Inutori: I would like to thank Ella M. Nite, Kokoro no Yume, Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85:P, Nauriell, whizegirl, Bloody Poetry, and anonymous for reviewing chapters up until now. I appreciate their support of me in re-writing this fic.

Kagome: She would also like to extend a vote of gratitude to Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85:P for continuing to read and review all of her stories since near the very beginning.

Inutori: I make note of each person's penname, and when I see the same one pop up over and over, it gives me a special smile of happiness to know that someone cares.

Inuyasha: Cut the mush already, will ya?

Inutori: Yeah, sorry about that, I just wanted to give my thanks to all of the people who took the time to review this story so far. I don't own Inuyasha as of yet, so please don't sue me for writing my fanfictions.

Shippou: Now on with the story!

Chapter 4

Make Me

Inuyasha and Kagome quickly found their way to the rest of the gang's campsite and settled in for the night.

It surprised Kagome to see the little rabbit child, and Sango quickly explained to her what was going on.

Miroku shook his head silently.

Sango had left out the fact that Shippou had wanted to eat Usagi, and now Usagi was picking on the fox kit. Apparently it wasn't that important. Something else she had left out was how she was mothering the strange child. All in all, she was doing a very poor job of explaining the situation.

"Kagome-chan!" Shippou leapt into Kagome's arms and out of Usagi's range pouting, small tears forming in his eyes.

"What is it, Shippou?" Kagome looked down the young boy, confusion etched onto her face.

Miroku thought it was pretty obvious what was going on. Then again, he had been watching the little fox demon get bullied since before dawn that morning.

"She's picking on me." He pouted even more, burying himself in Kagome's shirt. Miroku wished he were Shippou at the moment. Kagome must be so soft.

"Keh, for once it's someone else that's gonna get it." Inuyasha smirked and slumped down at the base of a tree at the edge of the clearing. He definitely looked smug, even in the waning light of the setting sun.

"Who?" Shippou pointed down to Usagi, who was sitting peacefully in the grass playing with the blades only a few feet away. Every once in a while she would pluck one of the blades and put it in her mouth.

When Shippou accused her of misbehavior, she looked sweetly up at Kagome, her pale eyes reflecting the colors of the sun on the horizon.

Kagome just laughed lightly and set Shippou down. He gave her a mournful look before dashing over to Usagi to try to get the better of the little girl.

Miroku had to roll his eyes. In all his dealings with women, he knew you could never best a girl who had a strong right hook. Take Sango for example. She was still above him, no matter how much he tried to gain dominance…then again; his meaning of dominance was the ability to grope her whenever he felt like it.

'What a sicko.'

Miroku whipped around himself. He had faintly heard a feminine voice only a second ago and he was determined to find the intruder.

Silence was all that greeted him, even when he concentrated harder than normal. Whoever he had heard was obviously aware of him hearing them, and had high-tailed it before they were caught.

A sigh escaped his lips and he returned his attention to the amusing pair of children bickering before him.

Shippou was trying to outsmart Usagi by creating multiples of himself, but Usagi snuffed that attempt by whipping in a circle and hitting each one with her ribbons and sleeves. She also managed to get the real Shippou in the gut while she was still imitating a tornado.

He let out a snicker as he watched the fox crumple to the ground and the rabbit sit triumphantly on his back. Usagi looked to Sango for approval, but the taijiya wasn't looking. She was busy talking to Kagome.

Getting approval must have flown out one of her overly large ears, because in the next moments she began tugging on Shippou's ears and hair. That pair was great amusement, and Miroku was glad Sango had caught Usagi. With these two along he wouldn't have to worry about getting bored on this journey any longer.

Inuyasha picking on Shippou was amusing sometimes, but a big person picking on a little one was really abuse. Two little ones squabbling however…that was an entirely different story.

Shippou turned into the pink balloon and latched onto Usagi's head, and she let out a wail of protest before scratching him with her razor sharp claws.

Miroku knew from experience that rabbit's claws were sometimes sharper than even the worst predators just because they were so thin.

In only a matter of seconds, Shippou had transformed into his usual form and was wailing due to injuries on his head. He was bleeding. Perhaps the two had gotten just a little too violent than was proper.

But instead of doing anything, Miroku watched. Usagi was panicking, obviously not intending to make Shippou bleed.

She grabbed leaves off of a nearby bush and pushed them onto Shippou's head. When she touched him, he bolted away as if touched by Naraku's miasma. He scrambled onto Kagome's lap and glared at the rabbit demon.

Miroku waited for Kagome's reaction to Shippou's cut, but none came. He had to do a double take when he realized that the blood that had previously been on his head was gone. He now just had a dirty cheek and an evil glare. And was it just Miroku, or were Shippou's cheeks a little rosier than usual?

Interesting.

Scene Change:

Sesshoumaru walked gracefully through the thick mist, Jaken, Rin, and Un following not far behind. The smell of a tiger demon filled his senses, and he was well aware of how close he was getting to his target.

Everything was silent as the thick mist continued to engulf them. An eerie sense of being alone overcame the great Lord of the Western Lands, but he paid no heed. Being alone was of no consequence to him.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, I'm hungry." Rin's soft, childish voice reached him. Her tone was pleading with him to get something to eat.

"Jaken, take care of it." How he loved being able to delegate his duties onto a lesser being. Dirtying his claws with meaningless tasks was foolish.

Without a word, Jaken obeyed Sesshoumaru's orders and took Rin elsewhere to get her nourishment. It was best that she was gone anyway; Rin could be in danger if she was present when they finally met up with the tora youkai.

The fog began to lighten, and the scent of the tiger became stronger, signaling that he was almost at his goal.

"So nice for you to drop by, Sesshoumaru." A smooth, deep voice greeted the inu youkai, making his lip twitch with annoyance. He hated felines, but there were some things you needed to put up with them for. This particular one had to be tolerated because of who he was.

"Don't fool yourself, Arigato." If it weren't for the fact that the tiger youkai was the Lord of the Northern Lands and a relative's mate, he would have been dead long ago.

The other demon stepped out of the shadows, his garb similar to Sesshoumaru's. White hair streaked with black glistened with the moisture from the fog and bright green eyes shone with unseen power. "I was just trying to make light conversation. I am not stupid. You only come when you want something. What is it this time?"

Sesshoumaru could sense the tiger demon's annoyance, but held back the urge to slice him in two. If he killed Arigato, he would be next since Arigato's mate wouldn't stand for it. "I'm sure you've heard of the demon Naraku that has made a pest of himself."

"I have, what of it?" The uninterested look in his eyes told Sesshoumaru that Arigato was barely listening and he'd have to cut this short.

"I am asking for your assistance in destroying him." As the most powerful inu youkai and Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshoumaru hated asking for help, but Arigato was strong. Though Sesshoumaru hated to admit it, Arigato was stronger than even him.

"What, not strong enough to do it on your own?" Arigato scoffed at the dog demon, mocking him with his eyes.

"Of course I am strong enough. Naraku is just a nuisance that I want destroyed as soon as possible." Sesshoumaru felt his blood boil. Arigato was just a bigheaded feline. That was why he hated cats so much: they thought they ruled the world. "Think of it like this: human can not catch a mouse with its bare hands, so it employs some other method to do so. But that does not make the mouse stronger than the human."

Arigato laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day that you would use humans in one of your silly analogies!" The mirth evident on his face only fueled Sesshoumaru's burning hate for the other demon.

"You get the point, do you not?" He really hated Arigato, and he always would. But even the strongest ruler has to know when to make an ally out of an enemy when there are more bothersome trials afoot.

"Yeah, I get your point, Sesshoumaru." Arigato continued to smile viciously, still finding humor in the stoic demon standing before him. "I'll help, if only to get you off my case for awhile."

Sesshoumaru nodded and turned away, prepared to leave. "Come to your mate's village of birth in one week."

"By the way, Sesshoumaru, your human child smells sweet. She'll be quite the mate when she becomes a woman."

Arigato didn't quite hold Sesshoumaru's hate for humans, but that comment made Sesshoumaru arch his back in anger. "Do not think that this Sesshoumaru will take a human as a mate."

"Ah, that's right. I forgot. You're still not over her."

The dog demon left before he had to endure any more from the pest that ruled the north. It was bad enough that he had already lowered himself to asking that knucklehead for assistance. He was beginning to regret ever going north in the first place.

Scene Change:

Eri looked around her to try and find Kagome. She wasn't at school again today. But that was the normal. What was strange was that the creepy senior girl was also gone. That one never missed.

She turned to Yuka, an unreadable expression on her face. "Did you see Kagome and that freaky girl talking yesterday?"

Yuka nodded, a worried look in her eyes. "I saw alright. It was almost like they had planned to meet."

Eri shrugged, not knowing how to respond to her good friend. "We better get to class now, but let's go visit Kagome after school."

"Agreed."

The two girls walked into the building before them, heading to their lockers to change their shoes and get to class.

Scene Change:

Kagome sighed to herself, watching Shippou run around a tree, being chased by the little rabbit-demon that had joined their group. If she felt like embarrassing Shippou, she knew all she had to do was tell him to stop flirting with Usagi. But she decided not to be that cruel.

Inuyasha was perched above her in a tree, his eyes closed and his arms wrapped protectively around his sword. She knew that at the first sign of danger he'd be up, but for now he would rest uneasily. Sango was sitting by the dying fire, the dream world quickly catching up with her, even though she was trying to fight it desperately. Miroku had already given in to sleep, leaning up against another tree trunk and hanging loosely onto his staff.

The only two who seemed to have any energy were the two children, who were screaming and yelping in fear: although the smiles that appeared now and again on their faces told of the fun they were having.

With a sigh, Kagome pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders and lay down in her bedroll, ready for a full night's sleep. She must have fallen asleep only a few moments before Sango, but all of the adults in the camp were now in that fantasy world of dreams and nightmares.

Scene Change:

Usagi jumped on Shippou's back, hissing slightly and clamping her teeth on one of his ears. She chomped mercilessly on it and tears formed in Shippou's eyes as he ran frantically around in a circle in a futile attempt to shake Usagi from his back.

Both children froze as the scent of an unfamiliar person wafted into their nostrils. They looked fearfully at each other and Usagi silently climbed off of Shippou's back. Whatever was out there was coming closer and they could feel the gaze of a stranger boring into them.

In unison they backed up and toward each other, clasping hands for comfort. Over their frantically breathing hearts, they heard the soft, purposeful breathing of the approaching outsider. As they looked around, they realized that everyone else was already fast asleep and that they were on their own with this unexpected terror.

The sun must have set without their realizing it, for the dark blanket that surrounded them prevented them from seeing who was coming.

"Don't scream, little ones." A soft, feminine whisper reached their ears, and both looked towards the sound with faces full of unspoken fear.

Bright golden eyes came into their view, and Usagi let out a small squeak. Shippou instinctively moved slightly in front of her to protect her from whatever it was that was joining them.

"I'm not here to hurt you. Just stay quiet, alright?" A tall figure stepped into the dim light of the waning fire, her features covered by midnight-colored tresses that flowed to her knees.

"Who are you?" Shippou whispered frantically, more frightened than he had ever been in his young years.

A warm smile crossed the barely visible face of the woman; she looked young and beautiful, only a bit older than Kagome. "My name is Inutora, little one. What's yours?"

"Sh-Shippou." The fox-demon felt like bolting, but he was trying with all of his might to be brave.

"Shippou, can you keep a secret?" Her eyes danced in the flickering light and her soft features calmed the two frightened children some.

I Do

Not

Sleep

Inutori: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'm being careful as to not cut the chapters too short. And I apologize for any grammatical errors. I'm my own beta reader, and quite often I'll not reread a chapter until after it is posted just because I'm so excited it's finally finished and want to show it off to all of you.

Kagome: Well, Inutora has finally appeared in the story. Took you long enough, considering she is "Another DogDemon" that this story was named for.

Inutori: Shush up, Kagome. I want to make this story good and not as cheesy and rushed as it was the first time through was.

Kagome: Whoever said the original story was cheesy?

Inutori: I did. I just reread the original story and nearly gagged at how cheesy and rushed it was. There was just a bit too much "boom, boom, bang," and not enough "oh, I get it now." On top of the fact that this time around I'm changing the storyline. For those of you who have read this once and remember, I think I'll be cutting out entirely the stuff with the War God. For those of you who hadn't previously read my story, oh well, you didn't miss out on much.

Sango: Now it's time for you all to review after having suffered through Inutori's long-winded author's notes.