A/n: Inukag attempt number two. Or maybe it's three. Hell, I lost count. Enjoy.

The Hair that Wouldn't Be Cut ---

The villagers always knew when Inuyasha and his troupe of shard seekers were on their way in from a mission, as they could hear the usually-enraged hanyou screaming at something or someone long before he came into sight. This time was no different, as his howling could be heard clear across Musashi.

"What do you mean by cut it off?"

There was a less-audible reply to his question, more than likely from his miko counterpart, and another yell of outrage from the hanyou.

"Hell no I won't! You're not getting anywhere near me with those 'sizzer' things!"

They were all within seeing range now, and the villagers stopped their work to watch the ongoing saga of love and hate between the half-demon and his human opposite.

"Maybe I should cut your stupid hair," Inuyasha said, jumping in front of Kagome, causing her to stop mid-peddle on her bike. "After all, it looks kind of tangled to me."

Inuyasha reached out and tugged on a piece of Kagome's hair, accentuating his previous statement about the condition of her tresses. Miroku and Sango, not wanting to get involved, kept walking ahead with Shippou and Kirara.

"Even that bitch Yura probably wouldn't want your hair. It's too ratty for the likes of her."

What had been a ticking in Kagome's eye had turned into a full blown twitching, and her body had begun to shake uncontrollably. She raised her fist and shook it at him like an old woman driver.

"Baka, you don't know anything! Have you even seen yourself?"

"Keh."

"SIT!"

Kagome screamed loudly, scaring the bird out of the nearby trees, and causing several workhorses to falter in their strides. Inuyasha landed face-down in the dirt, his forehead busting open on a shard rock that happened to be in the way. He could feel his skin split at the contact.

Not bothering to see if he was alright, Kagome turned and stomped off in the direction of the well, leaving her bicycle beside the fallen hanyou.

--- ---

"Tadaima!"

Kagome walked in foyer and removed her shoes, placing them on the rack beside the door. The television in the sitting room was on, and she could hear her brother laughing at some stupid cartoon that he watched every Saturday morning. She walked in and sat beside him at the low table.

"Nee-chan, you're back!"

"For a while," she answered with a tired grin. "Where's Mama?"

"Making lunch," he replied, pointing in the direction of the kitchen.

Nodding, she stood and walked in on her mother humming softly to herself as she prepared the midday meal. It was times like these that Kagome wished she had never been taken down the stupid well. The normal home life was a sad thing to miss.

"Tadaima," Kagome said softly, leaning against the doorway.

Mama turned around, wiping her hand on her apron. She smiled brightly and walked over to embrace her daughter in a much-needed hug.

"How was your hunt?" Mama asked, turning back to her work.

Kagome sat down at the kitchen table and sighed heavily. "We didn't find any shards, but we found lots of trouble while we looked."

"Nothing serious, I hope," Mama answered without turning around.

"No, everyone is fine. Inuyasha's hair took the worst of it."

At that, Mama turned and looked at Kagome quizzically. "His hair?"

Nodding, Kagome gave an explanation, "Hai, he was thrown into a tree, and his hair got tangled in the branches. Some of it was torn out, and the rest was tangled with leaves and sticks."

"Inuyasha has such beautiful hair," Mama said thoughtfully. "Did you get it untangled?"

"No, it's beyond brushing," she said angrily. "And he won't let me help him!"

"You want to cut it off?"

"Hai, but he'll have none of it."

"Well, he may never have had a haircut before," Mama explained, "and doesn't want to let it go."

Kagome frowned and thought on her mother's words. Perhaps Inuyasha was attached (figuratively) to his hair, and was self-conscious about going without it. Maybe she could change his mind!

Standing from the table, Kagome thanked her mother for the insight into her hanyou friend, and made her way upstairs, plotting and scheming the whole way.

--- ---

Back in Musashi, Inuyasha sat in his favorite tree, seething over Kagome and her antics. He would never let her cut his hair, not ever! It was perfectly find the way it was, wild and windblown. If he let her cut it, she would insist that he start using shampoo and all those other funny-smelling things from the future.

"Nope," Inuyasha said to himself, "not gonna happen."

Folding his arms behind his head, he leaned back against the bark and closed his eyes, ready for a long nap. A pain in his skull put all thoughts of sleep to the back of his mind. Leaning forward, he reached up and dug into his mane, pulling out a sharp stick that had been poking his head.

Sneering at the offending twig, he let it fall to the ground bellow before reaching up to pull more foliage from his hair.

After a while it became tiring and useless, and he gave up trying to eradicate the small tree that had become entangled in his head. Sleep was definitely more important, and he would weed himself after his nap.

Of course, nothing ever went as planned for the hanyou, and soon Shippou came crawling up the bark of the tree. He plopped down in front of Inuyasha and crossed his arms, trying to look as serious as possible. Inuyasha opened one eye and closed it just as quickly.

"What do you want, Runt?"

"Kagome was right," Shippou stated matter-of-factly. "There is no help for you."

"What would you know?"

"Inuyasha, go apologize to Kagome right now."

"Why should I apologize? She's the one that needs to come back and say she's sorry."

"But you're the one that was wrong!"

"Shove off," Inuyasha growled, turning his head at the kitsune.

"Stupid dog," Shippou squeaked as he bounced back down to the ground.

Sighing, Inuyasha thought about Kagome and how angry she had been when she had left for her time. She had even cracked his head on a rock! Reaching up, he touched the bruised area of skin that had hours ago been a deep split in his face.

"Nope," he said to no one in particular, "she's the one that needs to come crawling back."

--- ---

A large yellow pack full of books, medical supplies, and various other useful things from the future threw itself up and over the top of the well. Kagome, slightly apprehensive about Inuyasha and his temper tantrum about her opinion of his hair, had tucked the scissors and the shampoo in a tightly sealed bag underneath everything else she had brought back with her.

Hoisting the pack over her shoulder, she began the short walk to the village to find Inuyasha and talk some sense into his senseless head. About halfway back she was greeted by his familiar demonic aura, and shortly thereafter by the actual hanyou himself.

"Back so soon?" he asked grouchily.

"Oh you know me," she laughed. "Can't stay gone for long."

"Right," he said sarcastically.

As Inuyasha turned and began to walk back to the village with Kagome, the girl stayed a few steps behind to survey the damage that had been done to his hair. It wasn't in much better shape than when she had left, though most of the foliage had been picked out. There were dozens of knots and snags and it bothered Kagome to no end to see the mess.

"You're not still thinking about cutting my hair, are you?" Inuyasha asked nervously.

"No, I don't think I want you to be that angry with me," Kagome said thoughtfully. "But I do wish you'd at least let me brush out some of the tangles."

"Brush my hair?" he said as though the idea had never been presented to him before.

"Surely you've brushed your hair before," Kagome said in an astonished voice.

"Of course I have, stupid," he yelled. "But this time it's different!"

"How is it different?"

"I had a tree shoved in my head, wench! How do you think it's different?"

Miroku and Sango heard the yelling just before the hanyou stumbled into Kaede's hut. Kagome walked in a few steps after with a hairbrush gripped tightly in one hand. She advanced on Inuyasha until he was against the back wall with his hands pressed tightly to the wood.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome called sweetly.

"Get away from me, wench!"

"SIT!"

The taijiya and the monk cringed as Inuyasha hit the floor with a loud crack. Though the floorboards had not broken, there was a person-shaped indention below where the hanyou was laying face down. He lifted his body an inch off the ground to tell Kagome just what he thought of her subjugation command when the girl threw herself across the room and onto his back.

"You had to do this the hard way," she reprimanded. "Now stay down there until I'm done."

"Wench…"

With her mission accomplished, Kagome sat happily on Inuyasha's back, brushing out the tangles that had turned his hair into a mess. She tugged gently on the locks, earning a few twitches from his ears and grunts from the hanyou himself.

Miroku and Sango watched in amusement and amazement as Kagome worked her magic without the use of scissors and shampoo. In no time his locks looked as nice as they had before.

"See, that wasn't as hard as you thought it would be," Kagome said, running her hands through the silky, white mass.

"Shut up," Inuyasha said lazily.

"Inuyasha, are you purring?"

The girl leaned down closer to his face, turning her ear toward the sound in order to hear it better. She grinned over at her other friends.

"He's purring!"

"Dogs don't purr," he argued.

"Then what would you call it?" she asked, running her fingers against his scalp.

"Purring…" he said as he drifted off.

"He's asleep," she said in bewilderment. "He actually fell asleep."

"Now's the perfect time for that haircut," Miroku laughed.

"Laugh it up, Houshi-sama," Sango grinned, tugging at the small tail of hair at the back of his head. "You'll be next."

Still sitting on Inuyasha's back, Kagome wondered if the hanyou had truly never cut his hair. With over two hundred years of life behind him it was hard to believe that he could go without a snip here and there. Maybe hanyou hair stopped growing when it reached a certain length. She pondered the mechanics of it while still running her fingers against his scalp.

"Maybe this could be useful," Shippou said thoughtfully, walking over to grab one of Inuyasha's ears. He yanked slightly on the susceptible appendage, ducking his head as though expecting to be hit. He was rewarded with a soft snore and the twitch of the hanyou's hand.

"Wow, if this is all it takes to subdue him maybe you won't need to use the command anymore," Sango said.

"Well it certainly seems to put him in a better mood," Shippou added thoughtfully.

"Yes," Miroku agreed. "Inuyasha is quite pleasant when he's unconscious."

Kagome giggled while pulling the white mane of hair away from his face, "He's a lot prettier too."

--- --- ---

a/n: This one's been on the 'get it done' list for quite some time. Not fond of how I had to break it into so many parts, but that's the way the fortune cookie crumbles.

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