Hi again! Thank you so much for reading! (And reviewing! You guys are the best! I'm so glad you like it! Yay!) This is a longer chapter. I just kept going and going! (Isn't there a commercial like that?) Er… anyway… (brain freeze 0) Yeah! The adventures of Shippo continue! I was thinking that I might just steal him from the people who own him… Ha ha! Please enjoy! (This is the updated version, by the way! I'm so sorry for all the errors! Thanks for catching those… I must have been a zombie when I wrote this… thanks for reviewing! -)

Kagura narrowed her eyes against the chill of her winds as she swept through the sky, trying to get a fix on the Shikon Shard she was tracking. It's here somewhere, she thought, frustrated, around here, but… Damn! She stopped as the Saimyosho again halted in midair, buzzing quizzically. It's disappeared again! She watched in annoyance as the wasps buzzed in circles below her. The Saimyosho had their own ways of tracking Shikon Shards, ways that, she was sure, Naraku enjoyed keeping from her, but even with the wasps' power they couldn't find the thing! She growled and brushed a stray piece of ebony hair behind her ear. This cannot happening. It's been three days…! If she didn't find the shard soon, Naraku… Kagura shivered and looked back at the wasps, more anxiously this time. I have to find it. No option. Naraku had been even more irritated than usual lately and she had had to step very carefully around him to avoid his anger. Kagura hadn't been pleased when he had abruptly ordered her to take the wasps and uncover another shard. She already had a bad record with those damn shards... and Naraku had destroyed many lesser demons for failing him… Suddenly, Kagura stiffened. Voices!

She snapped her fan imperiously and the Saimyosho obediently followed her as she dropped into a nearby tree. She kept still, waiting for the owner's of the voices to come into view. She hissed when she saw an enormous cat flanked by three humans and a demon round the bend. Inuyasha! Of all the people… he was the reason she wasn't in Naraku's favor! Then her gaze fell on the girl, Kagome, and Kagura's eyes flickered. That girl, she mused, she could have something to do with the shard I've been trying to find… I could get that one and the others she's carrying as well! Then maybe Naraku would forgive her delay in returning to him...

"And how is it MY FAULT!" Inuyasha was saying angrily to Kagome. Kagome, not listening, was looking frantic and was wringing her hands. "It's YOUR job to watch the br--"

"It's okay, Kagome," Sango said gently, laying a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "I'm sure Shippo will return soon…"

"Yes, you know that he doesn't have anywhere else to go." Sango glared at Miroku.

"Not helping--" Miroku looked injured.

"I was just saying… Inuyasha, what is the matter with you?" Sango looked over and saw that Inuyasha had his nose in the air and his golden eyes had narrowed to slits. It was how he looked when he caught the scent of an enemy.

"I… smell… something…"

Above them, Kagura decided that this was as good an introduction as any, so dropped out of her tree and stood smiling at Inuyasha's companions' shocked faces. Inuyasha himself spun around furiously and whipped his magnificent sword from its sheath. "So it was you, witch." he snarled.

Kagura smirked. "My, aren't we testy today..." Inuyasha jerked angrily.

"What are you here for!" he demanded. "Out with it before I tear your head off!" Kagura sighed theatrically and waved her fan gently, causing Inuyasha's silver hair to whip up around his ears.

"If you can't even figure that out you're even more of a simpleton than Naraku took you for." Kagura enjoyed the effect that this simple statement had on her adversary. Inuyasha turned beet red and looked ready to explode.

"SHUT UP!" he howled, advancing a step. "You're just--"Kagura suddenly stiffened and dived to the right as a gleaming arrow shot by, nearly grazing her cheek. She glared daggers at Kagome.

"Insolent wretch! You'll pay for that!" Kagome quickly reached back and knocked another arrow, her expression fierce.

"Monster!" She shouted, "I know you're game! Don't think it'll work!" Sango glanced at Kagome, confused.

"What is it?" she asked in an undertone.

"Shippo," Kagome replied quietly. "It can't be a coincidence that he went missing almost at the same time Kagura showed up! It's another one of Naraku's traps!" Sango snarled and unhooked her boomerang bone from its sling.

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"Well, little red, it's not surprising that you're as cowardly as the rest of your tribe." The drawling voice sounded amused and came from somewhere above him. Shippo opened one eye. He wasn't dead! Relief flooded through him. Then…What! He thought, suddenly outraged. Cowardly! He sprang up snarling and… then he saw the shimmering silver hair and glowing violet eyes of the demon that stood before him. She had slits for pupils and was toying with a small dagger. Shippo's eyes roved lower. And… she had a tail. A foxe's tail. Shippo's terror returned immediately and he retreated away from her. Oh no, he thought shakily, not noticing that he was trying to back up through a tree. She's one of them.