All This Time

A/N- I went back and fixed this, I hope this works better!

Disclaimer- Do you see me strutting about saying that I own this? Noooo! But that doesn't mean I don't want to.

Chapter 1: Poor Shippo

"Uncle Shippo! Hey Uncle Shippo, where are you!"

Tired of yelling the little girl collapsed on the grass, her chest heaving from running around so much. Suddenly at her side she heard a twig snap, startled, she pulled out her hidden weapon.

Trailing her eyes along the edges of the trees about her, she saw a small bush shift. Tensing every muscle in her body she focused all her attentions on that part of the forest, seeing a figure step out of it, she prepared to attack.

Recognizing who it was she quickly replaced her weapon and waited, the figure came out the rest of the way and her breath caught. He was about five feet tall, had shoulder length orange hair tied back, a furry pair of feet, and lastly a sleek tail that flicked about behind him.

"Uncle Shippo!" smiling widely, the girl ran at the kitsune, seeing her he opened his arms and caught her effortlessly.

"Natsume, you know you shouldn't be wondering, your mother would be angry if she found out." Setting the girl down he took her hand and began leading her back towards the village, at his side Natsume started pouting.

"But you always do it. What were you doing this far out anyway?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Shippo scratched his neck with his free claw, "Just walking, so has your father or brothers returned yet?" Natsume shook her head freeing her slightly short black hair from it's restraints.

Shippo laughed at how her hair spiked up, 'she is so much like her father...wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing?' Noticing the goofy smile on Shippo's face, Natsume felt her face redden slightly, she had always had a small crush on her uncle.

Seeing the village in the distance, Shippo took a deep breath and prepared himself. Standing outside a rather large hut was a pregnant woman with long black hair, she was currently petting a small cat demon at her side while holding a small child on her hip.

Shippo released Natsume's hand and watched with sad eyes as she ran towards her mother, he was preparing to wave when out of the blue he was tackled from behind and landed face first on the ground.

Grumbling, Shippo pulled himself to his knees and glared at the laughing boy at his side. The boy was a Hanyou, the product of one pain in the ass half-breed and a human miko. He had waist length black and silver hair, two doggy ears, per his father and the blue eyes of his mother.

"You should...hah...have...seen...your, your...heh...face!"

"Shut up Hinske, you only caught me off guard. Where's your father anyway?" Suddenly feeling completely unsafe, Shippo glanced about his eyes widened, focusing on every detail.

Or so he thought, before he had time to react yet again he was pinned to the ground by an over active adult Hanyou. Glaring angrily up into the eyes of his long time friend InuYasha, Shippo suppressed the urge to bite InuYasha's hand out of spite.

"Hah, got yah twice Shippo!"

"Yeah, yeah. Can you get off already?"

Grinning from ear to ear, InuYasha got off the fuming Shippo and gave him a hand up, straightening his kimono, Shippo stalked towards the hut followed by two very pleased Hanyou's.

"Hello Shippo, Natsume tells me you were off in the forest alone again, is there something you want to talk about?"

Hearing the gentle voice of the woman from before Shippo looked up and gave a weak smile, "it's alright, besides, you have your own problems to deal with. Can I help with anything?"

Smiling, Sango nodded her head and motioned to the almost in existent pile of firewood. Catching her drift, Shippo nodded his head, tousled the hair of the child on her hip and walked off into the trees.

Letting out a deep sigh, Sango sit down on the bench that went around the hut, looking up she saw that InuYasha was staring after Shippo deepening in thought.

"I feel bad for him, after all, it's been twelve years since the final battle with Naraku and Shippo has yet to find another one of his kind anywhere."

Hearing the shifting of InuYasha's kimono, Sango looked at her side, InuYasha was leaning back and rubbing his temple with one of his clawed hands. Turning her gaze to watch her daughter running about chasing Kirara, Sango smiled sadly.

A few minutes of silence passed before InuYasha stopped shifting about, "From what Sesshoumaru told me when we met last, there are no other fox demons on the entire continent, I just don't want to tell Shippo that. He deserves to at least hope to find someone, but I can't stand to see him all moody. It's just so damn frustrating!"

Sango nodded her head in agreement as Hinske came over and climbed into InuYasha's lap. "Father, why can't Shippo just go to mother's time, she said that she had seen a few fox demons there."

InuYasha's jaw dropped, while Sango almost fell off the bench, "Why didn't I think of that!"

Laughing at his father's behavior, Hinske looked out into the trees, "Because, father, you lack the capability of such higher thinking power." A few seconds passed as Hinske got off InuYasha and leaned against a nearby tree, his finger's plugging his ears, while Sango tried to stifle her laughter.

Then it came, "What did you say! Get back here you little brat!" Sango couldn't take it anymore as she burst out laughing, all the time watching InuYasha chase Hinske about angrily while he shouted profanities.

Right then, Shippo came strolling back into the clearing as he hefted a large bundle of firewood under one shoulder. He glanced amusedly at InuYasha and Hinske, "Did he insult InuYasha's intelligence again?"

Sango could only giggle as she shook her head indicating yes.

"Must be nice..."

Sango ceased laughing as she heard the gentle whisper from Shippo as he walked past her and into the hut, she was about to go after Shippo, but the child on her waist started to cry at all the noise and she was left to calm him.

Inside the hut, Shippo made his way to his room and went inside quietly. His room was simple, it had only a stack of clean clothes, dirty clothes, and the cot in the corner. It was all he needed, 'yeah right', chuckling dryly at his thoughts he went and laid down upon his cot willing himself to rest.

But, like so many times before, he was unable to even nap and it was only getting worse. Knowing that he was being stupid for trying, Shippo decided to stare at the wall as he let his thought's overtake him.

'Why, I don't need a mate, I have my friends. But...damn, why do I feel so lonely all the time?'

Outside he could hear the laughing voices of Sango, InuYasha, Hinske, and Natsume. That same feeling he had forced down several times resurfaced and he felt tears starting to well up in his eyes for the third day in a row.

No matter how hard he told himself he wasn't alone, he was, he wanted to have the same as his friends. That same feeling of being alone that he felt when his father died, when Sango and Miroku finally got married, when InuYasha and Kagome mated, and when they each had borne their pups. All those things built up and here he was, reduced to crying in his room like he was still a pup himself.

He had been there, the day that all of this really started, the day Sesshoumaru told InuYasha about the other fox demons. Those few words that were shared had shattered his false sence of hope, he had thought that maybe he would mate with a human female, but being the only one left of his kind made that impossible.

By his honor as the last of his kind he had to restore the line of fox demons in this area, but since there was no other fox demon's, he had no chance of that, at all. Feeling his body shake, Shippo let his youkai take over and the change occurred, his fur sprouted and he took on his true demon form.

Outside he could smell the approach of Miroku, his two sons, and Kagome, deciding he had given himself enough self loathing he decided to greet them. Getting to his feet, Shippo made his way to his door and nudged it open with his nose, making his way towards the entrance of the hut he heard the happy greetings and his heart sank.

Gritting his teeth, he changed back into his human-like form and walked outside, the sight that greeted him did more to damage his heart than mend it. Kagome and InuYasha were kissing and Miroku was sporting his normal red mark to the cheek as he took his young son from Sango.

Sensing Shippo's presence, InuYasha pulled away from Kagome and shoved her towards Shippo, smiling the whole time. That smile gave Shippo the creeps, it always meant that the Hanyou was planning something, 'but what does Kagome have to do with it?'

Kagome, on the other hand, sent InuYasha a death glare and that brought a small smile to Shippo's lips, 'InuYasha's in for it latter.'

Turning to look at Shippo, Kagome could see the sadness that was in his eyes, even though he had a smile on his face. It made her feel like she was somewhat responsible for her fiends dampened spirits as of late, as she hugged him she spied InuYasha motioning for her to voice his 'Hinske's' idea on how to cheer him up.

Pulling back, Kagome looked at her friend and took the chance hoping it worked, "Shippo, would you like to come to my time with me?"

A/N- Well, hope that's better! Ja Ne!