Whiskers

Naraku grimaced as he drank the potion. Cross-species morphing was difficult, the witch had said. But he was desperate. He couldn't break their alliance from the outside. He'd forced Sango to steal the Tessaiga, even made Kagome fight Inuyasha. None of it worked because of their strong faith in each other. Now it was time to break them from the inside.

As the potion coursed through him like liquid poison, he felt a fine set of whiskers erupt above his lips; two tails developed out of his tail bone; he dropped down on all fours and let out a roar – the transformation was a success. How easy now to have the nekomata abducted by Kagura and take her place.

Then at night, when they'd be sleeping oh so peacefully, how easy to kill them off. He'd smother the priestess and the runt to death – they wouldn't even know what hit them. The houshi was already injured; he'd offer no more than minimum resistance. With the taijiya, some form of trickery was necessary – calling her away from the rest and then an orchestrated accident, perhaps. That just left Inuyasha – alone, broken and separated from all. He, Naraku, would either kill him, or turn him into a slave.

A smug cat prowled Kagewaki's castle that evening, before going out for the hunt. Coming across a huge silver mirror it stopped and frowned, its ambitions suddenly thwarted.

It seemed even magic couldn't hide his true identity – the spider-shaped scar on his back.

* Originally posted on Inuyasha Fanfic Contest for their prompt Whiskers.