Author's note: Wow, I actually got reviews? O.0; …And yes, I think InuYasha would be very protective over a daughter. Well, yeah. I like the name Hanaharu, too. It literally means "flower spring," so I think of it as "spring flower," as in "flower born in the spring." Okay… enough rambling about the baby on my part. Chapter two! …And yes, I DO use the Japanese attack names.

"What do you mean, Kagome-chan?" Sango hasn't seen him like this for over a year now, make that three, ever since Hanaharu was born. InuYasha had matured ever since he had his daughter, but he still had his moments. The tayjai doubted he would ever be fully mature.

The former miko let out a sigh, looking up to Sango with a somewhat tired look. "Just never mind him. Every time we argue even just a little bit he takes Hanaharu and disappears for a few hours." She knew that he shouldn't be doing that, but who was she to say anything? In these times, she had learned that whatever the male spouse wanted he usually got. 'I do worry about him, though…'

The houshi crossed his arms, watching his son come out from behind him. "Well, at least he does come back. There are some cases where a man will take his child into the forest and disappear all together." He knew that InuYasha would never do that, though. He would always come back to his mate; such were the loyalty traits of a dog.

Kagome let out another sigh. "I guess you're right. I should be thankful he comes back." She took a sip from the cup of tea in front of her, just trying to calm herself down. Until now Sango and Miroku hadn't had to even so much as know about these little fights they had. InuYasha was still InuYasha, and she was still Kagome. Them without their little quarrels was just unheard of.

The hanyou stormed away from the hut they group had been occupying, making his way back towards the forest with little Hanaharu secure in his arms. She didn't know why her father took her into the forest like this, but whenever he did, she always had fun. She didn't know that he did this to blow off steam, she only thought it special playtime alone with her father.

The small girl clung to her father's chest, tiny hands gripping the red fire-rat kimono as she closed her eyes. She wasn't sleeping, more like resting. Just like Kagome's scent soothed the hanyou, her father's scent soothed the young toddler. She had always been around him, spoiled by him daily, and it was hard even to get InuYasha to give his daughter to Kagome just so she could feed her.

The hanyou jumped into a large dead tree. He had always sat in this tree to think, to be alone, but now that he had Hanaharu, she was there to keep him company. He sat up against the trunk, letting her large back tail hang down at his side as she just rest there. There were just some things that he couldn't tell anyone, not even Kagome, and it was just nice to have someone to sit there quietly with him, even if it was his three year old daughter that didn't understand most of what went on around her.

He sat there running his hands through the girl's shoulder length silver hair, closing his eyes as she opened hers. "Daddy sad?" She didn't understand it at all, but she had as good senses as any demon did, even if she couldn't fully read emotion like her father could.

He opened his eyes again, smiling down at her. She was just so innocent, like all little girls at her age were. They just couldn't help but be naive like that, oblivious. "No, just thinking." He just held the small girl there in his arms, he couldn't help but want to keep her all for himself at this age.

She smiled brightly, hugging InuYasha tighter. "What is Daddy thinking about?" She blinked, looking up at him confused. She always asked him questions when he took her alone out into the middle of the forest.

"It's nothing." He put his hand on her head, sitting straight in the tree as he sniffed into the air. Some pathetic demon was nearby, but he wouldn't dare get caught up into a battle around his daughter. When she was born, he had promised to raise her as human as possible, keeping her away from demons and anything in this time that could harm her at all. He didn't even want her to witness a fight between the humans.

"Daddy?"

He stood up in the tree, holding her still against his chest as he jumped from it. So far he had kept that promise to Kagome, and he wasn't about to break it now. "I'm going to take you back to your mother, okay?"

She tightly closed her eyes, clinging to him tighter. "B-bu-but I want to stay with Daddy!"

"Hanaharu, you can't." He wanted to protect his daughter at all costs, and if that meant giving her back to Kagome for a few moments, fine. His bare feet padded across the ground as he rushed for the village, as long as she wasn't subject to such violence.

The girl listened to her father, just holding on as he took her back to the village. 'I want to stay with Daddy…'

A moment later he appeared back near the village, Sango and Miroku just saying good bye to Kagome on their front porch.

"He's back already?" Sango had her hand on her son's shoulder, at the sight of InuYasha clinging to his mother's leg. She saw Hanaharu clinging to her father as if she were frightened or upset.

"Kagome!" He came back up to his mate, removing Hanaharu from his kimono top. "Take care of her, I've got to take care of this demon." He looked to the monk, who had gone in and grabbed his staff while the hanyou was talking. Even if he was human, and some what out of practice, he was still a monk, and InuYasha didn't care if he came or not. "Fine, come on, Miroku."

"Hai." His face was serious, if there was a demon close to the village; it was always Miroku and InuYasha to usually get rid of it. "Do you know what kind of demon it is?"

"Iie," the hanyou and monk started for the forest, leaving both women and children behind. "I'm not stayin' around long enough for my daughter to get hurt."

The monk agreed. This battle was one of many they had been in to protect the village from demons since Naraku's death. Seeing that Miroku no longer had the Kazanna, this would be strange had it been one of the first few battles without it. He had grown used to not having the black hole in his hand.

A loud roar emitted through the forest, a large ebony furred youkai springing from the forest. Its long legs came to huge claws on is feet, its long neck arching as it glared down at the hanyou and monk, slender body just coming over the tree-tops. Its long tail beat the ground, a tree or two falling from the force.

InuYasha smirked, unsheathing his blade from its scabbard. The Tetsusaiga transformed into the large fan it did when only he wielded it; at the end of the hilt was what seemed a patch of fur, the long silver blade reaching over seven feet long. This was really the only time that he was able to unsheathe the blade. He couldn't show it off in front of his daughter, of course, if he could, he would put it away whenever she was around, but losing himself was not anything good. "I'll take it down in one blow!"

"It's been a while since you've fought with Tetsusaiga, InuYasha, be careful with it." The monk braced himself for battle as he watched the hanyou spring into the air.

"Oh, shut up!" He swung the blade mid-air, "Kaze no Kizu!" With that, golden-yellow stripes of air seemed to fly towards the youkai, on impact seeming to throw it back, but that was it. InuYasha landed back on the ground, a look of disbelief on his face. "Nani? How did it block Kaze no Kizu?"

The monk pulled out an ofuda. He may have been living peacefully now with a wife and child, but just because of that didn't mean he had lost his sacred powers. "InuYasha, I believe this demon had some sort of barrier or special type of fur. Try using Akai Tetsusaiga on it." With a grunt of effort, the monk threw the ofuda at the youkai, hitting it square on the face.

With a grumble of pain, the youkai took a step back, covering its face with its large clawed paw from the annoyance of the spell scroll, a light bluish electricity seeming to pulsate around it.

The hanyou didn't need to let him know to agree, all he had to do was stand there, the blade of the Tetsusaiga glowing a bright reddish color. He then rushed at the demon, leaping into the air and swinging the blade for another Kaze no Kizu. "Tetsusaiga!" Another wave of the golden stripes flashed at the demon; only this time with the help of the barrier-breaking powers of InuYasha's blade, and utterly destroying the large demon. He landed back on the ground, sheathing his blade as it transformed back into the "rusted stick."

The monk held his golden staff in hand as he took a few steps towards his friend. "Why would a demon like that come close to the village? There's nothing there for it; except maybe if it has a taste for humans."

InuYasha just kept staring off into space. "It's never that simple, anymore. Some one or something told it to attack the village. Weak demons like that don't come this close to villages for food if they know there's a demon living in the area, let alone a monk."

Author's note: End Chapter. Wow… I get reviews and I'm more motivated to do the next chapter. I didn't expect to get this done for at least another day because my dad doesn't let me on too often. Yay!