Title: Saved by the pack

Rated: K

Words: 2, 619

Summary: Every one gets to know Rin alot better


"Kyaaaaa!" Rin screamed as she ran from the bear youkai at her heels, not given the time to dry up from her bath when it had attacked. Lord Sesshomaru had made his leave as the usual, and left her under Jaken's care…Rin had been bathing when the youkai had decided to attack. She squealed in alarm when she was lifted off her feet….whimpering upon realizing that she had no way of escaping the beast's grasp….silently praying that her lord would come to save her

"WIND SCAR!" a gruff holler suddenly filled the dreadful silence, she yelped in surprise when she suddenly pummeled to the ground….feeling a strange sense of déjà vu at this. The sound of the youkai's pained roar filled her ears along with the light sound of someone hitting the ground.

"InuYasha" Miroku called out panting lightly as he and Kirara came to a stop by the hanyou "is it really necessary to jump into battle and mindlessly kill the opponent?" he chided giving his friend a incredulous look "you ran off before Kagome could inform you there was no shard involved" he added as he straightened up

InuYasha just turned his back towards the others sheathing his sword and crossed his arms over his lean chest "keh, could have said something…" he trailed off as a familiar scent reached his nose, ignoring the questioning looks of his pack members….he stopped at a bush and reached out, grabbing Rin by the collar of her kimono and lifted her up "look what we have here" he muttered eyeing the little girl with a harsh look.

Rin was rather used to the scrutinizing gaze of many…..but the intense gaze of InuYasha made her shift uncomfortably in his grasp. InuYasha lifted her to eye level "your Sesshomaru's pup, right?" he asked never moving his golden gaze…..she didn't know what he meant by the term 'pup' but simply nodded in response

Before InuYasha could say anything else….Rin was yanked out of his grasp "Rin" Kagome squealed as she hugged the little girl close to her "are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" she bombarded the child with questions and fretting like a mother hen, when receiving a quiet 'no' from a baffled Rin….Kagome turned her gaze to the hanyou and gave him a disapproving look "how is it you didn't notice her at all?" she asked darkly

He just responded with a scoff "the kid is tiny, I didn't notice her until the fucking demon dropped her" he defended himself…the comment only seemed to get himself in more trouble

"So you're saying you used the 'Wind Scar' while she was in the bear youkai's grasp?" Sango inquired with a disapproving look on her face

InuYasha prone to yelling…covered up his embarrasment with anger "get off my back! The kids okay ain't she? And I don't see her fussing about it" he snapped turning his back towards the others. They all simply shook their heads at the stubborn hanyou

"Don't get mad at Lord InuYasha. Rin has been through much worse anyway" Rin spoke up in defense to her savior…not giving a thought to InuYasha's grumbling protest against the title 'lord' and smiled up at everyone, she then turned at InuYasha's direction and gave him a large happy smile "thank you very much Lord InuYasha" she stated

His face was by now red at the girl's admiration and simply grumbled "stop calling me that" weird kid….he wondered how it is Sesshomaru kept a little girl as friendly and talkative as Rin around….probably couldn't stand being alone with something as freaky and annoying as Jaken.

MEANWHILE

Sesshomaru walked down the path that lead to the clearing where he left Rin, his day of scouting the area had come done fruitless with no sign of Naraku anywhere. All he anticipated at the moment was to lie back and enjoy a nap of sort – hopefully without a single squawking sound from that pestering vassal of his – and if not…..watch in amusement as Rin drove Jaken insane

His mental planning came to an abrupt stop when he heard the familiar annoying screeching that only Jaken can make "RIN! RIN WHERE ARE YOU!" reached his pointed ears and he knew that once again Jaken had failed to do that one simple task he commanded of him

'Damn that useless toad, might as well have AhUn take care of her' he thought darkly as he followed the path that lead to Jaken.

The search was short lived when he found his vassal walking in circles – most likely having spent many hours and finally reached exhaustion – muttering Rin's name with desperation as he dragged his staff behind him "Rin where are you?" Jaken called out just about ready to collapse

Enough of this foolishness "Jaken" at the sound of his deep baritone voice….the tiny youkai went rigid for a few moments before slowly turning to look at his master…trembling in fear for whatever cruel torture the Daiyoukai has planned for him

"Yes mi lord?" he replied with a tiny voice

His heart raced in fear at the intense intimidating gold gaze that doesn't falter a moment 'he knows what happened' Jaken thought with dread and gulped "where. Is. Rin?" hes not fooled by the calm voice his lord always maintains….he knows hes in trouble for sure when he sees the flicker of anger crossing the dog demon's gold eyes every second

He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably as he twiddled his tiny green thumbs "well, you see my lord. For most of the day Rin has been doing nothing but picking flowers all day….so I assumed it would be safe to take a small nap….but I failed to remember that she had been planning on taking a bath at the river near where we harbored…" the slightest narrow of Sesshomaru's eyebrows show that he is losing patience on him, in a panic rush "when I went to go check up on her…..she was….gone" he trailed off

As soon as the last word left his beak, a fist made contact with his tiny head…soon after he was sent flying "Forgive me my lord!" he screeched in despair

Sesshomaru didn't bother a second glance at the flying toad as he went off to look for Rin…something that useless servant was unable to do.


InuYasha doesn't know how Sesshomaru could stand this energized chatter. Since the moment they stopped for camp…the little girl has done nothing but babble happily and ask increasing amounts of questions. Along with the fact they discovered Shippo can be just about more rambunctious and mischievous when in company of another child his age

At the moment even Shippo was worn out as he lay sprawled on his back few feet away, Rin had decided for some unknown reason to sit next to him and make flower necklaces….and he did not plan on wearing any of them when offered

It was then he noticed the attentive stares Rin was giving him…more specifically his ears, he lowered his ears subconsciously mentally thinking of how it may be that Sesshomaru – or most likely Jaken – filled her in of bad things about him….the thought just made him defensive "what?" he snapped not amused when she flinched at his harsh voice…he ignored Kagome and Sango's warning looks

Rin just tilted her head and looked at him curiously "why doesn't Lord Sesshomaru have ears like yours?" she asked her innocent gaze never wavering as she looked up at him

He blanched at the question and quickly changed to one a disinterest when he noticed the others looking "feh, cause hes a fully fledged demon" he replied leaning back against the tree….a somewhat annoyed look on his tan face

Rin cocked her head at this "and you're not?" she wondered out loud promptly earning a snicker from the young fox kit not far from where they sat

InuYasha's thick eyebrow twitched as his face flushed with anger at the kid's boldness "the ears give you any clue?" he asked as he twitched his ears to prove a point….leaning dangerously close to her and giving her a menacing look "or hasn't that bastard told you of his 'worthless hanyou' brother?" Rin was not by any means intimidated as she simply gave a small sheepish smile….he grunted in irritation…shes been around Sesshomaru too long

Rin seemed to try to lighten him up "when I'm older, I want my babies to have ears like yours" she exclaimed with a bright look on her face….the bold statement just about dumbfounded everyone around her 'this kid is nuts' InuYasha thought looking and feeling beyond baffled

It was then a sneaky mischievous thought sprang through InuYasha's mind, feigning aloofness…he laid back against the tree behind him…linking his hands behind his head "I don't know kid, that won't happen if you marry some Inu Daiyoukai" he said with feigned interest

Kagome emediantly knew what the hanyou was scheming and shook her head 'he plans on returning a lovesick fantasying little girl to Sesshomaru, and when I thought Souta's scams were bad' she thought as she noticed the dreamy look on the little girls face "InuYasha?" she called to her demon friend….voice sounding calm and content…hiding the warning tone

The sneaky smirk on InuYasha's face disappeared as he looked at Kagome "what?" he replied driven away from the thoughts of his older brother having to deal with smitten Rin

The future miko gave him an exasperated smile "I don't think its best that you're playing with Rin's mind like that, giving her false hopes would only lead to her getting hurt" she chided giving him a disapproving pout "you know how Sesshomaru thinks" she added as she started preparing for dinner

He pouted in annoyance and glanced at the little girl sitting next to him….still possessing that same dreamy look on her face 'shes seriously that taken by Sesshomaru?' he thought in amusement "bah, its not like he'll do anything bad about it. I'm sure he'd rather go to hell than hurt this kid's feelings" he defended himself…unaware of his defense on Sesshomaru's part, quiet obvious to the amused looks on the faces of his friends

Sango shook her head at her dog eared friend "Rin, don't you want to get cleaned up? I'm sure your bath had been ruined with that run in you had" she commented gesturing to the dirt smeared on the little girl's legs and hands…and her face as well

Rin looked down at her tiny hands….frowning when she noticed how dirty her hands…along with everything else on her person was smeared with dry dirt "Rin would like that very much" she replied smiling at the slayer's offer


Sesshomaru looked down at the carcass with dissatisfaction…not finding any signs of his young ward, though he wasn't sure if he should be concerned….when he caught scent of his brother and that odd pack of his. He was well aware that his Rin would be safe with them…his brother's miko proved to show a protective motherly instinct toward children – reasons beyond him – he didn't have a problem with the slayer….his only problem with Rin being with them was the monk

He repressed a merging growl at the thought of that man…and he was sure enough that it won't end in a while.

The Daiyoukai turned toward the direction where he knew his half brother….along with his pack headed.


InuYasha sat perched on a tree branch…happy that the hyperactive little girl was finally put to rest, napping underneath the tree he harbored. He picked his sharp teeth with his claw contently until a familiar scent reached his sensitive nose.

His landing caught everyone's attention – with the exception of Rin – that slept peacefully in her place by the tree. InuYasha looked at the approaching familiar beam of light harshly as it quickly closed in on them. He didn't bother pushing his long silver hair back when a gust of wind hit them as it the beam passed

Everyone watched the beam wearily as it changed shape…taking the form of Lord Sesshomaru. The way he eyed them made it seems as if they were the instigators to Rin's disappearance, eyeing them the way he was made everyone around InuYasha shift uncomfortably…noticeably Miroku…who chose to hide behind Sango – obviously not forgetting that unfortunate event several weeks ago - inching away from the cold stare they should have been used to seeing

"You have something that belongs o me" Sesshomaru spoke with his usual deep baritone voice not once letting his gaze waver….the statement nearly had InuYasha thinking just how possessive was his half brother over the little girl

Huffing in impatience and annoyance at his brother's silent accusation, InuYasha's hand flew to the hilt of his tetsusaiga….only to be restrained by Miroku before he could even unsheathe his sword "don't be so rash InuYasha, there is no need to start a senseless battle" despite his weariness of the Daiyoukai "he is just here for Rin, nothing more" he added slowly moving his hand away when he received a grunt in response

Shippo inched closer to Rin and gently shook her shoulder….when not receiving a quick response; he shook her shoulder with a bit more force. Rin blinked her eyes drowsily…mumbling incoherent words until she noticed the object of her affections "Lord Sesshomaru!" she squealed with glee as she ran toward the tall demon….babbling happily of her recent events, Sesshomaru simply eyed her with the tiniest hint of amusement

Everyone else watched with curiosity at the strange couple…noticeably Kagome restrained herself from squealing at the cuteness.

His gold eyes then turned to the group for a moment….until once again turning his gaze on little Rin "we're leaving" he stated before turning his back against the group, after a short farewell to all of them from Rin's part...he walked away once he got a positive response.

One to not be able to hold his tongue "a thanks would be appreciated, you ungrateful bastard" ignoring the exasperate sighs he got in response…leave it to him to ruin the peace. InuYasha stared head on as his brother looked over his shoulder….a look of disinterest clear on his flawless face….the hanyou could barely make out the sound 'hn' before Sesshomaru continued on his way….a humming Rin at his heels.

The group stared at the two as they disappeared in the midst of the tall trees…..it was until moments standing there that they suddenly heard a familiar annoying screech "LORD SESSHOMARU! WAIT FOR ME!" and they looked behind them to see a familiar tiny exhausted youkai dragging AhUn behind him.