn't clear on the matter.

Sango stops at the traffic light, using the opportunity to sneak a glance over to the thief. She raises an eyebrow at him when she sees him. His arms crossed over his chest, with his head bowed letting his long black hair hide most of his face. Even though she can't see his eyes through all his hair, she realizes intuitively that he's asleep because of his gentle breathing. 'did he get any sleep last night?' She thinks to herself. Out of the corner of her eye she sees the light turn green. Giving her full attention back to the road, Sango drives forward.

-

"Ow!" Inuyasha shouts more from surprise than hurt. It takes him a moment to take in his surroundings. Just a few seconds ago he was asleep in the policewoman's car. Looking to his right, he notices the mentioned person standing at his side, his door opened as she waits for him to get out.

Inuyasha yawns a bit before climbing out of the car and into the parking lot. He blinks a bit from the sunlight as he stares up at the large sign on top of the building. He raises an eyebrow as he reads it, "Yura's Clothes and Saloon?" He glances over to Sango questioningly, "What the hell is this?"

Sango rolls her eyes at the seemingly dumb question, "It's exactly what it says. It's a clothing store with a saloon built into it. I'll get the clothes you need while you get your hair..." Both her brows raise suggestively.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what Sango is suggesting, and Inuyasha won't have any of it, "There's no way in hell I'm letting someone hack off my hair. It took me years to grow it this long and I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon." Inuyasha crosses his arms, a sign that tells her the argument is over.

Sango raises a hand and shakes her head, "I only meant for you to get it washed and dry." The corners of her lips twitch as she holds back a smirk that's threatening to break, "After all, when was the last time you had it cleaned?" Sango gives a small shudder as a new thought crosses her mind, "Or bathed for that matter."

Inuyasha doesn't say anything. Although, by the way his face is turning slightly red, Sango figures she brought up an embarrassing subject, that or he's just really mad. Inuyasha continues to shoot the woman a soft gentle glare, one that could easily make anyone cower. Crossing his arms, Inuyasha crosses his arms and turns his head to the side, "Feh..."

"Good... Now let's go inside." Inuyasha continues to mutter a few profanities under his breath as he follows Sango through the sliding doors. He immediately picks up the scent of various hair sprays and cleaners from the saloon that's located a few meters away from the entrance. Sango makes a straight shot towards the saloon with a grumbling thief in tow. Sango waits at the counter for someone to help them.

A young woman with dark brown eyes and short black hair heads over to the counter. "Good day. I'm Yura, the owner of this establishment. How can I help you?"

Sango forces a smile as she yanks Inuyasha over to the counter, "My friend here needs his hair washed and dried." She explains as Inuyasha pries his arm free from her grasp.

Yura covers her mouth with her hand in shock, "Oh my.." She suddenly says as she stares at Inuyasha. Her eyes go wide before she grabs Inuyasha's hair and tugging his upper half over the counter.

"Yeow! Watch it wench!" Inuyasha shouts in annoyance.

"Oh dear... such dirty hair. " She comments as she examines Inuyasha's hair, "And look at these split ends. You haven't been taking care of your hair very well. Such beautiful hair being destroyed. You have got to be the must have the most uncared hair I've seen yet."

Inuyasha's cheeks turn pink from his embarrassment, "Feh, forget this wench. I don't need this, my hair is perfectly fine the way it is." Inuyasha tries to straighten up, but Yura tugs him back down.

Sango can feel her smile dropping with the thief's behavior. Through tightly clenched teeth Sango asks, "Do you think you can have one of your employees take care of it?"

"Oh dear no, I most certainly can not." Yura replies. Inuyasha smirks at the reply, "I'll personally take care of this."

"What?" Inuyasha shouts. "I don't want you're freaky hands anywhere near me!"

"Thank you.." Sango replies, trying to ignore Inuyasha, "I'll be back to pay for the bill."

"Yes, yes." Yura walks around the counter, Inuyasha's hair still in her hands. With a tug of his hair, Yura pulls Inuyasha to the back, "Come sir. It's time you get a crash course lesson on how you should care for your hair." Inuyasha protests all the way.

-

'Hmm...' Sango bite her bottom lip as she looks at the various shirts, tapping her foot in thought. 'What would fit him...' She's only been away from the saloon for ten minutes searching for some decent clothes for the thief and already she's growing irritated. She's never actually shopped for a guy before, well except Kohaku. But that was when he was just a kid. 'Kohaku...'

"Do you need any help miss?" Sango's thoughts are interrupted.

Turning around, Sango notices a man who works in the men's clothing department, "Oh um... Yes! Maybe you could. I need to find some clothes for... a friend of mine. They need to be something decent.. um.. formal I'd say."

The man gives a smile, "And what is the 'special' occasion for this.. friend of yours?" The man asks.

Sango crosses her arms, her eyes narrowing into thin slits. It's pretty obvious what this man is thinking. If she wasn't a police officer she'd give the guy a good smack or two, "A funeral." She replies harshly, not the least bit amused by the man.

"Oh.. I apologize... I did not know." The man looks around nervously, expecting Sango's 'friend' to be somewhere near. Lucky for him, Inuyasha isn't around, "Um.. right.. Do you know his measurements?"

"Um... measurement?" Sango trails off for a moment, "Uh... He's about this tall, "Sango raises her hand a few inches above her own head, "Um... he's lean but... muscular.." Sango adds the last bit, remembering how Inuyasha looked the night she hit him with her car, "And... um... wide shoulders?" She explains, almost uncertain.

"That... might work... here come with me."

-

"How's that?" Yura asks.

"That's fucking freezing wench!" Inuyasha shouts as Yura washes the shampoo out of his hair. Inuyasha has about had it with the nitwit. First she pulls him to a seat, nearly tearing his hair out of his skull in the process. Then she burns his face with steaming hot water, sprays shampoo in his eyes, turns out she used the wrong shampoo. It wasn't the right 'formula' for his hair. Had to wash that out, and rewash it, effectively burning his face again. Then she has to wash his hair AGAIN because she claims it needs to be cleaned again to get the remainders of the last shampoo out.

'Clean the remainders of the last shampoo out, what the hell? I'm not an expert on hair but is it me or does that make any sense?' Inuyasha gives an annoyed "Feh.." 'Stupid wench.'

"Okay.. Now we need to try it!" Yura exclaims as she pulls the thief up into a sitting position. Inuyasha stares at her nervously as she arms herself with two hair dryers. "Now sit still" Yura commands as she turns both hair dryers on.

-

"And the total comes out to be... four-hundred and sixty-five dollars and eleven cents." The clerk behind the counter says.

"Four-hundred and sixty-five dollars?" Sango nearly shrieks. She did say she was going to buy Inuyasha some decent clothes, but this is ridiculous. Grumbling over 'over priced clothes' Sango decides to write a check for the amount, 'There goes this week's paycheck.'

"Here's your receipt miss. Have a nice day."

Sango grabs the receipt and the plastic bags before turning around to head back towards the saloon. She just prays that it doesn't cost that much to clean the pickpocket's hair. The officer weaves her way through the aisles and walks into the saloon. Upon walking in, she immediately hears some commotion in the back. She tries to glances around the wall behind the counter to see what's happening.

"You're not washing it again!"

"But you have such fine hair. It needs to have treatment."

"What the- Why do you have scissors?"

"Oh don't worry, its just a little trim."

"Stay the hell away from my hair!" There's a buzzing noise followed by Yura's shriek.

Sango resists the urge to run into the back when she hears a few crashing sounds followed by glass shattering. There's a few more choice words being said from who can only be Inuyasha. She sees Inuyasha walk around to the front, his lips pressed into a fine scowl; it was hard to miss his twitching eyes as well. Seeing Sango at the counter, Inuyasha immediately asks, "Can we go now, these people are insane?"

Sango tilts her head to the side as she examines Inuyasha's hair. It no longer looks greasy and patted to his head. It has a healthy shine to it and looks really soft, making Sango get the urge to reach out and grab a strand of his hair to see how soft it really is.

Sango shakes herself out of her thoughts, "I just have to wait to pay."

Inuyasha crosses his arms and glances around, "Um... I was suppose to tell you not to worry about it. Getting my hair clean was good enough. Feh... The woman is weird."

"Oh..." Sango says a bit uncertain, "I'll just... leave a tip on the counter." She isn't sure she believes what the pickpocket just told her, but from what Yura seems like to her, it could very well be possible. She pulls a twenty out of her purse and puts it on the counter, "Alright... lets go."

Inuyasha follows Sango for a few steps then stops. Turning around, he picks up the twenty off the counter and shoves it in his pocket before catching up with Sango. Of course he'd been lying when he told the officer what Yura had supposedly said. Does he care? No. Besides, he doubts she'll be stepping out to the counter any time soon.

Yura stared at her reflection in the mirror with disbelief. With her mouth open wide in shock, she slowly raised her hand up to her head. Her eyes never breaking there gaze from the bold line down the middle of her head. "M-my... my beautiful hair." Tears fill her eyes.

-

Sango releases another impatient breath as she continues to stare at her bathroom door; her arms crossed and her finger drumming on her bicep. She had told the thief to take a shower before putting on the clothes she gave him on. That was an hour and a half ago. The shower had finally stopped a half hour ago. Sango doesn't see why it's taking him so long to get into the clothes she gave him. Sango knocks on the bathroom door softly, thinking that he may have drowned in the toilet or something, "Are you almost done in there?"

There's a moment of silence before Inuyasha responds, "Shut up! I'm almost done."

Sango crosses her arms again, "What is taking you so long? Do all guys take this long to get dressed?"

"Either be quiet or come in and help."

Sango steps back away from the door, feeling her face heat up slightly at the suggestion. She quickly brushes it off, but remains quiet nevertheless. The doorknob rattles a bit as the pickpocket unlocks it. He opens the door and takes a step out.

Sango collapses in shock. 'Wow...' Inuyasha no longer has his protective layer of dirt and scum surrounding his skin. The dirt and grime made his skin appear to be tan but in reality he's white. The clothes that Sango got him fit him perfectly, not too tight, and not too loose. A black pair of dress pants, a buttoned up dress shirt that's tucked into his pants; he has the black jacket over his white shirt. Sango glances down to the object in Inuyasha's hand, noticing it as the tie she got him.

"Curse this thing!" Inuyasha yells, waving the tie around, "I don't need to wear this and I'm not going to." He hurls it across the room.

Sango sighs and shakes her head tiredly. "Alright... We have a half hour to get there. No time to waste." Inuyasha doesn't comment as they walk out the door.

-

"Okay.. we're in." Sango announces as they walk into the church. They stand at the doors for a moment as they stare at all the people gathered in the church. She pulls Inuyasha to a corner, "Stand right here, you don't want anyone recognizing you." She says, keeping her voice low.

"Like hell I will. Besides, none of these people won't recognize me. I don't know any of them." Inuyasha crosses his arms in annoyance.

Sango closes her eyes and sighs, trying to keep her temper, "Look... you're still being searched for by police. There happens to be a few of them wandering around here. You can't go anywhere that's out in the open."

"So you want me to stand in a damn corner, looking like a complete jackass?"

"Right." Sango replies with a small smile before turning around and walking away.

Inuyasha's nose scrunches in annoyance. He crosses his arms and leans back against the wall as he listens to the priest read out of the bible. As if Inuyasha would actually pay attention to what the old geezer is saying. He glances around the church, hoping he'd spot Sango somewhere. 'Damnit... where the hell did she go?' He glances to the benches thinking that she might have sat down.

He didn't find her, but he did find someone else. 'What the hell is that monk doing here? This isn't his church. He shouldn't be here.' Miroku shouldn't be there, and yet he is. There's no mistake that it's him. He's wearing the robes he's always wearing. He's sitting in the second row of benches, listening to the priest intently.

"I will now ask the friends to come up to say their final farewell."

Inuyasha's hand involuntarily twitched. He stays where he is as he watches people stand up and walk over to the coffin. Inuyasha watches as Miroku walks over to the priest and says something. The old priest smiles and pats a hand on Miroku's shoulder. 'Must be the monk's mentor.' Inuyasha thinks to himself.

Seeing that the line has finishes up, the old priest speaks up, "Now will the family members can come up."

Inuyasha watches the people file up. For a moment he just stared at the line, watching as the line dwindled down. He waits until there's only three people left in the line before he pushes himself off the wall and walks towards the line. He keeps his head bowed, his hair masking his face as he passes the people sitting on the church benches. The people stare at him, while some begin whispering to each other. By the time Inuyasha reaches the line, that last person is walking away. He steps up to the coffin and looks down at the dead woman in the coffin.

For a moment he just stared at Kagome's lifeless face, 'Damnit, why couldn't you just accept me? If you did we would've of been together. Then I would have been there to keep you safe, stupid girl.' Inuyasha blinks his tears away, 'Not only are you gone, but now Shippo is missing, OUR son disappeared, possibly dead. This is all your fault, you know that? If you had just let us be a family, for Shippo's sake at least, you would still be alive, and Shippo wouldn't be missing. Or you could have just let me stay with you that night... I was drunk, you tossed me out... And now I'm helping a damn cop try to catch whoever killed you... I... I hate you. You never gave me a single chance, no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, you wouldn't trust me. Was it to protect Shippo? Protect him from someone like me? Or because of the time at Kikyo's party? Is it something else? Now I'll never know... For that I hate you.'

Inuyasha had no idea he was gripping the edge of the coffin so tightly. Inuyasha took another moment to stare at Kagome's face, taking in her features one last time. She looks so different to him now. Her face looks a bit thinner than usual. Inuyasha guesses because every time he's seen her, she was scowling at him. Her hair looks a bit thinner, and more straight than normal. The people who did her makeup and everything did a poor just, in Inuyasha's opinion.

Inuyasha squints his eyes a bit as he stares at a small round mark underneath Kagome's bottom lip. Inuyasha lets out an annoyed sigh, they couldn't even cover all her freckles up with the makeup. Inuyasha's tempted to find the person and beat him senseless. Kagome doesn't look like herself with makeup on, she's never worn makeup before, not that he knows anyway. It makes her look, strange.

Inuyasha ignores all the whispering behind him, he ignores everything around him as he says his goodbye. That is until he feels a few hands being placed on his shoulders. Turning around quickly, he sees several police officers standing behind him, 'Oh hell...' Inuyasha knew he doesn't have a chance at getting away, not with them surrounding him like this.

"You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent.Anything.." The police officer is cut off by Inuyasha.

"I say or do can and will be used against me in the court of law. Yeah, yeah. I know my rights. Just hurry the hell up." Inuyasha says, a bit pissed. They snap a pair of handcuffs on him. Pulling him towards the exit of the church. Inuyasha turns his gaze to Miroku as he passes him. The young priest looks at him, eyes full of pity. Inuyasha notices Sango as they pass by her, her mouth parted slightly, and her eyes wide in surprise as she watches him being pulled away. Inuyasha shakes his head a moment before bowing his head.

That's it everyone! I finally managed to get this chapter done! Now that this is up, the REAL fun can begin HEEEHEEEHEE! So let me know what you think. Drop me a review and I'll get the next chapter out quicker for you! I'll give you a hint as to what's happening in the next chapter... Pretty Boy... There's your hint! Think, Think, Think! TTNC!