Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to own the characters they all belong to Rumiko Takahashi, not me.

A/N: This chapter literally wrote itself, though it came out slowly. A few curse words are present in this chapter, please don't flame me about it. Read and review, I love getting feedback! ;-D

A Gap Across Time

VII: Devotion

"Wait a minute, Inuyasha, aren't you going to go talk to Kaede about the well?" Shippou interrupted. He was obviously mad that Inuyasha suddenly took an interest in his former lover over Kagome. "She did tell you to go to her yourself."

"Don't worry about it," was the annoyed response of the hanyou.

"Don't worry about it? How can you say that knowing that Kagome is over there on the other side with your brother!" Shippou retorted angrily. Inuyasha simply snorted in reply to the bristling kid youkai. "I expected more out of you, Inuyasha! You go running back to her when she shows up, I just knew you were like that! You . . . you two-timer!"

"Hey! I never said I was a two-timer!" Inuyasha's face had gone completely red as the others looked at him. It was rather embarrassing, but at the current moment he hadn't the willpower to control what was happening to his cheeks. "Shippou, shut your yap or I'll do it for you!"

"Now, now, no need to argue," Miroku tried to say as calmly as possible over all the shouting.

"Shouldn't you be off, Inuyasha?" Sango added. She hastily snagged Shippou and clamped a hand over his impeccable mouth. She gave him a gentle squeeze when he tried to pry her hand away. "I'm pretty sure Tsume and Kikyou wouldn't be pleased to keep waiting."

"All right."

"Inuyasha," Kikyou said. Upon hearing his name addressed by her Inuyasha immediately looked at her. "If . . . if you're willing to come with us, please sign the parchment that Tsume has brought with her."

"Why would he need to sign something?" Miroku asked.

"For recorded documentation, of course; we need proof that Inuyasha has indeed agreed to this. Going back without anything will automatically make me a liar." Tsume looked to Shippou held within Sango's arms, and then to Inuyasha as she decidedly changed the subject. "I overheard you talking about someone named Kaede, was there something important you had to do with her?"

"No, it was nothing," Inuyasha reached out a hand, "now let me see that parchment." Tsume passed it to him. Inuyasha wasted no time in tearing away the blue ribbon that tied the parchment together. Written on the somewhat brittle paper was large green words that were stating his agreement to the deal, and that he devoted himself to following through with it until his half-brother returned. He looked up when the sparrow youkai handed him a feathered pen.

INUYASHA.

"There, the parchment has been signed, Inuyasha. Ready to go?" Tsume asked jovially.

"Hold it, what about my companions? Can they come, too?" Tsume shook her head. Miroku and Sango exchanged confused glances and shrugged. "Keh, and why the hell not?"

"Humans aren't allowed, your little youkai friend here," she pointed a clawed hand to Shippou, "may come with us, although the other two must remain behind."

"That's fine with us," Miroku spoke up. "Sango and I can keep an eye out for Naraku here. You two go on ahead. Let go of Shippou, Sango." She complied.

"Now then, let's be off," Tsume persisted. "It's best to arrive there before the sun sets."

When Inuyasha and Shippou had disappeared through the dense shrubs with Kikyou and Tsume, both Miroku and Sango glanced at each other once more and sighed. Shippou spoke volumes of truth, although it appeared Inuyasha was needed elsewhere at the moment. They thought it was best that he dealt with taking care of the kingdom instead of going in after Kagome. The latter of the two choices was more preferable however much they thought the first was more important.

"I think it was a good idea that Shippou went with him," Sango noted, almost laughing at the prospect.

"I agree. With him around, perhaps he won't be so reckless, eh?" Miroku added.

-----

As they walked, Shippou never took his eyes off of the shady-looking sparrow youkai. He couldn't exactly say that she was a bad guy, though he had his own suspicions about her. Kikyou, too, had been watching her as well since she felt somewhat uneasy also. What Tsume promised to her - it seemed too good to be true.

Will she be able to keep her promise to me? If not, I was a foolish woman to believe her then. A woman who was clinging onto hope to earn nothing in the end for her services.

-----

Back at the kingdom all the youkai were restless. Tension was in the air - they had all heard about their Lord's younger brother's eventual arrival here. He was going to partake in the role as a ruler, they all didn't know what to expect from the younger sibling of the dog brothers. Different things about the youkai was spread wide and far amongst themselves as everyone wondered how he looked and acted like. Things were alive and colorful within the castle's walls as servants, soldiers and counselors alike scurried about the place to make it presentable to the incoming substitute ruler.

As usual, Rin was genially happy that she'd get to meet someone new. Matter it be a youkai, human, or creature, she was always ecstatic to give them a warm welcome.

"Jaken, I've heard of Inuyasha before but Lord Sesshoumaru had never described him to me. How is he like? And what does he look like?" Rin toddled after the toad as she awaited him for answers. "Tell me, tell me, tell me."

"Oh, be quiet, Rin! Why would you care about such things?" Rin shrugged. "Inuyasha . . . I mean, Lord Inuyasha . . ." the words were rather stiff coming out of his mouth, since he wasn't liking the fact that he'd have to address the hanyou that way once he arrived. ". . . could care less whether you liked him or not. He's loud, annoying and self-centered."

"Is that all?"

"That is all I'm going to tell you."

"Hmmm, anyways, I'd really like to give him a warm welcome! Do you think he'd mind if I gave him a hug?" Jaken halted in his steps as he gave Rin a flabbergasted look, his beady yellow eyes growing wide. "What? I'm sure he wouldn't mind, right?"

"Rin, you stupid child!" The girl cringed at the harsh reprimand by the toad youkai. "Inu-- Lord Inuyasha wouldn't dare let you lay a finger on him! I distinctly remember seeing him dislike the concept of human contact such as a hug! Your stupid ideas and reasons will get you killed one day! Mock my words, Rin!"

As Rin and Jaken duke it out back and forth, Kikoku, the badger youkai leader and one of many counselors of the armed forces began to prepare his troops for the arrival of Inuyasha. Like rigid statues each soldier was expected to stand up to their full height, no slouching, no wandering eyes, and least of all, no sighing. It was a sign of disrespect to a commander when one of his soldiers displayed such a sound of boredom, tiredness and so forth. Kikoku was very strict when it came to the discipline of the men that were under his wing - they knew very well what was in store for them if they were to misbehave or disobey their leader.

"Attention!" All the soldiers faced forward and got into their positions as Kikoku watched. "Formation five, line seven, march forth and then stop!" Footsteps could be heard echoing off the walls as the men pertaining to the barked commands marched briefly. "Salute!" Arms were raised. "Good, very good, everyone. However, Mizakata," a certain bug youkai tensed, "you were a little off. I'll let you slide just this once due to the short amount of time we have until the Lord Sesshoumaru's brother's arrival. Consider yourself lucky.

"T-thank you, Sir!" Mizakata shouted.

Imbeciles. If keeping up a orderly position is too hard for them then what kind of soldiers would I even be training? Much more practice is needed before they all get it right.

To the northern section of the tower the Minister of Affairs and his many counselors were busy preparing the banquet that was to be held for Inuyasha. Saiai went about the process of checking things over in the kitchen as servants and counselors alike were busy cooking, chopping, frying, broiling and so forth. He stood tall and proud as his one uncovered red colored eye busied itself with inspections.

"Saiai, I've finished chopping the onions. Shall they be tossed in with the broth now?" a servant asked.

"No, not yet. Wait for the carrots as well."

"Yes, Sir." The servant scurried off to talk to another counselor as more tasks were currently at hand.

So much noise, so many activities going on at once. I remember quite well how Lord Sesshoumaru was like when he was around inside the kitchen inspecting cooking wares, food supplies, and such. It was quite a daunting task for him. Wherever he is now I do hope he is eating well and gets enough needed rest. Lord Sesshoumaru, you can never know how deeply upset I am that you are not here to run the place. I never thought I'd miss the solitary man that you are, your presence here seems to bring a calm to many who would never willingly admit it, unless they held the greatest feelings of devotion towards you.

Saiai hadn't the time to dwell on such things when Rin approached him. He hadn't noticed that she was beside him until her tiny hands groped at his blood colored robes to get his attention. He looked down at her sweetly.

"Yes, Rin?"

"Have you seen Jaken?" she asked.

"Jaken?" He gave her a perplexed look. "Not that I know of. Did he happen to pass by here?" Rin shrugged and sighed dejectedly. "Is there a reason you need to see him?"

"Not really, he was playing with me and when I turned my back for a moment he vanished. It was like he disappeared into thin air." Rin spread out her arms for emphasis as she explained to the tall tree youkai what she was describing. Sticking out her tongue thoughtfully, she added, "Surin is busy at the moment so I don't want to bother her either. And I'm sure Jaken couldn't have gone too far."

Saiai glanced up when something caught his eye. A small, stubby green webbed foot stuck out from under a nearby table - he almost laughed at the sight but remained tight-lipped. Jaken would have been angry with him if he was to give away his hideaway spot to the child. Looking back down at Rin he used his one eye to steer her towards the table that the toad youkai was hiding underneath. The girl kneeled down and poked at the stubby foot with one finger, it wriggled around for a moment before disappearing underneath the clothed table completely. A few seconds later a head popped out.

"Jaken!" Rin squealed, mud brown eyes dancing with delight. "I've finally found you!"

"R-Rin! How did you find me?"

"That's a secret! Come on, silly, we're not done with our game yet!" Rin yanked Jaken by the hand and pulled him out from under the table. Saiai watched with amused eyes as Rin and Jaken hobbled off to some other corner of the palace to play in. Perhaps somewhere less noisy and crowded.

-----

"Are we almost there yet?" Inuyasha asked, much like a whiny child would have done.

"It's not much farther now, just beyond those hills you'll be able to see the peak of it," Tsume explained. Shippou smirked when Inuyasha gave the sparrow youkai a look of disbelief, really, Inuyasha did appear childish in every way. "No need for such gawking, Inuyasha, you're making a fool out of yourself. I can see why Lord Sesshoumaru isn't very fond of you."

"Keh!" Inuyasha snarled. "I don't give a damn what he thinks of me, I don't like his ass either!"

Shippou looked to Kikyou as she watched Inuyasha go on one of his many tyrant-like tirades. It appeared like Inuyasha had forgotten she was even walking alongside him since he was too worked up to even notice at this point. Not really wanting to interrupt Inuyasha, Shippou decided to play it safe by letting the hanyou ramble on and on and on . . . If he thought about it, it seemed like Inuyasha was never going to shut up.

"Inuyasha . . ."

"What, little squirt!" Inuyasha turned towards him so fast that Shippou was almost knocked over by the artificial wind he had created. "Can't--"

"Ahem . . . We're almost there so can you be quiet for just a minute?" he asked. Shippou looked to Kikyou and Tsume, Inuyasha followed suit. He really did forget that Kikyou came along because it was instantaneous at how fast Inuyasha blushed, mumbled a apology that sounded like something else in it's entirety, and close his mouth. "Much better."

"Hmph."

Inuyasha, Kikyou and Shippou were surprised at how large the actual palace really was compared to what each one thought of what it was like. The gates alone were quite impressive with their massive earthy look and large emblazoned cherry blossom carvings that marked the family crest. Tsume walked forward while she instructed the others to stand behind her in wait.

"Open the gates, Lord Inuyasha has arrived!" Tsume announced.

Lord? Since when did I become a Lord?

Creaking sounds could be heard when the gates were pulled apart. It took less than ten seconds before the gates were opened all the way. Tsume walked forward and turned around for a moment to signal to the others to follow behind her. If they thought the outside was magnificent, the inside was even better. Inuyasha had no idea that his brother was living in such luxury while he roamed about the forest like a wild animal, in which he didn't mind at all since he preferred the outdoors more than anything else. Even as a child he was that way. Inuyasha stopped walking when Tsume held out a hand towards him, he looked down at it in a confused manner.

"Why are you showing me your hand?" he asked.

"Place yours on top of mine when I say, 'Lord Inuyasha has come, please file out and greet him'."

"What the hell . . .?" Inuyasha was really confused.

"Just do it, Inuyasha," Shippou supplied, tired of hanyou's uncooperative behavior thus far. "The sooner you get this done the sooner we'll get inside."

"I never imagined Lord Sesshoumaru having such a huge home," Kikyou suddenly said. All eyes turned to look at her. "It does seem rather inviting, please, Inuyasha, if your little friend here would like to get inside then I suggest you go through with the opening ceremony, if that's what you people call it here." Inuyasha sweat dropped. "No matter how great your hate towards your brother, you surely must feel some sort of devotion to this palace. It did once belong to your father."

"I feel nothing of the sort. I never did and I never will."

"Get ready," Tsume reminded him.

An entourage of youkai filed out when Tsume summoned them with what she said. "Lord Inuyasha has come, please file out and greet him!" She lifted a arm towards him and waited for him to place his hand on top of hers.

"Wow . . ."

Shippou marveled at how many youkai came cluttering out of the main entryway to the palace. Based upon rank certain youkai stood in certain parts of the grassy platform as they endlessly poured out of the doorway. It was a spectacular sight for the little fox youkai. The Minister of Affairs, Warfare, and Support stood at the very head of the many troops of creatures lining the palace wall in the center. The counselors stood right behind them, Tsume, too, had gone off to join them in their welcoming ceremony. The rest that stood behind the counselors were the servants and soldiers. Each youkai stood ready and at attention; all eyes fixed on a certain silver haired individual. Inuyasha was astounded by it all - it was hard to believe that he was going to watch over something as large as this and keep an eye on all these youkai standing before him.

Life is gonna be interesting here. Very interesting.

"Lord Inuyasha," all the youkai chorused in perfect unison, "we welcome you to the palace of the Taisho household!"

"Wow, what a nice welcome greeting," Shippou noted.

Inuyasha noticed a certain individual when he started to break away from the crowd to come towards him. He'd already seen this youkai many times before in the past so he knew perfectly well who it was: Saiai. The tree youkai bent down and whispered something into the hanyou's ear before standing silently beside him. Unsure of what Saiai exactly meant Inuyasha swished his hand in the air - all at once the youkai started to file back into the palace. Kikyou's eyes never left Tsume when she watched her walk through the doorway, the only reason she lost her sight of her was because she walked inside. She only hoped that Tsume was waiting for her by the door.

Don't forget what you promised me, Tsume.

"Well now, shall we all go inside?" Saiai invited. They all nodded. "Before you go about being the Lord, Inuyasha, there will be plenty of things you need to learn."

"Like what?"

"Your attire for one, must be changed." Inuyasha looked down at the fire's rat robe he was wearing and frowned. "The Lord of the palace never wears clothing that is all of one color unless it was sleepwear. Secondly, the way you speak, Lord Inuyasha, that needs some work. Third, there are many meetings that must be attended during certain intervals of the month, you mustn't be late or show any signs of disinterest when you're discussing something with the Ministers of the palace. There are only three Ministers so the meetings will never be too long or too short. The three that your brother has decided to keep are the Minister of Affairs, Minister of Warfare, and Minsiter of Support.

You mean there were literally more than three to begin with! What the hell kind of a place is this! Was it overrun by Ministers of everything you can think of?

"Contracts, treaties, land control, meetings with other Lords of other lands and such will also need careful attention. Lest I say they're the most important in high regards to anything else. Now that I've explained the rules, are there any questions, Lord Inuyasha?"

He better be kidding . . . He listed off so much shit that I think my head was going to explode from it all if he kept on rambling nonsense to me! Questions, questios, questions . . . I've got plenty!

"It makes me wonder how the hell my brother can standing doing this on a regulary basis. The things you listed off were enough to drive someone like me mad in a couple of days let alone a week," Inuyasha said. Saiai merely smiled and said nothing. "First off, once I enter the palace what will be expected of me from everyone?"

"As of now there is nothing expected from you since you'd need to begin your training right away. Katari, Aizuna, Kikoku, Tsume, and myself will be teaching you things throughout the course of roughly two weeks." A twinkle came to the red-eyed tree youkai. "Perhaps by then you've would have learned everything you need to know about the palace and what everyone expects from you, Lord Inuyasha."

". . . . . . . ."

To be continued!