Okay! I'm back, with Chapter 17! Sorry to all of you who thought that the last chapter was the LAST chapter…um, sorry? Anyways, I'd like it also noted real quick that since I have now officially seen all the Inu Yasha episodes to 102, I now know some of the errors of my ways, which include (of course, not limited to) the fact that I portrayed Kagura and Kanna wrong. Well, mainly Kanna. For the love of Kami-Sama! Who the hell would have thought that the evil henchman I was reading about in the fanfics was a freaking little girl! Not me! Soo…keeping in mind all the new info that I have gotten from watching them, I will remember to keep them in character (or at least try). So, on with the story! And, btw, I don't own Inu Yasha!

Shadows

Chapter 17: Disappearing Monks and Hanyou's

Kagome opened her eyes as the suns warmth covered her face. Sitting up and looking around, she found that she was the last to wake. Kaede was preparing breakfast while Sango polished her hirakotsu and Miroku watched her from the other side of the room. Shippo and Souta weren't in the room and neither was Inu Yasha. Turning to Sango, she was greeted with a smile. "Good Morning Kagome!"

Kagome smiled back, "Good Morning Sango. Where are Souta and Shippo? And Inu Yasha?"

"Well, Shippo and Souta are outside playing, and I don't know where Inu Yasha is…he wasn't here when I awoke." Sango informed her, and went back to polishing.

"Oh" Kagome replied, and thought to herself, 'I wonder where he ran off to so early in the day by himself?'

Miroku moved over towards where the girls were and sat down. "Inu Yasha said he had to do something before we could leave, so I'm assuming we won't be leaving till either later today or tomorrow."

Kagome's eyebrows furred a little, thinking of what he could have to do, but Sango smiled and put down her hirakotsu. "That means we have time to take a bath, don't we Kagome!" She asked the other girl excitedly.

Kagome smiled wildly, she hadn't taken a bath in what seemed a couple of days…at least, not since she was captured by Naraku, "That would be great Sango!"

Miroku nodded, "Yes, a bath would be great. Should we get going?" he stood up and dusted his robes off, then turned to find the two girls glaring at him. "What?"

"You are not coming with us, Miroku!" Sango said coldly while narrowing her eyes at him, "And don't even think about peeking on us!" She then turned towards her small companion, "Kirara! Make sure he doesn't follow us!" Kirara mewed and went to stand in the doorway of the hut.

*~*~*

After an uneventful bathing trip, the girls found there way back to the village to find Souta and Shippo still playing, but that Miroku and Kirara had both disappeared.

Sitting down in front of Kaede's hut and watching the two children play, Kagome sighed. 'I wonder where Inu Yasha is? He still hasn't returned!' Kagome thought to herself and glanced towards the woods.

"Kagome, I wouldn't worry too much about him, "Sango said, looking at her friend sitting next to her. "I'm sure he'll be back soon. Besides, he can take care of himself." Sango joked and smiled at her.

Kagome returned the smile, "I know that, but still, why did he just leave without telling anyone like that?"

"I'm not sure Kagome, but this is Inu Yasha we're talking about. He hardly tells us what he's doing." She paused, than looked back at her friend. "You didn't fight with him at all after we went to sleep, did you?"

Kagome shook her head, "No, I woke up from a dream and we talked for a little bit…" her thoughts drifted momentarily to that incident, before she pulled them back, "But we didn't argue or anything."

"Well, whatever his reasons, I'm sure he'll be back soon." Sango reassured her friend, then looked around, "Speaking of people disappearing, where did Houshi-sama disappear to?"

Kagome looked around as well, "I don't know, I haven't seen him or Kirara since we came back from the hot springs," A sly look crossed her face and she suddenly elbowed Sango in the side, "And, why do you want to know, hmmm?"

"Ah…what do you mean?" Sango looked at her in surprise, then to the ground, "I was just curious…"

"Mmhmmm, sure Sango."

Sango blushed deeply and looked at her again, "Oh…whatever!" She crossed her arms as Kagome giggled, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, I just think it's funny when you use slang words from my world…"

"…"

"….AND I think it's cute how you keep denying your crush on Miroku!"

Sango turned an even darker red and sputtered, "Crush! M-me? Crush on that letcherous, perverted,-"

"-Caring, nice, handsome-"

"Hmph! The only thing that guy cares about is getting a woman to bear his son, and he's probably only nice to try and get the woman to do that! AND-" She stopped and though about the last part, "Well, he's not ugly…"

Kagome laughed and put her hand on her shoulder, "Admit it, Sango, no matter what you say, you like him!" She then leaned in closer and whispered, "You can't help who you fall in love with! Look at me and Inu Yasha! He's rude, arrogant, crude, aggressive, and sometimes just an all around jerk!" A loud sneeze caught there attention from with the forest.

Sango and Kagome giggled, "Looks like the jerks back!" Sango whispered to her.

Kagome sighed, "And yet, I love the jerk!" Another sneeze, this one closer, was heard followed by a string of curses.

"Dammit! Whoever's the hell's talking about me better knock it off!" Inu Yasha appeared from the woods and sprinted towards the hut.

"Inu Yasha! Where have you been?" Kagome called out as he approached them.

"I had stuff to do, so I left early this morning."

"Well, you should have told us at least where you were going, we were worried!" Kagome knew she sounded like a "mother hen" but she had been truly nervous about where he had left to.

"Feh, I'm here now, aren't I? Anyways," he pulled out a package form his sleeve and called out, "Hey, Souta!"

Kagome and Sango both looked from the package, to Inu Yasha, to Souta who was now running towards them.

"What's…that?" Kagome asked him, curiosity finally getting the best of her.

"You'll see soon enough." Inu Yasha said, not looking at her. As Souta neared, Inu Yasha tossed the package at him. "Here, go change into that. Since you're gonna be staying here, you might as well fit in."

As Souta went Kaede's to change, Inu Yasha sat down by the girls. Shippo, who had ran up with Souta, looked at him puzzled.

"What is it brat?" Inu Yasha asked him, annoyed.

Where did you go so early this morning? I heard you tell Miroku that you had to do something, but then you just left without saying what you were doing!"

"Feh, why does everyone care so much? If you need to know, I was getting that thing for Souta."

"Hey, where is Miroku anyways?" Shippo asked, looking around.

Kagome shrugged, "Haven't seen him since we came back from our bath. And Kirara's gone too."

Sango sighed, "Probably off chasing girls somewhere."

Souta emerged then from the hut, "Inu Yasha! This is so cool!" All of them turned to find Souta wearing a hakama (is that spelt right??) just like the one that Inu Yasha wore, except this one was black and, of course, smaller.

"Oh wow! You look almost like Inu Yasha!" Shippo exclaimed.

"What is this made out of, Inu Yasha? It's really soft!"

"It's something called a Saris-bane. It's a black animal that-"

"It's rabbit fur!" Kagome interrupted him as she touched Souta's sleeve.

"It's NOT rabbit fur!" Inu Yasha yelled, then continued, "A Saris-bane is a black animal that can cast a barrier around itself-"

"Cool! So, will I have a barrier around me wearing this?" Souta yelled, excited by the new clothes made out of a magical creature.

"Would you people STOP interrupting me! Geez, it must be something in your family blood or something!" Inu Yasha fumed as the two Higurashi's laughed. Kagome calmed down first by the look on the hanyou's face.

"Ok, Inu Yasha, we'll stop. Go on."

"No, you've ruined it now. Enjoy your rabbit's fur!" Inu Yasha replied coldly, and crossed his arms, turned away from them and pouted.

"Oh, come on Inu Yasha! Please! You know you want to tell us!" Kagome urged, nudging Souta.

"Oh, um yeah! Inu Yasha, this is really cool looking! Where did you find this Saris-Bane thing?"

"Ah, Saris-Bane? I've heard of those before…" Miroku said, as he emerged from the village behind them holding Kirara.

"Houshi-Sama, where have you been?" Sango asked, catching Kirara as she jumped down into her arms.

"Dear Sango, were you worried over me?" Miroku said, grasping her free hand with one of his while the other moved to her side and then lower…

*Smack* Miroku was now on the ground, a hand print brightly shining on his face.

"So Miroku, since Inu Yasha won't tell us, what IS a Saris-Bane?" Kagome asked the Monk.

"I've only heard a little, and read some about them. They are pretty much a weak demon, which has no strength at all. But their fur has a magic property to it that creates a barrier that defends them against attacks." He turned to Inu Yasha and continued, "But I thought that they were just a myth. How did you find one?"

Inu Yasha turned and glared at the monk, "They are, now. There were only a few remaining when that was made. It used to be mine, but I preferred this one."

"So, this used to be yours?" Souta asked him. When Inu Yasha nodded, Souta yelled, "It's even cooler now! Thanks Inu Yasha!" With that, the boy flung himself at his hero and hugged his shoulders.

Inu Yasha blushed profusely, and then pushed the boy away. "Feh, whatever. It was just collecting dust anyways." Trying to not show his embarrassment, he stood quickly and walked towards the forest. "Come on, kid. We're gonna start your training today."

Souta's eyes grew larger, "Training! You're gonna train me?"

Inu Yasha gave him his usual haughty expression and crossed his arms, "'Course! Can't have you getting hurt if you're gonna go with us! Your sister would probably "sit" me into oblivion!"

Souta ran excitedly to the hanyou before he turned and walked towards the forest again with the younger boy in tow. The remaining members of their group just sat and watched them go.

Kagome smiled. He had said he would train him, and he was keeping his word. She looked down at the kitsune sitting in her lap. "So, what should we do? We have a whole afternoon to just sit around and do whatever we want!"

*~*~*

Kagura's crimson eyes took in everything around her small, dank cell. There was no way she could avoid the smell of rotting corpses, even if she hadn't been a demon. This was her punishment, for again rebelling against Naraku. No matter what she did, it seemed she would always be doomed to be his slave.

Sighing, she tried to get a little more comfortable from her position, chained to the wall. 'Dammit…isn't there any way to free myself from him?' she thought to herself. This had all happened because of that girl. She didn't understand why it had happened, but she had felt pity on the girl. Pity for the enemy. 'But' her mind rationalized, 'That girl isn't my enemy, she's Naraku's. Even if I'm born from him, and a slave to him, doesn't make her my enemy as well!'

She was snapped back from her thoughts when she heard the door to her cell open slowly. Peering through the darkness that filled the cell as well as the now opened doorway, she tried to see who had opened it. But the person was hooded and all she could make out was a hand… a feminine hand.

"Who's there?" she called out. She knew it wasn't Naraku, since the person was female. It couldn't be Kanna, since the shape was too tall. Unless Naraku had created a new detachment, she had no clue as to who this person was or how they had made it to her cell.

"Kagura of the wind…" The voice called out to her, a smooth alto voice with a hint of an accent that she couldn't place called out to her.

"Who are you?" She called again, trying to see the woman's face under the black hood.

"A friend." The woman stepped into the room and placed something on the floor, then continued across the room until she came to Kagura. Reaching out, she lightly tapped the chains that bound her and they fell away lightly. The woman took a step back and began to disappear.

"Wait! What are you doing this for? Who are you?" Kagura called out, rubbing her now free wrists.

The hooded woman was now almost completely gone, "Pick your enemies and allies wisely, Kagura of the Wind…" and then she was gone.

Kagura looked over at the floor and gasped. On the floor, only a few feet from her, stood a jar. She recognized it easily as the heart that Naraku's used to keep her in his service. "How in the world did that woman…" She trailed off, picking up the jar. Then she smiled. She was free.

*Waves Banner* Yeah! I really like that chapter! Okay, now let me know what you thought! Please review!