Foxy Tactics

A/N- Been too long since I last updated. I hope this chapter is worth the wait to everyone. I just hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer- I don't own either Naruto or InuYasha, but boy do I enjoy playing with the characters! ^^

'Thoughts'

'Youkai Thoughts/Voice'

Enjoy.

Chapter 6:

A New Outlook

'Rrrggghhh.'

This was the first thing Kagome felt more than heard as she slowly came too. It was almost like how it felt and sounded when Kilala purred while being pet. A rather relaxing sound and vibration to be sure.

She reached out to pet whatever animal it was that was making such a soothing sound when a strong hand gripped hers midair. Blinking open her eyes, Kagome found herself staring into a pair of deep blue eyes. Very close eyes at that too.

'Who the heck is this?' Then the rest of the face and came into focus and she remembered just what she'd been doing before. "Naruto? Kyuubi? Did it work?" Naruto's voice responded but it was just a tad deeper than before, "it worked Kagome, we are now one. Thank you for that. You can call us Naruto."

Kagome smiled and shifted a bit until she was upright, she looked around at the others whom were watching her, but none so closely as Kakashi. He looked puzzled and the fact that she could guess that was rather scary. "Well then, I hope your apartment is alright after the ritual. I did my best to focus my power so nothing would be damaged."

He snorted as he waved his hand around, "as if that matters now. What you've done is something else entirely. Merging two beings, two souls. As either of them I had no memory of such a thing. Kyuubi for instance is...was...many hundred years old. He...I am happy to have a chance to be young again."

Tilting her head, Kagome took that moment to take in all the changes in 'Naruto.' His hair was longer and more spiked; there were orange tips to it as well. His whisker marks were deeper as was the color to his eyes, 'such beautiful eyes too.' As if reading her mind Naruto smiled and with a sudden burst of heat ears appeared on his head, larger than Inuyasha's had been and he shifted a bit so that she got an eyeful of all nine of his tails.

"My humanlike youkai form, that's what you were curious about right? I can take all three, human, humanlike, and full youkai form. When we merged all our abilities merged as well, an amalgamation of the two as it were." His voice practically shook with suppressed laughter and Kagome found she wanted to hear that laughter.

Feeling her cheeks heat she cleared her throat and asked, "So...will you still assist us with our mission?" Naruto gave her a rather heated look in response to her sudden reaction to him, but he gave a nod. "We had a deal. I will keep it; I do ask if you would do something for me or more to the point for one of my kind. There are others like myself, two beings in one body unmerged."

Kagome blinked at that and sat up straighter, "yes, of course I will help. But depending on their elemental abilities, that would determine who I would need help from." Naruto smiled again, his fangs present and Kagome found she liked him better like this. All foxy.

"May I ask something?" Kakashi's voice had then turning towards him and their bodies brushed together. Kagome felt a warm and very pleasant tingle from his bare skin touching hers and she didn't even attempt to move away. Neither did Naruto, if anything he sidled a little closer as they waited for Kakashi to continue.

"You said before you can take all three forms?" At Naruto's nod, he continued, "then if someone tried to remove that part from you, the Kyuubi part, would it be possible?" Knowing where the man was going with this line of questioning, Naruto responded with a shake of his head. "No, that would not be possible now. As I said and as Kagome had explained, there is no longer separate beings, we are one. To try and separate any part of my being would kill me. So no more rage tantrums, I promise."

Kakashi rolled his eye in response to that, 'merged or not, he still has Naruto's joker nature.' "Alright then, I will have Shikamaru take a message to the Sand village at once, if he is not on his way here already from Tsunade's summons, he soon will be."

Kagome felt Naruto practically purr through where their skin was touching and felt herself react to it. A deep blush burned her cheeks and she shifted a bit to relieve the sudden ache she felt within, as she did this though the purrs turned to something a whole lot deeper. Naruto was beginning to growl and Kagome became more aroused at the mere sound of it.

Confused by this she shyly looked up at Naruto, only to find his burning blue eyes focused wholly upon her. A new wave of heat rushed through her at that mere look alone and Kagome suddenly remembered something Kaede once told her about youkai and their heats.

-Flashback-

They had been working on a poultice for burns when Kaede had begun to speak of the season and how certain youkai went into heat during this time of year.

"My child be weary of youkai anytime they seem rather territorial. It is a way of laying claim and if the other youkai, mainly the female reciprocates by not leaving the males side, she is consenting to a mating. Unless they have already mated with one another or if they are mated to another, this behavior always ends with the pair bonding." Kaede had continued to grind the herbs before her as she continued, "But the feeling of desire or want must be sated or very violent things can occur. I've seen youkai tear each other apart when they were incompatible."

Kagome had been unable to help herself from asking, "Can humans be affected by these heats? I understand that once begun you can't stop, but I just can't help but wonder if we could be roped into such a thing too." Kaede shook her head, "of course you could child. Especially if you are genuinely attracted to the youkai. Normal humans are harder to be seduced by such heats, but as miko we have the power to match and even overpower most youkai. This makes us equal in this arena, I tell you this as a warning Kagome. Unless love drives you to do so, do not let yourself get too close to an unmated male youkai. Understood?"

Nodding her head, Kagome silently promised herself that she would be careful to watch out for such situations no matter what.

-End flashback-

Blinking in shock as she realized just what Kaede had been meaning with that warning now, Kagome started to move away from Naruto's side when his arms tightened about her in a vice like grip. His growl deepened as he bent his head to rub his cheek against her forehead, layering her in his scent.

"If you don't have any more business with us Kakashi, I'd like it if you left my apartment. I need to speak with Kagome in private." Naruto's voice was deep and firm as he spoke, Kakashi looked between the two of them before he shrugged and poofed out.

Kagome opened her mouth to say something when Naruto placed a finger against her lips, "we will talk but only once we are completely alone." With those words he looked to where Hinata and Shippou both stood, blushes on both their cheeks as they stared at them. "Hinata please take the kit with you and tell the others that we will be down within the hour. We just have some things to discuss first."

Hinata jumped at Naruto's words and she grabbed Shippou without a word before hurrying from the room. It wasn't until Naruto heard the door shut firmly that he finally released Kagome, as she slid from his arms he turned to face her completely. He knew what he wanted but Kagome still had a choice in this and he wouldn't force it upon her, no matter how hard it was for him to hold back. She deserved that much at least for everything she'd done thus far for him.

"I take it from your reaction you know what is happening, as a miko it should have been part of your training. Now then, I wish to make you mine Kagome, in all senses of the word. Even though we've only known each other for a brief amount of time, my instincts have chosen you as a suitable mate. Being new to this form I can only control part of myself now that the merger is complete, so I cannot stop or suppress the urge to mate. I do not wish to force you, but I do not have much time before I cannot stop myself from...well for the lack of a better word. Jumping you Kagome."

Naruto did look pained to Kagome's eyes, now that she had taken a deeper look at him. He also had a fine sheen of sweat on his skin, proof of his struggle to hold back his desires. She knew he wasn't lying with the whole 'jumping you' bit, she'd been around youkai long enough to know better. But this wasn't an easy decision for her, she knew she had to make a choice soon too as Naruto continued to speak.

"I promise I will do my best to make you happy, you deserve no less. No matter what happens or what decision you make, I will still assist you in your quest to destroy this Naraku. Such a being doesn't have the right to continue to harm innocents, let alone continue to torment your friends and yourself. So that much I swear to you now, Naraku will be destroyed and I will help you in this task."

Feeling he'd said more than enough to plead his case, Naruto pulled back a bit more from Kagome. He didn't want to influence her decision in any way. So he waited.

Kagome's mind was in a whirl as she thought over Naruto's argument and her own feelings in the matter. He was right, they hardly new one another but the attraction there was very strong. She'd never felt this attracted before, not to anything or anyone. She also knew from family tales and records that one of her great-great-great-great-and so on, had married/mated a very strong kitsune youkai. This Kitsune had become her families' guardian deity and had been so ever since.

'Maybe this is fate, heck; maybe I am that great-great-whatever. Anything is possible, but the true question here is would I regret not agreeing to this when I had to chance? Or would I hate myself because I didn't just wait. Why does this have to be so hard?!' Feeling frustrated by her own thoughts, Kagome took a deep breath and did as Kaede had taught her. She focused on the problem at hand and did her best to overcome it.

It didn't take long before she had figured out what she needed to do; she reached out with her hand to cup Naruto's cheek as she spoke clearly so there wouldn't be any misunderstanding. "I accept. I have to make sure the others have a place to stay while we...seal our arrangement. Any suggestions?"

Clearly pleased by her response, Naruto looked ready to pounce and he had to take a few deep breaths to push back his desires. "I have someone in mind. Let me get re-dressed and we will do what needs to be done." He paused as he gripped her chin and tilted her head up. "Then we are going to come back here and I will make you mine." He bent his head forwards before she could reply and sealed their lips together, kissing her hard and rough.

Kagome felt it all the way in her toes and knew without a doubt that she'd made the right choice. After all, she'd only been kissed twice before, once by Inuyasha in princess Kaguya's castle and then again years later by Kouga. She'd never told anyone about how the wolf had tried to whisk her away one night while she'd been sleeping.

Both kisses she'd found lacking, one was born of desperation and for lack of a better description puppy love. While the other was forced upon her and had felt more like a violation than anything. This kiss though, was different. This kiss was pure fire and it was burning her all over.

When Naruto finally released her lips Kagome could still feel them tingling even as he released her. Kagome blinked and did her best to stay steady on her feet as she watched Naruto move about the apartment, he was searching for a clean shirt to wear. When he finally found one he returned to her side, brushed his knuckles against her cheek and then poof, they were outside.

Kagome looked over to see Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, Iruka, Shippou, Kilala, Hinata, and even Kakashi. They were all loitering outside Naruto's apartment complex and were looking very out of place to Kagome's eyes. It made her smile at the humor of this situation, all of them waiting on her and Naruto to 'finish' this business together.

"Guys!" She waved them over and heard Naruto growl under his breath as they all crowed in around the two of them. "So how did it go? Kakashi hasn't been forthcoming and neither has Miss. Hyuuga." Iruka was the first to speak and Naruto perked up because of it.

"Everything went exactly as planned. We are merged. There is no Kyuubi and Naruto anymore, we are one and the same now. I will still go by Naruto though since it is easier, the miko and I have some unfinished business. It's on that note that I need a favor Sensei." Naruto was in a hurry, hence his abridged version of events and Kagome understood why as her cheeks flushed pink again.

Iruka raised an eyebrow at that, "what kind of favor Naruto?" "Can you give Kagome's companions a place to stay for the night? As far as I know Tsunade has yet to designate a temporary home for them, since I know you have a large home that is mostly empty I thought you the best solution for the time being." Naruto spoke in a rushed tone but was rather eloquent in his explanation, Kagome was surprised by this. Kyuubi was a good addition to the regular Naruto's personality.

Before Iruka could answer the question Sango asked, "You mentioned us, but what of Kagome? Won't she be staying with us as well?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the slayer before explaining, "She and I have some unfinished business to take care of. We'd be addressing that right now if she hadn't wanted you all secure for the night first. Understand?"

Sango blinked in shocked silence as she looked between Kagome and the new Naruto. Kagome just shook her head as she waved a hand, it was an abridged message they had used before. It meant that she shouldn't worry and that Kagome would explain it all later. Sango looked reluctant but nodded her head as she looked to Naruto, "fine. But Kagome better be returned to us in one piece."

Kagome almost snickered at that, Sango clearly hadn't noticed how agitated Naruto was, something that as a slayer she would normally notice. It was clearly the behavior of a male being possessive over a potential mate. She wanted to tease her about it, but there were more important things to do at the moment. Kagome turned to leave and waved at her friends. "See you all in the morning alright, and then I'll explain what's happening alright?"

They all called out their own versions of, "see you soon/later/bye." Kagome just smiled at them before she continued on, Naruto was at her side pretty quickly. They made it back upstairs quickly and Kagome felt very nervous as she stepped back into Naruto's apartment. She hoped she'd made the right choice as Naruto closed the door and locked it behind him.

A/N- Alright, that's that chapter. I had to get this part out of the way as quick as I could. I just hope you all believe it worth the wait. I am hoping to update my chapters much more quickly in the coming months. Work and life can really get in the way. Badly.

Anyway...that's it for now.

Until the next time.

May the Fluff Be With You!

=^..^=