A/N: Hey! So haven't written anything for this story anymore, but the last review really made me think about updating and so I am! Thank pokemon-chan for this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha! Don't come looking for me cause you won't find me. ;D

Chapter 7: Quest

Kagura slid roughly into the front seat of the loaned car given to her by Naraku. She opened a bottle of water, sipping the cool liquid for just a second before capping it once more. She grunted as the car purred to life, slamming the gas pedal a little harder than needed as she reversed out of the parking lot she was in.

She hated the fact that she was on this stupid mission. Naraku probably knew more than he led her to believe. He wouldn't send her to find Kagome—and by default, Inuyasha—if he thought it wasn't her fault that they were gone in the first place. Or would he?

Taking a sharp turn onto the highway, she glanced at the dash board. There was a screen with her instructions, sort of like a GPS, but the difference was that this was a computer directly connected to the main data base of Sector 8 and was guiding her along her little thrown-on mission.

First, because she wanted to take as long as she wanted to, she was going to find out everything there was to find about Kagome and Inuyasha. She knew Inuyasha's basic story because he had been so famous before he had gone AWOL on them, but Kagome—even when she had been with her—hadn't said a word about her past. Nothing, not even a syllable. All Kagura knew about Kagome was her last name, and that was only because she had been assigned to train her and then share a room with her.

The first thing she taught her trainees was to know the enemy well enough to write a book about them. She was going to be damned if she didn't follow her own advice.

Kagura pressed the touch-screen and came to a map she had already marked. The first place she was going to visit was an old shrine.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"You really want us to stay here?" Sango looked at Inuyasha and Kagome strangely.

"You should've thought about our limited funds," Inuyasha shrugged as they walked from the parked car to the office of the dreary, rickety old motel place. They hadn't traveled far, but Inuyasha was in an area where he knew an old contact. They had stopped to find a place to stay for a bit while he gathered more information.

"But, really, this place?" Sango sighed, pointing at the raggedy building and shook her head in defeat. "I should have brought my credit card."

"Dearest Sango, that would only leave a paper trail. Don't you remember the days of your espionage?" Miroku grabbed the bags and walked beside his wife.

"I guess," She crossed her arms. "But back then the government had paid for my lodging."

"Sango, Miroku, hurry up!" Kagome called from ahead of them. She was worried they would be spotted although over the ride they had adopted new disguises. Sango's hair was now loose and she had her bangs in view again. This made her look nothing like the Sango from her days of being a double agent. She looked more fragile and cute this way, much to Miroku's liking.

Miroku hadn't changed much, but his hair, which until then had been to the nape of his neck and free-flowing, now had it in a pony-tail, something he hadn't done since he had left Sector 8. He knew that as they went along, they would have to disguise themselves them much more but he wouldn't think of chopping off his hair until then.

Kagome was back in the wig she had gotten tangled in before. She was now getting the hang of it all again and so this time it was easy to act superfluous and in character. Kagome's favorite part of disguising was creating the new persona, the new facade she could put on and off at will.

Inuyasha still only had his hair dyed black and was still almost easily set apart from the group. Still, Kagome had been right that his hair was a huge tip for anyone who wanted to spot them quick and easy. At least this way they wouldn't go without a fight.

The motel was easy to get. The hard part was going to be to find Inuyasha's old contact.

"He's a little queer, I guess you could say." Inuyasha tried explaining this character to his friends, who had piled into his room for a debriefing. "I don't know if he'll even spill."

"How do you know he won't betray you?" Kagome asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Sector 8 isn't known to have the most loyal of comrades, you know."

And for some strange reason, Inuyasha blushed, suddenly uncomfortable. "I really don't think he's going to say anything. He's not afraid of Naraku either. Besides, he's not part of Sector 8, at least not now. He's just a good informant. "

Kagome raised an eyebrow at the blush. She'd never seen him like that. Instead of asking him directly, she decided she would be merciful and not ask questions until after they met this person. She was not one to judge, after all. She had own share of baggage.

"Well, then. Hopefully, we can get this information." Sango stood up, stretched and yawned. "I say we talk about this later in the morning. I'm tired."

Miroku stood up immediately behind his wife and smiled. "Yes, we should get some rest. I believe tomorrow will be a very long day."

"I guess so." Kagome agreed. "I'll be going with Sango in her room." She grabbed her bag, but not before Miroku stopped her.

"What?" Miroku raised an eyebrow, eyes wide. "I should go in her room I'm her husband!"

Sango smacked his arm. "How do you expect Kagome to sleep in the same room as Inuyasha? You prude!"

"We couldn't get three rooms?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "We have limited funds, Miroku, and an extra room is a luxury if Kagome can bunk with your wife. Sorry, man." He put a hand on his shoulder in compassion, while poor Miroku could only sulk as he gathered his things to sleep for the night, mumbling under his breath.

"C'mon, Kagome." Sango grabbed Kagome's elbow and began leading her away rolling her eyes at her husband's complaints and then smiling sweetly at her temporary room-mate.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"What's on the agenda for today?" Sango asked, nibbling a blue-berry muffin she had acquired. A moment later, Kagome shuffled into the kitchenette of their room—where everyone had decided to meet—looking as if she were still halfway in dreamland. A soft smile sat upon her lips and her eyes were half lidded until she took a deep whiff of the sweet smell of coffee and instantly perked up.

"Mine?" She asked eagerly, eyes wide as she caught sight of everyone else's coffee cups. Inuyasha held up the fourth cup, and like a dog after a squirrel, Kagome barreled towards him, hands expectantly grabbing for the cup, only for them to come away empty. After seeing the confused look on Kagome's face, Inuyasha let out a snort of laughter. Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha holding the cup above his head, a mischievous grin on his face.

"We're going to meet my source so we can get some intel on Sector 8." His answer was directed to Sango, but he didn't break eye contact with Kagome. "We're going to have to do some sort of short mission to gain the information we need, but it shouldn't be anything too bad. I figured after that we could split up to gather supplies like disguises and weapons before we came back here and set out on our mission."

"Sounds reasonable," Miroku said with a nod of his head, before something else caught his attention.

Poor Kagome was still trying to get her coffee and everyone watched on in amusement as the raven haired girl lunged to try to retrieve her cup, not realizing that if she did get it, she'd spill it on herself. When Sango realized this, she stood up and smacked Inuyasha on the back of the head.

"Bad dog. Drop it! Give Kagome her coffee." She scolded like the mother she was.

Inuyasha glared at her in annoyance. "Oi, I'm not an animal! You can't just go around smacking me!"

Sango glared at him, "Then stop acting like one,"

"I'm not."

"Inuyasha . . ." Sango warned with an angry glint in her eye.

"Here." Inuyasha whined, holding the cup of coffee out while looking like a sulky child that had just been spanked. Kagome snatched the cup away from him, shooting daggers with her eyes and drank the heavenly mixture.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Twenty minutes later, the four ex-agents found themselves in Miroku's car on their way to meet Inuyasha's informant.

"Who's this Jakotsu person?" Kagome asked Inuyasha, gracing him with another evil look as she gulped the rest of her coffee.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Was she really that mad? He hadn't meant to get on her bad side. He was only playing with her, trying to keep her out of the bad mood she had been in the day before. So sue him for trying to cheer her up.

"Jakotsu is just someone I know." Inuyasha mumbled quietly, choosing not to elaborate anymore on the subject.

"How'd you guys meet? You never did tell me much about this friend of yours." Sango mused, turning in her seat to glance at Inuyasha,

"We're not friends. . ." Inuyasha trailed off, his cheeks once more flushing red. He didn't want to talk about how they had met. It was something he preferred to not think about.

Sango brow furrowed in confusion. "I thought you were since you suggested we go—"

"Well we're not!" He snapped, turning to the window to end the conversation. The rest of the group exchanged a weird look before letting the question drop.

It didn't take them long to get this informants house. It wasn't huge, like a mansion, but it was larger than your usual house. There was definitely a feminine touch to it as they walked up to porch, where flowers grew along the post, which was quite the contrast at the broken and run-down homes next to it. Inuyasha made a mental note to never come down here again.

To his surprise, a maid greeted them and led them inside, bowing and then leaving to retrieve her higher up. Inuyasha could only pray that Jakoutsu wasn't going to embarrass him, but that prayer was out the window as someone bounded down the spiral stairs.

Inuyasha! Old buddy, old pal, how are you?!" A feminine voice screeched. Sango arched a brow as a kimono clad figure flew across the room to greet the hanyou with a tight hug that made him turn red from the neck up and look uncomfortable.

"You didn't tell me Jakoutsu was a girl." Kagome whispered sounding a little peeved once Jakoutsu let Inuyasha out of the seemingly intimate death-grip hug.

"Jakoutsu is a guy." He breathed in, hoping that his lungs could still expand. "And he's not my friend either before you ask." Inuyasha growled lowly.

Kagome burst out laughing as the realization of the issue hit her. No wonder Inuyasha looked so uncomfortable! She made an effort to control the cute little snorts escaping her mouth, but found it almost impossible. Inuyasha shot her a look, but didn't scold her. He really felt pleased that she was laughing.

"What brings you here? It's been years since you've come by to see me."" Jakoutsu purred. He had a slightly lusty look in his eye as he took note of Miroku standing off to the side. "Ooh, and who's your cute little friend here?" Jakoutsu drew closer to Miroku, who frantically looked for a discreet way to escape the strange informant.

:He's my husband," Sango smiled deathly sweet, taking a protective step in front of her husband who let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, he's taken." Jakoutsu pouted, obviously upset that he wasn't going to get much fun out of this visit.

"And the father of two kids. He plans on staying that way." Sango continued, again with the same smile that sent shivers down spines.

Jakoutsu regarded her, slightly frowning in concentration. "At least you're pretty,"

Sango's smile twitched. She wasn't sure whether or not to take that as an insult or a compliment.

Inuyasha jumped in quickly and asked, "Jakoutsu we're here because we need some info on Sector 8. We need to know about its innermost workings and who the main supporters of it are."

"I could do that!" Jakoutsu clapped his hands in delight."But of course I'm going to need something in return."

"I was afraid you'd say that." Inuyasha mumbled unsmiling.

"Come now, Inuyasha, when have I ever done anything for free?" Jakoutsu put his hands on his hips very womanly.

"What is it that you need?" Kagome asked, hoping to get their information and not waste time. Jakoutsu looked at her with surprise, finally realized she was there, giving an inquisitive look before scrunching his nose, shrugging and blowing her off. Jakoutsu turned back to Inuyasha as if she had never said a thing.

"Well, for one, I'd really love your ears. They look so soft." Jakoutsu reached out for one of Inuyasha's still black ears and he abruptly took a step back.

"Nuh uh."

Jakoutsu narrowed his eyes, but then crossed his arms as he considered something else."Well there's this toy I've been eying for a while now. You might have heard about it." He turned his back to them as he began walking to an empty slot on the wall of the room. "It's called the snake blade."

"The one that the Samurai legends talks about?"

Jakoutsu turned around and gave Kagome a deadpan look when she spoke, continuing on as if she hadn't interrupted.

"It's in a shrine on a small island inhabited by monks. The shrine is located on the top of the only mountain there."

"The only protection on the island are the monks?" Sango asked.

Jakoutsu gave her a nod, a sly smile forming on his face. "Oh yes, my pretty friend. the monks are the only ones there."

"Well that shouldn't be too hard." Miroku cut in. Monks were peaceful, he thought, they shouldn't put up too much of a fuss if worse came to worse and the group was caught.

"So get the sword and bring it back!" Jakoutsu turned to face them all. He indicated for the servant girl to open the door and walked the group out. "I'll give you the weekend to do it. I'll have all the information you need. Bye Inuyasha!" He leaned on the door with a lecherous look in his eye as he waved. Inuyasha all but ran to get off the property and the rest of the group followed willingly.

"I can't believe he blew me off!" Kagome huffed as she got into the car.

"At least he wasn't trying to undress you with his eyes." Miroku shuddered. He didn't think he would ever set foot in that place again.

"Calm down, Kagome. It's not that big of a deal," Inuyasha said while buckling himself in.

She turned to him, an angry glare in her eyes. "Oh, it's not? It doesn't matter to you that he just pretended I wasn't there? You know what?" Kagome fumbled to unbuckle her own seat belt before she opened the car door and got out. "I'm going to just get the stuff for out disguises here and I'll meet you guys back at the hotel."

"Kagome, are you sure? This isn't exactly the best neighborhood." Sango wore that concerned look that only mothers could master. She was sure that Kagome could protect herself, but the thought of leaving her in this neighborhood with the shady men and their wandering eyes made Sango uneasy.

"I can go with you if you'd like." She offered, thinking it would be a good opportunity to talk. She was worried about her young friend. Her moods had been a bit odd the past few days and she wanted to talk to her about it.

Kagome rolled her eyes, but was still touched by her friend's concern. "Sango, I was an agent for years. I'll be fine." With that she slammed the car door shut and stomped away.

"Good going Inuyasha," Miroku sighed as he drove away.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Mommy, can I have a dollar for the ice cream man?" A little boy tugged on his mother's skirt, trying to get her attention.

"No sweetie, we don't have money for that right now."

With a shrug of his shoulders and a pout on his face, the boy sat on the steps of his house and sulked. Kagome had been walking by when the boy asked his mom this. The dark haired little boy looked so much like her brother it made her stop in her tracks. He had the same dark unruly hair, and small stature. She remembered the way Souta would ask her mom the same question and would pout the same way when the answer was no. Kagome would always give him a dollar to cheer him up. She shifted all of her bags to one arm and dug around in her pocket for a stray dollar.

"Here," She said, holding the dollar she had fished out to the little boy.

"Thanks, miss!" A grin lit up his face as he ran out to meet the music-playing truck. He ran straight across the street without looking and Kagome's eyes widened in horror as her gut told her something horribly wrong was going to happen.

"Wait!" She screamed, trying to reach him before the car speeding around the corner did.

"Wait! Wait! No!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The door to the hotel room opened and Kagome stumbled inside, dropping all of her bags in the doorway.

"You're right on time." Sango gulped, not turning away from her food. "Inuyasha was about to eat your bowl of ramen." She kidded lightly.

When a reply didn't come, the group turned to see the black haired girl standing in the doorway; she wore a disturbed expression on her face and blood covered the front of her clothes. Miroku was the first to react.

"What happened?" He asked, taking hold of Kagome's arm and towing her further into the room, closing the door behind them. She wouldn't answer, just stared unseeingly ahead.

Inuyasha immediately jumped up from his chair and hurried over to Kagome, fearing the worst. He should have never let her stay by herself in that neighborhood. He would never forgive himself for whatever had happened to Kagome. He had no doubt that it must've been bad. She was practically catatonic; nothing anyone was doing could elicit a response.

"Kagome, please tell us what happened." Inuyasha inquired gently, glancing into Kagome's chocolate brown eyes. Something inside her snapped back to reality at the sound of his voice and she buried her face in Inuyasha's shirt, a loud sob heaving out of her throat. Feeling more alarmed, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around Kagome's small frame, holding her close.

She could barely whisper her answer. "I think I just killed a little boy."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: You have another person to thank for this chapter. The wonderful midnightlily (she's always been just Bella for me)has agreed to be my co-author and wrote the last half of this chapter. The story is finally back from the dead! Sorry it took so long. I just hope you guys will stick with me on this until the end.

Feedback is greatly appreciated. Bella and I would love to hear what you have to say.

~Daichi