Kouga stopped short with his wolves. He was sure there was the smell of blood in the air.

"Kagome's blood?"

***

"What happened here?" Kouga thought, looking at the scarred trunks of trees, obviously having just survived an attack of great energy. His eyes fell upon Inu-Yasha, who lay over Kagome, probably trying to shield her from whatever attack there was. Both were unconscious, but, happily and unhappily, and alive. He took hold of Kagome and dragged her out from under Inu-Yasha with great difficulty.

"Well, at least you did something right, dog-face. She won't be alive from that blast if you hadn't shielded her. Never thought a hanyou will still have enough power to stay alive." He sighed. "Just gonna have to kill you, dog-face." He turned to take Kagome back to his pack when he found himself face-to-face with a Naraku.

"You." Kouga's voice was that of the utmost loathing.

"Yes…me." Naraku said in his calm voice, smirking.

"Why, you…" He launched an attack at Naraku who deflected it easily.

"Now. Now. Control your temper. No need to get into violence," Naraku laughed. As Kouga lunged at him, once again, he hit him with a blast of his own energy.

"That ought to keep you in place for a while. Now, for my prize…" Naraku picked up the still unconscious Kagome and left.

***

Inu-Yasha stirred.

"K-Kagome?" he whispered, waiting for his eyes to snap back into focus. He smelt the air, no scent of Kagome! He jumped up, searching the ground. Kagome was here but definitely not now. He caught two other scents, both of which made his insides boil.

"Naraku and that wimpy wolf." He growled even worse when he saw Kouga's limp figure on the ground. Kagome's absence made him want to kill Kouga even more. He took hold of Kouga's shoulders and started to shake the wolf-demon's body.

"Yo! What did you do with Kagome, you wimpy-wolf???? If you hurt her, you will seriously PAY FOR THAT!!! WHERE'S KAGOME? ANSWER ME!!!!!" Kouga stirred from the noise, aching all over. The last thing he remembered was the light from Naraku's spell. He swore under his breathe. That ****ing thing escaped AGAIN! He was brought out of his thoughts by Inu-Yasha's repeated shouting.

"Huh? Kagome, what?" Then he gasped. He looked around. Kagome's definitely not there. He sniffed the air.

"You know, my senses are as good as yours, and I did those simple checks already," Inu-Yasha said coldly.

"Well, can't trust a hanyou, can I?" Kouga replied. ***At which point all Inu-Yasha fans came crashing in and hits him on the head-just kidding, hehe. ^_^***

"Feh. Anyway, WHAT DID YOU DO TO KAGOME????"

"I didn't do anything, dog-face! If I had, I wouldn't be here, except," he snickered, "maybe to murder you while you slept there. You are really irresponsible, letting other people do what they want with YOUR woman while you were sleeping!" Inu-Yasha glared at him.

"I'm asking for the last time, w-h-e-r-e i-s K-a-g-o-m-e?"

"I don't have her. I should be the one asking that question," Kouga replied, turning on Inu-Yasha. "You know, I heard about that dead miko. You should just give up on Kagome, she's mine."

"And, just WHAT makes you think that?" Curling his claws into a dangerous fist.

"For one, I don't have a dead girlfriend coming up to interfere, nor do I cheat on her and kiss my ex in the forest behind her back. Well, not really behind her back, more like a ***** who doesn't know she saw you." Kouga smirked. "All valid reasons, huh?" Inu-Yasha said nothing. He knew everything was true. And, for the first time, he felt that Kouga did deserve Kagome more than he did. But, anyway, it's about where Kagome went, not who gets her!

"Well, you wimpy-wolf, where's Kagome?"

"She…She seriously isn't with you?" Kouga said, suddenly felt a streak of panic.

"What kind of ***** do you take me for? If she's with me, I'd be by her side right now, not questioning you through that thick skull of yours!" Suddenly, the same conclusion clicked in both minds. Both looked up into the sky towards where the evil aura was strongest and whispered the same despicable word under their breathe:

"Naraku."

**************************

OH!!!!!!!!! I'm so sorry, made a slight typo in My Heart-very importante! OK, for those of you TOO LAZY to recheck the chapter, it should say:

~"Well, if that's what you 'understand' then you understand NOTHING!" Inu-Yasha shouted, putting Kikyo down. "You know what. You can take her and let me have Kagome."~ Sorry, the last Kagome I typed a 'Kikyo'- Eh, hehe. PLEASE DON'T THROW TOMATOES AT ME!!!!!

It's best to check around 4 PM Eastern Time, 'cause the daily updates usually show up by then. I've seen loads of reviews on chapter 9 when 10 was up too. But you don't have to. Remember, I have to wait for maintenance to put up the new chapters!!!!!!

Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Unfortunately, I only got 11, not 15, so I'll put up the next this and another chapter. For these two, no reviews necessary, but after that 10-the real chapter, not NOTICE, and 11 are up, reviews better come filing in! no less than 7.