Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Barbie

Shippo sat outside of Kaede's Hut with a now calm Sakura. When everyone came inside the first time, she started yelling and despite not being able to move, she threatened to kill them all, thinking they would hurt her, but Kagome quickly calmed the girl.

Shippo watched as Sakura played with the dolls hair, Sakura had called the doll Yuki, and now, Yuki sat in her lap, in clothing that matched Sakura.

Kagome brought the clothes, saying they were easy to get because Yuki was the same size as something called a "Barbie Doll"

Sakura and Yuki were in matching pink summer dresses and Shippo couldn't stop himself from staring at the girl as her red hair blew in the wind.

Sakura was almost completely healed; the only problem was her badly burned back and her bruised ribs. What was once a gash in her forehead was not just a cut that was covered with a bandage, and, as everyone thought, there was a scar left on her cheek.

Sometimes Sakura woke up screaming that everything was a mistake and she pleaded with them to take her back to the river where they found her, kill her and throw her in. Other times like now, she was silent and had a distant look in her eyes.

Weather she was screaming, silent, sleeping, eating, playing, healing, or bandaged up, Shippo always thought she was pretty.

"Just what are you staring at?" Sakura asked.

Shippo shook his head. "I…I was…"

Sakura smirked slightly, she often caught him staring at her and watching her when he thought she was sleeping. Once he came close to her and touched her ears. Kagome also had a habit of playing with her ears when she was doing her hair.

"Don't worry about it." Sakura said. "I'm not mad." She held Yuki in her lap and leaned against the hut with her eyes closed.

Shippo, now embarrassed looked away from her now, trying to focus on other things, he watched a few insects fly by and soon a butterfly flew near and fluttered around Sakura's face.

Sakura opened her eyes slightly, but when the butterfly landed on her nose, her eyes widened a bit more and she crossed her eyes to look at it.

Shippo laughed and suddenly wished he had one of those things Kagome called a camera. He'd seen her take pictures with it and he wanted a picture of Sakura, she just looked so cute with her eyes crossed and a butterfly on her nose with its wings open like a mask.

Sakura sniffed slightly, she was positive this was the same butterfly she saw while playing in the fields near the performance house.

The butterfly walked up her nose and to her forehead, flying to her hair, after another flower, sure enough, Sakura had a little red flower in her hair, one Shippo had picked, he was rather fond of doing so or finding gifts for her.

Every one of them found contentment spending time with her or doing something with her.

The slayer, who she found out, was named Sango talked a lot to her, especially after finding that her mother was the one who made the attempt on her life. She told Sakura that she was almost killed by her brother, Sakura pretended not to be interested in the conversations, but secretly, she looked forward to them and always kept her ears open.

Kagome, the one who wore strange clothes was fond of bringing her similar clothes and things and dressing her up like a little doll and putting bows in her hair. Once Sakura had pulled her hair into pigtails and Kagome had a fit and instantly removed them because they hid her "Adorable ears" if they were so adorable, why did her mother try to kill her?

Kouga, Ginta and Hakkaku, upon realizing that she was a wolf like them, took it upon themselves to teach her how to be one. She listened to Ginta and Hakkaku, remembering their voices, knowing they were the ones who rescued her, at first she was mad at them for not letting her stay there and die, then she was grateful. She thought of them as her big brothers, they even called her little sister.

Kouga, she suspected, only took an interest in her because of Kagome. She wasn't as patient or sweet with Kouga as she was with her big brothers. He thought just because he was the alpha of his tribe, that she was supposed to do what he said, he expected her to be docile, something she never was. She believed that a female should only be docile to her mate or someone she respected.

She didn't have a mate yet, but she respected Ginta, Hakkaku, and Kaede.

Whenever Kouga tried to teach her to hunt, he over exerted her and constantly upset her, causing her to start screaming, stomping her feet and throwing punches at Kouga. She made such a ruckus that everyone who heard her wails suspected he was beating her.

Whenever she screamed, Hakkaku would bring her fresh meat, cut it for her and feed her, she never had fresh meat when living with her mother and didn't know how good it was, and then Ginta would take her to play in a river or meadow.

When they didn't come to her rescue, which was rare, Inuyasha came. He was a half demon too and that somehow made him understand her better. He knew she didn't have the energy Kouga insisted she had and knew that's what caused her tantrums. He would take her and jump into a tree with her and let her pout silently.

When he wasn't looking, she left the tree and went to find Kaede, who enjoyed her company. Kaede would take her along when she went to get herbs and told her what each one was and what it was used for. Sakura once found one behind a rock and brought it to Kaede and smiled at her, telling her the plant could be crushed and used to draw poison and infection from a wound, Kaede then patted her head and congratulated her on a job well done.

Sakura was proud when she made Kaede happy so she spent as much time around her as she could. Once she caught a rabbit on her on and surprised everyone when she didn't eat it on her own, instead she snapped its neck and took it to Kaede to make stew. Kaede laughed and thanked the girl, patting her head again. Sakura smiled and then skinned the animal and cleaned it, making a mess and ruining a yellow sundress from Kagome.

Everyone seemed upset with her for making such a mess in Kaede's hut, but Kaede was calm and washed the blood off of her and changed her into a different dress. "I'm sorry." Sakura whispered, fighting back tears, she hadn't meant to make anyone mad.

Kaede smiled at her and took her hands saying "Ye have nothing to apologize for. Ye are still a child and that's what children do…they make messes. But ye did well with the rabbit, it can still be cooked." Kaede heard Sakura sniffle and whimper softly. "Don't go getting upset." Kaede said. "Ye did something very nice for me and that's nothing to be sad about. Ye have every right to be proud of yourself right now childe."

It was needless to say that Sakura favored the old woman out of any of them; she was nothing like her mothers description of humans. He mother said Humans were vile and vicious, she called them the scum of the earth and told Sakura to stay away from them, they were murderous and would kill her like they done to Yuna's family and then they had sold her to Leiko. "Would you ever sell me to the old bat mama?" Sakura asked.

"No," Yuna said. "It would make me just as bad as the humans, besides, I love you Sakura, and one day, I'll make sure you make it out of here."

It was a lie. Sakura thought with closed eyes, as the butterfly sucked nectar from the flower in her hair. You only wanted me to make it out to be rid of me…You never loved me at all…did you mama?

Shippo looked up as he smelled salt and looked at Sakura. Sure enough, tears were rolling down her pink cheeks.

Sakura watches as the butterfly flew away from her hair and fluttered around her face before flying off, perhaps it was thanking her. Sakura stood once the bug was gone and started to walk away. Shippo followed. "Where are you going?" He asked, trying to catch up with her.

"For a walk," Sakura said and kept moving. "Now leave me alone." Sakura walked but heard Shippo's footsteps and growled menacingly. "I don't need your company." She said and ran off, knowing that even though she was a half demon, wolves were faster than foxes, and the fact that she was taller and had longer legs made it even easier to escape him.

Shippo watched her go, he was confused. She had been moody since she woke up, he noticed that Sakura could go to grateful, to spiteful, to happy, to sassy, to sweet, to mad then depressed in one instant. He didn't know what was causing all of this, but he knew it was dangerous to her, she couldn't handle all of the emotions inside of her and he was scared she'd break down and hurt herself.

Shippo took a deep breath and quickly caught Sakura's scent, although he couldn't keep up with her, he could still find her. By the time he did, it was almost dark, he found her in the woods, sitting up, leaning against a tree, sleeping. "Sakura…" he whispered and moved closer to her, he sighed in relief when he saw no new injuries, accidental or self-inflicted.

She looked so peaceful in her sleep, as if everything was all right with her so he didn't disturb her, she needed that peaceful moment. Shippo moved closer and looked at her face, touching the scar on her cheek. She never told him about herself before she ended up in the river or who was to blame for her being there but whoever did it was to blame for her instability.

She would constantly jump when Kagome tried to treat the burn on her back, she had gone into a fit of rage when Kagome accidentally touched it too hard and started clawing at her, after that day Kaede was the only one who would treat her because Sakura wouldn't attack her.

Kaede burned calming incense in the room that kept Sakura still and most of the time afterwards; Sakura would take a nap after Kaede was done with her.

Shippo wanted to go back and tell everyone where they were, but he didn't want to leave her. While she was deep in her slumber, Shippo crawled into her lap and curled up, inhaling her scent until he himself fell asleep.

Later:

Sakura woke up much later, it was dark she felt something moving against her stomach. She looked down and saw Shippo gripping her dress with one hand and nuzzling his cheek against her stomach; she smiled a little and carefully lifted him, holding him against her chest as she walked back to the village.

He stopped moving; maybe he was calmer hearing her heart beat. She walked back to the village and sighed, knowing many questions awaited her once she returned; there had been nothing but questions since she got here.

It wasn't that she disliked them, she just hated the way they tried to pry into her life. They were trying to get her to open up, but she didn't want to. What was there to open up about? Her mother tried to kill her, end of story. It was none of their business, why didn't they understand that?

Sango knew it was her mother, but she never told, knowing Sakura was embarrassed by it. It's not that she told Sango, Sango guessed when Sakura woke up from a nightmare. Sango told her she was crying "Mama Stop, Mama I'm sorry, Mama don't kill me."

She made her way back and slipped her shoes off before going inside, relieved there was no one inside. Maybe they were out looking for her and Shippo.

Sakura laid out Kagome's sleeping bag and tried to put Shippo on it, but he wasn't releasing her dress. She didn't want to ruin another one so she sighed, defeated and laid down with him and curled up on her side around him. Maybe he was afraid she'd run off again.

Why did he care? It made no sense to her, he barely knew her, she was mean to him, but he still cared. And she was glad he did.

But she didn't know why she cared if he did or not. She shrugged it off and closed her eyes, she was exhausted and her emotions seemed so out of control today, she left Shippo earlier before she had a chance to say or do something to the kitsune that she would regret.

She opened her eyes for second when she felt him nuzzling against her again; she smiled a little and closed her eyes.

No one could find the children, they reported back to the hut to see if maybe they had come back and they were all relieved to see Sakura and Shippo curled up in Kagome's sleeping bag.

"They're alright." Kagome sighed in relief. "They're asleep."

Miroku looked and when he saw Shippo, he laughed softly. "It looks like Shippo is growing up." He said, everyone looked at him, "Look at how he's sleeping against her." Miroku pointed out. "And how now he always spends his time with Sakura, and have any of you seen the way he looks at her? I think Shippo may be falling for her."

Ginta and Hakkaku knew that was a possibility. Sakura was pleasant to be around with a scent that could soothe the most disgruntled person.

She was playful, light hearted, and a very beautiful child. If she was older and they didn't consider her their sister, they would both pursue her, and but the time she was of mating age, they'd have a hard time keeping all males off of her. Right now their main concern was Shippo. They sniffed the air and growled lowly.

Shippo's scent was all over Sakura.

Next day:

"I don't want a bath." Sakura protested as Kaede filled a large tub with water and medicinal herbs. Sakura looked at the wooden tub that Kaede had borrowed from someone in the village and watched as the water turned green from the plants, some of them plants that Sakura had found herself.

"Weather ye want it or not is not the issue, it is needed for two reasons, one, the medicines will heal those wounds faster and prevent infections, and two, you're filthy once more, get in now." Kaede said this firmly and gently at the same time, firmly because Sakura would not listen if she gave into her and gently because she didn't want to upset the child.

Sakura pouted and removed her dress, Sitting Yuki on top of Kagome's Yellow bag and proceeded to get in the wooden tub. It looked like it may have been used for laundry or to hold fruit, but it was big and sturdy enough to hold Sakura and her bathwater.

Sakura may have not wanted a bath, but at least she could bathe privately. She sat in the water and winced as the water flowed into her cuts and burns once she was able to relax and let the medicine do it's job, she found it worked very well, even the pain where her rib were was dulled.

Kaede stayed for a little and poured the water over Sakura's back, making sure the burn would get enough medicine. She then was careful washing her face, careful to get the spot where a gash had once been. "There," Kaede said. "I'm done; now I'm going to run an errand, stay in the tub until you're clean."

"Fine." Sakura said. "But weather clean or not, I'm not staying in here if my skin starts to wrinkle." Kaede left, after setting out a new outfit for Sakura, it was a simple kimono, yellow with white flowers around the bottom and around the bottoms of the sleeves and a yellow obi, it was made for summer, so she knew Sakura wouldn't get hot in it.

The little girl washed her self, knowing Kaede would make her take another bath if she wasn't clean, once she felt she was clean, she closed her eyes and submerged her body in the water, her flame like hair floated in every direction, making it look like there was a fire on her head. She easily held her breath and stayed on the bottom of the tub for a while.

Elsewhere:

Shippo bounced towards Kaede's hut, he saw Sakura going into there earlier and decided to leave her for a while, now he found a place in the woods where beautiful red flowers grew and wanted to show her. Red seemed to be her favorite color so he was sure she'd like them.

He ran faster and pulled her covering aside to get in so he could get Sakura and show her the flowers, he wanted to cheer her up, she was crying yesterday and although she seemed fine this morning, he still thought it would be nice to show her. "Hey Sakura!" he yelled and ran in.

What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

Elsewhere:

Sakura was still under the water, just relaxing. She soon came to the surface and took a deep breath, wringing out her hair and drying her eyes.

She smiled a little then shuttered when she felt the dead skin from her burn soften and float off of her back I'm clean enough. She thought and got up quickly before the skin had a chance to touch her. She stepped out and onto a towel before that was next to the tub and used the other to dry her body.

As she moved to dry her hair, someone ran into the hut and called her. She quickly covered and turned to see Shippo staring at her, wide eyed and red faced.

"I…I…" Shippo started.

Sakura's face was red in anger and embarrassment. "Get out." She said.

"I'm sorry," Shippo tried to apologize but narrowly dodged one of Sakura's new sandals.

"Leave!" Sakura screeched so loud half the village heard. Shippo left the hut quickly and ran back into the woods.

Sakura was mad at him and he hated it.

Later:

Shippo came back to the hut later, when he was sure Sakura was calmer. "Hi," he said softly, finding Sakura sitting inside, playing with Yuki.

"Hi." Sakura said and smiled at him.

Shippo was confused. "Aren't you mad at me?"

Sakura shook her head. "No," she said. "It was an accident…just… don't rush in so quickly next time. Kaede's been giving me some kind or herbal baths to help me heal faster."

"Do they help?" Shippo asked.

"Yeah." Sakura admitted, and then shook her hair "And it makes my hair shine…tail too."

Shippo nodded and came closer to Sakura, something behind his back. Sakura looked at him curiously then watched as he held out a type of flower she'd never seen before. But it was red, her favorite color.

"Wow!" Sakura said. "It's so pretty!"

Shippo held it closer her and said, "Kagome said it's called a carnation…and it's for you."

Sakura smiled and took it, thanking him. "You don't have to always bring me flowers." Sakura said.

"But you like them." Shippo argued. He didn't add that he liked to see her face light up when she got them, or that he was bringing her flowers because he kept thinking of her.

"I think this one's my favorite." She said and kissed his cheek. "Thank you Shippo."

"I wanted to show you where they grow…that's why I ran in here earlier."

"Will you still show me?" she asked hopefully.

Shippo nodded. He knew she'd like to see the place, but he told her it would have to be tomorrow because it was so late. Sakura agreed and smiled, she couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Later that night:

Shippo couldn't sleep. He kept looking at Sakura who was curled up in her own new sleeping bag from Kagome with a picture on it of someone called Hannah Montana.

He looked around to make sure no one was awake and slid out of Kagome's arms. He walked over to Sakura and slid in beside her. "Sakura," he whispered and gently nudged her.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes and looked at Shippo. She yawned softly, wondering why he wasn't over there with Kagome. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Remember when I walked in on you today?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sakura answered, "Why?"

"Well…" Shippo said nervously. "I saw something and I was wondering…can I see your back again?"

Sakura was suddenly wide awake…what did he just ask her? She looked to see if he was joking, he was completely serious. He wanted to see her back.

She searched his eyes and saw that he had no intentions of harming her if she did what he asked so she sat up and loosened her clothes, letting the kimono fall around her waist.

She felt Shippo's eyes on her and soon, he was tracing the outside of her burn with his finger. "It's a tree." He whispered.

"Huh?" Sakura asked and looked at him.

"On your back," he explained. "The mark looks like a tree."

Sakura huffed as if to say that this was nonsense as she fixed her clothes and lay back down. Shippo smiled and lay beside her. It was silent for a few minutes before Sakura finally whispered. "What kind of tree?"

Shippo smiled and nuzzled her back where the burn mark would leave a scar. "A cherry blossom tree." He whispered and slowly fell asleep against her back.

A/N: R&R please and give me Ideas for the next chapter. This one was mainly the children and how Sakura adjusts to her new surroundings. Tell me what I should do next.