Disclaimer: You know what I own? A KIRARA PLUSHIE MWA HAHA!! And the little old lady too ^^ Yep that's it. Hey, maybe next birthday I WILL own Inuyasha. But not this one ^^;;

Privacy

"Give me back my necklace, you bastards!" an old lady's screech filled the evening air. For an old village woman who wasn't exactly the skinniest thing in the feudal era, she could run pretty damn fast, and that wooden stick fashioned as a cane in her hands looked pretty damn deadly too.

"Damn, she runs fast for an old hag!" Inuyasha muttered loudly, running ahead of his companions. Noticing Kagome falling behind, he slowed down and allowed her to catch up. "Hurry up, will you?!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming" she cried, hoisting the backpack farther up over her shoulder and finally getting close enough for him to carry her on his back. He sped off, still faster than the other members of his party, but they still could outrun the old hag.

Sango looked sideways at Miroku as she continued running. "Houshi-sama, are you sure that the necklace you took from that old woman is a piece of the jewel?" she shouted through her deep breathes as they were trailing on Inuyasha's path.

"You actually think I would grope and old woman for the pleasure?!" Miroku questioned back, arching an eyebrow in surprise as he leapt over some twigs in the path.

Sango said nothing but gave him a suspicious look that made him sigh, "It was a distraction to get the shard-I swear!" As he spoke and ran, he pulled the small fragment from the inside of his sleeve. Facing Kagome's back he shouted, "Kagome-Sama!"

She turned around, still bouncing a bit from Inuyasha's jumps even though he had slowed his pace. "What?"

"This is a real shard of the jewel right?" he questioned, holding up the shard.

Kagome squinted in his direction and suddenly turned to Inuyasha and said something. The hanyou slowed down and reluctantly let Kagome off, still aware that there was an incredibly old, fat, but fast hag out there hunting them down. "Hurry up before the damn thing catches up with us."

Kagome stepped closer to Miroku who was still holding the jewel shard. He had stopped running and Sango was just now arriving at his side after making sure Shippou and Kirara hadn't been lost in the sprint.

"Well…" she began, inspecting the jewel and frowning a bit. "Uh…"

Inuyasha who had been facing the old woman's direction now turned abruptly to face the others, his eyes narrowed in anger. "What the hell do you mean "uh…."?"

Kagome scratched the back of her head and said as optimistic as she could, "Well…its…not."

Inuyasha didn't even stop to breathe before yelling furiously at the monk, "And this is why KAGOME is the shard detector and not a damn monk!!"

"Is that all I am? SIT!"

Inuyasha went down, his claws inches away from Miroku's neck. Sango sighed involuntarily, it now becoming a habit when things like that started happening.

"Heh heh…gomen," Miroku sweatdropped, trying at act as innocent a possible. Suddenly a thought struck him and he immediately looked down at his right hand, almost in fear.

Sango noticed his expression and scooted to his side to see if anything was happening. "Houshi-sama?"

"Damn…I…I've violated this hand by groping such a wrinkled butt…"he muttered, although still loud enough for Sango to hear. Before she could hit him, call him a hentai, or even move just a mere foot to either side, his hand was on her butt. "Ah, cleansed once more by youth's perfection."

Sango gathered up what as left of her energy after that long sprint to knock the pervert into the ground when suddenly the old lady finally reappeared, her breath shortened, but her anger not at the least.

"Jewel thief!!" she screeched and with her wooden cane she began repeatedly knocking Miroku on the ground until he look as if he had been sat. Her gaze shifted to Kagome who was still yelling at Inuyasha, now gathering himself up from the ground. "A demon!" Without time to hear Kagome's cry she began the same punishment unto the hanyou. Finally when she was satisfactorily done with both monk and hanyou she turned to both of the girls. "Ah, now that these two are done is there anything I can do before I leave with my daughter's necklace?"

Kagome shrugged, holding up her hands and shaking her head. The woman was about to leave when Sango raised a hand in suggestion. "Um, may I borrow your cane for another moment please?" After running for so long she needed something lighter.

"Why of course," the old woman smiled, handing the girl the cane. Sango happily took it, and upon seeing Miroku opening his eyes once more, she began her revenge. "HENTAI!!" After a few swipes of the cane later, and sadly no candy dropping from Miroku's robes as she had anticipated (Kagome recently taught them about piñatas), Sango graciously returned the cane to the old woman. "Thank you."

"Your welcome, child" the old lady nodded and went off on her way, jewel and all. Once out of hearing range, Inuyasha took the advantage to curse the lot of them.

"Damn old hag…and you!" he pointed at Miroku, who was once again recovering from his wounds now fearing more. "This is all your fault, bouzu!" He cleared his throat, folded his ears down, pulled his silver hair behind his head, clasped into a pony tail with his fingers, and spoke in a rather good imitation of Miroku: "Oh hey I think I see a jewel shard and without letting the others know I shall merely grope an old woman and swipe it from her only to have her end up chasing us into the woods and find out the 'jewel' WAS A GODDAMN FAKE!"

"Now really, I sound and look nothing at all like that," Miroku sighed, now standing up once more.

"Hey!" a high voice suddenly shouted. The four looked down to see that Shippou had finally arrived with a confused look on his face, and Kirara by his side. "I just saw the old lady that was chasing us running back to her village with the jewel shard!"

Kagome sighed, "Well, actually it turned out it was just a fake. Just an ordinary pink jewel shard. We just gave it back to her."

"Aw…" Shippou sighed disappointed.

Kagome smiled as his little brows furrowed in sadness, and then suddenly looked up, realizing how late it had become. "Hm, it's getting dark. Maybe we should be setting up camp here, Inuyasha?"

"Feh, weak humans," he grumbled.

"Come on, Inuyasha! I'm a demon and I'm tired!" Shippou complained, tugging on Inuyasha's sleeve, ignoring his fangs beginning to show.

"The ladies do require some rest after that long sprint, as well as the days traveling, and it will due us no good to walk blindly in the dark," Miroku spoke, gesturing towards the girls with a nod of his head, and keepings his hands folded inside his sleeves.

Inuyasha feh-ed again before muttering, "Blind weaklings" and jumping onto the high branch of a nearby tree above the clearing. They assumed this was an approval.

"Oh and if you find any more 'shards', Miroku, please be sure to wake me!" Inuyasha yelled back down before closing his eyes, his sarcasm echoing in the trees.

"One mistake and it haunts you for life…" the monk muttered.

"Do you need any help making the ramen, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked, hoping to lighten the tension in the air. Ramen could make anything better. She even noticed Inuyasha open one eye and take a quick glance down at the rest of the group.

Just in time to see Kagome's fearful expression too. The color had drained from her face and a light sweat was beginning to form beads on her forehead.

"Um, Kagome-chan?" Sango questioned, stepping closer to her friend, trying to read the problem.

"Uh…" Kagome managed to squeak, scratching the back of her head.

"Oh not this 'uh' crap again! What the hell happened, Kagome?!" Inuyasha shouted from the branch, now fully awake, as well as pissed.

"I…well…sorta forgot…to pack…the ramen…it's a home…heh…." she sweatdropped.

This definitely wasn't Inuyasha's day, what with Miroku's screw up sending them even farther from the well in the first place; too far for a quick jump back to get the precious noodles and return before morning came. He visibly twitched in annoyance.

"Uh-oh," Shippou whispered.

"No…ramen…" Inuyasha spoke quietly, his eyebrow twitching insanely.

"I'll go get some food!" both Miroku and Sango announced in unison, both wanting as much distance from him as possible. Kagome had still been in a state of fear.

Sango turned to the monk with an intense stare, "I'd prefer it if I went alone, thank you."

"Yes, but it would be best if you had some companion in case there is trouble-"

"Kirara!"

The cat demon mewed in agreement as she jumped into her owner's arms. "Perfectly capable, I assure you, Houshi-sama."

"As you wish, Sango-sama…" Miroku sighed, allowing her to leave into the trees. She nodded and left, Kirara jumping out of her hands and now trailing at her feet.

"Well, I'll go see if I can calm him down considering it is my fault and there's not really a reason to sit him…" Kagome sighed, breaking the silence after Sango left. She turned and began to climb up the tree, knowing Inuyasha wouldn't dare go get her and bring her up, nor jump down, considering, again, it was her fault. "And keep your eyes lowered!" Kagome told the monk who quickly averted his eyes realizing the possible consequences to his actions.

"Heh, why of course, Kagome-sama," Miroku smiled, "I wouldn't dare violate any morals when Inuyasha doesn't have ramen. I am not that much of a fool, even if I mistook one jewel for another."

Kagome smiled her thanks before continuing up the tree, the monk's eyes on his feet. She reached the branch and carefully slid over to sit beside the annoyed hanyou, his eyes closed in annoyance and his arms folded in his sleeves.

Miroku noticed that this may require some privacy. "Hm, I guess I should be leaving now and making sure Sango-sama is alright."

Inuyasha quickly realized his intentions and one eye snapped opened. "And how the hell is a lecher who sucks at finding jewels going to make her feel any safer?!"

"One mistake…" Miroku muttered and turned to the trees, starting on the same path Sango had taken previously. He was about to call to get Shippou to ensure the pair's privacy when he noticed the kitsune missing. "Hm…" he shrugged it off though, assuming he had merely followed with her and Kirara.

…***…***…***…***period period period asterisk asterisk asterisk…***…***…

Sango was leaning over some bushes she had found as she had ventured further into the forest. She of course knew which berries were edible and luckily she had stumbled upon these, now graciously picking them out from the foliage.

Suddenly she heard a rustle and saw something moving towards her from the corner of her eye. Immediately she assumed the worse. "Houshi-sama?"

"Nah-uh, its me, Sango!" a kitsune's voice reassured her.

"Oh, hello Shippou-chan!" Sango greeted happily as she turned to face him. His previous claim of being tired seemed to have been forgotten as he jumped up and down. "Yes, your much better than that lecher," she assured him with a smile.

"Aw, but you love him, right?" Shippou asked innocently as he began playing with Kirara's tails. He noticed Sango's silence and looked up at her. She was turned toward the bushes, trying to hide the all but invisible blush that covered her cheeks. "Sango?"

"Uh…"

"You know, love. Like you love me and Kirara and Kagome and Inuyasha," the kitsune reminded her.

"Oh, heh heh," she blushed again, realizing she had taken his words much too seriously. A child's definition of love was much different than that of a teen. "Hai," she concluded.

 Shippou smiled in happiness at her answer before he lost his focus and something else caught his attention. "Hey look! A hot spring!" (a/n: cliché -_-) He pointed over to the other side of bushes where he saw steam rising from the water surrounded by a few rocks and greenery.

Sango sighed happily, "Hm, it would be so relaxing to just rest…"

"Then why not?" the fox demon asked, already taking off his clothes.

"Well the others are probably waiting for me to come back with the food," she reminded him, glancing down at the berries she had gathered into a rather large leaf.

"Nah, we spent all this time walking that they've probably forgotten already and have gone to bed!" Shippou argued.

"And what about that hentai that will no doubt come looking for me if I fail to come back, Shippou-chan?"

He paused for a second, now thinking. "Hm, I guess you're right…"

"But that hot spring does look so tempting…" she sighed, now giving into the kitsune's idea. "I just wish there was something I could do to get him back beforehand for what he is sure to do…"

"Um…" he thought even harder, his hand forming a fist under his chin in a classic thinker pose. "Oh!" he exclaimed as a dim light seem to have brightened above his head.

"Hm?" Sango turned to the eager child, and knelt down on the ground beside him. He began whispering into her ear, excitedly, clearly strategizing a clever plan. Sango's expression changed from confused to delightfully happy in a few mere seconds.

"Ok, Shippou-chan," she smiled, as he pulled away from her ear. He was grinning with delight.

***

The end of part 1. (yes, I am cruel ^^ ) Anyhow, me and StarReaver(from fictionpress) teamed up (well he sorta just proof read and claimed I was as hentai as Miroku) and made this fic. Originally going to be a one shot, but I noticed the length of it and thought it best to split it in two. And by the way, No, this will not be a lemon or lime.

Anyhow, it will be updated sometime this weekend, or hey, maybe even later tonight, based off of how many reviews come in, if my internet is working, or if I'm even awake or alive in general, etc. Oh it was birthday on Wednesday and I feel I have the total right to brag ^^

Quick preview of upcoming and final chap

Miroku continued down Sango's path when he noticed a distinct change in the air. "Hm, it feels as if its getting more humid here…" he commented to himself out loud, inspecting the area. Deep inside his hentai mind a mathematical equation was going on. Humidity= hot, wet. Something hot and wet is a hot spring. And someone inside a hot spring usually consists of those same traits. And Sango happened to walk through here…Using the process of substitution...

Another dim light brightened that night.