Attempted Temptation

A woman approached Naraku and as she came closer her form changed to resemble the dead miko Kikyou. Only her eyes stayed the same yellow, even her clothes changed to a miko robe. She even had the whole Sacred Jewel hanging around her neck, despite the existence of a half-restored jewel in the dark hanyou's hand. Naraku smiled broadly.

"Good work, my child. Now, you go and use your powers on Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku and Sango."

"Yes, Lord Naraku," the woman didn't sound quite like Kikyou/

"Go, Temptation, do your job well," he waved a hand at the newest of his incarnations. She bowed and walked away. Her form morphed to resemble Sesshomaru when she passed Kagura in the corridor. "Kuluku, now Inuyasha and his group have no chance!"

.

Meanwhile some distance away a certain group of travelers was looking for a suitable place to make camp for the night. Everyone was tired and hungry, even Inuyasha wasn't complaining that he had to stop for the weak humans to rest. His droopy ears were a sign of his own fatigue and he was sniffing the air to find the scent of the hot springs. Some time ago he had noticed a correlation - a camp by a hot spring was almost accompanied by a bigger cup of ramen or even two instead of one. It seemed that someone - despite not saying a word - had noticed his good will and had started replying in kind.

Finally they found a small part of the forest, shielded from potential attack from two sides by piles of rocks and near a stream. The group dropped their bags on a pile and set on making camp. Shippou made a game out from cleaning the area from rocks and acorns, and anything else that could make sleeping hard. He threw the acorns to the fire hole dug by Miroku and helped the monk frame it with rocks. Kagome and Sango brought water from the stream while Inuyasha stayed there to catch fish.

When the humans finished their tasks they went to gather firewood and created the fire. This way when Inuyasha came back with fish already skewered on sticks, they could start roasting them and enjoy tea in the meantime. Kagome provided the much needed distraction with a deck of cards and it was probably the only reason no one complained about the long time the fish took to fry. Kirara just shook her head at the silly humans and hanyou waiting for their meal to cook, for her the fish was as good raw. Then she glared at Shippou, the spoiled kitsune sneaking up on her to steal her own fish. The kit giggled and gave up, deciding to sneak up on Inuyasha instead.

He climbed up the tree that had it branches shadowing the camp and carefully made his way down one of them, planning on leaping down at Inuyasha's head and gnawing on his ears

Thee said ears twitched suddenly and Inuyasha straightened his back.

"What is it?" Sango asked. Shippou just hoped Inuyasha wouldn't look up.

"A voice." he replied. "A female. It calls... Miroku...?"

The whole gang blinked at the monk, who was as puzzled as the rest.

"We should probably check it out," Kagome decided and reached for her bow.

"Now it calls Sango..." Inuyasha informed everyone and looked up. He didn't look angry. "Oi, Shippou!"

"Uh, yes?" Shippou squeaked from his perch. Inuyasha could sound calm and still hit him for choosing him for a target for his hunting.

"Keep the fort," the hanyou ordered. "You and the cat."

"Yeah!" Shippou puffed out his chest in pride and watched the rest of the gang collecting their weapons and heading out. Inuyasha wasn't the most affectionate male guardian and role model, but he sure was smart, leaving the best kitsune warrior in the land to watch over the camp.

As the group of four walked through the forest, following the keen - and cute - ears of their leader - they finally could hear the faint, sultry voice of a female from somewhere behind the great pile of rocks by the riverside.

"Kagome...!" called the woman. Kagome blinked and grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve for (emotional) support. A woman calling Miroku wasn't that odd, but what stranger would call her or Sango in the middle of nowhere? And then... "Inuyasha...!"

"Keh," the hanyou shrugged when the others looked at him. "So she knows our names, what's the big deal?"

Soon they entered a small empty place by the rock, much similar to the one they used for their camp. A woman was standing there, smiling at them.. Miroku, as the spokesmen of the group and the one who couldn't just not ask a girl a certain question, approached her immediately.

"Good lady, would you co-" he started. As soon as he came closer to the woman she looked at him and smiled wider. In a blur her shape changed and in a moment a second Sango stood in her place, this one dressed only in her chest binding and loincloth..

"Miroku..." she cooed, gesturing with a hand for him to come closer.

"Oh, Sango..." Miroku sighed in awe, his eyes never leaving the almost naked woman. Inuyasha glanced to his side where Kagome tried and failed to stop Sango from throwing a smoke pellet between the two. As Miroku coughed and stumbled back from the rapidly growing cloud of smoke, Sango leaped forward and hit him on the head to prevent him from doing anything crazy like approaching a weird shape shifting woman.

When she carried him out of the already disappearing smoke she saw Inuyasha jumping forward, his left hand covering his nose and mouth, his right poised to slash the female if the need arose.

"Inuyasha," the stranger said and in a flash there was no longer almost naked Sango standing in front of the hanyou. Kagome gasped and that made Sango look back to see that Inuyasha stood still now, frozen mid-step.

The creature had now the shape of a girl with black hair tied in a messy bun on top of her head, one similar to the bums Kagome wore while preparing food. She was also dressed in a yellow yukata with a blue layer similar to a haori on top of it. But Inuyasha barely saw all that, his eyes were on the object the woman held in her hands.

A bowl of steaming ramen.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called when she saw the hanyou reaching for the food. She didn't waste any time and just reacted, running after her favorite hanyou before he could eat another woman's cooking.

She sighed in relief when her arms wrapped around Inuyasha's waist. Then she froze when the reality of what she was doing finally sank in.

"Kagome," said the woman softly. The miko barely had the courage to look at her. When she glanced from behind the still unloving hanyou she saw that there were changes to the female's appearance.

She still wore the same clothes, only this time the outer layer was red. And she had fuzzy dog ears on top of her face. Inuyasha, no longer mesmerized by ramen, was staring at them as they twitched in annoyance.

"Look, you have to approach me one by one, so I can exploit your desires and kill you as Lord Naraku ordered me," the woman said. "It's very rude to just crowd a lady like this. Go a few steps back and start again."

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango called out the name of her weapon as she threw it at the woman. The boomerang hit the mark and the female screamed in agony before turning to dust. Inuyasha sighed as he saw the ramen disappear. Then he and Kagome looked to the exterminator, who was glaring at them all. "Can we go back now? We wasted enough time and I want to eat and take a bath before midnight!"

"Uh, yeah," Kagome nodded and hastily released Inuyasha, blushing madly. She ran to Sango and together they started back to the camp.

Inuyasha picked up the unconscious monk and followed them at a slower pace before he remembered that he had left Shippou alone with food.

Poor Miroku came to a good half of an hour later, still smiling dreamily.