OMG! I updated again! So soon! Sadly I haven't started writing the next chapter so it may be another week or two before I get it posted. Now, some of you have said that Ryu needs an attitude adjustment...it's not really possible to permanently change a child's behavior because..well..they're children. hehe. However, Ryu learns a little bit of respect here. Anyway, no more spoilers. ON WITH THE SHOW! Again, if anyone knows how to put nice breaks in between scenes without having to use the bar given by FFN, I would love to know how. I'm not a fan of the bars. :P

Inuyasha watched his son practice swinging his sword from his seat on a fallen log. After he woke his son up early this morning and handed him his own haori to wear, he explained to Ryu that last night was to never happen again and his consequences for being rude and disrespectful was to train early that morning without a break. He had Ryu practicing a little after dawn in a small clearing away from the camp through the forest that wasn't blocked off by Kaede and Kagome's barrier without stopping for breakfast, not even for berries, so he knew his pup was tired. What made it worse was that every time Ryu would become lazy or swing his sword incorrectly, Inuyasha would tell him to start again. He knew he was being overly strict, but he was fed up with his son's behavior.

"You're swing is too wide Ryu. Start again from the beginning." He called across the small clearing.

Ryu whined and huffed before he turned to his father. "But dad I'm tired. I'm hungry too. Can I please take a break?"

"Cut the whining crap Ryu and start again. You know why you're doing this training. Now begin."

Ryu whined in his throat as he raised his arms to start the two set swinging practice his father assigned him. He knew he was doing this as a combination of training and punishment though at the moment it felt like more of a punishment than actual training. Two-hundred swings from up to down, left to right was strenuous for a kid's arms who hadn't eaten anything and they were starting to feel like jelly. The pain in his arms were enough of a reminder to not question his father again, though…his dad didn't say he was being trained this harshly for questioning him. He explained it was what he said and how he expressed himself, saying that there were much simpler and tactful ways to express his feelings. Ryu regretted his actions and jealousy towards the other kids last night when his father yelled and this morning when he saw him dressed in his haori. He knew he was in deep trouble when he held out the blue hakama he was sweating in now. If this was a normal training session, his dad would be in regular clothes. Ryu sighed as he swung his sword fast and carelessly, trying his best to get to two-hundred as soon as possible. Inuyasha noticed his son's lazy carelessness and called out for him to start again.

"Huh? What for? I'm doing it like you said!" the young hanyou whined.

"You're being lazy and careless with your swings. Begin again!" Inuyasha said.

Ryu stomped his foot and gave a frustrated cry before he threw his sword into the grass and crossed his arms over his chest. He stared at his father with tears in his eyes feeling very tired and annoyed.

"Pick up your sword Ryu." Inuyasha said calmly.

"No! You're not being fair and you're being mean daddy!" Ryu said as he backed away from his sword.

Inuyasha raised himself from his seat. "Pick. Up. Your. Sword. Ryusuke. Now." He repeated calmer and softer, yet firmer than before.

"No! I'm not practicing anymore." The boy said, his tears of frustration, tiredness, and now a bit of fear flowing freely down his cheeks.

Inuyasha looked towards the sky, trying to determine what time it was by the direction of the sun. From its position, he figured it was about noon. Lunch would be made by now and though he wasn't particularly hungry, his son was starving and he needed a nap. With a deep inhale and exhale, Inuyasha looked to where his son was now sitting on the grass, still crying and started walking towards him.

Ryu heard his father's footsteps and quickly stood up. He turned and ran towards the trees as Inuyasha bent to pick up his discarded sword and picked up speed when he heard his name called. 'I know I shouldn't be in the forest by myself, but if I can make it back to camp, mom, aunt Sango and aunt Kaede will protect me.' He thought as he sprinted under and over branches.

His thought of rescue was short lived however when he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He yelped in surprised and then cried hysterically when he was turned around and saw his father. Inuyasha took the sheath from his son's waist, sheathed the sword and took Ryu's hand as he guided the young boy back to the camp.

"Ryu, cut the damn water works and save your tears for later. Depending on how I feel you may be shedding them this evening, especially for this little stunt. You know better than to run through the forest alone. Something could have attacked you or worse." Inuyasha said with a slight irritated growl.

"Only you…would…a…attack me…cuz…you're being mean!" Ryu stuttered yelling the last part at his father.

Inuyasha had enough of his son's insolence. "You want to see mean Ryu?"

Ryu would have answered his father with a smart remark, but once he felt the five hard swats to his rear all of his fight left him as he cried once more, this time from the sting coming from this bottom.

"Your mouth, Ryusuke, will get you into a lot of trouble. I'm telling you right now you better fix whatever little issues you have within yourself because if this continues you will have a miserable and sore summer." Inuyasha said before her pulled his son from the trees towards the camp.

Ryu was still sobbing uncontrollably when they reached the three women sitting around the fire. Kagome stood up from her place on the ground and brought the small boy into her arms as she whispered soothing words in his ear. Inuyasha picked up one of the sandwiches that was made and handed it to the crying boy. Ryu took what was offered sniffling at his father's retreating back as he went into their tent before he took a small bite from the bread.

"Ryu child, what's wrong with ye?" Kaede asked a bit concerned about her crying nephew.

Kagome sat back down with Ryu in her lap. He clung onto the woman as he continued to sob. "Da…daddy hit…he…daddy spanked me!" he said on a wail.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as all three women eyed him accusingly while he shook out the sleeping bag he was about to put his son on. "Tell them why Ryu. I didn't do it for the hell of it."

Ryu hesitated before telling the women why he was punished starting from last night up until the forest. Kagome continued to rock the boy, even though she felt he deserved what he received, and sing softly to calm him down and put him to sleep after Inuyasha mentioned that Ryu needed a nap. It didn't take long for the young hanyou to fall asleep and once he did Inuyasha picked him up and gently placed him on his sleeping bag in their tent.

Coming back out he walked over to Sango. "Where's Miroku and the kids?" he asked picking up the bag of marshmallows next to the woman and popping one into his mouth.

"The kids tricked him into playing hide-and-seek by the edge of the trees over there. They should be back soon though since it's lunch time." Sango replied snatching her marshmallows back from her friend. "Those are for s'mores later Inuyasha."

The hanyou shrugged and picked up the nibbled discarded sandwich his son was eating and finished it off. "You know, I was thinking that you ladies should go to the hot springs with Suki later on this evening. I scouted late last night and it's in the boundaries of the barrier."

"There's a hot springs nearby?" Kagome asked eagerly.

Sango nodded. "Yeah and I'm glad it's within your barrier. Usually Inuyasha has to come hang out nearby somewhere to make sure Suki and I are safe since Miroku's barrier could only protect the camp site."

"That's so cool. Ah, I would love to soak in a hot-"

"Mommy!" a wail coming from the direction the children were had all of the adults turning their heads.

Souske ran out of the trees straight to his mother holding onto her for dear life as he sobbed into her abdomen. "What in the world happened to you baby? Why are you crying?" Kagome asked trying to calm the boy.

"Un…Uncle Miroku whooped me mommy!" Souske said crying louder.

Another loud cry was heard from the same direction and a collective groan from the adults could be heard along with Sango muttering something about her son coming for sympathy. Inuyasha flattened his ears to his head as Seiji came running into his own mother's waiting arms. The hanyou turned towards the direction where the two boys raced from to see a very irate looking Miroku with the rest of the kids following behind him. Inuyasha noticed the smirks on Emma and Declan's faces and walked to meet the group halfway.

He stopped his niece and nephew from walking further. "You two find something funny about them being punished?" he asked in a warning tone.

The smirks quickly vanished from their faces and they shook their heads negatively. Inuyasha gave the two children pointed looks promising the same discomfort the two sniveling boys were experiencing at the moment if they dared to tease them before announcing that sandwiches were made at the camp. After the other kids ran off, Inuyasha looked to his friend who was rubbing at his temples with his eyes closed.

"Bad morning?"

Miroku looked at Inuyasha through half-closed eyes before closing them completely once more. "Hard heads make for very soft bottoms. That's all I can say."

Inuyasha chuckled at the old saying. "So what was their transgression?"

Miroku released a frustrated breath as he walked into the camp. "Where do I start? Going past the barrier or trying to get away with disrespecting me? You probably already know that we were at the edge of the tree over there playing and when I went to find those two, I realized that they went further into the forest past the barrier to hide. I remember all of us strictly explaining the boundaries of the barrier and those two brats deliberately disobeyed us. Not to mention the rudeness I received from them both after I had to use my priest powers to locate them." Miroku looked at Sango who was listening to the explanation as she continued to comfort their son while softly scolding him at the same time. "Apparently the kids have gotten use to back-chatting you and Kagome without repercussions that they thought they would get away with doing so with me."

Inuyasha ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah well that shit isn't going to happen with me anymore. Had to give Ryu a piece of my mind earlier for the same shit and right now, I'm just about done with disobedient children."

"Same here." Miroku agreed as he picked up two sandwiches.

All of the kids looked between the two men in disbelief, and then turned to look at their mothers for some sympathy, however all they found are nodding heads and agreement towards the two males in the camp. Inuyasha looked at Souske. "And to think I was going to take you hunting this evening. You can't even follow one simple rule."

Souske's eyes filled with more tears and choked on the sob in his throat. "I want to go. Please dad?"

Kagome surprised the group when she spoke up. "Don't beg Souske. You disobeyed us and were rude to your uncle. You're on punishment for the rest of the day."

Those words were not what the eight year old wanted to hear and he started crying again. Inuyasha looked at Kagome who was looking back at him with gentle eyes and she gave him a small smile. He wanted to kiss her for not contradicting him or trying to ease either boy's punishments by spoiling them and giving in to their tears and whining. He would have kissed her, had something in the flowered clearing near the camp not caught his attention. Looking closely he realized it was a human male from the nearby village and he was limping. The minute Inuyasha smelled the blood he jumped over the kids, jumped once in the field and landed next to the injured man in time to catch him before he fell. The man looked up at Inuyasha with distant eyes and the hanyou knew he was dying even before the sweet scent of death hit his nose.

"Inu…Yasha. The village…my family…attacked." The man forced out.

"Who did this? Who attacked your village?" Inuyasha asked as he eased the man down onto the grass.

The rest of the adults ran after Inuyasha and made it to his side just in time to hear the dying man's last words as he coughed up blood "Wolves…the wolves…they're coming."

Kagome gasped as the man died in Inuyasha's arms. Miroku took a step forward and said a prayer over the man's body. Kagome moved forward a step. "Inuyasha," she said softly. "What did he mean when he said that 'the wolves are coming'? Do you think he meant Kouga?"

"I don't know, but I do know that we need to move, now, before the barrier weakens further." Inuyasha replied.

"Weakens further?" Sango asked.

"Yes. This human shouldn't even be able to see this clearing let alone walk willingly into it with the barrier up, but he did, and he saw me which is why he came. Demons can't pass through right now but they will be able to do so soon."

"Alright, then let's go and pack our things." Kaede suggested.

Inuyasha shook his head. "No. Grab the kids. Grab your weapons and we're moving out now."

"Where are we going to go?" Kagome asked looking around the clearing.

Inuyasha released a frustrated breath, then sighed heavily. "To the west. To Sesshomaru's lands."

"You want to walk there?" Miroku asked incredulously.

"You won't be running or walking. Neither will your wife, Kaede, or the kids."

Sango frowned. "Then how will we get there? It's not like the western lands are right around the corner. It's about a 3 day journey."

Inuyasha looked towards the trees that lead back to his house. "You humans give the small demons little credit." He said motioning to the trees with his hand.

Miroku, Kagome, Sango, and Kaede all looked to where Inuyasha gestured wondering what he was talking about. Minutes went by before the bushes rustled and the Ai's two tailed demon cat appeared followed closely by Shizuru, the young demon pup the boys found a few weeks ago. Sango made a sound of understanding upon seeing her cat, not at all surprised that the feline demon followed after her. "Kilala" she said softly. The small cat meowed once before transforming into a bigger version of her smaller form. The young pup barked once before doing the same, but being a puppy still she was a bit smaller than Kilala. Inuyasha nodded in their direction before turning to his companions.

"Let's go. We need to leave as soon as possible." He said before heading back to camp leaving everyone to follow after him.

Ryu ran behind his father next to Souske tripping every now and then due to his sleepiness. He was woken up about an hour ago by his father and was told to grab his sword and follow him. He didn't get a chance to ask what was happening or where they were going and by the way his dad's aura was feeling, not to mention how much trouble he was in earlier and probably still in, Ryu was scared to ask his dad anything. So he asked Souske. The other boy just shrugged and shook his head. He knew about as much as the other kids, which was nothing. He was told to follow after Inuyasha after the adults came back and that's just what he did.

The large group followed after Inuyasha in silence and quite frankly he was happy for the quiet. It allowed him to concentrate on his surroundings. He had Miroku, Sango, and the twins riding on Kilala while Kaede and her children rode on Shizuru along with Shippo. Nostalgically, Inuyasha knelt in front of Kagome with his back to her front. She hesitated before she climbed on, but once she did, he instructed the two boys to follow as fast as they could before he sprinted ahead. That was about an hour ago and he truly prayed that they could get to their destination without incident. He smiled slightly at the idea that he didn't want to fight considering how he constantly looked for a fight when he was still a pup himself.

Kagome held onto Inuyasha's shoulders tightly as he continued to run ahead of the group. The feeling of nostalgia had yet to leave her and it started at the camp once the hanyou under her knelt in front of her. 'This whole situation feels so familiar. Me riding on Inuyasha's back while he runs ahead with Miroku and Sango behind them on Kilala. Did we use to do this in the past?' she thought as she tightened her grip on Inuyasha's shoulders as he jumped a bit higher than necessary over a fallen tree in the road. A strange feeling of foreboding his Kagome hard causing her to shiver against her hanyou.

Inuyasha slowed down a bit. "You okay Kagome?"

Kagome shivered again. "Inuyasha…I feel something. Something big and…and it's coming towards us. The aura is huge and feels…multiplied."

Inuyasha stopped immediately, causing everyone behind him to come to a stop as well. "Which direction Kagome?"

The young woman pointed to the north-west. The two young hanyous turned to the north-west as well, both shivering as their miko senses allowed them to feel the many demons coming their way. Souske stepped in front of his mother after feeling the ominous auras and growled at the coming threat.

"Inuyasha, what's happening?" Sango asked.

The hanyou cursed inwardly. He smelled the horrible scent of wolves coming towards them and was stuck on how to defeat them. Sure he could take a group of them out with this sword, but one or two might dodge and go towards the group. None of the adults knew how to fight properly yet and the children… 'Fucking hell' he said to himself as he made his decision.

"Ryu, get on Shizuru and do not argue with me. Souske, get on Kilala. Miroku, Sango, I know you both haven't had formal training, but I need you two here with me on this. Kaede, take the kids and continue going west."

"But what about you dad? What about all of you?" Ryu asked as everyone did as they were told.

Inuyasha turned to his son and knelt on one knee. He put a hand on Ryu's head. "We'll catch up. I promise all of you kids that we'll catch up with you."

Ryu stared at his father trying to calculate if his father was telling the truth. He trusted his dad. He remembered some of the battle stories of his past that he would tell him before bed and that along with whatever he saw in his father's eyes convinced him to jump onto his dog's back.

"Mom. Dad." Ryu said addressing Kagome along with his father. He took a deep breath. "Bring everyone home. Let's go Shizuru!"

Both animals roared and raced off towards the west, one in the sky and one on the ground. Inuyasha and the others watched their children go off into the distance before turning to race into a clearing to the east. "Better to fight without obstructions." He replied to the question that was asked by someone. As soon as they made it to the clearing the party was surrounded by a dozen wolf demons.

"Miroku, thankfully and unfortunately your family no longer has that blasted cursed hand, however your sutras should be enough to purify these bastards."

Miroku nodded as he pulled a stack of papers from his pocket.

"Sango, you've had history and some training fighting demons. That boomerang was your ancestor's best friend next to Kilala. Throw and catch that shit as if your life depends on it because it does."

Sango replied with a soft "hai" as she gripped the handle on her boomerang harder, watching as the wolves stepped forward a few inches.

"Kagome." Inuyasha paused and inhaled. 'We can do this. I can do this. I trust her.'

"Kagome, be our back up. If any get past us, shoot them with a purified arrow."

Kagome blanched. "A purified one? I can barely shoot a regular one Inuyasha. I don't know if I can."

"You can Kagome. I trust you and believe in you. Believe in yourself." Inuyasha replied firmly.

You're stronger than you give yourself credit for.

Kagome nodded and with a stronger determination to return back to her son safely, she readied her bow for her first shot. Inuyasha unsheathed his sword, the blade turning into a giant fang.

'I'll protect everyone'

Inuyasha got into his fighting stance and smirked at the wolf in front of him. The creature growled low before howling loud and charging forward.

"Let's do this!" Inuyasha yelled and everyone attacked in unison, just like they did five hundred years ago.