5. Shippou

A/N: I was on a con so I had less time to work on this one so yeah.

"Look, daddy, look!" a big pink balloon flew in a kitsune's face and started to nibble at his ear. "I can change!"

The kitsune patted the balloon and chuckled.

"Ah, that you can do well, Shippou," he said, pride obvious in his voice. He wasted a long minute to examine the balloon floating in front of him, aware of the little boy's excited gaze. He was waiting for his final opinion on his transformation. He gave a nod.

"You did a really good job, son. I am sure you will only improve your skills. Remember to always train, my son," he added when the boy changed back and jumped in his waiting arms. Shippou smiled happily and hugged his dad.

"I will. I'll train until I have nine tails," he promised seriously. His father kissed the top of his head and laughed joyfully.

.

"Look, look!" Inuyasha cracked his eyes open and saw a thing he really didn't want to see, especially this pretty morning - a kitsune's ass. He growled and pushed the butt away.

"Go away, squirt!" he growled, but Shippou climbed back to stand on his chest and present his behind to him. With a much louder growl Inuyasha grabbed his tail and lifted him while sitting up, his eyes glaring at the fox. Shippou was grinning mischievously and flickered his tail. "Huh?"

The young kitsune crossed his arms while he was observing the hanyou's face intently. He saw him blink his sleep away while his yellow eyes were following the sway of his tail. Then a small frown formed on Inuyasha's face and was followed by a light squeezed to the mass of fur of Shippou's tail in his grasp. The kitsune almost laughed when Inuyasha tilted his head to the side like a curious dog and twisted his wrist to look at Shippou sideways. Then he lifted his gaze to Shippou's sparkling eyes.

"Do you like it?" Shippou asked, trying to hide the hope in his voice. Inuyasha was far from being a father figure in his life, but he was the leader of their pack and could pass for an older brother. Shippou hoped he - and the rest of his pack - would be proud of his improvement.

Inuyasha didn't reply, he just jumped down from his branch, still holding him by his tail.

"Oi, Kagome! The squirt grew a tail!" he shouted in the direction of his and his wife's hut a few paces away from his tree. Shippou was tucked under Inuyasha's arm and - as he was struggling to get free from the hanyou's grip - received a rough pat on his head. Green eyes lifted to stare in the yellow ones. "Nice job. Now Miroku's twins can pull your tails instead of my ears."

Shippou's happy expression morphed in one of utter terror when Kagome stepped out of the hut to hug him.