Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not the characters, not even a blade of grass--nor a single sakura blossom. Hell, I don't even own a Sesshoumaru plushie. All characters are from the inspired mind of R. Takahashi and everything else is my poor attempt.

Chapter 4: Growing

"Jaken-sama? How big are the Western Lands?" Rin had been traveling with her adopted pack for several years now. It seemed to her that the territory they patrolled was so vast that it was beyond all understanding.

"Stop asking stupid questions," Jaken grumbled.

"But why, Jaken-sama?" Rin asked innocently.

Sesshoumaru looked back at the odd pair, strangely amused at their antics. Rin would ask Jaken a question, Jaken would grumble, Rin would continue her pestering, Jaken would grumble even more, tell her to shut-up and then plead with Sesshoumaru.

"Shut-up! You stupid, ningen—why must you ceaselessly chatter? And pick flowers! And smile!" The toad glared and straightened his hat.

If Jaken could growl without sounding ridiculous, surely he would have at that moment. "Why are you still smiling?" he asked annoyed.

THUNK!

Rin giggled at the sound of the rock making contact with Jaken's head, and then burst into laughter at the sound of Jaken making contact with the ground.

"Jaken."

"Nani!"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at being addressed in such a familiar fashion.

Jaken's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he realized his mistake. He quickly fell prostrate before his lord. "Oh, Sess—Sesshoumaru-sama! This lowly Jaken did not mean—errr—uhm—Jaken did not mean to address the greatest youkai, the Lord of the Western Lands in su—THUNK!

"Jaken, shut-up."

Sesshoumaru almost smiled. "You little men annoy me," he growled at the toad.

"Go."

Needless to say—Jaken ran. He ran as fast as his short, stubby legs would allow him, while tripping over the Nintoujou and holding onto his floppy hat.

Rin giggled. Her Sesshoumaru-sama always rescued her—even from Jaken-sama when he yelled at her. Though, those rocks sure must hurt Jaken-sama. That's probably why he always wears that ugly hat, Rin reasoned. After all, he had to hide to lumps and bruises somehow!

Sesshoumaru stared at Rin somewhat confused. Her happy laughter had quickly changed, now her eyebrows were drawn together and she was biting her lip in consternation. He held back a sigh. Rin would always confuse him—of that, the youkai was sure.

"Nani?"

Rin looked up in surprise. "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Rin, what are you thinking about?"

At this show of concern from her lord, Rin brightened considerably—effectively confusing Sesshoumaru even more. Stifling another sigh, the youkai did something he never did—he repeated himself.

"Rin, what are you thinking about?"

Rin paused before responding, and bit her lip hoping that Sesshoumaru-sama would not get angry with her answer. "Sesshoumaru-sama" she began timidly, "don't you think those rocks hurt Jaken-sama? Maybe, if Sesshoumaru-sama stopped throwing them at Jaken-sama, he wouldn't have to wear his ugly hat anymore!"

"Hn." With that, Sesshoumaru continued his walk, content to contemplate the girl's answer. Rin laughed when Jaken was scolded, and even when he had rocks thrown at his head—but she still worried about the little toad. That much he understood, Sesshoumaru frowned—but what did the hat have to do with anything?

After several more minutes contemplation, with Rin nervously looking on, Sesshoumaru stopped suddenly and turned to face her.

"What you have said has made this Sesshoumaru think. This Sesshoumaru will stop throwing rocks at Jaken—unless he does something very stupid."

Rin's face lit up with delight, but then just as suddenly, her expression went back to sadness.

Exasperated, Sesshoumaru looked at the girl. Was there no pleasing a ningen? Of course not—much less a ningen female, he thought.

"Nani?" he asked impatiently.

"Well," she started slowly "it's just that Sesshoumaru-sama said he wouldn't throw rocks at Jaken-sama unless he does something stupid…"

"Hai" he interrupted "isn't that what you wanted?"

"But Sesshoumaru-sama, Jaken-sama always does stupid things!"

The tiniest corner of Sesshoumaru's lip twitched, just the ghost of a flicker of movement. Rin looked at her lord and blinked. No, her Sesshoumaru-sama never smiled, it must have been a trick of the sunlight, she thought.

The duo trudged on, catching up to Jaken and Ah-Un just before nightfall.

-----------------------------

"Rin, it is time you received another kimono. The one you wear is unacceptable for a ward of this Sesshoumaru."

Rin slowly awakened. She looked up blearily at the now clearing figure of her lord. "Nani?" she asked while stretching lazily.

Sesshoumaru's mouth tightened in annoyance, while Jaken looked on gleefully. This time, Jaken thought, that stupid ningen will get what's coming to her. How dare she address Lord Sesshoumaru in such a fashion!

Rin yawned. "Oh, gomen nasai, Sesshoumaru-sama. Ohayou gozaimasu! she exclaimed, gracing the youkai with a sunny smile.

"Hayaku, Rin. You need new clothing."

Jaken frowned. He had rocks thrown at his head for addressing his lord as such. Did that mean, that Lord Sesshoumaru viewed Rin as an equal?

"Jaken."

The little toad turned and quickly followed his companions, still contemplating just how his Sesshoumaru-sama viewed the now not-so-tiny ningen girl. Rin was in fact, just at the beginning of the 'awkward stages,' as the humans called them.

"Jaken-sama! Hayaku! Do you want a rock thrown at your head?"

Jaken stuck his tongue out at the girl and tried (and failed) to hide the fact that he was walking faster. Vainly, he tried remembering the last time he had a rock thrown at his head. The rocks were very rare occurrences in the past two or three years. In fact, he could only remember being soundly thrashed by Sesshoumaru once or twice—when he had allowed Rin to be either hurt or kidnapped.

Lost in their own thoughts, the trio and two-headed dragon Ah-Un moved forward towards one of the few places Jaken thought his lord would never willingly venture—a human village.

As they drew nearer the village, the smells assaulted Sesshoumaru's sensitive nose. The stench of ningen, their waste, foods, and animals was almost overpowering. "Jaken, take Rin into the village, let her pick whatever she likes, but buy her the best wardrobe you can find. Do you understand me?" he asked sternly.

"Hai, wakkatta, Sesshoumaru-sama," Jaken said with a small bow.

After watching Jaken, Rin and Ah-Un walk slowly to the village, Sesshoumaru leapt into a nearby tree, to think and watch, and wait.

Many hours later, the trio trudged back. The dragon Ah-Un was loaded with innumerable bags—clothing, accessories, jewelry—of everything a hime could possibly want or need.

Sesshoumaru leapt from the tree, landing gracefully in front of the small group. Wordlessly he surveyed the packages and the tired ningen girl. Rin smiled blearily at him, they had been shopping the whole day and she was exhausted.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, "why does Rin need all of this?"

"Nan nichi, Rin?"

Eyes widening, Rin ran up to her lord and wordlessly threw her arms around his waist. It was six years to the day that Sesshoumaru had found her in the village, bloody and defeated by the wolves. As they had no knowledge of her birthday, they used the date of her death—and resurrection to mark time. Rin was now thirteen years of age.

"Happy Birthday, Rin."

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Rin ran over and hugged Ah-Un and even Jaken as well. "Rin, let go of me!" he squawked.

Rin smiled and held Jaken just a little longer. Releasing the tiny youkai, she turned once more to Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, arigatou. But why does Rin need all this? And where will we keep it?" she asked, gesturing to the large packs on Ah-Un's back.

After a dramatic pause, Sesshoumaru looked at his followers.

"We're going home."

Rin looked at Sesshoumaru surprised.

"Hn."

Translations:

Gomen nasai: I'm sorry

Ohayou gozaimasu: Good morning!

Hayaku: Hurry up

Wakkatta: I understand

Hime: Princess

Nan nichi: What day of the month is it?

Arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you very much

Reviewers:

Chi little lady of the western lands: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! Thanks for reviewing again, and especially for reading and reviewing "What Do You Have To Protect?"

LadyRinUchiha: I'm glad you enjoy Jaken so much! He's one of my favourite characters too :) As for Rin taking after Sess—I do want her to take after Sessy, but I still want her to be a sweet, innocent, happy little girl too o.0 Yeah, I have no idea how that will work either shrugs Thanks again for reviewing!

IYGU: Woohoo! Another 1st time reviewer. I love you. Really, I do! I'm glad you enjoyed the Jaken scenes as much as I enjoyed writing them.

LadyRhiyana: Thanks for reviewing again, and I'm glad you think I should go slowly. I really do want to give Rin some character before sending her headfirst into Sesshoumaru. Though—that does sound interesting ;) Oh, and thanks for telling me about the anonymous reviews thing—I hadn't even noticed what the setting was. Thanks to you, I am now accepting anonymous reviews.

KatrinaKaiba: Thank you! I'm glad you like the story. "Is the thing that he's protecting Rin?" No actually, its not. Sesshoumaru looked at the little girl, and after a short pause, answered "because Rin, it is something this Sesshoumaru wishes to protect." Sess was referring to the Western Lands. THOUGH, if you want a story where Sess wishes to protect Rin, I highly recommend my one-shot "What Do You Have To Protect?" And yes, that can be construed as begging for reviews :)

TaiYukai of the Western Lands: My first anonymous reviewer. re-reads the comment, nods, smiles and tried to move on I personally prefer Sesshoumaru to Sesshomaru because it just looks weird without the accent over the "o" and I'm too lazy to put it in. So wherever there's an "o" with an accent I just make it "ou" i.e. Tojikin becomes Toujikin etc.

Siren66: Thanks for reviewing!

Thanks to everyone who added "Sakura Blossoms" to their favs list.

A/N:

I apologize for not updating sooner—I accept all accusations about being a terrible person. I love all you reviewers, and being greedy, I'd like some more. Please, sir, may I have some more?

Danica