Sorry it took longer than usual. I was having serious writer's block on the fight scene. I knew how I wanted it to end, I just didn't know how to get it to end like that. Also, I had a ton of homework and stuff. Anyway, I hope you like it, and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon!

The following day, Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, Miroku, Sango, and Kilala walked along a path in the woods. They had left Kaedae's village in the morning, and it was the afternoon now. Inuyasha was leading, Kagome was right behind him, Shippou was on her shoulder, Miroku was behind her, Sango was beside him, and Kilala was in her arms.

Inuyasha had been acting strange since they woke up. He had been quiet and hardly talked at all, completely different from the loud-mouthed jerk he usually was. Finally, Kagome asked him about it.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said quietly, keeping his eyes on the path ahead.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "You've been acting weird today."

"I'm positive," he said in the same quiet tone.

Kagome looked at him uncertainly, then decided to change the subject. "I thought I heard some shouting last night," she said. "It was probably just a dream, though."

"That's odd," Miroku said. "I had the same dream."

"So did I," Sango said.

"Me too!" Shippou put in.

Kilala mewed.

"You had the same dream, that's all. Nothing happened last night," Inuyasha replied, still not changing from his quiet tone.

The others glanced at each other, not believing him at all.

Kagome slowed enough so that she was walking beside Sango so that they could all talk. "What do you think's going on?" she asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Sango whispered. "I heard the shouting, but I couldn't make out any of the words."

"This is certainly a mystery," Miroku said, thinking. "Inuyasha has never acted like this. Usually, when something bothers him, if we say something wrong, he'll shout at us."

"But now he's just being really quiet," Kagome completed. "What in the world could be wrong with him?"

"Whatever it was, it probably had something to do with the shouts," Shippou said.

"Most likely," Miroku said.

"Who do you think was out there?" Sango asked.

"It couldn't have been Naraku or anyone like that," Kagome said. "Otherwise he would've woken us up, or at least told us by now."

"True," Miroku said. "Maybe Kikyou?"

Kagome looked downcast, but Sango stepped in just in time. "I don't think so," she said. "Inuyasha isn't usually this quiet after he sees Kikyou." She smiled at Kagome, who smiled back gratefully.

"What're you whispering about back there?" Inuyasha asked, glancing at them. His usual threatening tone was absent.

They all froze up. "N-Nothing!" Kagome said nervously. "We were just...uh...talking about how nice the weather is today!"

Inuyasha shrugged, then looked back at the path ahead.

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the others again. "We should probably finish this conversation later," she whispered very low. The other's nodded, then Kagome went back to her place right behind Inuyasha.

They walked for a little while longer, no one saying a word. Then, just as it was starting to get dark, Inuyasha stopped and stared off into the trees. The others stopped, too.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha didn't reply. He just stared into the trees. Suddenly, a dagger whizzed towards him. He dodged it just in time, and it hit a tree behind him. "Naomi, come out!" Inuyasha shouted.

Naomi did a backflip from the tree branch she had been on and landed gracefully on her feet. She looked at him, taking another dagger from her kimono's pocket. "I'll kill you, Inuyasha."

Miroku put a hand on his rosary that sealed his wind tunnel. "Let me take care of this," he said.

"If you do that, I'll rip your arm off!" Inuyasha shouted at him.

Miroku looked at him in surprise, then uncertainty, then confusion, all in a split second. He took his hand off the rosary, though.

Naomi threw another dagger at Inuyasha, but again he dodged. She drew her sword and charged at him. He dodged just in time.

"Stop running and fight me!" Naomi shouted, charging at him again.

He didn't say anything. He just dodged again.

"Have it your way then!" Naomi shouted, running at him with her sword once more. Once again he dodged.

This kept on for about five minutes.

"Stop dodging and actually fight!" Naomi yelled. "Or are you just too much of a coward!" With that, she charged at him once more, and once more dodged. Then her sword glowed with a black light. She ran at Inuyasha, swinging it vertically. "Die!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called. She and the others had no idea why he wasn't fighting back. She fitted an arrow into her bow, took aim, and...

"Don't, Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted fiercly. Kagome stopped herself just in time and looked at Inuyasha with a mixture of disbelief and surprise. Then Inuyasha turned his attention back to Naomi just in time to draw his sword in a block. The two swords clanged together as they locked. Neither Inuyasha nor Naomi slid back any.

"I will not fight you!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Then you'll die!" Naomi shouted back. With a surge of power, she pushed Inuyasha back. He skidded before coming to a stop about five feet away. She was breathing heavily with the effort.

"Naomi!" Inuyasha called. "Can't you remember anything! Don't you remember who I am!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Naomi shouted. The pain in her head returned, but she ignored it as best she could. She ran at Inuyasha, swinging her sword vertically, but he dodged. 'Dammit! The pain is slowing me down...'

Inuyasha wasted no time. While Naomi was standing there, concentrating on numbing the pain, he ran in. "Sorry," he muttered as he punched her in the stomach. Her eyes went wide with surprise, then she passed out.

-

"Well, well, well," Kagura said as she and Naraku watched the fight on Kanna's mirror. "What do you know? It seems I was right. I won, pay up." She held out her hand.

Naraku, grumbling, gave her a small coin pouch. She quickly opened it and counted the coins, then held out her other hand. Grumbling even more, Naraku gave her eight more coins.

"You won the bet this time," Naraku said. "But next time you won't be so lucky. Naomi will win, and I shall recieve my payment."

"Yeah, whatever," Kagura said nonchalantly. She stood up and walked towards the door, jingling her coin pouch. "If you need me, I'll be out buying stuff with my money." If looks could kill, Kagura would've died a thousand painful deaths from the glare she recieved from Naraku.

Hope you liked it! And I've decided that I'm gonna try and make it funny whenever I have a Kagura/Naraku scene. Reviews are greatly appreciated!