A/N: Thank everyone for the wonderous reviews and comments! IRL I have a few friends who read it, so thanks to them too. GOMEN FOR THE LONG WAIT. I didnt mean for it to take so long to type, lol. School gets in the way, a lot. I hate to say it, but I have to do a social studies project, reading, and i need to start my comm skills project before I finish. The Reading thing will take about 30 minutes, heh... but the rest might take a while. I'll start on the next chapter ASAP!

Recap of last chapter, if youre too lazy to re-read it or forgot: They found out that Rin had a jewel shard, so the kidnapper wanted that. Deciding that they will head off the next day, they rest.

Inuyasha woke with a yawn, stretched, then looked around. Everyone else was already awake and was outside somewhere. Everyone that is, except for his ever-so lovable older half-brother.

"Thanks to you, Mutt, we had to sit around for an extra hour. Your wench and friends had already left. They asked me to stay here and wait for you." He coldly stated, glaring daggers at Inuyasha, who was now fully awake.

"So why'd you listen to 'em, Sesshomaru. You're stronger than them, you dont need to take orders." Inuyasha replied with a sneer. He didnt get a reply, but instead got a bump on the head from a swift whack from Sesshomaru. No longer waiting for his dimwitted sibling, Sesshomaru had started off, calling back to Inuyasha with an insult on how slow he was. Now Inuyasha was mad at Sesshomaru, and was going to prove he wasnt slow by beating him to the rest of the crew. By the time Inuyasha had gotten outside, Sesshomaru had already walked to the edge of the small village. Dashing to pass him, Inuyasha broke into a fast sprint, which would be equivalent to a car in the modern era. Sighing, Sesshomaru didnt even bother to start after his younger brother, but instead let him continue his "race".

When Inuyasha got to the rest of the gang, they were taking a break in the clearing of a forest. Panting, he sat down between Miroku and Sango, separating Mirokus hand from Sango. Kagome was meanwhile cooking the ever loved modern-day food, ramen, and Shippou was making sandwiches with some deli meats Kagome brought back from home.

"What took so long, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, a little disappointed on Inuyashas interrupting his moment with Sango's backside, "We left over an hour ago... and wheres Sesshomaru?"

Inuyasha replied with a "keh" and smirked at Miroku, "That moron couldnt beat me here. I went ahead, hes probably going to get here in a few hours at least." Sango frowned, and looked over at Inuyasha.

"You know we're trying to help him, right? Be nicer to him, he's probably worried sick over Rin." She pondered a minute, thinking about if Sesshomaru could even feel worry.

"Like I said before, he doesnt DESERVE our help. He tried to kill me! In case ya didnt remember! 'Member when he took out my eye just for a failed-attempt at taking my Tetsusaiga!?" Their little argument continued until Kagome finished cooking the ramen, which kept Inuyasha quiet for a good 20 minutes. By the time that everyone had finished their meal and searched the nearby area, it was getting into the late afternoon. Still no sign of Sesshomaru.

Kagome, who was looking for herbs that might come in handy in a garden of plants under a large tree, wasnt paying much attention to her surroundings. Anyone could have walked up and attacker her, unless they had a jewel shard of course. So when Sesshomaru appeared behind her, she didnt notice until she turned around. Sesshomaru was leaning on a tree, inspecting his right hand while letting some acid drip from his claws onto the shrubs below, just out of boredom. When he looked up from the quickly burning plants, he saw that Kagome was staring at him. There was a moment of silence between the two, Kagome opened her mouth to say something, but Sesshomaru just started off to find the rest of the Inu-crew.

.....About an hour Later.....

Everyone was arguing about whether to stop for the night, or to continue on until it was actually dark out. Amazingly, Inuyasha sided with Sesshomaru and said that they could continue. They had the same reason, too. "So I dont have to work with HIM that much sooner" Of course, Sesshomaru had another reason, that he wanted to get to Rin sooner, but he wasnt going to admit to it. Eventually Inuyasha and Sesshomaru won the argument, since they would have left anyway, with or without everyone else. So they were off, Inuyasha carrying Kagome, Miroku, Shippo, and Sango on Kirara, and Sesshomaru went along by himself, a small bit aways ahead of everyone else. Slowly but surely, Sesshomaru got further ahead on foot than Kirara did flying and Inuyasha did running. Apperantly, he had seen something, or caught a familiar scent. Inuyasha slowed down, to let Kirara and everyone else catch up.

"Do you smell anything, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, hopping down from Kirara. Sniffing the air for any familiar scents, Inuyasha shook his head at Miroku, "No, but theres something about it.. It smells kind of like Sesshomaru, but kind of like something else. I cant tell, Sesshomaru's scent is cancelling out the other one." He replied, looking around for a clue.

"What about you Kagome? Any nearby jewel shards?" Kirara was going to transform into her smaller state, but Sango rested a hand on her, signaling that they were only stopping for a moment. Kagome looked around, concentrating.

"Nope, nothin. I think we should try to catch up with Sessh-" She replied, getting cut off by Inuyasha.

"Kagura." He said simply. With a slight growl in his voice. Hearing that, Sango and Miroku climbed onto Kirara with Shippo jumping on after them. Inuyasha picked up Kagome and instantly they were off towards the direction Sesshomaru left in.

Kagura was standing before Sesshomaru, probably going to ask for his help again. When Inuyasha and Kirara finally got there, Sesshomaru and Kagura were conversing.

"What brings you here? You normally stay in the western lands." She said, flashing a sly grin at him.

"Looking for Rin. She has been taken, probably because of a jewel shard she might possess. Do you know of her whereabouts?" Showing no emotion towards Kaguras sarcasm, Sesshomaru gave her an icy stare. Inuyasha dropped Kagome off and walked up to the two, giving them suspicious looks. Kagura smiled, almost teasingly at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. She knew something, but wasnt going to tell unless she got something in return.

"What do you know, Kagura?" Inuyasha barked at her, while she stayed poised and alert, "Nothing, unless you ask nicely." Was her snappy reply. Sighing with frustration, Inuyasha calmly asked her what she knew and if it would help them. As it turned out, Naraku was behind the entire plot.

Naraku has a new incarnation, she started to explain to everyone, His name is Kuro. He was originally created to join your crew, Inuyasha, to gather inside information and find out more weaknesses. But he messed it up and instead went to Sesshomaru. Seeing that Rin had a shard of the Shikon Jewel, he decided to take her instead. Naturally, Naraku was mad at first. He tried to kill Kuro, but decided that he could use this to his advantage. Naraku is using Rin as a lure to bring Sesshomaru to him, he is going to try to gain control over Sesshomaru just as he did to Kohaku. You, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and even the little kitsune are just extras. You will have to find a way around his defenses, and get straight to Kuro.

Sesshomaru stared at Kagura, deep in thought, "So, I suppose you know a way around these defenses of his? You wouldnt be telling us this unless you knew a bit more." Kagura just ignored him and continued,

But Kuro has some special abilities. He cant disguise himself as other people like Naraku can, but he can control people with mind control. Weak-minded people like Kagome and Shippo might get affected, but I doubt Sesshomaru will, or the monk, exterminator or Inuyasha. Kirara is questionable though, I doubt she would be a target though. With Kuro's special ability of mind control, he can also adopt attacks if he sees them used. So under NO circumstances should you use your Wind Scar, Inuyasha, or any of your stronger attacks. Same thing with your poison claws, Sesshomaru. You and Inuyasha are fast enough to dodge those, but your friends arent. Miroku and Sango dont have to worry about their attacks getting taken, the monks scrolls arent exactly attacks, so they cant get taken, nor can the Hiraikotsu, or Kagome's arrows. So it will all be physical attacks, other than Shippos foxfire, which isnt strong enough for Kuro to care about taking it. Naraku wont be there, with Kuro. He has more important things to do, so that should make it considerably easier. As you can probably assume, Kuro has almost no weaknesses. The only weakness he does have, is that he cant fight when controlling someones mind. So if he manages to get Miroku under mind control, for example, he wont be able to fight himself. He would have to use Miroku to fight.

The group had a moment of silence, they were all gathering their thoughts on what to do.

"We can let him take control over Shippo then attack him." Inuyasha said, pointing out the obvious. Sango sighed, then replied, "I doubt he would use Shippo, unless we made him think that Shippo was a lot stronger than he is." That put them all into thought on what to do.

Hmm... Miroku thought, thinking of a plan. What if we somehow "stumble" upon Kuro, when Inuyasha and Shippo are fighting. Inuyasha can pretend to be losing against Shippo, making Kuro think that he is stronger than he actually is. That would work fine! Meanwhile, after Kuro has taken Shippo under his mind control, Kagome, Sango and myself can attack Kuro. Sesshomaru wouldnt be of much help without his light whip or poison claws, so unless he can use it when- THATS IT!

"Kagura, can Kuro adopt attack skills when he already has someone under mind control?" He said, almost positive of his new plan.

"Not that I know of... I doubt it. If he could, he doesnt know how at least." She replied, catching on to Miroku's idea. They had a plan, they knew how to defeat Kuro.

A/N: This chapter took FOREVER to write. I had little to no inspiration, and I was kinda depressed about Kaguras death in the latest chapter. She didnt deserve to die.. But at least she got a taste of the freedom she longed so much for.

-If the chapter seems short, gomen. I was too lazy to make it longer, just decided to submit it like this.

Next Chapter: They meet Kuro. ...etc.etc.etc....