Disclaimer: I do not own any Inuyasha characters.

A/N: Hey once again! Sorry for taking so long to update the story. ; The whole Harry Potter thing got to me. I had to stay at my cousin's house for five days and then go to the midnight party hosted at B and N so I had no time to update any of my stories. Then there was several black outs in my area and it screwed up my computer. But! Now I'm back, so lets continue with the story shall we?

Chapter 4 Parental Therapy

Footsteps knocked against the marble floor as the tall demon made his way in front of giant oak doors. He pushed the doors open without any announcements that he would be coming. For the past six hours, he's been waiting inside his studies for news of Rin's surgery and he received none. What made him acted so rashly, he knows not, but he found himself inside the room where he last saw the little human girl. His gaze scanned the room and fell on three motionless forms in the center of the room. He shook his head at the sight. A demon should not collapse over such small matters.

Sesshoumaru snapped his fingers and almost at once, a little demon scurried inside the room and kneeled down before him.

"Have someone take the boy to the servant's quarters and see to it that he is well taken care of," he ordered and the little demon obeyed right away.

He returned his attention to the two slumbering girls before him. He made his way over to pick Rin up and in a flash; he was gone from the room. About thirty seconds passed by and in another flash, Sesshoumaru reappeared in the room without Rin in his arm. Sesshoumaru bent down to give Akina's shoulder a light shook. The demon was instantly awoken and grabbed Sesshoumaru's wrist in a tight grip out of reflex. The Daiyoukai must admit that he was somewhat impressed with her speed but not enough to made it known.

"Is Rin back in her room?" was the first thing that came out of her mouth. Sesshoumaru only guided her eyes down to her hold on his wrist; surprised, she let go immediately and muttered a quick apology.

"Yes as a matter of fact she is," Sesshoumaru adjusted his arm a bit as he spoke. "How are her eyes?"

"They'll be fine, she'll be able to see again in no time. Just keep the bandages on her eyes for half a moon cycle and her eyes should be fine by then," Akina said as she pushed herself off the floor. "I'm sorry for falling asleep like that, it was just a very tiring process for me. Attaching optical nerves is not an easy ordeal."

"As I am sure it is not. However, I would appreciate it if you don't grow accustomed to these rests. I would think a demon such as yourself would have a stronger endurance," Sesshoumaru said as he made his way out of the room.

"You shouldn't be so quick to judge Lord Sesshoumaru," in a flash, she was ahead of him. "I would like to see you try to perform such magic and still be able to stand afterwards."

She shot him a glare as she rounded a corner and disappeared in an instant. Sesshoumaru's eyes lingered on the spot where she disappeared before he return to his sleeping quarters.

A Stream in the East

Sango did not even wait until Kirara has firmly landed; she simply jumped off the cat demon and dashed toward the stream in search of her companions. She called out their names in hope that one of them would be able to hear her. To her relief, a silver winged figure was flying towards her. He landed briskly as she ran over to tell him of Shippou's disappearance.

"What would this Naraku person want with a cub like Shippou?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know but we have to let Inuyasha and Kagome know right away before something like that happens to them too," Sango's eyebrows furrow together. "But…they might come back here and if none of us is here then he might get the wrong idea. Kagome can do some pretty rash actions if she thinks that any of us are in trouble."

"I'll stay here," Taro suggested. "Whoever this Naraku is doesn't know who I am so he probably won't attack me if he sees me waiting here."

"No, you can't do that. If Naraku captured Miroku then he must have spied on us for some time now to know where we're heading and to make his move. If you stay here, you'll be targeted immediately," she motioned for Kirara to come to her. "You stay here Kirara. You can change into your smaller form and hide here incase Inuyasha, Kagome, or…" her voice tightened a little, "…Miroku returns."

Kirara growled as she changed back to her cat-sized shape and jumped off into some nearby bushes to conceal herself. Sango turned to the phoenix demon before her and blushed a little.

"I'm sorry but…I will need you to carry me while we move. Unlike Miroku, I had no training in my speed when it comes to long-distant travels," her cheeks flamed as Taro simply smiled.

"It would be my pleasure," he scooped her up bridal style as his wings stretched out to their full-size and he took off. Kirara snorted loudly as she glared at the phoenix. She just didn't trust her mistress in the hands of a stranger that they just met a day ago but can say nothing to voice her opinion.

South of there

Inuyasha growled as his foot was caught in more wiggling vines. The combination of anger at letting Kagome disappeared and the humid air was making his head swirled. When he find the person who set this thing up, they're going to get the beating of their life. His actions became more frantic as more vines wrapped around his arms and body and refused to let go. Even with the Tetsusaiga, he can only hold them off for a few moments before they return to grab at him again.

"Enough already!" he screamed as he rammed Tetsusaiga into a particularly large vine that was crawling up his leg. He winced as the blade accidentally cut through the fabric of his robe and punctured his skin.

His breathing was labored as he tried to single out Kagome's scent from all the other scents around him. The fact that she bathed in those flowery smelling "soaps" of hers made it even harder for him to unwrap her scent from the scent of the real flowers. He made a mental note to throw those things away once he finds her as he jumped into a particularly high branch to avoid the vines.

That did him no good as the vines shot up into the air after him in an attempt to drag him back down. This was just like fighting with Naraku's demons, only more annoying. Inuyasha unleashed a series of attacks at the offending plants as he hopped from tree to tree in hope of escaping the threaded jungle.

The half demon thrashed wildly as the vines wrapped around his throat and chest to stop his movements. There was a strange scent in the air, an incense smell drifted from the ground and swirled around Inuyasha. The last thing he can remember was two moving shadows in the distant and then pitch-blackness.

"Inuyasha…" the half demon felt something next to called out. "Please wake up…"

His eyes twitched as they slowly take in the face hovering over his own. He instantly opened his eyes wide at once as soon as he recognized the face of Kagome. As if they have a mind of their own, his arms immediately circled themselves around Kagome's form.

"In…Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered as Inuyasha stroked her hair softly.

"I was worried about you, I thought that something bad had happened to you," he gently pulled away and she blushed as he stared at her. "What the hell were you thinking disappearing like that! Do you know I almost died trying to look for you!" Inuyasha barked and they were off in their usual feud again.

"Well I'm sorry that I was knocked out and carried to this dump! The least you could do is ask me how I am, you jerk!" she poked him in the chest with her index finger, as their faces were mere inches apart from each other.

Pink tinted both their cheeks as they pulled away quickly and turned the other direction with a hmp. Inuyasha was the first to speak.

"Well if you'd just follow me fast enough like I'd ask, we wouldn't be here right now."

"That jungle was very hard to walk in! Even you must admit that you had a hard time with it too," Kagome pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So where are we anyways?" Inuyasha asked as he examined their prison.

They were kept in an old hut of some sort. Everything had a fine layer of dust over it and there were no signs of any living beings around.

"I'm not sure, when I woke up, I was already here," Kagome said. "I tried escaping but someone placed a spell on the door. A really strong one."

"Let me try," Inuyasha's hand came over to grab Tetsusaiga but found it missing. "What the!"

"They took my bow and arrows too," Kagome reminisced. "I was looking for it when the door opened and you were thrown in here."

"Did you get a good look at who it was?" Kagome shook her head weakly as Inuyasha growled. "Damn it, without Tetsusaiga I can't break down this stupid barrier."

Silence fell upon them as they both think of ways to flee from their captivities and return to let everyone know they're all right. When no ideas came to mind, they both sighed and sat side by side.

"Well at least we know that whoever did it isn't a demon," Kagome said. "It can't be Naraku either. He'd have killed us by now. So…who's left?

"I bet it's Sesshoumaru. He's had his eyes on it for a long time now. He could always get that human girl to take it for him," Inuyasha glared at the look on Kagome's face. "What? It could be him."

"I doubt it's him. He doesn't seem the type to snoop around," Kagome reminded Inuyasha. "Hey…Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?" Kagome turned around so that she faced him. "You think we'll be able to get out of here right?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened at the questions, "Of course we are! I'm not going to let us die here! We have to get the jewel back from that bastard Naraku."

"I'm glad…" Kagome yawned wearily. "I want…to go…home."

"You're tired, go to sleep. I'll stay up and guard you," he ushered her to lie down. "I'll think of a way to get us out of here while you sleep."

"Thank you, Inuyasha," Kagome smiled as she closed her eyes and was asleep within seconds.

Inuyasha watched the priestess sleep as his mind thought over some of the things they've done together. The happier memories made him want to smile yet that same indecision always made his stomach turned. He really wanted to be able to stay by Kagome and their friends but another part, that curious part of him, wanted to go back 50 years into the past and reunite with Kikyou once more. He wanted to know, just what if, what if Naraku was never born? What would he be like? He wiped at his eyes as it begun to droop. He too was tired from all the things that happened that day. He lay down next to Kagome and drifted off to a deep, dreamless, sleep.

Outside the door, two people stepped away from the door as Inuyasha fell asleep.

"Seems like they're getting along well," a male voice commented.

"Yeah! Those two will owe us big time in the future," a younger male voice said. "Their kids will too no doubt."

"C'mon Shippou, let's go and give our reports to the girls. You know how pushy they can be," the monk known as Miroku said as they made their way down a dirt path to a larger hut not far away.

Upon their entry, they were immediately dragged in and forced to sit down.

"So!" a girl asked. "How are they!"

"Calm yourself, they're perfectly fine. Nothing they wouldn't do on a normal basis," Miroku said to the girl.

"That's not nearly good enough," an older female voice said from a shadowed corner. "We need them to show each other their feelings."

"Well it's all up to them now," the younger girl said. "You can't really force them into this thing, sister."

"Keh…" was the reply she received.

"Forgive her, she's just cranky that it's all moving a little slow but that's love for you!"

"I understand. This must be very frustrating for you both. I must ask you why you insisted on leaving Sango out of this," Miroku asked.

"We planned to bring her into it as well…however…" she trailed off, "I'm sorry but I can't tell you yet. We do have a good reason though I assure you."

Knowing that she won't answer anymore questions no matter what he does, Miroku switched on to a new subject. Before he could start, Shippou jumped from his arms and hopped on top of the girl's head.

"Are these real?" he pulled on her dog-ears earning himself a smack on the head.

"Yes they are! And I would appreciate it if you didn't pull on them so hard. They're very sensitive," the young girl scolded Shippou as she stroked her ears.

"Ouch! That hurt! I was just checking to see that you were telling the truth!" Shippou rubbed the bump on his head as he glared at her.

The older of the two girls emerged from the corner, her dog-ears twitched as she sat down next to her sister.

"I can assure you, we really are what we said," she stated coolly.

"I must ask that you forgive Shippou. All of this is quite hard to understand," Miroku said as his eyes focused on them. "You being Inuyasha's children."