Disclaimer: We do not own Inuyasha, nor do we own any piece of Sesshoumaru's hot body, as much as we'd like to though. We make no profits with our fangirly attempts at concocting stories and nor do we think you'd get any money out of us if you were to sue us. We were broke during the first three chapters, and we still are. Though someone has betrayed me and found herself a job. glares at Saturn

Authors' notes: Italics are thoughts, just so you know. And there's very slight Kagome bashing. But it's all in good humor. We don't hate her or anything...well maybe one of us dislikes her...a little...Otherwise, enjoy! And thank you all for reviewing! Very much appreciated. By the way, the pairing for this chapter is Inuyasha x Ground…yes, in that order… for our puposes, let's just say the ground is shorter than our beloved doggy-demon and is the uke to Inuyasha's seme…yeah…enjoy…

Chapter 4: Onwards, to the Northern Mountains! (Like, Oh my gah!)

"So what you're saying is Inuyasha is cursed?" Miroku inquisitively raised his brows. He rubbed his eyes to chase away the last remnants of sleep that clung there relentlessly. The fresh morning breeze wafted in, bringing with it the golden sun to Kaede's hut where they all sat.

"Yes precisely." Kaede explained. "If Kagome's account is accurate, then Inuyasha was bitten by the demon, Nekoi. Nekoi is a cat demon, who awakens every fifty years to find a playmate. Whenever she tires of the said person, she places a curse on him, and as a result he loses his mind."

"Hmm…" Sango seemed to ponder something for a moment. "I've heard of this demon from father; I believe that there was a priestess in the Northern Mountains. According to my tribe the priestess encountered the demon, and came up with an antidote."

"Hold on a second, exactly what is the curse?" Miroku spoke up before Kagome could voice her thoughts.

"Well...you see…" The elderly priestess hesitated a moment before deciding it best for the dog-demon that she tell everyone. "This is the cat-demon's signature move. As Kagome said, Inuyasha was bitten…Nekoi's sharp fangs injected her venom into him during that encounter. This cat-demon's venom is known to have this effect on male demons…" Kaede trailed off.

"What effect?" Sango inquired.

"…The venom mixes with the victim's blood and makes him more susceptible to" Kaede drew in a sharp breath before continuing. "Pheromones of the opposite sex…"

Everyone stared at her as if she spoke in some foreign language with dazed looks on their faces.

"Basically, what I'm trying to say is that, every evening, as the sun begins to set in the horizon, the carnal urges, if you will, within Inuyasha will intensify…until he has been satisfied he will not rest." Kaede finished, releasing the breath she was holding unbeknownst to her. "And this will last for a fortnight."

"WHAT!" exclaimed everyone in unison.

"Oh…so that's why he tried to…" Kagome trailed off as a steady stream of blood crept to her cheeks. She noticed the demon slayer and the monk's suspicious gazes on her and quickly changed the subject. "What are we supposed to do about it then? We can't just let him run wildly…"

"For one thing, whatever happens to Inuyasha in the night, he will have no recollection of it in the morning." Kaede announced.

"Just because he will not remember, does not mean that he should not be held accountable for his actions. He can't just run around and ravage-"

"Why ladies, how can you blame poor, poor Inuyasha, it's not his fault. Besides he's been trapped to a tree for fifty years; I think it's about time that he got some action." Miroku cut Sango off in the middle of her sentence.

Kaede sensed the air in the humble hut thicken and quickly spoke to avoid any conflict. "There is that cure you spoke of, my child." The priestess looked at the slayer thoughtfully. "While I understand your concerns about a crazed lunatic running around unsupervised, I do believe it is time to focus more on the fact that if the remedy is not procured, then Inuyasha will lose his mind."

Silence spread through out the room as everyone solemnly considered the consequences of the curse.

"The panacea from the northern mountains must be attained in order to salve the poor soul." Kaede spoke somberly.

"But how will we get Inuyasha to the Northern Mountains?" Sango voiced her concerns.

"Yeah, he won't travel that far unless he's getting something out of it" Miroku added attentively.

Sango suddenly thought of something. "Well, besides preserving his sanity, or what is left there of it, we can always say that there's a jewel shard."

"That's a great idea, Sango!" The monk rejoiced. "Now, for such a beautiful idea, why don't I reward you?" Miroku suggestively wiggled his eyebrows.

"Dream on, monk!"

"How sad, such a reward to be wasted." Miroku sighed, melodramatically. "It's quite pitiful that Inuyasha had to be cursed; I would have gladly sacrificed myself for him…" mourned Miroku.

"Sadly enough Miroku, she wouldn't have targeted you. Nekoi only goes after those who are a challenge to her and have demonic blood" mused Kaede.

"Que sera, sera" replied Miroku, apathetic.

"You moron! Is that all you think about?" Sango's irritation at the perverted monk was clear in her voice.

"No of course not, there's food, and Naraku."

"…" silence filled the room.

"Anyway, so should we tell Inuyasha about his little dilemma?" Sango spoke, concentrating on the subject at hand.

"No! There is no way we could tell him!" yelled Kagome after being ignored for so long. "Because then we would have to tell him about last night…" she murmured the last part.

"Something happened last night?" questioned Sango, interested.

"Umm… no, nothing happened." Kagome's eyes darted the room, settling on anything but her friends' eyes.

"I think she's lying" sang Miroku bemusedly.

"No I'm not!"

"Wait a minute! Kagome, how did you come to know of this curse?" Sango asked curiously.

Feeling trapped, Kagome looked for ways to stall. "Yes, that's a very good question, Sango…umm…"

As if he were her guardian angel, arriving to protect her from danger at the nick of time, Inuyasha came into the hut just then, muttering a string of incoherent curses; the only words that the jewel shard group could make out were 'cold,' 'trench,' 'wet,' and 'dream.'

"What are you all looking at?" The half demon narrowed his eyebrows at his companions, his tone drenched with ire.

"N-Nothing!" they all stuttered at once.

"Feh, it better be nothing. I'm already in a bad mood."

"Inuyasha, where have ye been?" The priestess asked the question that haunted everyone's minds.

"Lying in a damn ditch, that's where!" The dog demon humph-ed. "Why didn't you send someone to look for me, you old hag!"

"Would ye have asked, I would have sent."

"If I were in a ditch, how could have I asked you? If I could have, I would have no need of you." Inuyasha bared his fangs at the old priestess in a hiss.

Sensing the tension in the air, Kagome stepped in to mediate; for once she did something useful and was not just there to fill the role of the clichéd damsel in distress.

"SIT BOY!" and with yet another heavy thud, Inuyasha found himself in a very familiar trough. 'Why do I get the feeling that the trench from the morning is no different—'

"Well, anyway, we should get started on our journey to the Northern Mountains!" Kagome announced, before any more drama could crawl its way into the room.

"What! Why are we going there?" Inuyasha cried from his position on the ground.

"Because I said so!" Kagome was getting frustrated with the turn of events. She hadn't even had her morning bath yet! And she still needed to fix her hair! Oh. My. Kami.

"Oh! I know why you want to go, it's because that damned wolf is in the North!" The dog demon spat.

"What are you blabbering about?" Kagome didn't have time to put up with this. She needed to get to the hot springs quickly before they set out on their journey. Who knows how many days she might have to go without a shower!

"That's why you want to go! I knew it! We're not going!" Inuyasha planted himself on the floor stubbornly.

"Come on Inuyasha, we have to go to the Northern Mountains!11one!1" Kagome's patience was running thin.

"No, we don't. I'd say you four have a hidden agenda."

"No, we don't, there's a jewel shard there."

"Well, why didn't you say so? Let's go!" Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's humongous, yellow, backpack and stormed out of the hut, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

The gang followed him out of the hut, glad that the childish banter was finally over.

"Hey guys, where are you going?" the annoyingly hyper voice of a certain kitsune stopped the dog-demon in his tracks.

"Shut up, runt!" Inuyasha proceeded to execute a flurry of assaults on Shippo. 'Die Shippo die!'

"Inuyasha stop it or I'll 'sit' you!" Kagome threatened, frankly, annoyed because she didn't get to take her beauty bath.

And for the third time that morning, Inuyasha found himself kissing the ground.

(Old wise man's voice from the distance) And thus our heroes embarked on a journey into the distant horizon to secure the 'jewel shard' at the Northern Mountains, not knowing what dangers lay ahead.

Saturn's notes: Ok, so here's our update because I coerced Rheyne into writing this before she decided to delay it six more months. So yeah, bow down. Otherwise, hope you've enjoyed and will come back for the new exciting chapter of (in booming announcer voice) "Kiss Me, I'm Horny!' All cynical/ sado-masochistic remarks along with Kagome bashing brought to you by Rheyne.

Rheyne says: This chapter was just a whole lot of crap. Next chapter, I promise there will be some real action; not any of this Inuyasha x Ground stuff. So stick around. The 'Die, Shippo, die!' Moment is dedicated to our wonderful reviewer...well...Die (underscore) Shippo (underscore) Die. And please review; feed back of any kind—praise, criticism, death threats—all are welcome; just let us know what you think!

Thank you. Stuffed, fluffySesshoumarus for everyone!