Inuyasha froze as his mind went to a crashing halt. A small child with white hair and dog ears was clinging to the front of him. A small child with white hair and dog ears was calling him otoo-sama. A small child with white hair and dog ears that looked almost exactly like him was staring up at him with an elated grin on its face. This wasn't right. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.
He took an instinctive step back only to realize that she was indeed attached to his haori. He hadn't fathered any children. He was certain he hadn't. It dug its feet in to his stomach and pushed itself a little higher up. Inuyasha cringed and tried to back away again.
The child touched its nose to his and smiled even brighter with its eyes closed. "Otoo-sama!" proclaimed, yet again.
"Well, I told you it wasn't mine," Miroku stated rather bluntly while the rather dumbfounded girls and youkai stared at the scene before them.
Inuyasha blinked. Then he blinked again. "What the hell?"
Blink. Blink. Kagome took a hesitant step forward. "Inuyasha...?"
"It's not mine! I swear! I swear!" the hanyou cried out without once taking his eyes off the child. "Get off! Get off! Let go!" he snapped at the child, though he didn't touch it. Kagome came a little closer and gazed at the child. "Get it off!" he ordered.
The child turned to look at the adolescent girl. Its eyes opened again and sparkled with curiosity. The child leaned leaned closer to Kagome and sniffed. A moment later, it giggled as its face looked like the perfect representation of innocence.
"Kawaiiiiii!" Kagome exclaimed.
Shippo hopped up on Kagome's shoulder and peered down at the child still clinging to Inuyasha. "Oi! You never said you had any kits!"
"That's because I don't! It's not mine!" the hanyou barked.
"He seems to think otherwise," Miroku said as he came over to look at the child as well.
"I don't care what it thinks! It's not mine! I've never seen it before in my life! Someone get it off!"
"But it does look a lot like you," Sango pointed out in confusion as she took came up. Kirara on her shoulder meowed in agreement. "Where did he came from?"
"I don't care! Get it off!"
Kagome raised a curious eyebrow. "Inuyasha... you're not afraid of him, are you?"
"Of course not!" he growled. He reached down to grab the child but one look at its angelic face stopped him. "Get it off!"
The adolescent girl rolled her eyes and reached out for the child. She snaked her arms around the child's waist and gave a slight pull. The child's grip tightened. Kagome pulled a little harder but the child would not release its hold.
"Otoo-sama!" it cried out disparately.
"I'm not you're otoo! Let go of me! Now!"
"Otoo-sama! Otoo-sama!"
"Are you sure it's not yours?" Shippo inquired as he reached down and gave the child a pat on the head.
"Yes!"
"But if he's not yours..." Miroku trailed off.
"I don't know and I don't care! Just make it let go!"
"Otoo-sama!"
They heard a loud chuckling coming from the direction of the town and everyone glanced back to see Kaede walking up the path. "My my, Inuyasha, you seem to have your hands quite full there."
"Shut up, baba! This is your doing! I know it!"
The old miko walked right up to Inuyasha and the child and smiled. One wrinkled hand reached up to pat the child on the head. "Five days and this is the first thing you decide to say?" The child tilted its head to one side curiously. The old miko just smiled. "If you had been smart, you would have chosen your parentage more carefully, little one. Inuyasha isn't exactly the otoo type."
The hanyou in question growled at the remark. "And what is that suppose to mean?"
Kaede ignored him. She turned back towards the village and started walking. "Come back to my hut. I will explain there. And, Inuyasha, at least lift Yahna up so she doesn't fall. She may have a good grip but I don't know how long she can hold on. I'd rather not see her fall and get hurt."
"She?" Miroku inquired. Kaede nodded. The monk glanced back at the child. It was dressed more like a boy than girl.
Inuyasha glared at the child and growled. "Then it should just let go!" he barked, ignoring Miroku.
"Then pull her off. She doesn't bite, claw, growl, or in any other way behave like you," the old miko retorted. "I doubt she'd harm you for making an attempt to remove her."
"That's good to know," Shippo grunted, only to have Inuyasha shoot him a death glare. The fox kit squeaked and jumped out of arms reach.
Inuyasha turned his attention back to the child, giving her the same look of death. The child, for her part, just grinned from ear to ear. He hesitated for a moment, then seized the child by the collar and gruffly yanked her off him. Kagome, who still had a hold on the child, caught her and held her close.
A rather hurt expression covered the child's face. "Otoo-sama?"
"Keh." Inuyasha turned away from her and followed Kaede.
The child's eyes watered and her lower lip trembled. "Otoo-sama?" He ignored her. Then she suddenly started wriggling to get free. Kagome tried to hold her still but quickly gave up and set the child down. The child darted after him. "Otoo-sama! Otoo-sama!"
Inuyasha cringed. He leaped up in the air before she could reach him and landed several feet ahead. "I'm not your otoo! Stop calling me that!"
"I quite agree," Kaede stated calmly. She reached out a gentle and hand and the child took it, though her eyes were still focused on the hanyou ahead. "Picturing Inuyasha as anyone's otoo is disturbing enough. Adding sama to the end of that just makes it worse."
"Keh," was Inuyasha's only response.
~~~~~
"Born from the holy tree?" Everyone questioned at once.
Kaede nodded calmly. "Seven days ago, two of the men were out hunting and stopped by the tree. They saw her growing inside right where Inuyasha was sealed. Then they called me. Two days later, she came out."
Everyone glanced down at the child that was attempting to nuzzle against the rather angry Inuyasha. He held her back with Tetsusaiga (still in its sheath, of course). She snugged against the scabbard happily. A low growl escaped him as he gave the child a menacing glare. If she heard him, she didn't act like it. The child continued to hold on to the scabbard affectionately. Watching her was enough to make Inuyasha sick.
The old miko sighed and continued, "Until earlier, she hadn't said a word to anyone. She smiled, followed, and generally did as she was told. She's been quite helpful since she started walking. She helps gather herbs, fire wood, plays with a few of the small children and infants giving their mothers a few moments of peace..."
"And where did it get that?" the hanyou demanded as he snagged one claw in the leg of the girl's hakama. He gave a sharp tug and yanked the child's feet out from under her. She plopped on the ground with a slight yip, but continued to smile and go after him undaunted.
"The women made it for her. They patterned it after a miko's kimono since she was born from the holy tree."
"Otoo-sama!"
"No!" he shouted and jumped back. "Stay away! I'm not your otoo! How many times do I have to tell you that!?!"
"Otoo-sama!" she cried joyfully and toddled after him.
He leaped back behind Kaede. "If you're so good at dealing with it, deal with it!"
"Oh, give up Inuyasha," Kagome stated in a bored tone. "She's obviously just as stubborn as you. Just pick her up and she'll stop chasing you."
"It is not mine!"
"So? That doesn't mean you can't pick her up."
"Its not mine!"
"Stop howling," Kaede grunted. "We know that she is likely not yours. As Kagome said, that doesn't mean you can't pick her up or comfort her."
"That's women's work!" he roared.
"Excuse me?" Kagome growled as she folded her arms together and glared at the hanyou.
"And when exactly was it that fathers stopped caring for their children?" Sango demanded.
"She's not mine!"
"Otoo-sama!"
"Keep it away!" He leaped across the room again and out of the child's reach.
"Inuyasha, sit."
Inuyasha hit the ground, letting out a strangled moan. The child hopped on to his back and latched on to his hair. His moan turned in to a growl and he made a mental note to get Kagome back for this.
"Otoo-sama," the child purred. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo chuckled. Inuyasha growled louder and made a note to attack them later too... once he had the child somewhere away from him... far away from him.
"See, she's already happier," Kagome said with a smile.
Kaede chuckled. "She certainly is affectionate."
"Yes, but Inuyasha as a father," Shippo stated thoughtfully, "just doesn't seem right at all."
"It's not mine!"
"But she looks just like you," the kitsune protested.
"It's not mine! It came out of that god damned holy tree! The old hag even said so!"
Miroku leaned down and peered thoughtfully at the hanyou still sprawled out on the floor.
"What?" Inuyasha demanded.
"Mn, Inuyasha, help me for a moment. I am trying to picture how this would work. How exactly do you get a tree pregnant?"
"I didn't mate with the god damned tree!"
"The current evidence would suggest other wise," the monk said calmly as he gave the girl a pat on the top of her head, earning him a sweet smile.
Inuyasha jumped to his feet. His head was suddenly jerked back as gravity reminded him that the child was indeed still grabbing his hair. He grabbed the child by her collar and yanked her in front of him so he was looking in to her eyes. She continued gripping his hair.
"Oi. Pup. Let go," he said in a disturbingly calm voice. The child nuzzled against the hair as she blatantly ignored him. The hanyou bristled with anger. "Let go now!" He gave her a shake but to no avail. "I said let go!"
"I don't think yelling at her does any good," Shippo pointed out.
He grabbed hold of his hair and tried to pull it from the child's grasp. Her grip tightened. He pulled harder. She held tighter. "Damn it! Let go!"
"Otoo-sama!" she cried as her eyes began to water.
"Let go!"
Sango, for her part, had been listening and watching the entire scene quietly. Now, she turned her attention back to the old miko, asking, "You said she was born from the tree a few days ago, yes?" Kaede nodded. "When she first came out, what happened?"
"Early in the evening, the tree split open in the spot where the bark was missing and she came out as if being born from a mother. At first she was very still, but after sleeping through the night, she was wide awake. By the afternoon of the first day since she came out, she was walking around. She followed me everywhere and helped out with any chores I was doing. In the next few days, she started helping everyone else out when she could. Then, just as you were coming back, she went running up the road yelling 'otoo-sama'."
"I see... The place in the tree where it split, is it still open?"
Again, Kaede nodded. "Yes, but only a little. It has been healing itself and the spot is no longer clear. In a few more days, you probably wont be able to tell where Inuyahna came out."
Inuyasha froze. His ears twitched. Slowly, his gaze turned towards the old woman. "What?"
"The opening in the tree is healing," Kaede repeated.
"No, what did you call it?"
"Her?" the old woman asked as she glanced at the child still snuggling in to his silver locks.
"Yes, this thing. What did you name it?"
"Inuyahna."
"Why?"
"It seemed appropriate, given her appearance, to name her after you. Inuyasha, however, is a boy's name and since she is a girl, I chose something that sounded a little more feminine."
"How dare you!" he barked. "That is my name! I decide who else has it!"
The miko seemed unfazed. "Her name is Inuyahna, not Inuyasha. You can call her simply Yahna, if you prefer. She responds to both."
Inuyasha rounded on the old woman and clenched his fists. "You filthy..." His head was rather abruptly yanked down, cutting off his tirade. Gravity had taken hold on the now released child and pulled her towards the ground, along with the hair she had a death grip on.
"Kaede-sama," Sango quickly broke in, "Could you possibly take us to the tree so we can investigate it closer."
Kaede nodded.
_______________________________________________________________
Japanese words I've used in this chapter
Baba = old woman or old hag. It is an impolite way of adressing someone who is old.
Haori = a japanese coat, jacket, or overshirt. (I found it refered to as all three)
Hakama = baggy pants that usually bilow out on the bottom. Inuyasha has his gathered and tied tightly around his ankles but the rest is lose. Yahna's are the same.
Kawaii = cute. I added several 'i's on the end because Kagome cried it out happily because, well, Yahna's really cute.
Oi = hey
Kitsune = fox
Hanyou = a half breed, half demon half human
youkai = a demon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yay. Two chapters up and done. Isn't Yahna cute? She only gets cuter, too. Poor Inuyasha is not having a good day. *grins evilly* And there is so much more fun to be had with him. *starts cackling maniacally, then breaks in to fit of coughing and looks rather pathetic... regains composure and looks normal again.* Well, review and let me know what you think. She I continue or should I never write another Inuyasha fan fic again?