Inuyasha ran the last couple of feet and slammed into the hut again. Everyone turned to give him a dirty look for being so noisy. He ignored them all and went straight to Kaede. "Does Kagome still have the shards around her neck?"

Kaede stared at him in disbelief. "What? No, I assumed you had them she doesn't have them. This demon you saw did he have them?"

"I don't know I went back to get all of her stuff and they were not there. I was hoping she had them on her when I realized I had not seen them. That explains why he was so big."

They all jumped when they heard a weak whisper. "He took them. I couldn't stop him I tried to but he was already too strong because he already had one." Everyone turned their attention back to Kagome. No one had realized she had woken up with all the noise Inuyasha had been making. "I am so sorry it is all my fault. I couldn't stop him he was so strong and the arrows just broke when I tried to hurt him. I couldn't get away from him." Her voice slowly died off, as everyone sat stunned. No one could believe that she was blaming herself for all of this.

Inuyasha was the first to speak. He was close enough to see the tears run down her check as she turned her head away from them. This made him mad. He could not stand it when she cried, and to act like she could have stopped that demon was just ridiculous. "What? You IDIOT, you were almost killed. How is this your fault? It is that bastards fault, and when I get my hands on him he will pay."

None of that seemed to work though Kagome still would not look back at them. "I should have listened to you Inuyasha. I was just being stubborn. Things would have been different if I had let you come with me. Now that demon is going to be unstoppable. His skin was already impenetrable with one jewel shard now what will he be like?"

Inuyasha did not know what to do with this. Kagome never said he was right, besides he was the one who should have ignored her and gone with her. Plus she was still crying and he desperately wanted her to stop.

Kaede laid a loving hand on Kagome's shoulder and rubbed gently. "Kagome it will be all right. We will them all back. Somehow we will figure out a way to defeat this demon." Everyone mumble in agreement with her. "Now you rest we will leave you alone to sleep." Kaede ushered them out of the room. She literally had to push Inuyasha out because he did not want to leave Kagome when she was in pain.

Outside Kaede slid the door shut as Sango asked Kaede "So is she going to be all right?"

Kaede nodded "She should be fine in a while but she is going to have to take it easy for a week or so. Mainly she is bruised and scratched and plain sore, but I also think that the demon cracked a couple of ribs. So for the next couple of weeks it is going to hurt to simply breath let alone move around. She is going to need our protection even more now than ever." Everyone stood there thinking to themselves. Finally Kaede broke the silence. "Look us standing around all night is not going to help things everyone go get some sleep."

Miroku saw Inuyasha's pent up anger and laid a hand on his shoulder while saying "Kaede is right we all need sleep. Tomorrow we can start to look for the demon that did this." Everyone started to go back inside except Inuyasha. He started to pace back and forth in front of the hut. He wanted so badly to kill the demon he was torn between going back to Kagome and going after the demon. Miroku stuck his head back out and said "Inuyasha we will get him I promise, but right now Kagome needs you so get in here."

Inuyasha growled as he resigned himself to staying with Kagome. He saw that Kaede had put up a screen to separate the rest of them from Kagome. He went behind the screen and sat down in the corner where he watched Kagome sleep. Inuyasha sat up listening to the night and watching Kagome. He heard the others breathing change as they fell asleep one by one. He too eventually fell asleep.

Kagome awoke and lay motionless because every inch of her ached. She could hear a hushed conversation on the other side of the screen.

"So we are going to have to split up to cover more ground. Inuyasha do you want Shippo to go with you or with me and Miroku" Sango was asking.

"Take him with you I will be fine on my own" Inuyasha replied.

Kagome struggled out of bed they were going after that demon she had to warn them. She leaned heavily against the screen and said "You can't go alone Inuyasha he is too strong."

Everyone jumped and turned to Kagome. In a flash Inuyasha was up in a flash and to her side. "What are you doing out of bed you are supposed to be resting."

Kagome brushed him off and stood a little straighter. "I'm fine, leave me alone. You all have to listen to me though. Kitro's skin is impossible to break through. When I tried to stab him with an arrow it just shattered. His only weak spot was his eye. It was the only way I could stop him from eating me."

"Kagome go back to bed we will all be fine. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo will take care of each other and I will be fine on my own."

Kagome took a couple more steps into the room trying to get the others to understand just how powerful this demon was. "You all are not listening to me. You can not hurt him. The Hiratsu won't help. It may even break when it hits him. I don't even think Tetsusaiga will affect him."

Sango got up and wrapped her arm around Kagome and started to lead her back to bed. "I promise we all will be very careful today. None of us," she gave Inuyasha a look, "will take any unnecessary risks."

Kagome was already exhausted and did not have the energy to continue arguing, so she laid down. She could not give up though she pulled Sango to her and said "Please keep him from doing anything stupid."

Sango touched her hand and said "I will do my best."

The group left Kagome and went outside so she would not hear the rest of their conversation. Sango turned to Inuyasha and said "So you take Shippo with you, and Miroku and I will go together," but before she was even done Inuyasha was leaving.

Inuyasha yelled over his shoulder as he ran away "No thanks I will be fine on my own see you all later tonight." With that Inuyasha disappeared into the woods. Everyone stood staring after him shaking their head.

Kagome who was watching them through a window saw this too, and laid there worrying about him for a while. Finally she fell asleep still thinking about Inuyasha.

Inuyasha went back to where the demon had attacked Kagome to try and track him. He took his time to find the demons sent and then set to work. He followed the scent for a couple of miles and had to back track once. Finally he came to a clearing with a cave on the other side. He was surprised that it was so close to Kaede's hut. The strong sent of the demon was coming out of the cave. Inuyasha pulled Tetsusaiga from its sheath. If he was lucky he may be able to surprise the demon.

However as he started for the cave the demon stuck its head out of the cave. "I have a visitor." Kitro glanced around till he spotted Inuyasha. "Oh" he said in a disappointed voice, "a half demon. I thought I was going to get a snack, but half demon just does not taste good. So go away I am going to go back to taking my nap." Kitro started back into the cave.

Inuyasha walked even closer. "You are right you won't be eating me. Instead you will be dieing today. You should never have laid one of your ugly claws on her."

There was a deep rumble from the cave as Kitro began to laugh. "You are going to kill me." He laughed even harder. "I am the great Kitro and now that I have all of these jewel shards I am unstoppable. I will break you like I broke that stupid human girl."

At hearing Kitro refer to Kagome like that Inuyasha growled. He was becoming so angry he was not thinking clearly. "Don't you dare speak about Kagome."

Kitro just laughed harder as he walked back out of the cave swinging his tail behind him. "And what is a lowly half breed like you going to do about it?"

Inuyasha raised Tetsusaiga and lunged at Kitro. He moved so fast Kitro did not have enough time to react. Tetsusaiga came down between Kitro's eyes, but it did not even dent his scales. Inuyasha fell back winded and confused. He thought "Damn it did not even hurt him." He looked at Tetsusaiga wondering what he was going to have to do when Kagome's voice popped into his head "His skin is impenetrable. I don't even think Tetsusaiga will affect him." She was right a direct blow from Tetsusaiga did nothing to Kitro.

While Inuyasha tried to come up with a plan Kitro acted. He leapt at Inuyasha and bite down on his shoulder. He was going to tear this half breed to pieces.

Inuyasha screamed in pain. He tried to wiggle out of the locked jaws, but knew he would not be able to. He looked at Tetsusaiga and remembers where Kitro was vulnerable, his eyes. Inuyasha swings Tetsusaiga up at Kitro's eye.

Kitro sees the attack and releases Inuyasha just in time to make Inuyasha miss his eye. Inuyasha stumbles back. He rubs his shoulder because it feels like it is on fire. When he pulls his hand back he sees the blood.

Kagome awoke in a sweat. She knew immediately that something was wrong. She slowly sits up, trying hard not to hurt herself, looking for the others. Kagome hopes that someone else would be there, but she is alone. She sits there for a moment just listening. Then it hits her. She can feel the jewel shards and they are not that far away. Kagome realizes that the feeling is coming from the direction in which Inuyasha had gone. She says "Is that what I felt? Is Inuyasha in trouble?" She sat there a moment longer worrying. Finally Kagome decided that there was only one way to make sure Inuyasha was all right and that was to go find Kitro.

Kagome stood not moving well. As she walked out the door she grabbed her bow and arrow. As she walked into the woods she said a silent prayer "Oh god, please let Inuyasha be fine." She looked at the bow and hoped with all her heart that if she needed to use it she would have the strength.

Kaede came up the path from town. She had gone down there for an hour or so to tend to a sick woman. She called gently to Kagome as she walked into the hut. There was no answer, and Kaede's hear dropped. She walked around the screen to find an empty bed. "What? Where did Kagome go?" She turned back to the door prepared to go find her when she realized she had no clue as to where to look.