Shippou sat watching the rest of the group talking about the latest information on Naraku, and trying to decide what to do about it. As usual, Miroku wanted to hang back and wait for more information. InuYasha wanted to rush in and use brute force to take out this new threat. Sango was lost in her own thoughts, not giving any advice—the plan, of course, had been to do with her younger brother Kohaku. Kagome was yelling at InuYasha for being insensitive, but he obviously had no clue what she meant. He finally decided to tell them his own plan of action.
"We should sneak in somehow and try and find out what Naraku is up to!" he clenched his fists in a cute manner, although he was trying to be manly—he figured it was something InuYasha would do when he was being tough, it should work for him too. "As you know, I can disguise myself most efficiently—"
It was Miroku who began the entire chain of events to come with his response to Shippou's brilliant and well thought-out plan.
"That couldn't possibly work." His tone was obviously 'superior'. It slightly upset the kitsune. He could've dealt with that, but then InuYasha added in his own two cents.
"And then there's the barrier than Naraku has up. We can't break through it, much less do it in a secretive manner—disguises or not." Shippou had been about to tell them exactly what he thought of their putting down his perfect idea, when Kagome—trying to help—made it so very much worse.
"Don't worry Shippou, maybe when you're a little older you can help us. You just don't understand what's going on here." And she handed him a lollypop. To keep himself from badmouthing the one person he thought would be on his side, he put on a cleaver act and smiled, licking the lollypop as if he were perfectly happy.
As the older members of the group continued to plot aloud, the wheels in Shippou's mind were turning, fine tuning his own plan. He would show them, even if he had to do it alone. Briefly he'd thought about asking Miroku's raccoon friend Hachi to help, then knew almost immediately that the coon-demon, shape shifter or not, would never agree to something so reckless. His only problem now, was finding a safe time to slip away from the group—when they wouldn't realize he was gone—while Kagome cooked perhaps? But that wouldn't work, Kagome would miss him when he finished cooking, and InuYasha would surely sniff him out quickly.
It was as he smelled dinner cooking and watched the sunset when the answer finally hit him. He could leave while they were all asleep! As much as InuYasha swore he never did, he knew the dog demon always fell asleep on guard duty. It was that plan that hatched another series of events that would change everything. Shippou ate dinner happily, feeling quite devious for thinking of such a plan that none of the others would ever realize he'd even dreamed off. It was perfect, and one hundred percent fool proof. He couldn't wait for the night to begin.
The hours passed so quickly, and soon they were all huddled in sleeping bags under the moon. He lay in wait with his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, listening to InuYasha's breathing that slowly turned to light snores. He slipped out of his sleeping bag and rolled it up, before slipping off quickly into the trees. He was stopped then, by a voice he hadn't heard from since the last attacks from Naraku—it was Sango. He had forgotten to check and make sure everyone was asleep!
Sango looked up from where she was sitting in the trees, stroking Kirara's head. "Thinking of going somewhere, Shippou?"
"Well, I just—" Shippou tried to find words to explain what he was doing without giving himself away. "I had to go to the bathroom." His mind was immediately screaming 'LAME!!' but he blushed slightly when Sango laughed.
"Are you sure?" Sango smiled lightly. "Looks to me like you were about to go off on that planned adventure of yours." So she had been listening. Shippou could only slowly nod as Kirara jumped to Sango's shoulder, and the demon slayer stood, putting the Hiraikotsu on her back. She was fully dressed in her slayer's outfit, and this confused Shippou.
He opened his mouth to question her, but only a small-confused stammer exited through his lips. Sango laughed slightly. "It's a good idea. I'm going to help you. Kirara too. Let's go." A smiled spread over Shippou's entire face and he hopped over to Sango's side. A vote of confidence! This was exactly what he'd been waiting for.
So the two set out on a short journey that was to end in a manner so surprising that even Shippou could not see it coming. They headed silently toward where Naraku was hiding, stopping just shortly in front of the glowing barrier.
Upon arrival, Shippou pulled his kitsune tricks, changing his appearance to that of Kohaku's. He then gently tied Sango's wrists, and put a leash around Kirara's neck, heading forward. He had practiced the words he must speak next in his mind over and over, ready to fool Naraku into believing that he was the real boy.
He opened his mouth to announce his arrival to his master, but the barrier fell, and Naraku's silhouette appeared coming up to them from the other side's castle depths. Shippou or Kohaku as he had to remember to answer to now, quickly closed his mouth and bowed deeply to the powerful half-demon.
"Very good, Kohaku." He felt Naraku's hand rubbing his head almost as if he really cared for the boy that Shippou was impersonating. "You brought them with no troubles I see… Come on inside." He turned and walked back into the palace.
Shippou pulled Sango and Kirara along, pleased that his plan was working. He followed Naraku to his main chamber, not looking back as the glow of the barrier once more filled the area as it returned. He fell to one knee, still holding the ropes that held the two 'captives' at the feet of Naraku, hoping that this was how loyal Kohaku himself was.
Kanna was called forth and escorted Sango and Kirara out of the room, and was told to make them comfortable. Shippou wasn't worried, he knew that the two could take care of themselves—plus he hadn't tied the ropes tightly at all, they could easily slip loose. Now it was up to him to continue to do as Naraku said without question, and continue to act as if he were really Kohaku, until he could slip away on his own. This, he knew, would prove to be the hardest part of his whole plan.
After a moment he felt Naraku's hand on his head once more. He just sat there, allowing it, thinking that Kohaku must, or he wouldn't be doing it constantly. The silence and touches were killing him, he wished that Naraku would say something—release him to wander freely. But what did happen threw him into a world of uncertainty.
"I know your secrets, Shippou." The tone in Naraku's voice was what scared him the most. It was soft and gentle, almost as if he truly cared. But on top of that what secrets? The only secret he had was that he was not Kohaku. But he would try to continue to hide that.
"What are you talking about, master?" he questioned, trying his best to act like Kohaku. This plan of action fell apart as the real Kohaku stepped out from the shadows—in the room the entire time, watching. Shippou felt his stomach roll over. This wasn't looking good at all. If they knew—then what was happening to Sango and Kirara?
"Take off that silly disguise, Shippou." Naraku ordered, though his voice was still frighteningly gentle. In order to keep him from behind hurt for not doing so, the kitsune quickly did as he was told, looking up at Naraku. He again tried to act tough.
"I'm not afraid of you!" but instead of his voice coming out loud and strong like InuYasha's, it had come out small and shaky like a mouse cornered by a hungry cat. He immediately cursed his childish voice. Why did he have to be such a kid? If he weren't, then people would take him more seriously. Naraku was laughing, and this made him feel even worse. But before he could voice this opinion, Naraku's hand was back on his head.
Shippou froze, unsure of what to do. Why was Naraku touching him like that? Especially if he knew who he was, and that he'd come in to prove that he could. "They take you for granted, don't they?" his voice was soft again. "But I know a secret deep inside you that even you don't know, Shippou. Come to my side, help me with InuYasha, and I'll show you what this secret is."
After a moment of thinking, Shippou realized that he was seriously considering this. Naraku didn't seem to think he was a joke, and if this secret was such a big deal, then it could be worth it, right? He found himself nodding. "Yes, Naraku." Then he bit his lip. "Or should I say master?"
Naraku laughed again. "No. You may call me Naraku." He leaned back in his chair, taking his hand off Shippou's head. "Kohaku, show Shippou to his room." He stood to follow the boy he had been impersonating, then stopped and turned back around quickly.
"But what about Sango and Kirara?!"
"Oh, yes, your good friends…" Naraku observed him over his fingertips touching together. "They are being taken care of. Don't you worry."
Kohaku had taken his arm and pulled him out of the room, leading him down the hall and putting him in another. Upon entrance, Shippou felt quite drowsy. The mat in the corner looked inviting. He stumbled over and collapsed, curling up, asleep almost right away.
The next morning, as the sun tickled his nose, Shippou sat up slowly with a yawn. He rubbed his face, looking around. There was a knock on his door. "Come in." but his voice wasn't the same—it was much, much deeper. He covered his mouth quickly, then looked over as Kohaku came in, eyebrow raised.
"Is something wrong?" the other boy questioned. Shippou just shook his head quickly. Kohaku put a tray of food down, and left. After he heard Kohaku's footsteps fade to nothing, he jumped up and ran over to the full-length mirror in the room.
Staring back at him, instead of the tiny child he had been when he arrived, was a teenaged Shippou. He was quite handsome, even if he said so himself. The door opened again, this time Naraku was the one to enter, explaining the absence of a knock.
Shippou turned around to stare at him, a confused look on his aged face.
"That's your secret." Naraku said quietly. "You were holding yourself back. You wanted to be grown up, and so you should have been long before now. But staying with those people who treated you like nothing more than a foolish child kept you downtrodden. Now you are quite the young man." He smiled, and turned to leave. "Sango is in the room down the hall." He disappeared back into his main chambers.
He quickly ran to Sango's room, looking at her. She looked up from petting Kirara. "Hello, Shippou. My… You're so handsome…" before he could take everything in, he found himself wrapped in a warm hug from Sango. But it felt different than the hugs Kagome had given him. When the words 'I love you' slipped from her lips, he realized something was quite out of place. Hearing the door open, he pulled quickly from Sango's arms and turned to look.
Kagura was leaning in the doorway. "Do you like being a man?" she questioned. Getting no answer, only a confused stare, she continued. "The puppet Sango seems to."
"Puppet?!" Shippou looked alarmed, looking between the two females.
"I knew that would get you." Kagura entered the room. "She's like her brother now. Controlled by the tainted jewel shards… Only her's reside in her leg, instead of her back."
"We have to get out of here!" Shippou began, only to be cut off.
"Once you leave Naraku, you will go back to being a child." She looked at him. "Do you think you can handle that?"
Shippou stared at her. It was Sango's freedom, or his respect. It only took him a moment to decide upon his answer. "I can!"
Kagura walked over to him. "Then follow me. I'll get the three of you out of here. If you promise to free me one day."
Everything was falling into place in Shippou's mind, piece by piece. And he understood. "Yes! I will free you, I won't let InuYasha kill you."
"Good. Then follow me." Kagura swept from the room, and Shippou pulled Sango along behind him, Kirara following the three in the lead.
As soon as he slipped to the other side of the barrier, Shippou felt his body become childish once more, and heard his voice change back.
"Come on, Sango!"
He quickly lead her back to the others, and explain what had happened. He received a few whacks on the head from InuYasha, and Kagome removed and purified the shards from Sango's leg.
No one knew the truth behind his adventure but he, and Kagura. He knew she respected him, she had asked him for help. And he knew someday, that he would become the man that even Naraku had respected. And if sitting through countless beatings and being ignored was what it took to get there naturally, then Shippou would gladly take it.