The Ninja Princess and Her Knight

Chapter Four

…

"My name is Kagura and I am here to take the Ninja Princess's head!"

As Kagura exclaimed, a large number group of ninjas dressed in red appeared behind her all prepared to battle.

The four ninjas readied at their stances also as they began to fight the other ninjas. The ninjas in red's strengths did not match Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, and Kagome's as they were falling over one by one at a fast pace.

Kagura could not believe her eyes at how fast each ninja was eliminated. She let out a frustrating sound as she watched the last ninja fall down to the ground. She looked at Kagome and ran towards her, "I knew I should not have trusted these imbeciles! Fine! I will take on the princess myself!"

"You will have to get through us first!" Miroku started to run towards Kagura and snapped out his kusarigama (sickle and chain) and aimed at her feet but Kagura saw through his quick moves and jumped high up in the air.

As she was mid-air, she flicked her fan towards Miroku. Miroku held his arms out on his face to block the blow and behind him, Sango leapt up into the air to throw her large boomerang. The hit was critical and Miroku saw the opportunity to throw his sickle and chain at her feet once more. Once he got a good grasp on her, he started to pull the chain towards him steadily as fast as he could.

Inuyasha whipped out his tessaiga and charged towards Kagura who trying to kick her feet out of the chains. As soon as the chains got loose, she quickly stepped back to avoid Inuyasha's sword.

Inuyasha slid off to the side and balanced himself. He kept his eyes on Kagura and followed her every move as she was attacking Miroku and Sango. His ears twitched as he heard familiar movements and snapped his eyes back at Kagome.

Kagome ran towards Kagura and readied her hands as she was about to throw hira shurikens. But before she even gave it a thought, Inuyasha called out to Kagome, "Princess! Leave this fight to us!"

Ignoring Inuyasha, she snapped three shurikens at Kagura and all three were bull's eye at her chest. Kagura's eyes shot wide open as she grasped at her chest from the sudden attack and immediately retreated from the battle, "Damn! It seems that I have underestimated the skills of the ninja princess… Next time I will not go easy on you!"

"Coward!" Kagome yelled. She watched Kagura jumped in the air and flew away what looked like a large cloud.

"Princess!"

Kagome looked at Inuyasha who had a frustrating expression.

"You should have left the fight to us," Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as he looked down at Kagome. Kagome was taken back and was surprised with the sound of Inuyasha's voice.

"I was just trying to help, Inuyasha," Kagome's voice was stern; Inuyasha sensed the annoyance in her voice. "Why do you keep pushing me to the side? Did you forget that I'm a ninja too?!"

"Your grandfather wants me to protect you," Inuyasha had a cold aura surrounding him, "How can I do that if you keep putting yourself out there and make it difficult for me to do as he wishes?"

"Inuyasha, I am NOT a child! I can take care of myself!" Kagome huffed and walked away to look for the horses. Sango quietly followed her, leaving Miroku and Inuyasha behind.

"Well, that was new…" Miroku sighed and pat Inuyasha's shoulder. "I have never seen you get truly angry at the princess, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha harshly shrugged Miroku's hand off and started walking the same direction as Kagome and Sango. He took a deep breath and coolly said, "I am not angry…"

Kagome groaned as she and Sango searched for the runaway horses. She ran her fingers through her hair and crossed her arms.

Sango shook her head, "Princess, Inuyasha is just doing what he is told to do… In fact, Miroku and I were thinking the same thing as him but Inuyasha was the only one who voiced it out."

"You know," Kagome began, "I don't even think I'm mad about that! I feel like there's just something about Inuyasha that's really bugging me… It might be the way he treats me. He has a poor choice of words!"

Sango felt her brows scrunched in confusion, "I don't follow…"

"It's the way he words things!" Kagome mocked his voice, "'Princess! Leave this fight to us!'"

Sango felt even more confused, "Uh… I don't see how you're offended by how he said that but I guess I can understand that you were just trying to help?"

"Yeah!" Kagome nodded, "I didn't even fail to hit Kagura. It's one thing if I did and she got away with doing more damage but none of that happened!"

Sango giggled, "Please forgive me, milady, but I think you're overreacting. I think it is safe to say that Miroku, Inuyasha, and I appreciate the help. Because of you, we are saved from Kagura…" Sango became serious, "Did it ever occur to you how Inuyasha felt?"

Kagome snapped her head at Sango, "…How he felt?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Inuyasha knows that you can handle yourself but he's probably really worried that something will happen to you. Also, Inuyasha isn't really supposed to show emotions as a ninja. To me, that says a lot judging by his reactions today. We've never seen Inuyasha act this way before."

Kagome stopped in her tracks as she looked at Sango from behind.

They found the horses and checked to see if they were alright. The horses were a bit startled when they first saw them but relaxed when they recognized the four ninjas.

…

They left the village as soon as possible to avoid any other enemies that were after Kagome.

It was starting to get dark and they start to make camp. While sitting around the campfire, Miroku traces the map to discuss the directions they needed to head, "I believe it will take us three days to reach the border. I think we should head north to avoid well-known pathways so that we won't run into anyone that's against the Higurashi clan…"

Inuyasha said, "I got a message from Master Toyo that all clans were notified of Agoshi's attack."

"Good," Miroku took a deep breath, "Hopefully, we can reside in one of the clan's villages so that the princess can take a break and rest."

"I am fine," Kagome said bluntly. "I can handle it. However, we can stop and rest at the nearest village so that you, Sango, and Inuyasha can take a break and rest…"

Kagome was expecting a response from Inuyasha but he did not say a word. He kept his eyes focused on the map and she felt like he was avoiding her.

As they finished discussing their plans, Miroku and Sango decided to check the area out leaving Kagome and Inuyasha alone.

It was quiet for some time and Kagome thought about what Sango said earlier. Kagome thought that maybe she was being a little harsh on Inuyasha when all he was doing was just protecting her. She had the urge to apologize but did not know how to do so. Her lips slowly parted to say something to Inuyasha.

"Milady Kagome…"

Kagome pressed her lips together and slowly looked at Inuyasha and as their eyes met, Kagome felt a shiver go up and down her body. His golden eyes always have a way of telling stories without him saying anything. Right now, they were telling her that he was miserable about something.

Inuyasha let out a soft sigh before he began to speak to her, "I am deeply sorry for my behavior earlier. My behavior is probably unforgivable. I should not have raised my voice at the princess…"

Kagome heard the pain in his voice. Inuyasha averted his eyes back at the fire and sighed again.

"Inuyasha," Kagome softly spoke. She saw his ears twitch but he did not look at her, "I should be sor-"

Inuyasha interrupted, "No, milady, you should not apologize. I should be thanking you for helping us out."

Before Kagome could say anything, Miroku and Sango returned with the look of urgency on their faces.

"Princess," Miroku called out, "We must leave this area."

"What? Why?"

Kagome and Inuyasha stood up at the same time looking at Miroku.

"We saw a group of samurais headed in this direction," Sango answered, "they are also being accompanied by ninjas who were dressed in red like the ninjas from before…"

Miroku quickly said, "That woman named Kagura is also with them…"

…

The group made their way up to the mountain to stay away from the large group of samurais, ninjas, and Kagura. They were going off their destination and knew the travel would take longer when going through the route in the mountains.

"We should be fine here for the rest of the night," Miroku sat down. "What a pain in the ass…"

"I agree," Sango sighed.

"I wonder who they are working for," Kagome looked at their facial expression hoping one of them knew the answer. "None of you think it is Agoshi, do you?"

"There is a high chance that it might be," Inuyasha had a blank expression on his face as he was lighting up the fire. The light on his face flickered gently as Kagome stared at his appearance.

Kagome was taking a liking to how the light was hitting his face. His profile was so masculine and genuine. She blinked many times and thought, 'What am I thinking? Now is not the time to be staring at him… why am I even staring at him?!'

Kagome shook her head side to side very quickly which caused her friends to stare at her in confusion.

"Everything alright, milady," Sango asked.

"Yes!" Kagome's voiced squeaked. She sighed and cleared her throat, "Ahem. Yes, yes everything is fine…"

Kagome sighed even louder in her thoughts, 'Ugh… why am I acting like a child all of sudden? It's no wonder everyone is treating me like a kid, especially Inuyasha…'

"I received a message from Master Toyo," Miroku pulled out a small piece of paper and began to read, "A rumor is said that one of our allies is an enemy but not sure who, nor does he have any proof. Unfortunately, all clans are a potential suspect to side with Agoshi…"

Kagome let out a deep breath, "…this is unbelievable. Why would one of our allies betray us?"

Miroku looked at Kagome, "Agoshi is very powerful. The clan could simply be afraid of him or it can simply be that the clan no longer sees the power in the Higurashi clan."

"That does not make any sense," Sango spat out, "the Higurashi clan trains with ALL elements in their powers. As a matter of fact Kagome, herself, can wipe out an entire country with just one blow."

Kagome blinked at Sango, "that's not what my family is all about, Sango. We train with all elements to keep the ninja history alive. Without my family, there would be no ninjas."

"That is exactly what I mean, milady," Sango said. "I was not implying that you should wipe out their country but reminding all of us what the Higurashi clan is all about."

Kagome looked at everyone as they talked about who could have potentially became an enemy. They were discussing what to look for whenever they meet up with a clan and to keep on the lookout.

There are seven clans that are on the Higurashi's side: Higurashi, Katsuragi, Shizuoka, Koshi, Yamada, Higa, and Nakamura clans.

The known enemy clans are the Agoshi, Gunma, Tottori, and Sato clans.

There are three clans that are undecided and they are the Suzuki, Oshiro, and Arai clans. These three clans are neither the enemy nor an ally but do believe in the Ninja Princess and the Ninja Prince.

Because Kagome was the first born, she is the Ninja Princess. If she were to die, her little brother would take place as the Ninja Prince. Neither can be the princess or prince at the same time.

As Kagome was brushing through the history in her mind, she realized something, "What if none of the allies became an enemy? I have a strange feeling that we are overlooking a clan that could be an undecided clan?"

"That is a possibility," Sango pondered. "There are many clans that exist that we might not know of but it is good that we take in every possibility into consideration."

"I know Master Toyo sent out some commanders out to try and convince the undecided clans to side with us," Miroku looked back down at his map and pointed to a route, "In the morning we need to travel this way so that we can meet up with Master Katsuragi and see if he has any more information. It'll set our travel a few days back but his village is not too far off from the main pathway."

Everyone nodded and prepared for bed.

Kagome noticed how quiet Inuyasha has been and did not see him anywhere around. She saw that Miroku and Sango were sound asleep.

Kagome quietly stood up and followed Inuyasha's tracks. She found him standing out in the middle of nowhere with one hand on his side and the other hand on the handle of his sword.

She saw his ears twitch and he turned to look at her.

"Princess," Inuyasha looked at her tired eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see what you were up to," Kagome looked up at the sky. "It's a beautiful night. I admire such a beautiful full moon. The stars are so bright and look beautiful as well."

Inuyasha gave her a soft smile, "It is you, milady that is truly beautiful…"

Kagome looked at Inuyasha. It made Inuyasha smile looking at her gentle expression.

He continued to speak in a soft voice, "I would rather much look at you since you are beauty itself…"

…

A tall figure stared up into the sky as he recognized someone riding on a cloud and saw that the figure looked like she was in pain. When the cloud landed in front of him, the figure fell to the ground, clinging onto her chest.

"I am sorry, Young Master… but the princess was a lot stronger than I anticipated…"

"Kagura," the man peered into her eyes, "My father is ill over the death of my mother and three sisters. He is incapable of leading the Agoshi clan so I am taking over. I am Master Agoshi. You do not need to call me Young Master for the time being."

Kagura slowly nodded, "my apologies, Master Agoshi…"

"What of the princess?"

Master Agoshi put his hands over Kagura's chest where she was badly injured by Kagome's shurikens. A small light surrounds his palms and released his hands as soon as her wounds healed right before their eyes.

"Thank you, milord," Kagura quickly stood up and bowed. "It appears that she is fully trained. She and her team fought 100 ninjas without breaking a sweat. I tried to take her on myself but her attacks were incredibly fast. I have not seen anything like it."

"I see…" Master Agoshi walked over to the side.

"And there's one more thing that I thought you needed to know," Kagura's voice was filled with concern.

"And what might that be?" Master Agoshi looked at her.

"The Young Master Inuyasha is traveling with the princess…"

Master Agoshi's eyes widened at the shocking information, "Inuyasha is still …alive?"

…

To be continued!