Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and co.

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Chapter 17: A Woman Should be a Woman

The next morning Kagome stirred. She tried to sit up but there was a large weight on top of her. She looked down to see Inuyasha sleeping peacefully between her chest…

She blushed. "Uh…"

"Kagome I have your---Oh my god! WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT?!" the woman cried Kagome covered Inuyasha's fragile ears.

"I fell asleep and found him on top of me in the morning." Kagome defended herself.

"Kagome Inuyasha…What happened last night?" Sango asked as she observed the scene.

"Nothing!" Kagome cried.

Inuyasha covered her mouth and turned over to land on the floor.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome looked over the edge.

"Huh? What happened?" he muttered sleepily.

Miroku stepped up and dragged Inuyasha out by his hair.

*--*--*

"Hai, Naraku-sama?" Tastunai said as she bowed to her master.

"Find Kagome-sama and Inuyasha. I have yet to hear of any rumors and I can't seem to sense them." He ordered.

"Demo, Naraku-sama, Tsukai is going overboard; using the shards to curse kill others and I think it should stop." She spoke up in her light and soft voice.

"I don't care. Get Kagome-sama's group and bring Kagome to me." He said. "I have a surprise for her."

"Please Naraku-sama; say you will free my sister after that." Tastunai pleaded.

Naraku smirked and pulled a shard out of his sleeve. "I was the one who ordered you to be brought back to life; I can easily take your life away." He said as he squeezed the shard between his fingers until it drew blood and tossed it at her.

Tastunai was frozen as the shard embedded itself into her chest where she had been sliced by Naraku's own claws. She was being protected by another chard in her back which kept her from running away. She also had another shard in her shoulder where Naraku had also run through her.

"Hai, Naraku-sama. I will get Kagome-sama." She said through gritted teeth.

"Now…take this neko youkai, Kirara." He said slyly.

Kirara stepped out in her small neko form and mewed at Naraku as the shard in her forehead glowed.

"Hai, Naraku-sama." Tastunai said as her eyes glazed over. Her hair started braiding itself with a white sash braided in it and fell of her shoulder, down to about the middle of her thigh, in the fashion the Chinese men wore. Her ninja uniform changed to that of a Chinese martial artist.

"You are now a man." He told her.

"What?!" she yelled as she snapped out of the trance. "I'm a woman!" she ripped open her shirt to check and sighed happily.

Naraku snapped as he fell into her trance again and her shirt buttoned itself.

"Kagura here will watch your every move." He said as he motioned the girl with black hair, pointed ears, and her red and white kimono. She held a fan as she smiled.

"Hello older brother." She emphasized the word brother as she followed her older sister out of the room.

Kagura followed Tastunai and when they were out of Naraku's castle and onto a people inhabited road and walked next to her sister and asked her a question. "Where are we going?"

"I'm going to find this Kagome-sama and bring her some place where she won't get hurt by Naraku." She explained to her younger sister. "You better not tell him or I'll slit your throat."

Kagura flinched at the threat and looked a head. "Tastunai, do you want to be Naraku's servant?"

"What do you think?" she snapped rather harshly. "I'm a real human…I wasn't an attachment so he doesn't have much power over me. He brought me back to life after he killed me and--."

"Why did he kill you?" Kagura interrupted.

"You see, I was Onigumo's…er…best fried and I think he started to have feelings for me. When the tragedy of his getting caught in that fire he was taken care of Kikyo where he fell in love with her. He then needed to get me out of the way and killed me." She explained sadly.

Kagura and Tastunai walked in silence. "A woman should be a woman." Kagura said finally.

"I don't know why he wants me a man, maybe so he doesn't feel anything for me." Tastunai said cockily.

Kagura gave a smile out of the corner of her mouth.

*--*--*

"Thank you. We wouldn't want to trouble you any…more—What's that?" Kagome stopped short in her goodbyes.

"What?" the woman looked behind her back to see the table full of magazines. "oh…Those were my son's."

"May I have them?" Kagome asked eagerly.

"Alright." the woman said as she picked up a bag and poured the books into the bag. She gratefully handed the bag to Kagome and smiled.

"Thank you. We'll be on our way." Kagome said as they all followed her out.

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"Okay…I can sense them over there." Kagura said as she pointed her feather in the direction she sensed Kagome's group.

Tastunai jumped off the feather and landed in front of the travelers with Kirara on her shoulder.

Sango looked and narrowed her eyes. "Kirara. Where did you find her?!" she yelled as she ran forward.

Tastunai place Kirara in Kagura's arms then proceeded in unsheathing her katana.

Sango stopped short of throwing Hiraikutsu.

"If you want the kitty to loose a leg then you won't move." Tastunai threatened.

Kagura looked at her older brother out the corner of her eye. She likes to threaten, Kagura thought.

"Excuse me." Miroku pushed passed Sango and went up to Kagura. He grabbed her hands and sighed. "Will you…bare my child?"

"Will I what?!" Kagura yelled.

Tastunai lifted her ice fan and with a light flick froze his mouth shut.

Miroku politely bowed then walked back next to Kagome who sighed and started taking off the ice with an arrow.

"Back to business. If you want the kitty safe and with all her legs and eyes then you'll listen up."

"Who is this guy?" Inuyasha asked Miroku.

"G…guy?" Tastunai stammered as her eye twitched angrily.

Kagura put a hand on her arm and stepped forth. She dumped Kirara too the ground and took out her fan.

"Is she a geisha or something?" Kagome muttered.

"I am Kagura, a detachment of Naraku." Kagura introduced.

"Naraku?" Kagome stepped forward angrily.

"By order I must burn you all. Fushin no Mai (I forgot the spelling)." Fire burst from her fan in little tornadoes.

Inuyasha dove to cover Kagome and Miroku used his staff to put up a barrier in front of him and Sango which had her Hiraikutsu in front of them just in case the barrier broke.

The fire ceased as the Chinese looking man put a hand to Kirara's cheek as she whispered something.

Kirara seemed to nodded as she changed to her large form and charged toward Kagome.

"EEP!" Kagome screeched as she was thrown onto Kirara back and flown into the air.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he tried to jump after her but his feet were frozen to the ground by Tastunai's ice.

"Kirara! Kagome-chan!" Sango cried as she tried to follow the path of the fire neko.

Tastunai laughed. "You will get back your precious Kagome. Kirara and I are disobeying Naraku-sama for the time being. Remember this. I am a…man…who is used by Naraku." She choked out the word 'man' as she smirked in the end. Her hair blew as Miroku threw an ofudo at her.

She laughed again. "I would think, houshi-sama, that you would be able to tell that I am quite human. A Kunoichi ~female ninja~ who would love more then anything to kill Naraku."

"A human?" Inuyasha asked. "What kind of man are you?"

"Chinese." And with that said she and Kagura flew after Kirara on Kagura's large feather.

"He will pay for taking Kagome." He said with clenched fists.

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There we go!! They finally met! Tastunai…If you've read Ranma 1/2 manga and you know Konatsu then just think of what he looks like and you'll know what she looks like.

Anyway, I like where this story is going. It will be a while till it's finished but…you know…

I don't think it will take me as long as it did when I had writers block for this thing so stick with me.

Next Chapter:

Chapter 18: Kunoichi