InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Confrontation II: Trials and Tribulations ❯ I Am My Father's Child ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: I bet you guys didn't see this one coming!!Okay for those of you who are reading my fics for the first time, I implore you, please go to my profile page and read `Confrontation', it's the first part of this story. I've been told that it's a damn good read and well worth it, besides this fic picks up 4 to 5 years after that one ends and it will have references to things that happened. Therefore you should want to know how everyone got together, and what ordeals they had to face in order to get to this point? Anyway if you're still not catching what I'm saying, “THIS IS THE SEQUEL TO CONFRONTATION, DAMN IT! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO JUMP RIGHT IN AND UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING!” (Wipes Brow) Okay now on to the chapter…

 

As always the characters will be walking that fine, almost transparent line called OOCNESS!!

 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of them, with the exception of Kanomaru and Joudama thus far!!

 

Chapter 1:

 

I am my father's child

 

His small feet beat rapidly against the cold floor, his breathing heavy and frantic. He didn't spare a single glance at the walls or beautifully painted tapestries of ancestors long passed that decorated them. He didn't stop to bow at the one that held the ferocious image of his grandfather as he normally did when he passed this way. His only destination the large room at the end of the hall that had become his sanctuary…his safe haven.

 

His dark hair air swept across his face stingy his eyes, but he paid it no mind, he just ran harder, stronger and faster. He could feel the eyes of his imaginary foe boring holes into the back of his head. It's hot breath on his neck making his downy soft hair stand on end.

 

He could hear his fathers' voice saying, `You're an Inu-hanyou, there's nothing for you to fear.' It's not that he didn't believe him; he just wasn't brave enough to pretend that he believed that to be exactly true.

 

Turning the corner, he almost crashed head first into the hutch his father had given his mother a year ago, if he remembered correctly.

 

Slowing his pace as he neared the room with the heavy double oak doors, he sighed dejectedly, `I'm such a coward. I'm weak, father hates weakness.'

 

This always happened; he'd race to get here then would stand outside the door for what seemed like hours debating on what to do next.

 

He didn't want to see the disappointment in his fathers' eyes, but the darkness in his room always made him feel unwelcome. It made him feel as if he was intruding on someone else's space, or was it all in his head? Was it that he couldn't smell his mothers' soothing scent or feel his fathers' powerful aura? His little four-year-old mind didn't understand any of it. All he knew was that he didn't like the darkness, sleeping alone, or being too far away from his parents.

 

He heard his mother voice saying, `Your going to be 5 summers old soon, so you're going to have to start sleeping in your own room.'

 

Shaking his head he sighed again and stopped. `This Kanomaru will be five summers in 14 days; he has to be a big hanyou... H…he has to sleep alone.' Just the thought of going back to his room was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

 

Turning away from the door he stared into the darkness. `There's nothing there. It's just my imagination…it's just my imagination…' He repeated this over and over in an attempt to quell the feeling of sheer dread that wrapped around him, forcing him to step back once, twice…three times.

 

Sliding down to the floor, his back against the door of his parents' bedroom, he drew his stout legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them as he slowly began to rock back and forth in an attempt to sooth his tormented mind.

 

`This Kanomaru is not afraid. There's nothing there.'

 

The wind howled loudly outside causing the darkness around him to shimmer. Seeing this he closed his eyes tightly and silently prayed that the Gods would make him strong like his father, the Tai-youkai, and brave like his Uncle Inuyasha.

 

It didn't work. Even in the midst of his plea for strength he felt a single tear slept down his cheek. Wiping it way he sniffled weakly, “This Kanomaru is not afraid.”

 

He was so lost in his thoughts and prayers he didn't hear or notice the door behind him creak slowly open. He didn't see the pair of golden orbs staring down at him; he didn't notice the way its brow frowned in thought. All he could think about was how disappointed his father would be, because yet another night had passed and still he couldn't make it in his own bed…in his own room. He knew his mother would always welcome him with a big hug and a kiss, but his father…

 

Though he could never remember actually being chastised or reprimanded for anything that he had done, he could always tell by the way his father looked at him whether he was proud or disappointed.

 

Kano slowly opened his golden slits to the darkness. With trembling hands he pushed the ragged bangs that he refused to sit still long enough for his mother to cut out of his face. Sniffling, he finally stood to his feet. “I'm not scared, daddy's right here. He wouldn't let anything happen to me,” he whispered this with as much bravado as his little mind could muster. Balling up his tiny fist he gritted his teeth and tried to imitate his fathers' fiercest scowl as he stepped slowly back into the darkness, determined that he would be the `big youkai' he was sure his father wanted.

 

Sesshomaru wore a proud smirk, but did not move as to make his son aware that he was watching him. This had become something of a routine. He would hear him racing down the hallway as if the hounds of hell themselves were on his tail, then he would stop outside their door as if he had to rethink what he had just done. This was however, the first time that he didn't enter the room.

 

Normally, it would take him about 30 minutes or so, before he would quietly creep into their room.

 

Sometimes the Inu Lord would lie still and just wait for him to climb upon his chest. Other times he would lean up and watch him as he crawled over his mother and yet again made his way to his chest.

 

The Lord of the West couldn't understand it! No matter where they were, be it tracking through his land or visiting with his brother and the Miko. His son would always make a bed out of his chest. It didn't matter if his mate had laid him down for a nap, or whether he was just tired. He would always seek him out, crawl into his lap, lay his head in the center of his chest and he would be asleep within seconds.

 

The first time the boy had done that was the day that they found out that he could walk.

 

Rin had lain him down for his daily nap in their room and he was in his study going over news of happenings in his territory. When a small black head appeared in the doorway of his study. All he could see was two little pink ears trimmed in black bobbing unsteadily towards, then around his desk.

 

To say he was shocked was nothing more than an understatement. The boy was barely half a year old and already walking.

 

Sesshomaru accredited that to the fact that he was a hanyou.

 

As the tiny hanyou rounded the desk he did everything he could not to jump up and down filled with pride like a pathetic puppy. He had to admit that until tonight, that was his proudest memory of his son.

 

Watching his heir disappear back into the darkness, Sesshomaru called out, “Kanomaru.”

 

The boy's little heart almost stopped as he twirled around almost tumbling over the oversized hakama he slept in. “Father?”

 

“Come,” was the white lord's only reply as he turned and went back to bed leaving the bedroom door ajar.

 

Waiting a moment longer before he moved, Kanomaru slowly began to walk towards the room. `Is he mad? I…I didn't mean to wake him up.' Closing the door behind him he felt a weight lift off his little shoulders. `I'll tell him that I was going back to my room, he'll be proud of me…I know he will.' Foregoing crawling over his mother, he went to his fathers' side of the bed. “Father, this Kanomaru was going back to sleep in his own room. He…He's a big youkai,” he whispered shyly.

 

Sesshomaru turned his head in his son's direction. At first he didn't say anything, he just watched him shift uncomfortable under his gaze. `Already, he wants to please me…to make me proud. Didn't I try my damnedest to please my father? Did I ever please him? Did I ever make him proud?' Reaching down he gently picked up his son and laid him on his chest. Resting his large hand on the boy's back he whispered as not the rouse his mate, “Until you reach 5 summers, this is where you will sleep.”

 

The Inu Lord wanted to believe that he would put his foot down and demand that his son slept in the room that Rin had painstakingly decorated, but he knew deep down, that his chest…his arms would always be a welcoming home for his pride and joy…his heir…his son.

 

Kanomaru smiled but said nothing, as he reached up and buried his tiny hands into the hair on either side of his fathers' head. `I'll sleep by myself when I'm 5 summers, daddy. I promise…I'll try.' This was his last thought as the rhythmic sound of his hero's heartbeat lulled him to sleep.

 

 

~Simonkal of Inuy~

 

 

~The Master and Mistress of The Western Lands~

Cordially Invite You

To The Fifth Summer

Celebration of Our

Most Honored

Lord Kanomaru

~Of The Western Lands~

 

“Why, that stuck-up obnoxious pompous son of bitch!”

 

“Inuyasha, he's your nephew,” Kagome exclaimed, as she snatched the delicate perfectly written parchment from his hands.

 

Squatting next to her, the hanyou spat, “Feh, I wasn't talking about him; I was talking about his prick of a father!” Leaning forward, he peered over her shoulder so that he could read the details written on the inside of the invitation.

 

“Oh, this is going to be so nice! They're having it in the evening just as the sun begins to set! The fireflies will be amazing!”

 

The hanyou stated, “Feh, I'm not going!”

 

“Yes you are! It will be perfect! I'll tell Sango and Miroku to bring Joudama. She'll love it, and we'll take Shippo with us too. It's been so long since we've taken him anywhere with us!”

 

“That prick hasn't been here in months and out of the blue he sends this stupid piece of paper and thinks that I'm just going to jump up and run over there? Feh, I ain't fucking going!” Sitting back on his butt the hanyou crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his nose in the air, “And that's final, wench!”

 

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” Kagome mumbled, as she walked across the room to store away the beautiful invite in her box of most treasured possessions. “You're acting like it's a summons or something. He…they're inviting us to celebrate our nephew's birthday. You know how much Kano looks up to you; he would be devastated if you didn't show up.” She knew it was low playing on his feelings for the pup, because ever since the little boy was brought into this world Inuyasha had been absolutely smitten with him.

 

He would make up a reason…any reason to go to the western lands to see him. Of course he wouldn't say that's why he was going, but for some reason they would always end up at the gates of the castle. Then he would spend hours playing with the pup in the gardens or holding him while he and Sesshomaru talked about Kami knows what.

 

Sometimes Kagome felt totally and utterly ignored when the little pup was around. It was also times like that, which made her wonder if perhaps her love wanted one of his own.

 

It had taken quite sometime for Sesshomaru to forgive Inuyasha for what happened to Rin on that fateful day in the clearing with the infamous Jouyoku.

 

When it was all said and done he left their home with his pregnant mate and seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. To the Miko, it didn't seem any different from the times when they were hunting down Naraku; he would vanish then reappear as if out of thin air. Sesshomaru always did his own thing, no matter what the case, but her hanyou…

 

Of course he tried to act as if he could care less, but she knew it was quietly eating at him.

 

Though neither one of the Inu- Youkai's would ever admit it, the whole ordeal with the insatiable rapist had not only strengthened the relationships between the individual couples. It also broke down more than a few of the walls that had at one time or another stood between the two warring siblings.

 

She had lain still on one too many nights while Inuyasha tossed and turned, broke into cold sweats, and shivered unmercifully. She witnessed him mumbling words of apologies, and begging for forgiveness. It tore at her heart to see him that way, but what could she say? What could she do?

 

The following morning he would wake up as if nothing had changed and acting as if he hated his brother even more than he did the day before. So she allowed him to live in his denial until that day…the day everything changed.

 

Semi Flashback

 

It was a supremely hot dry summer day when the imp Jakken and Ah'un dropped from the sky requesting that she and Inuyasha return with him.

 

It had taken everything in her bag of tricks to get him to begrudgingly comply.

 

When they reached the home, the Inu Lord was waiting at the door carrying a bundle wrapped in the finest deep blue cashmere blanket she had ever felt or seen in her life.

 

Her heart almost stopped when Sesshomaru approached her love and said three little words, `All is forgiven.' Then handed the bundle of pink flesh with jet-black hair over to Inuyasha saying, `Your nephew'.

 

It was then that she knew that things had definitely changed and that the ordeal that they had all gone through was well worth it.

 

That was also the first time that she saw what appeared to be smiles or rather pleasant smirks gracing both siblings' faces as they stood facing one another. With a little bundle that Inuyasha would later name, Kanomaru, between them.

 

At that time the hanyou didn't know what the child's name meant. He just knew that he liked the way it sounded so he created a meaning as well, `My fathers' perfection'. To say that she cried at that moment would have surely been an understatement.

 

She realized shortly thereafter that it was Sesshomaru's way of welcoming them into the family, wiping away all sin, and wrong doings done by both parties.

 

Though he would never apologize verbally, his actions spoke volumes to her heart and she was sure it was the same with Inuyasha.

 

End Semi Flashback

 

Interrupting her thoughts, Inuyasha blurted, “That runt won't miss me!”

 

Kagome just looked at him; she could tell by the way he spoke he knew that to be a false statement. She also knew that he missed Kano. Although once again that was something he would never admit. “Tell yourself that enough and eventually you'll believe it.”

 

The hanyou asked, “Oi wench, why are you being so blasé about this?” As he stood and walked over to where she was now preparing a late dinner.

 

The miko shrugged her shoulders, but said nothing.

 

Grabbing her around her waist Inuyasha pulled her back towards him while nuzzling the side of her neck, “If you really want me to go, I'll go.”

 

She smiled softly, “Please, do you think I believed for a minute that you weren't?”

 

He couldn't help but to smirk. She always seemed to know him better than he knew himself. “So you think you know everything, eh?”

 

“I don't, but I know you,” she whispered as she twisted in his arms and placed a soft kiss to his chin. “I definitely know you, my love.”

 

Kissing slowly down the side of her neck he asked in a low husky voice, “So what am I thinking now?”

 

Tilting her head back further so that he could comfortably reach his destination she replied, “You're thinking…” She moaned, “You're thinking that I need to…” `Holy gods he's good at that!' “…You're thinking that I need to start cooking?”

 

His kisses traveled lower down her neck to her shoulder as he mumbled, “Try again, wench.”

 

She could feel the instant wetness of her nether region while his strong arms pulled her closer, “You're thinking that perhaps, we should leave early, so that you can spend…” `This man is truly blessed.' “…Spend more alone time with…”

 

Scooping her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist he interrupted, “You really suck at this game, you do know that, don't you?” Tightening his hold on her, he turned and headed towards their bedroom.

 

Giggling lightly she reached down between them and pulled out his neatly tucked in haori, “Who said I was trying?”

 

Until Next Time…(I hope you guys enjoyed the beginning of Confrontations II. I will do my damnedest to make it just as amazing if not more so than Confrontation I. Please don't forget to review!! I've already written the first 11 chapters, so I'll let your reviews tell me how fast you want the chapters to be posted.)