Summary: Uchiha Sasuke isn't someone Naruto would want to spend the rest of his life with -especially since his life as a fox demon won't end anytime soon. Too bad that his wishes don't matter to Sasuke; since suicide's is obviously out of question, only one option is left... .

Warnings: male slash, yaoi, lemons (non-elaborate), some violence, cursing, minor character bashing (Kagome)

Author's note: This chapter has been beta'd by 'XxDreaming of RealityxX'

Disclaimer: don't own anything T.T

"Talking"

"Demon talking"

'Thinking'

'Inner demon'

Dreams/flashbacks

Chapter 3: Meeting family?

"Prepare my fastest carriage and some of my best warriors," he shouted at the youkai that guarded the door to his study, his work completely forgotten.

"We are going to visit the Lord of the West."

His child had finally come home.

A loud screech sounded through the halls of the western palace.

A young blonde snickered to himself as he watched the angry face of his newest victim. Yaken's expression really looked hilarious, the little kappa demon was nearly hyperventilating. Though nothing in the palace library seemed to be wrong at all, the kappa demon looked horrified. Why? Because the library was sacred to lord Sesshomaru's retainer and because someone had rearranged everything. No book or scroll was where it is supposed to be. Years of careful organisation were for naught.

'Now that I think about it... that does seem rather mean,' Naruto's inner demon commented.

'Really now, it's not like it is permanent. It really isn't my fault that Yaken can't see through one of my simplest illusions.'

Though staying in the western palace had been the last thing he wanted at first, Naruto was having the time of his life. Who would have thought that staying in Sesshomaru's stuffy palace would be so much fun?

The palace itself was amazing. It had so many beautiful gardens, some of them with exotic plants he had never seen before and others that had a more traditional style. Another positive aspect of the palace was that it had been build around several hot springs. Nearly every room had access to its own hot spring. To Naruto, who had basically been on the run for most of his life, that was pure luxury. He truly enjoyed his baths in the hot springs, they brought back some of his rare happy memories. Mainly memories of Jiraiya peeping on women while he was training or him and the old pervert running from yet another mob of angry women the old pervert had peeped on. Those memories never failed to make him smile.

Though the hot springs were one of his favourite things about the palace it wasn't the only thing he prized about it. Everything in the palace was tastefully decorated and the blonde had yet to find a room that wasn't as beautiful as the rest of it all. But what amazed the young fox demon the most was the sheer size of Sesshomaru's palace.

'And I thought the Namikaze compound was big. Compared to this it was tiny,' was Naruto's first thought when he had discovered how big the place really was.

Naruto really loved staying there, it was so peaceful and yet so full of live. He enjoyed the company of Rei Inu and Norio and Sesshomaru's cute human child, Rin. Because he had spent so much time on the run from the Uchiha-bastard, he hadn't had time to think about how he had missed spending time with other people and how he loathed being alone.

But the main reason why Naruto was having so much fun in the Western palace was because of all the pranks he could pull without being caught. Most of the things he could accomplish with ninjutsu were unheard of in Edo, nobody would be able to prove him anything. The shadow clone jutsu wasn't his favourite technique for nothing. Oh the possibilities, and so many unsuspecting victims.

His main target, of course, was Sesshomaru. The young lord had been rather rude and unfriendly to him on their first encounter. He just rubbed Naruto the wrong way and reminded him too much of another stoic bastard. The blonde really didn't want to remember the Uchiha.

It was just the beginning of the second week of his stay at the palace and he had played several pranks on the Lord of the West already. His first prank was to dye Sesshomaru's hair a bright shade pink. After many attempts to wash the colour out of his hair the dog demon had had to go to one of his sorcerers to restore his original hair colour.

Naruto nearly died from the lack of oxygen because he had been laughing so hard. Pink really was Sesshomaru's colour.

Of course Sesshomaru had instantly suspected that it was Naruto's doing. He was the only Kitsune in the palace after all. But much to his dismay, he had absolutely no proof that could link Naruto to any of the pranks. Because every time a prank was pulled, Naruto had been able to provide an alibi for himself. Either Rei Inu, Norio or some other person would always be able to attest that he had been with them at the time the prank had occurred.

'Thank god they do not know any Justus here or I'd be dead' he thought remembering how furious Sesshomaru had been after the hair dye incident. It had been really scary.

His favourite victims so far though was Sesshomaru's little, dare he say, toad-like retainer. The little green thing annoyed the hell out of Naruto; all that screeching reminded him of Sakura in her fan girl days. Besides his reactions were too damn funny. One time he even had a heart attack when Naruto used his Sexy no Jutsu on him. He almost felt sorry for the imp… almost. Something like a heart attack usually wasn't enough to off a demon. But he had been told Jaken had something of a history with death. Sesshomaru, apparently, had to revive the imp several times a week with that handy sword of his. He just couldn't fathom why the other would choose to keep Jaken around.

'That little pest is annoying. Lord Sesshomaru this, Lord Sesshomaru that. Ugh, that voice of his is seriously annoying. In Sesshomaru's place I would have ditched the toad a long time ago. Do that, don't do that. Always insulting me, too. He deserves it. And it's fun, ' the kitsune thought impishly.

But after a week of constantly playing pranks he was getting bored. And boredom meant he would start to think about certain things, things he had tried hard to forget since he had arrived in Edo. He wasn't ready to confront the whole "near-rape-by-Sasuke-thing" just yet. And that was why, despite the fact that he adored the western palace, he sincerely wished to leave it as soon as possible. But just as he had feared the lord of the South had shown an interest in him. The man had sent a short reply to Sesshomaru announcing that he would travel to the West to see Naruto for himself. The blond just wished he would hurry up so that he could get out of the palace to explore this strange new world and get his mind off things.

Contrary to Naruto, Sesshomaru was having one of the worst weeks of his long life. He had just short of four months to find a suitable mate for himself, before one was chosen for him by the council of elders. Somebody had obviously leaked the details of his predicament to all inhabitants of his palace, maybe even to the whole of the Westerns land. Because it seemed to him that every single unmated female and male in his country was throwing him or herself at him. It was seriously annoying and he had a hard time trying to refrain from killing the whole lot of them. Most of them weren't even worth the air they breathed in, much less the time for him to take a look at them. They were so weak it was pathetic. He could have broken just about all them in half, even as a young pup. And those who were not weak were just simpering fools after his wealth and power. He could not even imagine how he was supposed to find a mate among them. He had absolutely no patience to suffer their presence.

To make matters worse, a certain someone has been terrorizing the inhabitants of his palace with childish pranks. Even though none of them were truly harmful, discounting one incident with his retainer, they were terribly annoying. He was absolutely sure that Naruto was the culprit. Foxes were infamous pranksters after all and the young man just happened to be the only fox demon in his palace. Another thing that pointed towards the kitsune was that the incidents only started to occur since the blonde had turned up. After a week of constant pranking, he still couldn't find a single proof that it was really the kit that had played the pranks, even after his hair has been dyed that horrible shade of pink. Every single time a prank was played someone, mainly his grandfather or Norio, would provide an alibi for the brat. And since he could hardly be at two places at the same time, since that was not a part of fox magic, the fox demon shouldn't be able to be the culprit. Still, too many things pointed towards him.

Though he would never admit it to anyone, some of the pranks had been rather amusing, mostly when Jaken became the victim. The imp was targeted nearly as often as Sesshomaru himself. Once he even had to revive his retainer using Tenseiga, the imp had a heart attack after a he had an encounter with a fully naked female youkai. Sometimes he wondered why he even kept Jaken around, he was really getting tired of reviving him all the time. But then he remembered how efficient the imp dealt with paperwork.

Beside the pranks, there was something else that seriously unnerved the young lord. His inner youkai has begun to behave somewhat strange, ever since the Kitsune youkai appeared. Well, stranger than usual. Sesshomaru was quite the expert on ignoring his inner demon but it has been making strange comments just about every time he saw or even just thought of the young fox demon. He'd tried not to pay it any attention, yet it didn't seem to work more often than not. And that was disturbing him greatly.

And then they have finally gotten a reply from the Lord of the South, just about a day after it had been sent. For the first time in centuries the Lord of the South was coming to visit the West. A week has gone by since the reply had arrived. The travelling party of a lord would have to travel considerably longer than a sole demon. But it wouldn't be long now.

It was still early and the Lord of the West was sitting in his study. It was a big room and scrolls were everywhere, every bookshelf was filled with scrolls the young Lord had signed and read someday. A big beautifully decorated desk was standing in the middle of the room, the desk Sesshomaru was currently sitting at. The desk, too, was covered with scrolls.

He knew he should concentrate on his paperwork but he couldn't stop thinking of why the Lord from the South would travel such a distance just to see his young guest.

'Maybe the Lord of the South somehow cares for the boy. But he has told us himself that he has never been in the South. So why? Hmm. There were rumours of course that his son had disappeared quite some time ago.' he thought, that being the only reason he could think of.

'Maybe he's hoping that Naruto is his long lost son.'

'But Naruto is much too young to fit the bill.'

'Ah. But we didn't specify how old he seemed to be in the message, did we.'

'Hopefully it will all get cleared up when he arrives, without too many problems.'

'That would be good' commented his inner demon.

'Why?' he asked, bewildered for a second.

'Because then the boy could stay with us. If the Southerner doesn't show any interest in him,' it answered slyly.

'And why would we want that?'

'…' But Sesshomaru's inner demon stayed silent.

Yet another conversation with his inner youkai he couldn't make any sense of. Why was it so insistent that the fox staying in his palace was a good thing? Though life had certainly become more interesting with the boy, he was a bit of a nuisance.

He was brought back to reality by a breathless Jaken who stumbled into his study.

"Sesshomaru-sama, my Lord, some of our outposts near the border to the Southern Lands sends word that there was a group of Kitsune youkai coming this way." His retainer squeaked between pants.

"How long until they arrive?" He asked the imp.

"At…at the pace they are travelling they will arrive at noon." answered Jaken still gasping for air.

"Are the guest rooms prepared for them?" Sesshomaru questioned his retainer.

"My Lord?"

"I have already instructed the servants some days ago. I was sent a missive that the Lord of the South himself has decided to visit. They will stay here, at least over night. You must have done an abysmal job the past days if you didn't know that."

The imp spluttered at this, but before Jaken could say another thing, Sesshomaru dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

'So the Lord of the South has truly come himself. I still had doubts.'

'Too bad. Let's hope he doesn't take a shine to our young visitor.'

Growling at his irritating inner beast, he stood up and left his study. He had to inform his grandfather of the news and of cause he also had to inform the young fox youkai.

They needed to get him to wear some proper clothing after all. The boy had refused any clothes that had been offered to him. He had been dressing in strange attire he had somehow gotten seemingly out of nowhere. The clothes were of high quality and also very practical. But they were black and rather form fitting and hardly something to greet a Lord in. It really wouldn't do for the boy to embarrass him.

Sighting he prepared himself for another verbal fight with the fox demon, he was already getting used to them. Every time he encountered the kit they always ended up arguing over nothing. But he could admit, at least to himself, that he had kind of enjoyed their arguments.

Still deep in thoughts, he made his way to his grandfather's chamber. He was about to knock when he heard laughing from inside. That was something that has become a common occurrence over the past week.

'So he is together with grandfather again.'

'Jealous?'

'Why would I be jealous of some fox kit and a complete stranger at that?'

'I didn't mean it that way.'

'Then what did you mean?'

'Forget it…'

While Sesshomaru had still been arguing with himself, his grandfather opened the door to greet him and invite him inside as his presence hadn't gone unnoticed.

Naruto had woken early that day. The sun had barely risen and he was already bored out of his mind. That wouldn't do.

He had been on a walk in the gardens when he met Rei Inu. The old dog demon invited Naruto to his chambers for yet another game of shogi and seeing that he really didn't have anything better to do the blonde eagerly agreed. He had never been a big fan of the game but nevertheless accepted the invitation. It wasn't the first time they spent their time together playing shogi or simply talking. Naruto rather enjoyed the time he spent with the old dog demon. He may not have liked playing the game much, but he sure as hell loved winning at it.

After they had some tea brought to Rei Inu's chambers they started playing. At the beginning all went well for Naruto. Not overly surprising since he learnt from the best. In his long life he had never again found someone who played shogi as good as Shikamaru had.

But after a while Rei Inu became just a bit frustrated with his game and started cheating. Every time Naruto even so much as blinked, the old dog would change the position of the shogi pieces to his advantage.

So now Naruto was sitting in front of the shogi board, pouting, while a smug Rei Inu went to the door to invite his grandson in.

He did not pay attention to the conversation the old dog demon had with his grandchild, his thoughts were still on the game he had lost due to Rei Inu's cheating. Yet as they both took a seat at the small table Naruto immediately felt tense, he didn't get along too well with the Lord of the West after all.

'Dyeing his hair pink wasn't such a good idea now that I think about it,' the blonde though when the tension became nearly unbearable.

Still, nobody said a word until himself finally Sesshomaru broke the tense silence.

"This Sesshomaru received a message, from one of our outposts near the Southern Lands, informing him of a group of Kitsune youkai on their way to us. This can only be the Lord of the South with his entourage. They should arrive by noon."

Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep himself from snickering. 'Who in their right mind speaks of himself in third person? Isn't that like the first sign of insanity?'

After he had calmed down some he asked: "So what do you want me to do?"

"You will need an appropriate attire to greet him" the stoic demon Lord addressed Naruto, not a hint of emotion in his tone.

"Hey! Why? What's wrong with my clothes?" hissed Naruto, insulted.

'Seriously, what's wrong with my clothes?' he thought. And besides, he really liked his clothes. They were not as fancy as Sesshomaru's for sure, but they were comfortable and practical.

As if reading his thoughts Sesshomaru answered: "They may be practical but they are certainly far too simple to wear in the presence of a Lord. Formal attire is more suitable. "

"Oh so my clothes are too simple for your taste. Well, too bad, I'm not gonna change them."

"That was not what I said. They don't look like…"

"Are you saying my clothes are ugly?"

"They are not ugly, they are just not formal enough." Sesshomaru all but snarled. They were arguing about stupid things, again.

Naruto just huffed and looked away from the Lord of the West.

'Oh god, he is like a mix of Sasuke and Itachi. So damn annoying. '

'Maybe, but without the homicidal tendencies and the duck butt hair. Admit it, you like to push his buttons. Besides he's rather handsome.'

'So what? He's still a bastard. And what's that got to do with anything,' he inwardly snarled, not noticing that he was blushing.

'So maybe I enjoy bickering with Sesshomaru, I still don't like him. He's entertaining.'

'You tell yourself that.'

"Hey what's that supposed to mean!" Naruto burst out. Then he saw the confused looks on the faces of Sesshomaru and Rei Inu and realized that he must have said that out loud.

Blushing like a tomato he burrowed himself further into his seat muttering a quiet apology.

"Fine I'll wear your stupid fancy clothing." Naruto said finally, trying to get over his embarrassment. Deciding a tactical retreat was his best bet he got to his feet and ran from the room but not before seeing Sesshomaru's triumphant smirk.

"You may have won the battle but I will win the war!" he yelled on his way outside, cackling like a madman and thinking of the next prank he would play on Sesshomaru as a revenge for embarrassing him. Completely ignoring that it was his own fault in the first place.

After Naruto had sprinted out of the room Sesshomaru and Rei Inu were left alone.

"You do realize you just provoked him needlessly" said Rei Inu.

"So what?"

"You should be more careful from now on, who knows what he will dye pink this time around. Maybe he'll choose another colour this time around."

"You told me yourself that he had spent the whole day with you at that time."

"That still doesn't mean that he didn't do it. Who knows what kind of tricks that kitsune has up his sleeve?"

"... . Well then I better make sure he is dressed appropriately. This Sesshomaru would hate to sacrifice his impeccable appearance and his worldly possessions in vain. "

Groaning inwardly, Sesshomaru stood up and left for his study in hope to get some work done.

Naruto was seriously pissed now. After he fled from Rei Inu's room he made his way back to the gardens.

'Pah. I'm so not going to wear different clothes just because that bastard doesn't like them. They're perfectly fine clothes. So he can just stuff it. '

'You did say that you would wear something more formal.'

'So what? I changed my mind. What is he going to do, change them himself?'

He was barely halfway to the gardens when he heard footsteps behind him. And then, before he knew what was happening, and just as he was thinking that there was nothing the lord of the west could do should he refuse to change, he was surrounded by a whole horde of females, all of them servants.

He didn't stand a chance against them as they dragged him to his rooms, kicking and screaming obscenities.

And then, in his rooms, he was forcefully stripped of his clothes, not even his underwear was spared. He barely had any time to utter a word in protest before he was dragged to the hot spring where the servant girls proceeded to wash him. Meanwhile Naruto nearly died from the embarrassment of it all.

After that they rubbed him dry with some towels and he was once again dragged to his rooms, still completely in the nude.

He had hoped that they had finally finished with him when they had forced him into a dark blue, traditional silk kimono with golden petals on it. Yet the servants were still fussing over him, brushing his wild locks until his hair had a silky shine to it.

When they deemed him ready he was allowed to look into a mirror for the first time after the torture had started. He didn't like what he saw at all. He was looking like a girl, damn it.

'I'm gonna kill somebody really soon. Why, oh why does shit like that always happen to me? And where did these rabid females even come from? Why would they do that to me?'

'I think they acted on orders. I bet that was Sesshomaru's way of making sure you look acceptable when you meet the Lord of the South.'

'That was one of the most traumatizing experiences of my short life. And now look at me. I look like a freaking girl.'

'That may have something to do with the kimono. It was made with a woman in mind, I believe.'

'Oooh, just you wait, Sesshomaru. I'm gonna paint the whole fucking palace pink this time!" he growled inwardly, cursing Sesshomaru and his own stupidity.

Though he would never admit it, he looked damn good in that kimono.

After he had a good long look at himself in the mirror he noticed the suspicious silence in his room. The suddenly he was surrounded by squealing females.

'It seemed I wasn't the only one who noticed that I look good in the kimono,' he thought bemusedly as he was pulled into a bone-crushing group hug by the servants. Knowing better than to fight in such a situation, he resigned himself to his fate. The horrified look never left his face, though.

Then a knock at his door announced a visitor. Without waiting for Naruto to answer his knock Sesshomaru entered the room boldly. Mighty Lord Sesshomaru himself, it seemed, had come to pick him up to finally meet the Lord of the South.

A smirk appeared on his face as he caught sight of Naruto's situation. It took the servant girls a moment to notice the presence of their lord. And just a moment later Naruto was free and the girls hurried out of the room after Sesshomaru dismissed them with a nod, but not without bowing to Sesshomaru first.

Finally freed from the clutches of those rabid females Naruto immediately noticed that he was obviously not the only one who had had a makeover since they had last seen each other. While Sesshomaru's clothes always were of a fine quality, he usually wore a simpler getup. Now he had donned beautiful silver armour, decorated with intricate ornaments. The royal crest of Sesshomaru's clan proudly adorned the chest plate. White seemed to be the favourite colour of the Lord of the West since just as his usual everyday clothes the clothing he had chosen to wear today were mostly made of white silk. Only the complicated patter of magenta, gold and blue along the sleeves of his kimono differed from the usual red. Sesshomaru's hair was done up in a high ponytail which brought out the royal stripes on his cheeks. Mokomoko was lazily draped over the lord's shoulder. All in all, Sesshomaru looked beautifully regal. For a second, Naruto nearly forgot how to breathe when their eyes met.

Only when the older demon raised an eyebrow in question and talked to him the blonde noticed that he had been staring. Blushing an attractive shade of red, Naruto huffed and rushed past Sesshomaru and out of the room, not really listening to what was said. Chuckling quietly in amusement the Lord of the West followed him out.

Growling in annoyance at Sesshomaru's obvious amusement, he quickened his pace. But soon his annoyance was forgotten. He could not deny it, he was nervous as hell to meet the Lord of the South.

Sesshomaru made his way to pick up Naruto. The Kitsune youkai that were seen at one of his outposts had indeed arrived at the palace, with the Lord of the South on the forefront.

For some strange reason the other Lord had just rushed into his palace rudely demanding to see the young fox youkai that had appeared in the Western palace, disregarding all the usual procedures of a meeting between two lords. He seemed to be rather tense. Though he let himself being lead to the room he refused the tea saying he would not have any until he had seen Naruto.

Leaving his grandfather to deal with the other Lord, he went to find Naruto. He was somewhat annoyed that he had gone through all the trouble to done his best robes to greet the other lord only to be brushed off so rudely.

As he came closer to the room that was given to the young fox he heard a lot of female voices squealing at something. He was sure those were the voices of the servants he had assigned to dress the young fox demon.

Without knocking he walked into the room and was greeted by a sight there nearly made him burst out laughing. Only his excellent self-control spared him the indignity of such an act.

There in front of a big mirror stood Naruto in the middle of a group hug with squealing servant girls, the very same ones he had sent earlier to get him ready for the meeting with the Lord of the South.

There was a look of absolute horror on his face and judging by the colour of his face he couldn't breathe as he was slowly turning blue.

Smirking he just stood by watching, waiting for the servants to notice him. Naruto's eyes had been on him the moment he had entered the room.

It took just a moment for him to be noticed by the girls. At Sesshomaru's dismissive nod, one after another hurried out of the room, leaving Naruto and Sesshomaru alone.

Would he have been any other his jaw would have hit the floor when he took in Naruto's flustered appearance. The kimono he was wearing looked beautiful, its colours matching Naruto's hair and eyes. He looked simply stunning, with cheeks flushed from embarrassment and anger, glaring daggers at Sesshomaru.

'Or rather checking me out,' his inner demon noticed as the glare left Naruto's eyes and they glazed over a little.

'…Beautiful…'

'What? Really? I never noticed.'

'No need to get sarcastic.'

'So?'

'What?'

'Can we keep him?'

'That is not our decision to make.'

'But we want him to stay here! With us!'

'…'

While Sesshomaru was having a conversation with his inner demon Naruto's eyes never left the demon lord. All the while not noticing the inuyoukai, that had been staring at him as well.

Finally Sesshomaru remembered that the Lord of the South was waiting for him to return with his young guest. So he raised his eyebrow in question and said: "The Lord of the South arrived. He's in the tea room. We should join him."

Obviously embarrassed that he had been caught staring, the blond brushed past him without listening, huffing adorably.

Chuckling to himself he followed the young fox demon.

The atmosphere in the tea room was tense. Though his host had no reason to be anything but relaxed, the Lord Yuuki of the South was anxious to meet this mysterious young kitsune youkai that had suddenly appeared in the West.

He was a tall youkai, slightly taller than even the young Lord of the West. He had a strong lean built and was dressed in attire somewhat similar to Sesshomaru though his clothes were a dark red colour with a golden leaf pattern. He was wearing simple, blood red armour without much decor. The colour matched his long, slightly spiked hair that was reaching his mid-back. He had a handsome face with two reds stripes on his cheeks, proof of his royal heritage. All in all he seemed very serious though his golden eyes held a slightly mischievous glint, that didn't seem to disappear even under the circumstances.

When he first read the message from the West he had hoped his son and only child had come back. But when he found out the kit was not even mature yet, just a moment ago, that hope was lost. His son had been well over 200 when he had left, so the mysterious kit couldn't be him. Still he decided to see the boy.

Even if this kit wasn't his son, he had to make sure there was no connection between them. Call him a naive fool for hoping for any connection to his son, no matter how absurd and impossible it was. He was so anxious to meet the child that he couldn't stop his fingers from drumming on the table in front of him impatiently and he refused to touch his tea.

When he finally heard the sound of footsteps just outside of the tea room, he sat up straighter. He unconsciously held his breath. The young Lord of the West entered the room first with a young blond youkai following right behind him.

When Yuuki first saw the kit, he was disappointed to say the least, despite the fact that he had known that this couldn't have been his son. The boy was beautiful though. Blond and blue eyed. But he was not his son, he didn't even resemble him.

Still, he stood up and went to the child to take a closer look at him. He certainly had the royal marking of his clan, he noticed. But how? That was the question. He decided to speak with the boy. There was no other way to find out what he wanted to know.

"Who are your parents, child?" He asked immediately, not even bothering with introductions.

He noticed as the kits eyebrow twitched at that and had to restrain himself not to smirk. He had a certain talent to annoy people, which was something that ran in the family.

Another thing he noticed was, that the boy wasn't quite as young as he had assumed. He was approaching his first mating season soon. Beside that there was something strange in the way the boy looked at him. Was he imagining it? There seemed to be some kind of recognition in his gaze.

"Their names were Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze. Bur you wouldn't know them anyway." the young Kitsune answered, glaring at him. "And I am not a child."

"By our law you are. You have yet to mature. Now tell me, why wouldn't I know your parents?" Yuuki demanded, this time he could not hold back a smirk, "I am the lord of all kitsune youkai in Edo after all. There are no royal kitsune in Edo that I do not know of."

"I'm not from here." was hissed at him. He was such a cute child.

"Way to state the obvious." the young lord Sesshomaru stated lazily.

"Oh, do shut up, pink Lady. I wasn't even talking to you. Why are you the hell interfering?" the boy huffed.

At the 'pink Lady' comment the Lord of the South nearly burst out laughing, though he had no idea of the story behind the name. He already liked the kid, he had guts you couldn't deny that. Or maybe he was just plain stupid, but he didn't seem stupid. At least so far. While he had been busy with his thoughts the pair had started to bicker. When he came to Yuuki had to fake a cough to get their attention back.

"Could we go back to the matter at hand, please?" he said loudly, trying to hide his amusement at the pair before him. When nobody answered he continued. "Where are you from? The Mainland? There might be some kitsune youkai there that I don't know. How did you get here then?"

"No. I'm not from the mainland. I was told that my grandfather was from Edo. Though, I don't know all that much of him. He died the day I was born. But he left a seal at my family's compound. That's what brought me here. As to how, I don't have a clue. Though I do know that Edo is in a whole different dimension to where I'm from."

As he heard the boy explain how he came to be in the Western Lands his heart rate sped up. A different dimension? A grandfather from Edo? Dead?

He was afraid to ask the question that came to his mind. But he did nonetheless. He had to know. The boy's story would explain why he couldn't find his child anywhere in Edo, even after centuries of searching.

"The name, child. Your grandfathers name. What was it?" he asked, his voice cracking.

He had to know. His hands were trembling so he clenched them at his sides. He needed closure after so many years. Somewhere deep inside he had known for a while now that he wouldn't see his son again.

A puzzled look appeared on the face of the young kitsune. Though he didn't seem quite sincere in his confusion. The child seemed to know where this way going.

"His name was Kyuubi no Kitsune. What's it to you?"

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