A/N: Meet Sakura. Humble, sweet, talented in a way that comes from being alive for three hundred and ten years, and hopefully not a Mary Sue. Did my best not to make her too perfect or anything like that, although she had to be extraordinary just to catch Roku's attention.

Nihongo is the Japanese word for "Japanese" as in the language. For "Japanese" as in fellow countryman the word is hōjin. I use it uncapitalised there because unlike "British" or "American" it does not seem to be always capitalised, since it literally means "fellow countryman/men" rather than simply "Japanese person." I'm not one hundred percent on exactly how to use it, though, and I might be wrong on that (not the meaning, but the capitalisation of it), so if I use it incorrectly and someone notices, please let me know!

Sakura sighed and opened her eyes with a slow contentment and nearly purred; or well, at least, nearly did the inu equivalent. That was right, she was in a pack now. A sennight and she still wasn't used to how it felt to sleep in a huge pack-pile. And her Father-in-law (although she was warned that he would insist on her just calling him Father or Dad, like the brother she hadn't met did – she would probably pick Father because he was so obviously different to her birth father that it would be clear who she was talking about at any time. Not being his birth-child, it felt weird to think about calling him "Dad") would be arriving today, probably along with her newest brother, and the pack-pile would grow even larger. She'd inherited a horde of family that she never had growing up, and it was absolutely wonderful.

What was most wonderful, however, was the blessing that her mate was to her.

See, Sakura had always valued loyalty, and whenever her mother told her stories about the court, about her Lord and his family, the stories about the pranks and the stories about Roku had fascinated her more than anything about the Shikon Miko or her Lord. Kagome-sama and Sesshōmaru-sama certainly seemed wonderful, but someone that was that devoted and loyal simply made her breath catch, even before she realised what that feeling really meant.

She still hadn't realised what that feeling meant, despite the wonderful relationships she had been in, until she saw him in person and felt heat and need and want just coursing through her, her instincts screaming out that he was the one.

Kagome-ne had taken her aside a few days ago and informed her that, just in case she was worried, Roku might be soul-bound to Kagome, and vice versa… But Sakura was soul-bound to Roku, and very strongly, at that. Sakura had had the courage to ask Kagome if she had been so strongly drawn to Sesshōmaru-ni when she met him and gotten a soft chuckle in response. Then she'd been informed of something that nobody outside of the core family and their very close friends were aware of (some of them didn't even know, still!) and would never be aware of, because it was none of their business.

The first time Kagome-ne met Sesshōmaru-ni, he tried to kill her. And the second time, too! Kagome-ne had been "crushing", as she called it, on Yasha at the time, and while she had gotten over him, what developed between her and Sesshōmaru-ni went slowly and steadily, because she was mostly ningen at the time and ningen instincts didn't do the same thing as yōkai instincts. Plus, she was living two lives and being a mother; mothering her kit was more important than anything else to her. Similarly, Sesshōmaru-ni was a father to Rin, and had an important job to do, although Kagome-ne admitted that he'd told her he'd become beyond fascinated by and interested in her shortly after they formed a tenuous alliance against a mutual enemy – and even before then, he'd been very curious about her. After half a year that interest and fascination strengthened and had turned into heavy attraction and shortly after that, love.

Sakura had remarked that despite being ningen, that was a very kitsune response to things like relationships; family was most important to them, and she chuckled again, informing the brunette that Sesshōmaru-ni had said frequently that she was incredibly yōkai for a ningen. That was part of what drew him to her, and that was what kept their relationship going so strong, because no normal ningen could possibly hope to keep up with this version of Sesshōmaru. That'd confused her a bit, until Kagome-ne explained alternate worlds and dimensions, then promptly shut up. Sakura had thanked her and changed the subject, because she knew that the subject was one of those things Roku had warned her Kagome-ne was waiting for the right time to think about, and now was not the right time.

Sighing, Sakura snuggled back into her mate's chest, despite knowing it would wake him up. He generally woke up after she did but only by a tiny bit. He woke up very early indeed, and she could tell her alphas were already awake – kissing, currently, which she wanted to be doing with her mate, as Haku and Yoru (it had become clear her first full day as pack that when not doing their taijiya work or training, they were usually called those names by the pack) were also doing. Shippō and Rin would be waking up soon, and when they woke up, they tended to interrupt any kissing going on just because they could; everyone had some intimate time during every sennight, so it wasn't really a big deal.

Sure enough, Roku woke up and immediately began kissing the daylights out of her, making her giggle softly. It was very clear to her that her mate desired her as much as she desired him, and he didn't even go out of his way to show her that ever since Kagome-ne had implanted his memories of her into her head. Because whenever one of those insidious thoughts about her being second-best, or him not being capable of loving her as much as she loved him, or her not deserving his love, came up, those memories came with them and proved her wrong.

Arisa was a liar and a bitch, in the ningen use of the term, not the inu use. Sakura was fully able to be first in someone's heart, because despite his loyalty and most of his love being devoted first and foremost to Kagome-ne (it was surprisingly easy to switch from -sama to -ne and -ni, which was somewhat telling, Sakura thought), romantically, he loved Sakura most of all. He had never loved Kagome-ne like he loved Sakura, and that was blatantly clear to her now. His romantic love for Kagome-ne had never been desirous or lustful; it had always been far more innocent than that. He loved her desperately, but in so much a different way to how he loved Sakura that there just was no comparison whatsoever.

It really made her feel treasured, like he was holding her in his heart.

Kagome-ne said that when their mating bond completed fully it would literally feel like she was inside of him, and they might even develop the mind-speech aspect that she and Sesshōmaru-ni had, because even though it was only one-sided, there was still a soul-bond tying Sakura to Roku.

After a while of kissing, sure enough, Shippō woke Rin up by tickling her, and they began climbing all over everybody and demanding attention. They certainly got it; it was absurd how a woman in her sixties could be so innocent and utterly adorable, but oh how she was, and she seemed to adore Sakura, which also boosted her confidence; Rin spent so much time with Sakura and she could tell it wasn't in an interrogative or getting-to-know kind of way.

Rin knew her inside and out, every facet of her being, and had from the very first second she had seen her. It was part and parcel with the girl (yes, physically she was a woman, but she was, and would always be a girl to both her own mind and that of anyone who met her; it made her wisdom a little creepy to some people but to Sakura it just made her even cuter) that was now her niece. She couldn't even say adopted, after that book they'd had her read. She was blood-related to every damn being in Nihon with a lavender crescent on their forehead now. Her family was enormous. But it was highly likely she would never really know most of them, just the core pack and the closer friends that were pack, because while Kagome-ne somehow made time to meet up with everybody in the family regularly, the rest of the pack usually had other things to be doing; their father, for instance, was giving them all war-training.

Roku said he knew she could adapt rapidly; she was already wicked with a katana and a rapier – despite their wildly different styles she had immediately taken to both with ease as a child. Since she knew two weapons, she only needed to learn daggers (everybody had to learn daggers, because they were easily concealed) and some basic things that he also knew she would be good at – several foreign languages (she was already fluent in French, her Grand-mere's native language, and English – her Grand-mere was mixed-breed like Sakuraso she had grown up learning English. She then taught it to her daughter who taught it to Sakura), possibly acting lessons (Sakura was a master actress because she had wheedled her mother into letting her take lessons after seeing her first ningen play at their neighbouring ningen noble's shiro), and lessons on how to get information out of people without them realising you were doing it.

Sakura kind of had an advantage there, like Roku did, with her knowing things, but the physical and verbal skills would be beyond useful to have so she was definitely looking forwards to those lessons. And the lessons on daggers – they would help her hunting skills immeasurably. Those were also things she had to learn; she'd never grown up in the wilds hunting, her mother had always done the hunting whenever she was in a mood that meant she'd rather their servants not do it for her, and since she assumed that Sakura would be in a normal, stable, one-place relationship with one of the village boys or one of the court boys, she never taught Sakura more than a few basic snares. Kagome-ne and Roku each had their own styles of hunting, and they were going to teach her those, while Sesshōmaru-ni and Shippō were going to teach her how yōkai hunted; so she would have a well-rounded education. Father apparently believed that overpowered and underestimated was the way to go, and Sesshōmaru-ni agreed with him.

When Rin-chan asked Sakura why she was so excited, she responded easily, "Because my new pack-father is coming today, and he will be giving me all sorts of important lessons and testing the skills I already have."

"Oh!"

The girl smiled at her, wrapping her arms around both Sakura and Roku and snuggling underneath Sakura's chin – it was ridiculous how rapidly she had risen in the pack; even though she knew that position didn't really matter, it still existed and apparently hers was high. Like, beta high. It was, frankly, unbelievable and absurd. Yes, Roku was the beta of the pack but even so! "Rin also loves Rin's lessons! They are fun and Rin gets to learn how to be sneaky and silent – Auntie Sakura should take lessons like Rin does, to be underestimated and looked over; because Auntie Sakura is so very pretty if she doesn't have those lessons she will always stand out! And that is no good if you ever want to blend in places."

Kami but Rin was so fucking adorable! And she made Sakura blush constantly with her compliments; she wasn't even doing anything other than stating what was the truth to her; she truly thought Sakura to be the height of beauty and it astounded her when Rin was so beyond stunning herself, and so was Kagome-ne.

There came the memories, the first one particularly because it highlighted exactly how Roku felt the first time he truly saw her person – and all that was was attraction. Right. Sakura was pretty too.

It really was a good thing that moth Arisa had driven feline Arisa away. Feline Dai had stayed because once he found out about feline Arisa's actions he'd been horrified and broken off their relationship; but she couldn't be with him any more after that, and they still avoided each other because it was still too fresh and painful. Maybe in a decade or so they'd be able to become friends or at least acquaintances, but for now… Just no.

Even when her head was "twisted to the side" like Kagome-ne called it, Sakura was aware that maintaining a relationship with someone who had unintentionally been a party to the abuse was a bad idea. Kagome-ne had congratulated her for that, and said that if her friends hadn't always taken her side, she would have been more damaged by their presence than she could ever imagine.

She snuggled with Rin for a while longer before Rin turned her attentions to Haku and Yoru, and Sakura snuggled back into Roku, preparing herself for… Now! Shippō barrelled into her and hugged her tightly, smiling up at her. "You're really gonna love Grandfather, he's so strong and talented and cool! His lessons are the best, and now that Yasha has learned what he had to teach him, he spends most of his time with us rather than at the taijiya village. He was visiting Yasha, but Yasha will probably come visit us for a fortnight or a moon, just cos he can."

That spoke a lot about her pack; their willingness to forgive and their big-heartedness. Even Kagome-ne's rule about not including ningen unless they mated one of the yōkai pack-members or were parents to a hanyō member was kindness, because most ningen just didn't fit in with yōkai culture like the core pack-members did. Every born-ningen in the family was far more yōkai than ningen, and even the proper ningen were more accustomed to yōkai culture and instincts and stuff because of being mated to a yōkai.

Sakura felt so happy that they had loved her and accepted her as she was.

Roku kissed up and down her neck and Shippō laughed, shaking his head. This always happened, because Roku was just as lustful as a normal inu was, or even more so. Sakura wasn't sure because her mother and her father had a unique relationship amongst inu so she wasn't sure how they usually were. If Roku was anything to go by, they were perverts, the lot of them.

It was something she adored though, so Sakura wouldn't complain about it one single bit.

Besides, she was probably just as much of a pervert as he was, if she was honest with herself.

Suddenly the door to their room opened, and a male with lightning strike-like markings on his cheeks and his hair up in a silvery ponytail stepped in… and promptly had a bucket of goo piled all over him, leading him to groan and cry out exaggeratedly in frustration and look around the room. First he mock-glared at Yoru, then at Rin, then at Roku, then at Shippō… And then, he noticed her, took in where she was, and gasped, his yōki dispelling the goo easily; they'd planned another long-term prank for him but due to the situation nobody wanted him to get anything all over the bed when he found out about her. "I have another daughter! I'd ask why nobody warned me but the answer is clear considering I did not have another daughter a fortnight ago when I left this place! Roku, you scurrilous scoundrel, I should string you up for not warning me but we both know that my pleasure at having another child is too much for me to be upset with you. Clever, indeed."

Oh dear, her new father certainly was a character. Smiling, she sat up, her spring green sleeping yukata opening a bit as she bowed her head towards him. "Hello, dear Father. This Sakura is most pleased to meet you and is honoured by your presence, as well as by her new pack's acceptance of her presence on her own merits just as much as on the merits of her being her beloved Roku's mate."

Acceptance of his calling her "daughter," gesture of respect towards his person, and both giving the knowledge that she refused to just be accepted as Roku's mate, as well as admittance that despite that, she knew that her position as someone he loved enough to mate meant the pack would accept her straight off. She clearly, with how she said it, had not known that in the beginning, although she accepted it now and was okay with it.

He read between the lines beautifully and stared at Shippō, who didn't move from his place snuggling into her side, but the little kitsune spoke up, "Roku hooked a winner; Shippō and Yoru had been trying to find out a way to get close to Sakura for two years now, made more difficult because she is Akari-san's daughter and we did not want to involve Akari-san. Grandfather, would you like to see her confrontation with Kenji-san where she told him he couldn't keep her from mating Roku?"

Again? Shippō was really far too fond of that little thing, the pack had watched it thrice already, but apparently from the chorus of cheers, it wasn't enough, so she flushed and huffed, laying back down and covering her face with a pillow. "I refuse! Go ahead, you crazy kit, but I refuse to watch it again."

This, of course made her father (there truly was no way she could call him father-in-law; he was definitely Father to her) burst into laughter, sit on the bed, and demand to see. Obligingly, Shippō climbed into his lap and spun his illusion. When it was over, despite the laughter, her new father pulled the pillow off of her face and shook his head sadly and seriously. "Darling Sakura, you are not one of those people. Who convinced you that you could not be first in anybody's heart?"

...How had he known? He wasn't like Kagome-ne, who was clearly a little bit surprised at her father's words, although Sesshōmaru-ni, Rin, and Roku were all unsurprised. "Please, someone with that kind of personality would never naturally settle for being second-best: plus Akari raised you, and in addition to that, you are inu; inu never, ever naturally feel like that. It is only when an inu is convinced otherwise that they fall into that kind of mindset; we are strictly monogamous once we settle down. Inu are only ever involved in polygamous relationships during their experimentation phases."

That… Wow. Her new father was very insightful and knowledgeable, as well as intelligent as fuck. And too powerful to ignore his question; he was looking very intently at her, clearly awaiting an answer. "Arisa from Kirin; she was driven from the courts by the moth Arisa and Dai from Kirin, who was involved but entirely unaware. This Sakura does not talk about her much, so when she mentions Arisa it will most likely be the one who helped get her out of that damaging relationship."

"This Toga must thank Arisa then, for he owes her a debt of gratitude because her actions led to you being brought into his life. Clearly Roku loves you enough that even though your knowledge of your own alignment has changed, you are not asking me to unmake your mating bond."

She smiled over at her mate then, and he kissed her tenderly before saying, "This Roku wanted to make sure she never forgot how much he loved her, and had Kagome give her a memory of how strongly he felt even before he was fully in love with his adorable Sakura. It is permanently affixed now, so that whenever those insidious thoughts come back, she feels the force of my love and attraction."

Meaning that Sakura had a beauty complex, although likely Roku was just confirming something that he felt his father already knew; Roku would not give her secrets away just like that. He loved her far too much to do such a thing. Even if it meant her feeling better faster; he knew how proud she was that she would not break easily. Yes she had had her head "twisted to the side," but that did not mean she was broken because she was not broken.

Full stop.

It just was not the case.

Father could clearly see this, because he opened his arms and she obediently disentangled herself from her mate and slid into them, Shippō climbing into her lap once she was in Toga's lap. He held her close and ran his claws through the mass of curls atop her head, growling comfortingly. "Beautiful, strong, proud Sakura. You are healing, powerful, and will be truly great. You are a blessing upon this pack, especially because you did not break and it is clear that you will never break; not from anything like this. It is likely nobody else has thought to tell you, but this Toga can clearly see why you were treated so by that female."

Huh? Wasn't it just because she could?

"Um… There was a reason besides the fact that she just could do so, Father?"

He scoffed and preened simultaneously; someone was going to have more children at some point in the future, for certain. He might not realise it yet but he had to have a mate out there waiting for him, and he would immediately pup her once they were mated, for certain sure. "Of course there was. There frequently is, especially amongst females. Jealousy is far too common and she was clearly jealous of your striking beauty. No, by Nihonjin standards you are not more than merely pretty; although it is an extreme prettiness. But other places in the world would find you to be a very great beauty indeed, and the bad Arisa was incredibly jealous because not only are you incredibly attractive, your personality is gorgeous just from what this Toga has seen of it; and you are truly very yōkai.

"In other words, you would probably make a far better mate to anyone than she would, and she saw this immediately, became irrationally jealous, and decided to accept you for the sole purpose of bringing your mind into a negative state because she was jealous of how much better a yōkai you were than her. She likely was not even worried about her partner; she just wanted to make sure you never had a true mate. Despicable whore."

Wow. That was, uh… Well, he was right about it being despicable, but apparently Father had very strong feelings towards this because surely she was no whore just because of that?

"This Sesshōmaru agrees fully, if she had not already been driven from the courts he would ban her from them; in fact he still might just in case. Yes there are some fools and idiots in his court, but anybody – yōkai, hanyō, or ningen – who treats someone else in such a way with complete willingness deserves severe punishment."

Father nodded firmly, "This is so. If Yasha had not been misled by ignoring his instincts, his punishment would have been far, far more severe. Speaking of; Yasha, get your ass in here. Stop loitering outside as if you are unwelcome and greet your new sister."

"I'm not sure if I should, Dad; surely a mere hanyō such as myself is unworthy of being in the presence of anyone who managed to catch Roku's admiration so much that he mated her in such a short amount of time."

Sakura started giggling then, and immediately a very adorable and handsome hanyō stepped into the room, his eyes wide. "Whoa, holy fuck Roku you hooked a winner. Welcome to the family 'ne-chan, and may I just say that damn you're pretty, and you have probably onea th' best laughs I've ever heard. Considerin' I've been alive an' conscious for two hundred and eighteen years, an' been all the fuck over Nihon, that's sayin' somethin'."

Why the "and conscious" there? Oh, right! He'd been pinned to a tree with a sealing arrow for fifty years.

The compliment made her blush, hard, though, once it registered for her, and she hid her face in Father's kimono because jeez everyone just kept complimenting her. The family was just like that, compliments got spread around profusely amongst the core pack, although when it came to teaching, Roku told her that they were less profuse, because they had more impact that way. "Tsk, my position has been usurped by my own father! How unfair is that?"

Meaning that this was frequent and common for her to do when she'd been complimented a lot, which made Yasha and the rest of the family laugh lightly. Great. Now she was a source of amusement. Hmph. She couldn't stay mad though, not with Shippō snuggling into her chest and wrapping his arms around her lovingly; being adored so strongly by Shippō of all people really made her heart swell. He was known around the court as the second-pickiest member of their Lord's pack when it came to caring about people outside of the pack, and everyone knew that Yoru's pickiness was different.

Being so beloved made her want to cry, but she wouldn't cave into that want. It wasn't a need, just a want.

Gently, she stroked through Shippō's ponytail and brought her face out of hiding, smiling softly. Her father lifted her from his lap and deposited her and Shippō next to her mate, saying, "Here, before my son gets jealous of me and hides his mate away for the rest of the day as I know he is likely wont to do."

Considering that every time someone obviously attracted to her had approached her, he claimed her and then whisked her away to their rooms, that was an apt comment. Kagome-ne laughed at that, because Roku was more possessive of her than Sesshōmaru-ni was of Kagome-ne, even though it was still an acceptable kind of possessiveness; Kagome-ne suspected he wasn't as possessive as he seemed and was just acting so for more excuses to be alone with her. Sakura did not mind that in the slightest. She adored it, in fact. It made her feel so loved, treasured, and beautiful; all things which she was aware that she deserved to feel. Everyone deserved to feel loved by those around them, even if they were malicious people.

Malicious people might not be so malicious if they were loved, truly loved, enough.

Sometimes it didn't matter, but other times it really did.

Roku was behind her now, wrapping his arms around her and Shippō, kissing her hair softly, then moving it aside so he could nuzzle her neck just how she liked mnh, it was so unfair that she couldn't get his spots when he was behind her. Still, it felt lovely, so she bared her neck to him (not submissively; there was no dynamic like that to their relationship, they were equals both in bed and out of bed, and would always stay that way) so that he had better access. He didn't go so far as to claim her (man, the first time that had happened had been a complete fucking shock to Sakura, she hadn't realised how inu he was until that moment), but he still kissed and nuzzled her in ways that made her want to melt.

Then he started combing through her hair and she immediately undid Shippō's ponytail, combing through his hair with one hand and combing through his tail (he could hide it incredibly easily now, but he liked keeping it shown because he was proud to be a kitsune, since without it it was hard to tell what breed he was; several had auburn hair as a common trait amongst them) with her other hand. She had already learned that the reason their pack always woke up before dawn even if they had had late nights was because the core family insisted on grooming not only every morning, but doing so in such a way that every person got groomed by almost every other person. In two days she had found herself groomed by and having groomed every member of her family excepting Yoru; he was a special case and while he took part in grooming others, his hair was too sensitive to be groomed.

Sakura rather thought that if they ever mated Haku would become the same way, especially considering that he was already beginning to shy away from hair-touching by anyone other than Yoru and had not realised it yet. When she asked Roku about it he confirmed her suspicions and said that by the time they mated in another three and a half or four decades, Haku would only be letting Yoru groom his hair and they would simply partake in grooming the others and once they mated, neither of them would groom each other in the presence of family excepting Shippō (who watched them every other sennight), Rika and Jin, Sora and Arisa,and Yasha and his girl, once they got deep enough.

Being kitsune, it was good that he was being exposed to different forms of pleasure, especially at his age. Most kitsune, considering they were always more mature and wise than their age, had sexual experience by the time they reached his age. He clearly was in no rush to get started down that path; to him his illusions and tricks were the more important part until he was an adult by inu standards. It was only then that he would begin taking partners. Even then, Sakura had a feeling that Rin, who she had been made aware would be Shippō's first partner, would be his main partner for a while, and that even when he had a mate, he would still have dalliances with Rin. He was kitsune enough to not be monogamous, although he strongly respected monogamy.

The biggest reason she suspected this was that even though Rin didn't crave or need the things that normal existences did, she felt happiness and pleasure very deeply indeed, and once she experienced it, despite not wanting a romantic partner, Rin would continue wanting physical pleasure. Shippō loved Rin with his whole heart and she loved him just as much back, and while it was not a romantic love, it was a unique love, far more than just a sibling bond.

Shippō would eventually take a mate and settle down, but until he did, his only regular, long-term partner as a male would be Rin. It was really a good thing that where Kagome-ne had come from had strong kitsune lore, so she could accept this sort of thing from her son; including the fact that he would very likely turn himself into a female and settle down with ningen males and have hanyō children (albeit ones that would age and grow at a ningen rate and appear completely ningen because Shippō's body would be ningen) with them as a female. Most ningen looked down on such things, but apparently Kagome-ne was, as always, someone beyond special.

Now it was her turn to groom Roku, while he groomed Shippō, and then they would split up and begin partaking in grooming with the others.

Sakura got her way and managed to groom Yasha and Father both that morning.

"Well, you only need four more languages, your acting skills are astounding, and I know that you'll take to daggers very well; I'm good at matching people with weapons and any sort of straight bladed weapon would work with you, although you'll never be able to manage distance weapons or staves. A shame, that, but it's admittedly a bit of a relief; you're talented even considering your age. Most yōkai never learn how to act, and almost nobody in Nihon outside of this pack can speak anything other than Nihongo. Other Hōjin, unfortunately, do not have much exposure to the mainland, much less Europe, Africa, India, or Russia. I generally make the pack have between three and six languages, but since you know two European languages, I'm going to make you learn more.

"Everybody knows Chinese, but outside of that, it's a mixed bag; people who I feel will fit in better in specific places – if you can't tell, I was very well-travelled during my youth before I became the Lord of the West, and my eldest daughter has educated me on how the world turned out where she came from – learn the languages of those places. With your attitude, your good heart, your stubbornness, and your superb acting skills, I really think you could fit in just about anywhere, despite your distinctive appearance. Especially if you allow me to teach you the same stealth lessons I am teaching Rin."

The way he said the last was begging and wheedling at its best, and Sakura made a note to never underestimate her new father. "I was planning on asking for them, because this Sakura adores learning new skills and feels that there is no such thing as knowing too many things. What other languages shall I be learning, Father? Although… this Sakura does wish to know… Will Roku's Vow not impede our abilities?"

Toga grinned rakishly at that and leaned back against his pile of cushions contently, hands linked over his stomach. "About the Vow; Roku has just been made aware of this today, because he felt the need to warn this Toga, but was most definitely unaware when he made it. Vows like the one he made to you only work in the language they were made in. So other languages will allow him to be untruthful towards you for the purposes of spying and being in character. Now, onto the languages.

"You will be learning Russian, the most widespread variant of Hindi, Swahili, Southern German, and Chinese. You will do very well in Russia, as will Roku, although it will be integral that you do not let your gift show there. India, however, will be the exact opposite; you will be widely respected and damn-near worshipped if they find out you have such a rare gift. Yōkai are already practically placed upon pedestals there and thought to be inherently better than ningen, although shockingly enough, unlike in Nihon where our hōjin feel themselves to be superior to ningen and the ningen fear and despise yōkai to an extent – okay, yes Kagome has made incredible strides with that but it will take a few more decades for us to be truly accepted by ningen – yōkai in India feel themselves to be on the same level as the ningen.

"Slightly superior; but hanyō are insanely numerous in India, wherever you go. If my eldest daughter ever is able to visit there, we may have to drag her back here, unless she has made enough strides here that it simply gives her more drive to make sure Nihon becomes like unto there, which it very well might. Now, you have to understand that because you are yōkai, there will be high expectations and you must learn thoroughly and rapidly. Our minds are faster than those of even mated ningen, like the few in our pack."

He truly meant few. There was Rika-san, mated to the moth yōkai Jin-san and very good friend of Haku, Yoru, and Kagome-ne. Then there was a male ningen mated to the neko yōkai whose hanyō daughter had unfortunately spied on their plans incompletely and gotten effectively banned from court until the incident was forgotten, which would be moons still, and then there was some ningen female that was the mother of a hanyō taijiya. Hana-san, Rika-san and Jin-san's daughter, was currently Yasha's partner, and even though they thought it to be temporary, from what she had been told about them Sakura felt that it was a good match that simply needed for them to become complacent.

Once they became complacent, things would totally change. Roku agreed with her on this, and said that Haku would be strongly gratified with this because he desperately wanted them to stay together, he could see that they made a great match and that with enough time, love would come. Hence his comment earlier about once they became deep enough for group grooming.

"This Sakura looks forwards to her lessons. Who will be teaching her such things?"

Because Father didn't by any means teach the pack-members anywhere near everything; there were too many, and too many joining up regularly, for him to do such a thing. "Jin will be teaching you Hindi and Chinese, Rika will teach you Russian and German, and an African yōkai named Faraji who migrated here due to finding a mate when he was trading will be teaching you Swahili. Rin will be teaching you how to use daggers, and Haku will train you in a wakizashi because he could use some more practise with it and teaching someone else is a great way to get practise with a weapon you rarely use; not to mention you knowing traditional samurai kata using both your katana and a wakizashi together will give you an ace up your sleeve.

"Sesshōmaru and myself are the only ones who give stealth and spy lessons at the moment, although Rin will be joining us in this very soon; she is frighteningly good already, and we are simply being overcautious by making her wait to begin teaching. She will be your classmate and most likely eventually your teacher. Haku and Yoru are qualified and sometimes when we are unavailable give those lessons as well, but they are too busy with their taijiya work and learning all the political things they need to know to teach regularly."

Meaning that Haku and Yoru were going to be main players in Kagome-ne's eventual plans and they had to learn more than most of the pack did. All of the pack got lessons in politics, but mostly just enough to get them by in any kind of yōkai court; which was a lot, admittedly, but nowhere near as intensive as what the core pack and closer players got. Due to her very mixed background, however, Sakura had been taught intensive politics, although she knew that once her other training was mostly completed, she would be getting even more politics training. More specific training based on what Father knew of how the other courts had run – it'd only been two and a half-ish centuries, after all, yōkai did not change rapidly, unlike ningen, so their courts would effectively be the same.

Which was also why Toga was only taking a teaching and advising role in things; he was a little too recognisable after so little time. In another century or so he would be able to travel and most people would accept him as the Inu no Taishō's brother, because their memories would have faded more and he would not be as memorable, his identity fully established as Toga, the younger and less famous brother and adopted father to his brother's sons. Because as soon as they heard about this hitherto unknown brother they would be expecting strong similarities, and forgetting what the elder looked like because they would not want those similarities (such as markings, facial structure, personalities, etcetera) to make them treat him as if he were the Inu no Taishō.

Considering that Father clearly was happy to no longer be the Inu no Taishō, that was all for the best.

And her inner timer went off just then; it was time for dinner.

Sure enough, Shippō barrelled into the room and tugged on her kimono. "C'mon, c'mon Auntie Sakura, Grandfather, it's time for food!"

Smiling, completely content with her life and how things were going, Sakura followed him and her new father, with a feeling that really, her life had just started.