Disclaimer: I'm getting annoyed writing this. I do not own them. I only own the cute little wolf hanyou.

The Morning After and The New Moon

The day started out just as any day would. Kagome awoke with Kouga's arm around her. Miroku had a new red handprint on his face for sleeping too close to Sango. Inuyasha was silent, caught in deep thought. He very rarely slept now after his talk with Kouga a few days before.

FLASHBACK

Kouga jumped up to the branch Inuyasha was sitting on and crouched in front of him.

"Since I can't protect her well enough, maybe you should." He said looking down. "I don't want something to happened to her because of my inability to protect my family."

He jumped down after he finished talking. He didn't want to hear Inuyasha's reply. He just wanted to tell him that one thing. He sat back down next to Kagome and watched her sleep.

END FLASHBACK

Inuyasha still didn't know what to make of Kouga's comment. 'Did this mean he is giving up on Kagome? But how can he?' Inuyasha decided to wait and take it up with the wolf at another time. Tonight wasn't the night to do anything foolish.

The group had no word on Naraku's disappearance. By piecing together the small clues they had, they figured he might be heading east, and so took that direction. This seemed to be their lucky, yet unlucky night: they soon came upon his scent, but I it was also the night of the new moon.

Inuyasha looked up at the sky and scowled. He knew tonight won't be good at all. 'Curse it all! Its just my luck that we find his scent on the night when I'm my weakest.'

As though he was reading Inuyasha's thoughts, Miroku commented, "Tonight is not your night Inuyasha. I don't believe we should rush after Naraku without serious consideration." He was always the voice of reason in situations when Inuyasha didn't think. (Which were frequent.)

"Hai. Houshi-sama is right. Although Naraku will be weakened tonight, you will be human." Sango added her opinion.

"Feh. I could give two fucks if I'll be human. I'll still kill that bastard." Inuyasha replied. He crossed his arms over his chest and strode away from the group.

Miroku and Sango gave each other knowing looks and shock their heads. "He's always so stupidly stubborn." Miroku commented. He sighed and glanced up at Inuyasha, alone, in the front of the group.

"Hey! The dog-turd is not the only youkai around here. I'm a lot stronger then him and I don't need him to help me destroy Naraku. I can do it alone." Kouga growled. "After all, it's my pup that's missing, not his."

Everyone just shock their heads. "Two stupidly stubborn youkais'," Shippo said from his perch on Miroku's shoulder.

At Naraku's Castle

Mist swirled in a dimly lit forest clearing. Barely distinguishable from the tangled growth and whirling moisture, a castle stood. Naraku's latest dark abode. Inside, inky shadows filled the corridors, unbroken by any type of light. In one of the many small rooms off one such corridor, Taro awoke from a sleep of seven days. As soon as he registered being awake, he wished he hadn't. He doubled over in pain as his stomach twisted in hunger. He blinked his foggy eyes until his vision sharpened and his senses came back to him. He sensed that he was in a small, musty room with…there was someone else in here with him! He turned wildly and saw who kept him company. Seated on a small futon in the corner sat a strangely familiar handsome man in fine silk robes. He looked very noble and gentle, however a horrible stench of evil permeated the air around him. It took Taro less than a breath to realize why he was familiar…This was the man he had seen standing above him in the barrier right before he had fainted in the courtyard!

Taro scuttled backwards until he felt his back make contact with the wall. He whimpered in fear and looked at the man.

The man raised a delicate hand and dusted a speck of dust from his robe. Then he addressed Taro. "You have no need to be frightened of me young wolf. I won't hurt you." He smiled, making the hair on Taro's body stand on end. "As long as you do what I ask."

"Who…Who are you?" Taro managed to rasp out.

The man smirked and replied, "I am called Naraku."

Taro recognized the name. And panicked. This was the evil man who had ruined the lives of Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku and Shippo. That was the person his parents had been trying to kill! "Wha..What do you want from me?" Taro asked, his heartbeat rapidly accelerating.

"Ku Ku Ku" Naraku chuckled. "This Naraku wants your powers. You see, when the sunsets, I will make a new body for this Naraku. While I make this body, my barrier will be weakened. I'm sure your parents would use that as an opportunity to attack. This Naraku needs you to strengthen the barrier."

Taro blinked at the man. 'He wants me to make his barrier stronger so mommy and daddy can't rescue me. Is he kidding?'

"And of course…your participation is not optional." Naraku added

Taro thought about this last statement. He thought about what his parents would do in this situation. They would fight! He wouldn't help Naraku no matter what. He spoke, his voice shaking at first, but gaining strength as his resolve firmed " N..No, I won't help you." He crossed his arms in a very Inuyasha like pose and turned away from Naraku.

"Have it your way then, little hanyou." The screen he was leaning against slid open. He whirled around and looked up into the empty eyes of Kanna. Before he could react she had whipped out her mirror and caught Taro's gaze in it. He felt himself loose control over his body. He couldn't move.

'What's going on? I…I can't move! What's happening to me! I'm trapped in here!' Taro thought frantically.

Kanna slowly lowered her mirror when she felt she had caught the hanyou's soul. His body slumped to the ground, and his eyes glazed over and became as stone.

"Ku Ku Ku" Naraku chuckled. "You will strengthen my barrier hanyou."

"Hai, Naraku-sama" Taro replied. Naraku rose gracefully and swept from the room. "Come, we have work to do." Taro rose from the floor and followed the fellow hanyou and Kanna in his trance state. Naraku led them to the courtyard of the castle, where the barrier was centered. Taro's power would be of the most use here.

"Sit, and meditate" Naraku commanded and Taro obeyed, the barrier immediately snapping and glowing with the added energy of the little wolf.

Back With Inu-gumi (A/N: I hope that's right)

The sun was beginning to set. The group decided to set up a camp for the night to keep Inuyasha from hurting himself. Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo would stay at the campsite while Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Kouga would go to the castle. Kagome was rather surprised with these arrangements. She wondered why Kouga was now suddenly leaving his competition alone with his mate, a move he had never voluntarily made before. Inuyasha, however, suspected Kouga's reasons had something to do with what he had said to him before.

As the delegated search party left to find Naraku, Inuyasha left to get firewood for the fire. Shippo had fallen asleep in Kagome's pack. She unrolled her sleeping bag and sat down on it to think. She wasn't her old self yet, but that was to be expected. She didn't have her son back yet and she didn't know if she would ever get him back. To top that off her 'husband' was acting distant to her and now he left her with his rival. 'I know Kouga probably upset about not being able to save Taro. He blames himself but…' Her thoughts were cut off when Inuyasha returned to campsite.

Inuyasha silently prepared a fire while Kagome watched the last steaks of light from the dying sun fade from the horizon. Darkness approached, and with it the weakening of Inuyasha's demonic blood.

Inuyasha thought as he built the fire. He was really beginning to regret being left alone with Kagome. He was much more emotional in his human state and didn't want to say something that would complicate things later. He didn't need to further tangle the already tangled web between Kagome, Kouga and himself. He wasn't really sure of how Kagome viewed him and didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He gulped. Just being close to her was making his heartbeat faster.. He sat down across from her and stared into the fire.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called. She tried to get him to look at her from across the fire but the way his amber eyes danced in the flames, she couldn't tell if he was looking at her or still staring at the fire.

"Hmm?" was the only reply he made. He looked over at her from across the fire.

"Have you noticed anything strange about Kouga lately?" She knew he probably didn't want to talk about her mate but they had to talk about something.

"Feh. Why would I care about what the wolf does? He's your mate." Inuyasha crossed his arms in his sleeves and turned away from her.

Kagome stood up and moved next to him. "Do you hate me for my decision?" She looked into his eyes hoping that he didn't harbor a grudge for her.

He turned away, sighed, and mumbled, " I don't hate you. I could never hate you."

"You know when we fight Naraku to get Taro back, it will be the final battle. We could all be killed. I never wanted Taro to be part of this. What am I going to do when we get the Shikon no Tama? I can't expect Kouga to protect me, Taro and the jewel." Kagome put her face in her hands.

Inuyasha moved closer to her and hesitantly put his arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen to you and Taro. And don't worry about the jewel." Inuyasha wanted to comfort her more but knew it was a bad idea. He knew even though Kouga wanted him to protect Kagome that was all. Touching was not protecting.

Inuyasha shifted and noticed something. "They're coming." They both silently shifted until once again they sat across from each other

Earlier with Sango, Kouga, Miroku, and Kirara

Kouga led the way as the small group searched for Naraku, sniffing the air deeply ever once and a while to keep the trail. They wound their way through the primeval forest until they came upon a clearing entangled with vines and filled with mist. Kouga cursed under his breath. "I've lost it! The scent stops here."

"Like from a barrier?" asked Miroku.

Kouga shook his head. "It can't be. Naraku is supposed to be weakened tonight. Why would…" then without a word, Kouga leapt into the middle of the seemingly empty clearing. Without warning he made contact with a smooth wall. A barrier. It cracked and threw him off..

Miroku and Sango looked on as Kouga proceeded to throw himself at the barrier, only to be repelled each time. "Ah…Kouga, what are you doing?" asked Sango. "And isn't Naraku, and therefore his barrier supposed to be weakened tonight?"

Kouga stopped and panted. He looked over at the youkai exterminator "The barrier is strong because Taro is making it strong. That's the only way to explain why it isn't weakened tonight."

It made sense. But it also meant that they would not be getting in to castle without Inuyasha and red Tetsusaiga. They would have to wait until the next day if the castle was still there. Miroku and Sango waited for Kouga to calm down and the two humans and two youkai walked back to their camp to give Kagome the bad news. They knew that she couldn't take any more heartache and this would make her more depressed then she already was.

When they got back to camp, Miroku and Sango moved to get ready for bed. Kagome had fallen asleep and Shippo had crawled out of her pack and joined her in the sleeping bag. Inuyasha was leaning against a tree on the other side of the fire from Kagome. He made sure that he wasn't too close when Kouga got back. Since he was the only one awake he decided to talk to Kouga. 'I wonder why they came back so soon? And without Taro…' He thought. He stood up and moved closer to Kouga.

"So what happened?" Inuyasha asked the wolf youkai.

Kouga gave Inuyasha a side glare and then looked over at Kagome's sleeping form. "I failed again." He spat. Kouga didn't look at Inuyasha as he spoke.

"Feh. That's not what I asked. Stupid wolf. I asked what happened. You came back without our pup and it didn't take you long anyway." Inuyasha crossed his arms in his sleeves. His amber eyes stared into the fire.

"He's using him." Kouga said almost too quiet for Inuyasha to hear. "That bastard is using him to protect himself."

"What do you mean? I thought this was fucking easy? Naraku was supposed to be weak today. Who's using who?" Inuyasha was getting impatient at Kouga lack of direct answers. 'Why the hell is he skirting around the truth?'

"It was supposed to be easy. He knew we would come. He used Taro to strengthen his barrier. As soon as we got there it was too late. I failed him again. I've failed my family."

Inuyasha truly felt sorry for the wolf youkai next to him. He had lost his pup twice. He knew that he couldn't take what was going on. 'How could anyone be happy if their pup was kidnapped and forced to protect Naraku?' And no one knew if Naraku would hurt Taro after he served his purpose.

Kouga continued to stare at the fire. He stood and walked over the Kagome and kissed her on her check. He was careful not to wake her. He then walked back to stand in front of Inuyasha.

"I have to think. I can't stay here and be reminded that I couldn't protect my family. I don't want to be around when Kagome blames me for not getting Taro back today. Watch her for me. I'll be back in a couple days. Tell her I went back to the den." With that Kouga stood up and walked away. He left Inuyasha sitting behind him staring at his retreating form.

'What the fuck is wrong with that damn wolf? First he tells me he's not sure if her can protect her. Then he leaves me alone with Kagome. Now he's left me alone with her again and told me to protect her. He knows I have feelings for her.' Inuyasha shook his head and moved back to the tree he was leaning against earlier. He continued to watch Kagome sleep. 'Its not like I'm going to sleep. I never sleep when I'm human.'

Kouga took on last look back at his sleeping mate and leapt into the trees. 'I made the right choice. I need to think. I can't fail her anymore. I can't bare to see her face when she finds out I let Taro slip through my fingers again. I love her so much but I can't keep disappointing her.' Kouga came to a clearing after running for an hour or two. He sat and thought on the person who had ruined his life over and over again. 'That bastard Naraku. I'll kill him when I get my hands on him. I don't care what happens to me. As long as Taro and Kagome are safe from him.'