Yo! The reason this is so late stems with writers block out the wazoo for Snowfall and me letting every project fall to the wayside while I struggled to produce nothing. *Rolls eyes* stupid choice, but here I am. Back again with a nice lump of a chapter to make up for my tardiness.

Shoutouts, Kisses, and a flirtatious wink for the reviewers: Sharelove, EgyLynx, Bliza, bleedingangel95, Alexiz tutsi, Gunkas Fee, and the ever illusive Guest.

*P.S: Sesshomaru knows InuYasha pays back his debts because he lost an arm for attacking Kagome and InuYasha getting his eyeball messed with.

Pies of varying delicious flavors and donuts filled with sweet bean paste for the followers and favorite goers. You folks rock!

~Yasha's Sis

Circumstance

Book 2: Land of Grass

Chapter 2:

Unnatural

Unfamiliar with the territory and unconscious for a solid third of the trip out, the chibi still managed to find the previous campsite of the crew that found him.

Kushina was beyond impressed. Those were some killer instincts the kid had.

Instincts or skill?

"It's unnatural," Toshiro mumbled, green eyes watching the boy as he hunted around the campsite like a dog before perking and darting off into the forest line. Kushina almost bristled on the kid's behalf before remembering her promise to Sarutobi. Instead, she sent the Hokage's flunky a smile that was a shade too bright. The taijutsu specialist paled instantly.

"It's remarkable more like. I'll go ahead to check on the midget's progress. Kitaru, Lin, get camp started, this is as good a place as any, Toshiro will gather firewood and join Jun to scout."

Lin and Jun bowed, vanishing to do their tasks, while the other two exchanged a nervous glance at her too cheery smile before hurrying away. InuYasha wasn't the only one to enjoy terrorizing the stuck up honor guard that haunted her days and nights.

It took months of planning (*cough* begging and threats) to get released to attend the tournament. More still to ensure her guard was as minimal as it managed to be.

To bring an additional five guards into the Land of Iron, Kushina pointed out with feigned calm, was a declaration in and of itself and tensions were high enough without poking the prickly Iron Bear. Besides, no one knew she was the nine tail's host.

The anonymity wouldn't last for long if war continued towards them like is seemed it would, but it was still there.

Times were tense, yes, but they weren't so bad that Kushina couldn't visit a family friend. Mifune wouldn't allow anything to happen to her in his territory, hence the quiet, subtle trackers that were a day or so behind them.

There weren't many perks to being a demon host but boosted sensing range was one of them. While Uzumaki blood already gave her an edge to sensing, the fox nearly quadrupled it.

Shaking her head to clear the thoughts, Kushina turned her attention to tracking. The Gaki was turning circles in the clearing up ahead. Kushina grinned as she ducked under a low branch and trailed her reluctant cuddle buddy.

Well, less reluctant than before.

It took her a few days to notice, but she did. A half-hearted glare here, a scowl at the men after they said something borderline insulting about Kushina there, and eventually the picture solidified.

InuYasha was letting Kushina manhandle him to make her feel better.

At first she thought she was imagining things. No child was that observant, that attuned to people to pick up on the minute slights half her party sent her way.

But the boy did.

He caught the skittish glances of their party, the carefully veiled sneer Kintaru addressed her with, and she knew he noticed because his response later in the day to the offending party would be brutal and swift.

The little brat was defending her.

If that didn't make Kushina's heart melt at the thought, his gruff denial of doing anything of the sort made her bite back a squeal.

She couldn't wait to get the little Gaki to his home!

But….

As Kushina spotted her quarry knee deep in the snow, eyes closed and face a mask of crushing disappointment and anger, she had the unfortunately feeling that perhaps getting him home wouldn't be as simple as going back to the beginning.

(A/N:) Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

Back up to at least weekly chapters. Maybe more.

~Yasha's Sis