Authors Note: Thanks for coming to read my fic! I appreciate it. This is my first chapter fic, and the first fic I've submitted on any site, so please go easy on me. Flames will be used to roast my marshmallows.

Also, this fic is Angst, a little bit of Drama,Romance, Humor,andAction/Adventure too. Andit's not all fluff and sugar , especially at the beginning. Enjoy!

And one more thing, I'm still learning some good vocab words and how to make things flow well, so please go easy on me and don't review telling me that I am horrible at it okay? I'm still learning, just like most people!

Disclaimer: I do not own any InuYasha characters.

Fresh Deadly Roses

Chapter 1: Hanging On

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A cold, crisp night. A cool breeze blew in, giving the shadows on the trees a haunting disposition. Crickets chirped quietly in the background as the moon flooded over the vast fields.In the midst of the darkness sat a lone hut, the light from within glowing fervently. At the window of the hut sat a girl, gazing out into the seemingly starless night.

"I wonder what is taking him so long?" She mused to herself as she stared thoughtfully over the dark ground. It was just like him to disappear without saying a word to her or anyone else. She sighed.

For the past few nights, she had seen him go off under the dark of night and not return for a couple of hours. Once he stepped foot into the hut, he spoke not a word to her and made a place to sleep in the far corner of the small room. Soon she began to wonder where he went for so long, and why he had been avoiding her as of late.

I just can't seem to figure him out, can I? She asked herself mentally, eyes darting left and right to scan the forest.

She jumped when she felt a small tap on her back. Turning her head, she caught a glimpse of red-brown hair and looked down with a smile.

"Hello Shippo," She said quietly. Seeing her eyes clouded with worry, he looked at her with suspicion. "Kagome, are you okay? You seem out of it. Every time InuYasha goes out, you look out of the window with a forlorn look on your face." Still smiling, she stood up from being on her knees and glanced at him.

"It's nothing, really. I'll be fine," She lied.

In truth, she was not fine. Biting her lower lip she thought of how it hurt her so to see him be blunt and strait forward with her, saying things she hoped he did not mean. She could never comprehend why at different times he would be so sickeningly sweet she thought he lost his mind, and then other times, well . . . she rather not think about it. Shaking her head, she found her way to the kindling fire in the middle of the room, and sat down beside it.

Shippo crawled innocently into her lap. "You know Kagome, you can talk about it if you want to." He looked at her face, worn from hours of searching the dark woods. It hurt him to see Kagome in such a weak state.

Kagome looked down at the young kitsune, and his eyes locked onto hers. They were full of concern. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to the small fire, wondering if she should explain the situation to him.

"So much to say, but . . . would he understand?" Her features hardened in concentration.

Shippo, being so young, might not be able to comprehend the thoughts that were rushing through her mind. She remembered that time after time, when something happened between she and InuYasha, or Miroku and Sango, he always had a bewildered look on his face. He has yet to mature enough to be able to see what was going on before him.

Again another tug on the sleeve and she was jerked out of her thoughts. She averted her gaze from the fire to Shippo, who was seated quite comfortably in her lap, his eyes deep and full of worry. She gave him a small pat on the head, then placed her arms behind her for support.

"I might tell you soon Shippo, but not now. Maybe when you are ready and old enough to understand," She said in a rather calm voice.

Shippo stood up in her lap, making her start. "I am ready! I want to know what would be bothering you so much to where you just stare out of the window for hours!" Chuckling, she grabbed his small body and set him back down to relax.

"Oh Shippo...I'm glad you care for me, and I would gladly tell you, but some things you would just not...understand," Trying to find the right words to say, she stuttered slightly. She did not want to make it all obvious for him. Seeing that it was nothing against him personally, his features softened. He curled up against her chest like a baby would a mother.

"It's okay Kagome, I understand. When you are ready, you can tell me," Kagome patted his small head, letting what he said sink in.

"Maybe he's right...maybe it's me that's not ready, not him."

She looked down to say something, but noticed he was falling asleep, his tiny hands grasping the hem of her shirt. A faint smile appeared on her face as she picked him up and gently laid him down on the other side of the fire. Giving him space she sat back where she had been moments before, looking at the fox with interest.

Once she was sure he was fully asleep, she glanced back out of the window. "InuYasha..."

It was then she felt alone. The silence of the night filled the hut, the only thing audible was her steady heartbeat. Realizing that she had not seen neither ear nor sword of InuYasha, she turned away. This had been the longest time he had been away, and she grew concerned.

"Relax girl, he's probably um...just sitting in a tree somewhere like he always does...yeah." She finally convinced herself that he would be fine, and scooted closer to the fire, hands gently hovering over it to keep warm.

"It's so useless worrying about him. It won't bother him that I've been up hoping he would come back safe and sound."

InuYasha had always been independent, save for the few times that she had rescued him from certain death. He rarely thanked her, but never forgot to scold her for coming to his rescue. Whether it was because he wanted her safe or because he wanted to do everything on his own was still a mystery to her.

Just as she was about to pull her hands away from the fire and go down for the night, the flap of the hut flew open, revealing InuYasha. His domineering features flickered in the fire light, yet they seemed exhausted. Kagome took a shallow breath as she stood up to come face to face with him.

"InuYasha! Finally you've come back. I was beginning to worry about you," She whispered loudly, for Shippo still lay behind her in slumber. InuYasha snorted.

"Feh. I'm perfectly fine alright? I'm half demon, I can fend for myself better than any normal human," He boasted for at least the fifteen millionth time, but Kagome forgot to keep count. She put her hand close to her face, eyes full of concern.

"I know you can...but with Miroku and Sango gone away for a few days–"

"You know they are arriving tomorrow morning, right Kagome? And besides, if I was in any danger you probably woulda sensed it." Kagome knew he was right, but in her mind she had every right to worry about him. Taking half of his words as a compliment, she nodded.

"So," He muttered, looking towards his usual place to sleep, "I'm heading off to bed now. I'll see you and Shippo bright and early to make sure Miroku and Sango arrive safely." Before she could stop him, he was already in his position, hand under chin, eyes closed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, InuYasha."

Without a second thought, she made herself comfortable by the fire, the light making her eyes burn. Whether they were tears of sadness or tears from the heat of the flames, she could not tell. All she thought about was InuYasha and how he seemed so distant. Soon she fell asleep with thoughts of him leaving –– to never return.

InuYasha opened his eyes to the semi-darkness. It had been a while since he had fallen asleep, for the fire dwindled to hot coals. Both Kagome and Shippo were still fast asleep. The sun was barely peeking over the mountainous horizon, giving faint light to the hanyou who stared intently at the girl laying before him.

"Kagome..."

His heart skipped a beat as he looked over her features, taking in all of her. Ever since he had been going out at night, he never took time to talk to her, let alone look at her. By then it was dark and he was tired. Staring intently at her eyelids, he wished that he could gaze into them as lovingly as she did to him.

"But soon I won't be able to, Kagome," He murmured into the quiet of the hut, knowing she could not hear him. Inside his heart ached, but he could not say a word. Pushing those thoughts towards the back of his mind, he stood up and made his way to the entrance, his goldeneyes never leaving Kagome.

Suddenly she stirred, her eyes flitting open to adjust to the morning light. InuYasha tried to quell his quickly pacing heart as she sat up gracefully, stretching her arms and pushing the hair out of her face. Looking up she saw InuYasha standing by the door.

"Good morning, InuYasha. Have a good sleep?" She yawned and stood up, her skirt straitening itself out automatically. He nodded.

"I slept well. How about you?" His voice was gruff, but to Kagome it had a softer touch. It was not his usual 'I don't care' tone.

"I slept okay. I kept on having these weird dreams–" She stopped mid-sentence as she turned to see Shippo sitting up from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes, then thoughtfully looked over to InuYasha.

With a menacing look he climbed his way to the top of InuYasha's head, pulling on his ears. Kagome kept silent as the two glared at each other.

"Where were you last night InuYasha? You had me and Kagome worried."

InuYasha picked Shippo up by the tail, relieving his ears of the tight grip. "Since when do I answer to you, runt?"

"Since right now! All you have done the past three or four nights is run off into the woods and leave us for hours to wonder if you are injured...or worse, dead!"

InuYasha's breath caught in his throat. He was now stuck in a hard place as he went from Shippo's infuriated glare to Kagome's soft and concerned gaze. InuYasha looked from one to the other several times, only to rest on the hazel brown eyes that were Kagome's.

Dropping Shippo he stepped forward, leaving the young fox to stand alone. He came a mere three inches from her face and gave her a look that was so innocent, so deep that she could not pull away. He had given her this look before, she remembered, when she was yelling about herself looking like Kikyo.

--Flashback--

"Why is it that you haven't been able to look me strait in the eye since yesterday?"

InuYasha looks away from her, his eyes fixed on something else.

"It's nothing."

She grabs his hair and pulls him closer to her face, yet he still averts her eyes. Suddenly she becomes angry.

"It's because of Kikyo, isn't it? It's because I look like her! Isn't it?" He turns and looks her directly in the eye. Grabbing her hand he pulls it away from his hair. She gasped, her breath lost.

"Inu...Yasha..."

"IT'S NOT!..." He calmed himself and moved her hand over further, looking into her eyes with an unknown passion, "...It's not like that..."

--End Flashback--

It was indeed the same look, and again it made the blood pound in her head. Even though she knew that before it had been that he was looking through to Kikyo, it never wavered. He smiled as he locked eyes with her.

"Kagome..."

Her eyes quivered, for in that moment she was hoping that he would tell of where he had been. But before he could speak, Shippo had begun to bounce up and down with excitement. He ran out of the door, leaving InuYasha and Kagome staring after him.

"Dammit Shippo, ruin the moment." Kagome whined and looked down with remorse.

"Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Kirara have arrived," InuYasha peeked out of the nearest window, then with one swift motion he was out of the door leaving Kagome standing alone.

She was happy for their safe return, but now she would not find out what InuYasha was going to say. With a heavy sigh she straitened herself out and put a smile on her face. She knew that if she acted different every one would notice. She exited the hut and ran towards her friends.

"Miroku! Sango! Kirara! I'm so glad you're back!" Kagome gave Sango a hug, who gladly returned the embrace. Neither of them seemed injured, and she let out a sigh of relief. By then her pulse was returning to normal.

"How was the trip? Did you accomplish anything?" InuYasha asked them after they made their way around the fire in the hut, each eating a bowl of ramen that Kagome had brought from her time. Shippo sat comfortable atop Kirara's head.

Miroku looked up with a flat expression on his face. "Well, we didn't exactly get much out of the villagers. They did not seem too pleased that we were there. When we mentioned the name Naraku, however, they did change their reaction towards us. It was that of fear."

Kagome looked up from her ramen, interested in the topic at hand. The villagers knew of Naraku? What has he done to them? These questions ran through Kagome's head as she looked over to Miroku.

"Did they say anything?" She asked. Miroku shook his head. "No. I do recall that they looked around before responding that they did not know of his whereabouts."

InuYasha rubbed his chin with concentration. Never had villagers heard the name Naraku and lived to tell about it. If he himself did not get them, his incarnations did. He was clueless as to why they responded the way they did, and again he was at a dead end. InuYasha smashed his fist into the floor, startling everyone. Shippo hid behind Kagome's hair.

"What the hell is this? Why can't Naraku just come out of his damn hiding place and fight us face-to-face! Man-to-man!" He beat his chest proudly, showing off what little youkai dignity he had. Kagome and the others shook their heads.

"That would be way too easy InuYasha. Naraku is a conniving, deceitful demon. He would not put his own self in danger." Miroku stately bluntly, popping InuYasha's ego balloon.

Sango butted into the conversation, to InuYasha's disliking. "It's going to be harder than you think, InuYasha. We've been chasing Naraku for a good while, and you should know him well enough by now." He snorted.

"Feh. I know enough to know he's a coward! All he does is hide!"

Now it was Kagome's turn to step up. If InuYasha had not been searching for Naraku those nights he was out in the wood, then where could he have been? If he had been looking, it was unfruitful, and that could have been, Kagome thought, the reason why he had been silent when he returned. Taking a deep breath, she sat up further on her knees and took Shippo in her arms.

"InuYasha, have you been searching for him too? Is that what you have been doing these past few nights?"

InuYasha's breath caught in his throat for the second time that day as he looked down with a lightly flushed face. They all focused on him, their eyes boring into his downcast ones.

"I was, sorta...but most of the time I was out there to think," He stopped hismumbling and realized they were all staring at him, and became frustrated. "But why does it matter to you? It's not like me or anyone else was hurt!" All sighed simultaneously.

"We are just wondering, no need to get defensive," Sango replied, slightly flustered herself at his sudden outburst. Miroku and Kagome nodded in agreement.

InuYasha stood up, and in that moment Kagome thought he was going to go running off into the woods like he always did when he felt cornered, but he did not. His face was hard and expressionless, and his body rigid.

"Just know I don't have to explain anything to you, got that?"

Kagome took his biting words to heart and it hurt. She never could quite comprehend how come when he confronted her about where she went and why it took so long, she was ordered to explain herself, but when it came to what he had been up to, he did not have to say one word. Silently they stared at the fire, leaving InuYasha to glare down at them from his standing position.

"Well, I think I'm going to head off for a bath," Sango said after about an hour of silence. InuYasha had found his way back to the floor, occasional grunts or sighs emitting from around the room.

Miroku stood up with Sango. "I think I should go to protect–"

"Not one word monk, unless you want to have an imprint of that staff on your face." With that, she took hold of Kagome's hand and took her down to the hot springs that were nearby, allowing them time to talk. Miroku was still standing in the hut with a stunned look on his face.

"Wow..the staff, huh? That's a new one." InuYasha said, a smirk on his face. The anger was gone.

"I would have preferred her delicate hand, but..." InuYasha gave him a warning glance before he could go any further.

Sango and Kagome stopped a few feet from the water, steam rising slowly. The hot mist gave it an eerie ghostly feel. They both stripped of their clothing and stepped into the bath, adjusting to the heat. They left their clothes by Kagome's backpack, which she had brought on her way out the door.

"Kagome, what do you really think InuYasha is up to?" Sango finally asked once they were alone and resting in the hot spring. Kagome shook her head and sank deeper into the water.

"I'm..I'm not sure," Kagome said uncertainly. She looked up to Sango. "But I have noticed a change in his attitude when he returns. It's almost as if..." She tried to think of the right words to describe him.

"Kagome?"

Kagome looked down at her own reflection. The attitude seemed so familiar, yet she could not place her finger on it. His eyes a melancholy glow, face strait. What was it that was different? Sango swam over to her and placed a caring hand on Kagome's shoulder.

"Let's not worry about it Kagome. We need to enjoy our nice bath." Kagome nodded, not fully listening to what Sango had said.

InuYasha walked outside of the hut, leaving Miroku and Shippo to the rest of their ramen. He intently stared at the darkening forest before him, knowing what he must do. The sun was setting along the horizon and dark was now consuming the land.

"Now's the time," He muttered as he leapt onto the nearest branch and disappeared, once again, into the woods.

"Kagome...I will have to say goodbye to you...eventually."

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Author's Note: So? What did you think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? It is a little slow now...but it will get much much better! I had to open the story up somehow! ;-; Well, please review and tell me what you thought! The second chapter will be up soon! It might get up faster if I get more reviews! hint hint Haha.

--Noir--