Chapter 12

"This is one that we used when we were trying to get away from everyone to mess around." Taro explained. "No one knows about it except me and Saburo." Izayoi, Taro, Hanna and Toshiro were running to yet another spot that Saburo could be. They had already checked three other places and it was onto the fourth spot. The four stopped and hid in the trees watching as several wolf demons were standing around as guards. "We need to sneak past them one at a time. Slip into that large crack and follow it back. You'll come out to a big cavern. This is the last place I know to look."

"What if he's not in there?" Asked Hanna

"Then we figure something else out." Izayoi said watching the guards closely before she was gone and squeezing through the large crack. Taro, Toshiro and Hanna sighed watching her take off before Taro went next.

Izayoi squeezed through the tight passageway until it slowly widened and ended at a huge cavern with a little spot light letting grass and even a tree to grow. She stopped and looked at Saburo sitting under the tree with his head in his hands as he looked very upset. Izayoi slowly walked closer before his head snapped up to show tear filled eyes as he tried to back up from her.

"Saburo."

"No! No! I won't! I won't do that! No! Stop!" He called as he tried to hide behind the tree as he looked at her afraid.

"Saburo, it's okay." She said as she took another step closer as he tensed and froze. "You remember what happened?"

"Y-yeah… go… go away!" He yelled at her before his eyes went wide as his memories of fighting Taro flashed in his mind as he saw Taro walk out from the crack. "T-Taro…." His eyes went wide and he backed up several more steps. Izayoi looked at Taro as he walked over to Izayoi.

"He remembers what happened." She told him as he nodded without taking his eyes from his brother. "Taro, please…" She said making his eyes snap to her as he sighed.

"Just stay back, Iz." He said softly before looking at his brother. "We're here to take you home. Just come with us and we can all talk later." He said trying his best to keep his anger out of his eyes and voice. Saburo shook his head.

"I…. I attacked you and tried to kill you… I shouldn't be considered your brother. Just go before I lose control again." He told his brother who looked at Izayoi.

"Saburo, you didn't do anything on purpose. A demon took completely control over you and you had no idea what you were doing let alone the ability to do anything about it. We're all in the modern era working on plans to get this fixed."

"Izzy and Shiro even killed one of the demons."

"We are working on finishing them off." Izayoi said walking forward several steps to be two steps ahead of Taro. "Come home with us."

"No! I can't I…. I…. Izzy I don't want to hurt you again….. I…. no!" He backed up into the wall as Izayoi looked at Taro who was willing to sit back and let her take the lead on this.

"Saburo, we can help you if you come with us. Besides I think my pups would like to meet their uncle." She said making his eyes snap to look at her.

"Your pups?"

"Iz." Taro said and she ignored him as she nodded. "Izayoi." He said making her glance at him then back at Saburo.

"Come home and we can work things out and you can them." He looked at Taro before Toshiro and Hanna made their way in hurriedly.

"We need to go." Toshiro said making Taro and Izayoi look at him. "Demons on their way in and if we get caught fighting them dad will kill us if we survive."

"Saburo, we need to go now. Let's go." Taro said jumping into action and grabbing his brother by the arm and throwing him towards Hanna and Toshiro. "Start heading out." The five made their way back out before stopping at the entrance with Taro in the front. "Damn it."

"What's wrong?" Izayoi asked as she stood on the other side of Hanna.

"They're here. We're going to have to fight to get this over with." He growled as he and the others rushed out.

"Hanna take Saburo and go. We'll be right behind you." Izayoi said as she shoved Saburo to her and she took off dragging him behind her as Izayoi pulled her sais from her back and let them transform as Toshiro did the same with his bow and Taro pulled his katana.

"Iz, I really wish you would go with them." Taro said standing close to her as they all stood ready as the two demons turned to look at them.

"We need to protect the tribe and I'm not leaving my brother and mate to fight alone." She glanced at him and grinned. "Besides, wasn't I the one who killed that other one?"

"That you did." He grinned, as the two demons looked angrier.

"Well if it isn't little chew toys." Shu grinned as he looked at the three. "So which one is going to die today?" Izayoi took a slow breath as Toshiro pulled back a bit more on his bowstring. The demons shifted in their place and the three snapped to action, jumping, dodging and attacking with everything they had.

Hanna pulled Saburo into the well and out to find the adults out in the yard. Hanna nearly collapsed trying to catch her breath as Saburo grabbed her and held her up. the group of adults ran over about to attack Saburo as Koga looked at him not knowing what to do.

"No, don't attack him." Hanna breathed as she looked at the others.

"Hanna, where are Izayoi, Taro and Toshiro?" Kagome asked quickly as Hanna was still trying to catch her breath.

"They are fighting two demons. Izzy pushed me at Hanna and she pulled me back here. What's going on?" Saburo looked at Kagome as she stood up and took a step closer to him making Inuyasha move closer.

"What did they look like?" she asked worried.

"It's….. them…." she said getting her breath a bit while Ryuu took over holding her up. "Said…. Right…. Behind…." She said looking back at the well house.

"I'm getting Tetsaiga and going after them." Inuyasha insisted only to have Kagome grab his sleeve, as he looked angry.

"Inuyasha, they'll be fine. They said they would be right behind them, they'll be here." She said before glancing at the well house hoping she was right.

"Kagome, they're fighting two of the three demons that Sesshomaru, me and our father couldn't beat."

"They were also able to kill one of them." He sighed and looked at Koga as he walked over watching Saburo.

"I'm with the mutt." Koga said

"Koga." Kagome said making him look at her seconds later they heard the well door bang open making them all look to see Toshiro fall to the ground Taro holding Izayoi up before they both dropped breathing heavy making them all rush to the three. Kagome quickly looks over the three to see Toshiro starting to heal himself leaving her to take care of Izayoi and Taro who were both bleeding badly.

"What happened?" Inuyasha asked as he knelt beside Kagome as she quickly stopped the bleeding on both of them.

"Genji….. and Shu showed up." Izayoi said stopping as she felt pain run through her body. "I had Hanna take Saburo and we…we fought them and pushed them back."

"Why the hell would you do something that stupid?"

"They were going after the wolf tribe." Taro said as he tried to relax and push the pain away.

"We had to stop them before they could do anything." Toshiro said as he moved over to help heal Izayoi. "We did a good deal of damage to them so they should be pushed back for a while."

"It doesn't matter." Koga said looking at the three. "You shouldn't have gone in the first place." He watched as Izayoi made Toshiro help her up as Kagome finished with Taro and he jumped to his feet.

"Izzy, relax, you're wounds are closed yet." Toshiro said as she only looked at Koga.

"We went to get Saburo because he was being controlled by their leader to do everything. He broke free, and we needed to go help him. If we didn't the demons would have whipped out the wolf demon tribe and would have gotten their hands back on Saburo." She said before she started to cough and her knees went weak making Toshiro and Taro grab her and ease her back down.

"Iz, just relax. Let Shiro finish fixing you up." He said as he had her lean back against him while Toshiro began to heal again as fast as he could as she started to fall asleep. Toshiro nodded before Taro shifted and pulled her into his arms making her cuddle closer to his chest.

"Put her to bed and then we can talk about some things." Kagome said as she ran a hand over Izayoi's forehead as her ears laid back. Taro quickly laid her in their bed and then rejoined everyone in the yard to talk. "She in bed?"

"Yeah. Probably not for long." He said as he stood with everyone. "So what's the plan?" He asked looking at Saburo who was sitting on the ground as everyone else was standing.

"Well we need to find out why they wanted Saburo."

"Why they took control of him and not anyone else. What made him the one they wanted?" Hanna asked before Toshiro looked around.

"Because." Everyone looked at him. "Saburo was the only one focused more on Izzy than anyone else. It was his weak point that no one else had."

"What do you mean? We all have a weakness for each other." Hanna said.

"He was never into learning much about fighting or anything. He was always trying to get Iz." Taro said understanding. "We were all training and learning how to fight while he was more focused on getting her to notice him."

"So it made him weak?" Taro and Toshiro nodded as Saburo still sat quietly looking between everyone talking as if he wasn't there. "Then how did he break through?"

"My guess is the same way." Toshiro said. "Izzy and me killed one of the demons, which weakened their leader, we've all been pushing hard against them which makes the leader put less force on Saburo. It aloud his feelings to not hurt her break through and cut the connection."

"So what do we do?" Jiro asked.

"We kick their ass." Most of the group turned to look at Izayoi as she walked over while a small group only sighed and shook their head. "We need to finish this before they push any farther."

"Izzy, it is an all-out war now." Toshiro said as she nodded.

"We need to make a fast plan and move at them. They think we're still beaten. They don't know what powers we really have. And if we can get them while they're retreating, they'll never see it coming."

"How do you suppose we do that? we have no idea where they are, how many there really are, if they have an army. We don't even know who their leader is and what powers they have." Shippo said looking at his sister who looked at Toshiro. The twins looked at each other for a minute before looking at their parents.

"There might be a way to figure out where they are." Toshiro said softly. "We can either track the demons down and follow them to where they are, which it is very unlikely we will succeed without being caught…."

"Or Shiro and I can try our theory." Izayoi said as Inuyasha looked at Kagome as she looked at her two oldest children.

"Our original plan was to go home and we can try to stretch all of our powers together and scour the land until we find demonic auras that match them or since Saburo had a deep mental connection I think we may be able to use the remnants to back track and find their leader." Toshiro explained.

"You can do that?" Sango asked him as he gave a nod.

"I think we can. It's just a theory."

"What's the cost?" asked Shippo. He watched worried as Izayoi and Toshiro glanced at each other nervously. "If the risk outweighs the success there's no-"

"The thing with either tracking is the first one is we use all of our powers. If we don't pull back just in time we could lose our powers for good and it will take months to recover as normal half demons." Toshiro said cutting his brother off. "And by back tracking through Saburo, we have a greater chance of gathering the information we need but the second we find the leader.."

"Our minds will be open for an attack from the leader." Izayoi added.

"Could it kill you?" Jiro asked as both nodded.

"No. if that leader can work their way into Saburo's head when he never came in contact with him opening yourselves up to an attack like that…. there's no doubt that you would both be killed nearly instantly." Kagome protested making everyone look at her. This was the first time they had head Kagome tell the twins not to use their strong powers.

"Mom…" Toshiro trailed off as Kagome shook her head.

"If we can pull this off we'll be able to get to them and end this. Besides the leader's mind will be completely open to us too." Izayoi said.

"It's not worth the risk of you two being killed." Shippo said.

"What if we were able to find a way to better protect against an attack? Would you consider using that approach then?" Toshiro said trying to think clearly, as Izayoi looked at him wondering what he had figured out.

"We will discuss the option, but I don't see how you could, Shiro." Kagome said as Toshiro gave a nod.

"Well until we can figure out any other way to do anything we should just relax." Shippo said and watched everyone agree and move off leaving Taro, Izayoi, Toshiro and Akia standing in a little group while the others moved off. Saburo sat still and watched.

"What did you figure out?" Izayoi asked Toshiro who gave an Inuyasha smirk.

"I think there might be a way to have only one of us do it."

"What so one dies and the other is fine?" Akia asked worried and confused. Toshiro shook his head.

"No. Not exactly. Izzy, you're better with the mental powers, working your way through thoughts and all, and my powers are more for physical barrios and all. If you can navigate through to the leader, you're the only one open. I'll be able to follow through you but I will be behind you in a way."

"Using your powers to block." Izayoi said suddenly understanding as Toshiro nodded. "That will work."

"What? No." Taro said. "You're still wide open to be killed."

"Not with Shiro using his powers. He will be able to completely enclose everything and block attacks. I'll be free to find the information we need and to attack back." She turned and looked at her brother. "Go tell mom." Toshiro nodded before he and Akia walked off.

"Iz, you can't." He said making her look at him wondering if he was telling her what to do. "Don't put yourself in that kind of danger…. If something happened…." He trailed off as she shook her head and gave a little smile to show her fangs.

"Nothing will happen. You know I'm not going down at least till I get the bastards who did this. Trust me."

"I do trust you, I just don't trust this leader you're going after. I don't want to see you hurt. And I really don't want to lose you, mate." He said softly as she gave him a grin.

"Don't worry; I'll always be here to kick your sorry mangy ass." He chuckled as she turned to walk away when they heard giggles.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Two children called in unison as they ran over. Taro smiled as he lifted a happy little girl with brownish-silver hair with dog ears sanding tall on her head while a little boy jumped into Izayoi's arms with his black hair pulled back to revile his pointed ears. Saburo watched shocked as the two children giggled and talked to their parents. Izayoi looked at Taro who sighed.

"Saburo." Izayoi said as she walked over to sit on the bench with Kenta in her lap. The boy eyed the wolf demon suspiciously with his honey colored eyes.

"Mommy?" Kenta asked looking up at her.

"Kenta, this is your uncle Saburo."

"You're son?" Saburo asked before he looked at Taro holding the little girl before he walked closer and stood in front of Izayoi.

"This is Katara." Izayoi said looking at the girl who laid her head on her father's shoulder and was eyeing the man on the bench. "They're our twins." She said as Saburo looked between Taro and Izayoi.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Kenta complained as Katara nodded.

"Okay, let's go see what grandma has for dinner." Izayoi smiled and set the boy on his feet while Taro did the same and the two grabbed her hands and they walked into the house leaving the two brothers to talk.

"So you and Izzy?" Saburo asked as Taro took a breath and sat on the bench.

"What exactly do you remember?" Taro looked at Saburo as he thought and looked at the ground.

"I can remember chasing her. I remember what I did but I can't remember anything that was said. All I hear are her screams and the scent of her tears." He looked back at his brother with tears in his eyes while Taro refused to look at him. "How long? Taro how long have I been controlled?"

"A little over three years I guess. You started acting strange before our fight with the dragons. When I had to stay because of my chest wound, you started trying to compete with me for her."

"I don't remember that, but I remember the big battle."

"Yeah, well after the war you took off. We all tried to help you but you just took off and would attack Iz every chance you had." Taro shifted to sit forward on the bench a bit. "I didn't want to get you. I didn't want you anywhere near my mate and our pups. Izzy is the one who insisted. We even got into a big argument about it."

"Then why did you help me?" Taro sighed still refusing to look at him.

"Because my mate asked me to." He took a breath and turned to look at his brother with kind worried eyes that were glassy. "And I know you're still my brother." Saburo looked at him not knowing what to say. "Besides if you did anything I could kick your ass and now that you're here, you do anything, not one of us would think twice about hurting you beyond belief. Especially if you go after Iz or our twins." He gave a slight warning grown as Saburo nodded.

"I would not intentionally hurt any of you." He said softly before the brothers sat in silence feeling a bit better.