Okay, so some of you know I was restructuring this anyway. If you want to look at the original snippets check my Tumblr, at some point they'll be put in a separate location (theTorchofAlexandria).

Also, huge thank you to my absolutely awesome Beta, Of Chaos and Destruction.

The first time he catches the scent, Hatake Kakashi doesn't know what it means. The second time, he is too distracted by pain and blood and fire. The third time is in Grass, and emotion swamps him- rage and outrage, and a sharp fear. He finally, finally goes to the Temple while Shikako goes to visit the Fire Temple, Naruto is still with Jiraiya and Sasuke is on a mission. When he reaches the Temple of the West, as his Great grandfather Sesshomaru has dubbed his court as it is now, centuries after immigration, Kakashi is greeted by his Great grandmother herself, Taisho no Rin. Despite a small stature and unwizened features, Rin is ever the strong woman who attended to him after his birth.

"He's waiting for you, pup." Kakashi nods, bending to press a kiss to her cheek. "Yes, Baa-sama." He hurries away to the sound of her huff of pleasure. He finds Sesshomaru where he was sure he would- in the solarium overlooking the training of young Youkai.

Some events are entirely predictable, the Inu no Taisho, Sesshomaru, mused. Births- yes, to an extent, Matings- the only predictable thing was in how a males' nature would change, and deaths- well, some were, some weren't. Those were the only things youkai really cared about, most could care less about anything else.

This event, however, both was and was not predictable. His Great grandson, Kakashi, was hurrying toward his Court, and he was . . . changed, if only slightly. Where before his slightly demonic nature and chakra had calmly coiled inside him, it was now tautly controlled, Kakashi no longer simply aware, but actively managing it . . . well, this was interesting. Sesshomaru felt Rin send a surge of affection through their mating bond, felt it twist in a way that indicated she'd sent Kakashi his way.

"Ji-sama." The silver haired ninja intoned as he bowed. Sesshomaru dismissively replied.

"You're ready for mating." Kakashi blinks and argues "I am not even full youkai." Sesshomaru sighs and rebuts.

"Your father was my grandson by my hanyou daughter and that accursed Koga's eldest son, your mother was the daughter of my brother and his miko mate. You have enough youkai blood for the Inu no Taisho to know when you are ready to mate." Before Kakashi can think of another retort, Sesshomaru asks

"Have you smelled wildflowers and wintergreen on a female?" The Hatake Scion nearly says 'no', until he remembers. Shikako's scent of grass and sunshine had been- more than once!- replaced by one or the other or both. His mouth goes dry.

"She is my student, and nearly fifteen years younger." Sesshomaru turns serious gold eyes to a single grey. "Then you must choose. Stay fast until she can join with and take your mark, fake your death, or watch her die." A growl ascends Kakashis' throat. Sesshomaru is unimpressed.

"If you cannot stand by, let her live her life as she would without mating you, you must leave, and the only way to do that is if you die, in a ninja village. If you remain and cannot stand the absolute agony awaiting you if you do not act, you will go feral, and whatever events unfold, you will regain your sanity as she dies, Kakashi." Sesshomaru turns, wishing that mating Rin had not calmed his inner turmoil, so that this once, he could act ruthlessly against his blood kin and protect Kakashi from the heartbreak awaiting this stubborn pup. Kakashi himself is wide eyed, hearing this, and the once so collected, lazy jounin is reduced once more to the pup Sesshomaru had blessed at three years of age.

"Ji-sama,why-" It breaks something, deep in Sesshomaru's heart, that Kakashi is thrice cursed, for he and Koga are his great grandsires, and Inuyasha is his grandsire, and all three damn near lost their mates before they realized they had them.

"If you do not claim her when she is ready, if you do not protect her until you can, there will be others, Grandson." Kakashi nodded and walked away to the room the house demons had no doubt prepared, tp muse over the subtext of his grandsires' message.

He's right, though they do not have the right to her that I do, other males will be vying for Shikakos' affections, if they aren't already . . . so I must either man up and take what is mine in the appropriate increments, or . . . let her go.

He wanted to howl at the idea, Shikako was HIS. Summoning Pakkun and the rest of the ninken, he filled them in on the situation.

"So, we have an Alpha female, then?" Akino asks with interest, only for Uhei to nip his ear and growl.

"No, Alpha has to mate her first, baka." Kakashi snorted and moved to stand, ignoring his ninken as he retired to his comfortable bed.

The next morning at breakfast, after greeting the rest of his youkai pack, Kakashi sat down to eat, while Sesshomaru raised his arms for quiet. The assorted Youkai looked at him expectantly, since Sesshomaru was notorious for hating breakfast disruptions.

"Kakashi has found his mate." The quiet pronouncement set off a buzz of whispers. Sesshomaru continued

"Until he is fully mated, we are relocating from Tanzaku Gai to Konoha. Prepare, we leave in three days' time." Some might have thought this overkill, but Kakashi was a Prince of the Court of the West, directly descended of both the current and previous Inu no Taisho. He is valued, yes, but they just wanted to make sure he didn't fuck up his mating. Inuyasha chuckles, while Kagome beams. Ayame and Koga are already arguing over whose mating Kakashi's would more closely resemble (he does not know why, but had long since accepted his pack was weird).

Kakashi goes ahead, to pave the way. He snickers at the idea of Konoha meeting his snooty packmates- but hey, they are a noble clan.

Once in Konoha proper, Kakashi dawdled his way to the Tower, noting he needed to phrase this carefully, because while not much was known about his clan, they weren't going to be able to frolic in the streets in full demon form. He waits patiently to be admitted to Tsunades' office, sauntering in to casually declare

"My clan has been in Tanzaku Gai since before my father died, and they would like to return to the compound here, so I've taken the liberty of renewing the accords that were written with Hashirama." Dropping the thick scroll on her desk, he bolted for the window, meeting up with the small entourage that waited at the bottom.

"C'mon, this way to the compound." He commanded the special repair youkai, who took to the roof tops with him, hurrying to the compound to prepare.

When the compound in general was ready, Kakashi started preparing his house. The spacious, three story house was a maze of rooms, and he would take advantage of that. The kitchen, living and dining rooms were in the formal Japanese style, rather than the post-Apocalypse style of most Elemental countries. Each bedroom had an ensuite bath, with smaller sitting rooms connecting two at a time. Sasuke, Naruto and Yamato had been assigned their own rooms, simply equipped, each with their own western style bathroom, Sasuke and Naruto shared a sitting room, while there was a few guest rooms on the same floor. Tenzou's suite was a little more comfortably equipped, though still situated on the same floor.

His room and Shikakos' were both of the old master suite, from the time when it was fashionable for the Alpha pair to have separate but adjacent rooms. Shikakos' was bigger and a little more feminine, while his was as simply equipped as the younger males. The other rooms on the third floor were a nursery, long unused, a few rooms for younger pups, and a large room for the ninken.

It was ambitious, he knew, to move all his former charges and his kouhai, as well as Jiraiya and Gai under the same roof, even if it was only part time, but . . . Shikako wouldn't want her friends far, would like to be able to invite her twin or –he shuddered- her parents to stay the night. Besides, as it was inevitable that the others would hear about this, no one could say he wasn't fair. All his former students and his former ANBU partner had a room in his den. His pack would be all together, safe in the demonic protections.

As a by-product of this, his apartment had been stripped by his Youkai entourage. So, when Shikako and Sasuke came home from their respective missions at the same time, they heard that their Sensei had disappeared and his apartment had been stripped by strangers. It was pure luck that they ran into Kakashi as he crossed one of the Village squares, Shikako rocketing into his arms as a frantically cool but not really composed Sasuke wrapped his chakra around Kakashi's, their Lightning natures meshing momentarily, relieving Sasuke as Shikako gripped Kakashi close.

Shikamaru, who had heard what was going on, came up behind his twin in time to see Kakashi run a soothing hand over her head, starting to extend his other arm to Sasuke, only for Shikako to burrow deeper into his vest. The Nara scion frowned. His sister was very upset that her sensei had disappeared, but this was a little strange. Shaking his head, he walked away.

"Come on, I have something to show you." Kakashi told his students with a lazy equanimity that Sasuke envied, even as he shifted Shikako so she had her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Sasuke nodded and followed his sensei, staying in his limited sensing range so he could feel Kakashi nearby. It was, it is reassuring.

When they reached the house, Kakashi tightened his grip on Shikako and led Sasuke on a tour of the house, including the basement rooms reserved for Jiraiya and Gai. Sasuke almost choked when he took in his room. It was simply equipped, with a super soft Western bed, wide desk and built in bookshelves, but the bathtub was massive, and instead of simply slapping a name placard on the door, Kakashi had engraved Sasuke's name on the door itself. The only joking touches were the Uchiwa patterned curtains and the cat sculptures arrayed on top of the chest of drawers. Kakashi also showed him where Shikakos' room was, but didn't enter, instead heading back down the staires to a resting room at the back of the house to a wide, soft but firm couch.

That, Sasuke discovered, was kind of the Hatake Motto. Comfortable safety, as he was crawling in beside Kakashi, who was already asleep with Shikako softly snoring on his chest. Sasuke vaguely registered the whispery chakra of the woman who came in to lay a blanket over them all.