AN: I had an anonymous reviewer from chapter 3 point out to me that my sentencing is slightly awkward, so I decided to take heed, and corrected what I could spot. (Or at least I think I corrected them?) I know there isn't a quick fix to improving my sentence structures, but I'll keep trying.

Thank you, anonymous reviewer, for sharing your thoughts with me. Please feel free to correct me if I got you wrong. My English teacher did tell me that I wrote with too much run-on sentences before, and perhaps that's why I mostly put periods in between some of my sentences instead of commas.

From what I gathered, it seems like my sentences and dialogue didn't flow too well, and may have caused some interruptions in the readers' thoughts. Did anyone else find a similar problem in my story, grammar or structure? Or perhaps the overall flow of the story? Advice and constructive criticism are much appreciated.

Hi guys! I am still alive! I can't believe it's already been almost half a year since my last update. I honestly didn't expect such a long gap between posting this chapter and the last one, but school's been keeping me busy.

Once again, thanks to all of my faithful readers who have been patiently waiting. And thanks to all who reviewed in the last chapter. I'm sorry that I didn't have to time to personally reply to your reviews, but I want you to know that they are much appreciated as usual.

So without further ado, here comes chapter four of this story. It takes place after the incident in the previous chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Masahi Kishimoto respectively.

Story Title: Melt

Chapter Title: Lecture

Chapter Summary: In which Kagome got into a little trouble with Itachi because of her excitement.

Genre: Friendship/ Romance

Rating: T

Pairing: Kagome/Itachi

For the following days, the duo travelled in the forests with surprising ease. Itachi's little episode had not been discussed, as if it had never happened at all. Kagome continued to practice her (almost non-existent) whistling skills, with Itachi giving her pointers now and then.

Throughout the hours, Kagome would manage to get an occasional note or so, while at other times rather feeble sounds, that in Itachi's opinion, made her look ridiculous. Kagome practiced for an hour before she finally caught the hang of it.

Several melodic notes floated in the air.

"YATTA!~ " Kagome exclaimed loudly, while clasping her hands together.

Her voiced echoed through the forest. A flock of birds nearby flew out from the shelter of the trees due to the disturbance.

She twirled around merrily to Itachi upon her victory, heedless to the commotion she had just caused.

"Did you hear that?" Kagome asked ecstatically. "I got it!"

When Itachi stoically nodded, Kagome calmed a bit from her outburst as she realized how loudly she had exclaimed for her little achievement. And a peek at Itachi's face revealed that he wasn't too pleased with her outburst either.

"Uh oh!" She thought gloomily, "Seems like I'm in it for a lecture."

Not surprisingly, Itachi's next words confirmed her thoughts.

"Kagome," Itachi started, as he turned to face her, "What did I tell you about yelling in the middle of forests?"

"Not to?" she mumbled softly. She knew that tone of voice, and something tells her that she's in for a long talk.

"Because?"

"Because it's dangerous…"The priestess sheepishly continued.

"And?"

"It will draw attention…"

"Hn?"

"…From aggressive animals, bandits and enemy ninjas…" She muttered while listing.

"Which will then?"

"…Which will then cause us pointless trouble by attracting unnecessary threats…" Kagome trailed off, in hopes that Itachi would let her off easy this time.

"Go on," Itachi instructed while slightly inclining his head to a side.

"Which will then delay our journey…" She knew it! There's no such luck. Of course her serious travel companion wouldn't stop until their whole routine was done.

He made a signal for her to continue.

"Because there may be bandits who want to rob us, or enemy nins who want to harm us. Then we're going to be in for a big problem, especially if we're found by the bounty hunters, which will then blow our cover. Then the bad guys will chase us around, " Kagome admitted begrudgingly while crossing her arms.

"Then?" Itachi pressed on.

"We'll waste unnecessary energy and efforts, it'll be an inconvenience to us," She summed.

There was a raise of a brow.

"Fine… an inconvenience to you…" Kagome felt like rolling her eyes at Itachi, figures he would be the one for specifics.

"Since?"

"Since I'm defenseless against trained shinobi," Kagome grumbled. "Then you'll have to defend us both... Sigh, I get it…"

"Good."

Satisfied, Itachi turned back, and resumed his path, leaving Kagome to follow.

Kagome wasn't at all surprised at this conversation actually. Itachi had reprimand her for being too loud in the forests quite frequently, ever since she had attracted trouble once before, not long after she met him. But personally, Kagome didn't think that it was too much of a problem.

Sure, her voice may attract nearby animals, but it wasn't like it really mattered anyway, because those who came their way would probably end up as lunch or dinner. Besides, none of the ninja's they've encountered were even remotely close to Itachi's level from what she perceived. So they're safe as far as she's concerned.

"Well, Itachi, it's not like we've been in any real danger anyway. After all, you always protect us both."

Itachi did not make any move to deny that. Although he knew there were opponents out there formidable enough to render him unable to completely protect both himself and Kagome. However, he saw no reason to correct his companion. She would learn in time. Plus, he had no plans to run into any of those opponents anytime soon.

"None the less," He eventually concluded.

Their day continued in softer chatter, and attempts in whistling.

"Itachi, where are we going now anyway?"

.

.

.

"To meet a friend."

Thanks to: DarkAngel2503, Valleygoat, Anne Whitehead, Anonymous Reviewer, SugarOo, Cosmic-lover, WraithReaper, Bloodcherry, xXkUmiKoXx, x0SilverFeathersx0 and Fluffy's Lady for reviewing!

So how did you find it? Haha, I feel so rusty after this long break from writing. I know it's a bit shorter than the chapters before. It somehow it turned out a bit differently, since the full conversation originally only had a few lines. I think the next chapter may be a chapter made up of omakes from the previous chapters. I'll definitely try to update sooner. Well, I can barely make sense of what I'm saying now, and I'm rambling, so I'll stop.

Feel free to review and tell me what you think.

Until next time,

-4get Me Not