Inuyasha dropped the pup in front of the water. He pealed off his haori and glared at the mess she had made. "Damn brat," he grumbled to himself. The hanyou scowled at her. She sat up and stared at him with a interested expression. "Well, go on! Wash off!"

She blinked and cocked her head to one side. "Otoo-sama?"

"Go in the water!" he snapped as he pointed a claw at the water.

Yahna blinked again, but stood. She toddled over to the water. One foot touched the water and she jerked back. Her body scrunched up and her body gave a shiver.

"What!?! Is it too cold!?!" he sneered. "You should've thought of that before you went wallowing in the mud!"

"Otoo-sama," she whimpered. Large azure eyes watered as they stared him with silent pleas.

Inuyasha cringed. Seeing girls cry always made him nervous. Even if he didn't like them, he hated seeing them cry. It always made him feel like some sort of hideous monster. Worst of all, he usually didn't know how to make them stop.

"Eh, your pathetic," the inu hanyou snorted in an effort to cover up the uneasy feeling crawling through his body. "Some great tree youkai pup you are. Can't even handle a little cold water." He stalked over and stuck his hand in the water then jerked it back out. It felt like he'd just shoved his hand in the snow. The hanyou frowned. Damn that is cold. Probably melted snow from the mountains... He sighed and stood up. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll be right back..."

"Otoo-sama!" Yahna cried as she dashed after him. She leaped for his chest. This time he caught her before she could latch on. The little arms remained out stretched, hands clasping and unclasping, as she tried to reach him desperately. Little tears were already starting to stream out her eyes.

"Just stay here. I'll be back... I promise, alright?" He looked her right in the eyes, hoping she would understand. She stared in to the golden irises for a few long moments before stopping her attempts to grab him. The child dragged one muddy hand across her face wiping her tears and Inuyasha cringed. He set her back down carefully so he didn't touch the mud. "Now stay here. I wont be long." He tossed his haori over her. "And stay under that."

When she offered no protests, he took off. With several leaps, Inuyasha was back in the village. As quickly and quietly as he could, he rounded up three buckets and a piece of cloth. Then he leaped out of the village with out anyone seeing (or at least saying) anything. He was back at the bank of the river in less than five minutes. The first thing he did was lift his haori. Sure enough, there was Yahna with a delighted grin and sparkling eyes. He sighed and his features softened a little.

"Alright, brat. I'll heat some water for you, but you'd better start doing as I say. Got that?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Good."

It didn't take Inuyasha long to round up some wood and get a fire started. He filled the buckets full of water and set them by the fire to heat up. All the while, Yahna sat and watched him, still sitting under his haori. When he was done, he grabbed the haori and ran it through the river water several times, cleaning the mud off. After that was done he laid it over a bush near the fire to dry.

His focus turned back to the pup. The hanyou held out a hand to Yahna. "Give me your clothes," he demanded, though not harshly.

The girl wasted no time pulling off her haori and yukata. She smiled and handed them over. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and took them in to the water as well. It took a little work, but he got all the mud off and tossed them with his haori.

When he came back, he held out his hand again. "The hakama now." Yahna nodded and went for the tie. She gave a tug on the bow, pulling it lose, but making a small knot. Her tiny fingers pulled at the knot. She frowned in obvious frustration when she couldn't get the. Inuyasha sighed. "Come here." She did so and he undid the knot. She pulled the clothing off and handed it over without a word.

Inuyasha washed the last piece of her clothing and laid it over the bush. He pulled off his yukata and tossed it aside as well. Then the hanyou dropped down to sit cross legged in front of the fire. Yahna toddled over and peered at his face curiously. Inuyasha looked her over carefully, assessing the challenge. Her hands and feet were still covered in the drying mud and she had a few splotches on her face and hair, but the rest of her was clean. At least cleaning her off wont be too hard, he mentally grumbled.

The sun was just starting to set when he reached out one finger to test the water. She mimicked him. "Seems warm enough." He pulled the bucket closer to him, then grabbed the girl just under her arms and stood her up in the luke warm water coming just up to her knees. The cloth was snagged between his claws, shook off, and dipped in the water.

Inuyasha grabbed one of her hands and roughly rubbed the cloth over it. She tried to jerk away from the harsh touch with a small whimper. He gripped her hand tighter. Yahna whimpered louder and leaned back a little. One hand shot out behind her to keep her from falling.

"Careful!" he scolded. "I don't want them thinking I hurt you!" She steadied herself again, and he loosened his hold on her. The cloth was dragged over her hand again, but with less pressure and greater care. "Better?" he asked before thinking about it. She nodded.

His golden eyes glanced down at the child's hand resting between his. Laid out flat, from her wrist to finger tips, her hand was barely as long as his shortest finger. They're so tiny, he thought curiously. In all honestly, he had never really taken the time to look at her... or any child, for that matter. Sure, he'd been through many towns with children and Shippo had been with them for a while now, but he'd never really stopped to actually take a good look at the kit. His eyes looked over the girl. She was so small all over, really. Both her feet could have probably fit in one hand. She was kind of chubby all around but not overly so. Every movement she made showed tiny muscles flexing under the baby fat. Was I really this small once? Hard to believe now... One claw softly pushed a few stray locks of hair out of her eyes. She peered up at him curiously. With such innocent eyes... With no knowledge of anger, hatred or pain... She could probably sit in the bucket without any trouble.

"Yahna, sit," he ordered. She crossed her legs and did, barely fitting. The water spilled over the side a little but neither paid any attention to it. He smirked. Hm, no wonder Kagome likes that word so much.

The cloth was dipped again and he rinsed off her other hand. Then he went for her face. The mud was eased off the soft skin. With each stroke, he studied the child's roundish face. There wasn't a mark on her, no signs of being attacked or starved. No black circles hung under her eyes from lack of sleep. No buried sorrow from constant taunts meant to break away at her very soul... no one to rob her of happiness because of her parentage...

A faint purring rumble emanated from her throat., He softly smiled at the content pup. The azure eyes had dropped a little and were focused on his neck. He glanced down just as her tiny hands went for the beads around his neck. The cloth paused as he watched her hands. The little digits traced over each bead and claw carefully. She turned them over and back and tested the points on the claws.

"It's a rosary," he explained. "Kaede put them on me shortly after I woke up. I can't take them off." Her eyes shifted to his face with a questioning look. "It's a curse. She put it on me so I wouldn't hurt Kagome and take the Shikon no tama." Yahna blinked. "Kagome had the jewel inside her. That's why she was pulled through the well and came here from her country. It's what lets her go back and forth between here and there."

Her eyes focused back on the beads. "Otoo-sama..."

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

She gazed back up at him. "Otoo-sama Otoo-sama," she stated plainly, as if the answer were obvious.

"Your not going to give me any more than that, are you?" Her eyes shifted back to the beads. He sighed and went back to washing her face.

When the last of the mud had been rinsed off her face, he pulled another bucket over. "Dip your hair in the water." She stared at him in confusion. "Lean your head over so you hair is in this bucket's water," he explained as he pointed to the second bucket. Yahna turned towards the second bucket. She leaned over it, took a deep breath, and dunked her head.

Inuyasha waited patiently for her to pull her head back up... and waited... and waited...

The hanyou snatched some of her hair and yanked her head back up. "Don't drown yourself," he snorted. "Try just leaning your head back this time." She leaned against the bucket edge and dipped the back of her head in to the second bucket, submerging her hair. "Good. Now go like this." Her roughly ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up a bit. She started to sit back up. "With your hair still in the water." She blinked and lowered her dripping hair back down. "Now do it." She started to sit up again. He pushed her back down. "Run you fingers through your hair while your hair is still in the water." The girl ran her fingers through her hair, shaking lose some of the dirt but missing most of it. Inuyasha sighed and helped her.

With her hair clean, he dragged the third bucket over. "Stand up." She stood. "Close your eyes and hold your breath." She obeyed. He lifted the third bucket and dumped the warm water over her. She sputtered as the last of it ran off and on to the ground. "There. Now your clean," he stated proudly. She beamed at him.

A light breeze rustled the trees. Yahna shivered. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He lifted the girl out of the water and cradled her against him. "You are a pain, you know that?"

She smiled gleefully and reached a finger up to touch his nose. "Otoo-sama."

Inuyasha sighed. "Yes, yes, I know already." He reached for her clothes and found them still damp. She shivered and huddled closer to him. The hanyou let out another sigh and grabbed his dry yukata. He wrapped it around her, making it damp but keeping her warm. She giggled and snuggled down in it like a baby. A smile turned up the corners of his mouth, and he lifted her up a little higher against him. She nuzzled against him, rumbling happily. He emptied the last bucket, tossed their damp clothes in it, and grabbed the other two buckets, then started back towards the village.

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Japanese words I've used in this chapter

yukata = shirt or undershirt

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Alright, I should probably explain what I based some of Inuyasha observations on her. In the episode where we see a small glimpse of Inuyasha as a child (I think is was episode 5 or 6), he was mocked and insulted by the people there. In my mind, I don't think that was the first or last time people were mean to him as a child. I think that was just the first time he realized what they were saying and paid attention. Why? Because his mother was crying, suggesting, to me anyway, that this wasn't the first time. It probably got a lot worse, too. Since he was starting to become a little more aware of other people and their feelings towards him, this had a terrible impact on his life and helped make him who he is. To me it seemed logical that he would see a lack of these in Yahna. After all, at only one week of age, she has not been exposed to such hatred. All the people in the village actually like her a lot. They think she is holy since she was born from a holy tree. That seems to be enough for them to forget that she is technically a hanyou (at least in appearance).

The string I was referring to, Almerane, in the last chapter was the one that comes from over his left shoulder, goes across his chest and ties in a bow there, and goes around behind his back on his right side. Mikos wear them, but their's go around their necks. If you watch the second episode, Kagome has it on when she's dressed like Kikyo. I'm curious if anyone knows what it is called and what it is for. Thanks for some help Heather. If anyone knows any more, that would be great.

Also, if anyone can recommend a few good sights on Japanese culture, that would be wonderful. Most of what I'm using is based off what I have been learning in my Japanese popular culture class. The only problem is that most of it is dealing with very modern things (such as new music and anime). I've only had a few things here and there that have been about old customs that have endured over long periods of time.

Thanks to everyone so far who has been helping. It is very helpful, especially when trying to get some of this fic to reflect actual attitudes and ideas of the time period. As always, please review.