So who remembers my pretty little competition? Well I do. And we have a winner….. Dramatic pauses are so necessary don't you think…. Anyone got a small drum to add dramatic effect…. cutiemimi 321. Oh my god. You do realize I don't think I could live through that. …. That is so cool. Hugs for cutiemimi 321 for killing me in such a fun way. Yeah

Ok there were other people who did amazingly well too. But how can you beat whale cum and teddy bear cactus. Of course I also really liked the ironing my clothes with me in it. Sounds nice and painful. Locking me up with Kogame for 2 weeks is just done right cruel. Bad reviewer bad. You have to at least give her a nice jewel shard to cut my skin off with or poke out my eye with. Think how bored she would be after the first couple hours.

So it's been way too long again. I know you all have been waiting totally impatiently for this update well. No more wait is required I hope you all like it. I tried to make it more interesting and sorry the answers are not all coming on the first day. This isn't this kind of fiction. No instant magical man at the castle who knows all the answers and tells Sesshomaru what to do. Nope that's way too easy. It's more fun to make every one guess and wait. Squirm fictional people squirm. Mwahahahaha. Yes I have a god complex, what about it? I think it has added some beautiful spice to my already demonical, crazy, and hyped up personality.

Anyway I own nothing. I too poor to own anything, much less people.

….meow….

The castle was the biggest building Naruto had ever seen and he had seen a lot of buildings before he fell into the darkness. But then when you considered that it was a building full of demons you would have to imagine it would need to be big. Even back before he had awakened it was known that some demons had a bigger form. Huge animal forms that could be as big as a mountain. And that was only if they felt like transforming and had the ability. Some demons were just born with only one form. Be it a human looking or animal looking form and the sizes ranged from small like Jaken all the way to as big as a house or so. But back before he fell asleep the bigger demons were usually the first to die. After all the bigger you were the easier it was for the humans to find you. It hadn't been a good idea to be too different from the humans back then.

But here where demons seemed to be in the majority there were all types. Just from his place in Sesshomaru's arms he had already seen a dozen or so species. Cat, boar, and even a dragon. Most demons wondering the lobby they had entered were in a human form. But there was a demon or two who had passed by in a smaller animal form. One had even passed above their heads near the roof that seemed to be high enough to reach the clouds or at least allow a full grown tree to stand without difficulty.

"Ok Rin, I am going to take Baby to the see Akiyo. Why don't you go tell Masahi that we have returned?" Naruto held in his sigh of relief at finally watching the ever happy child run off and into one of the hallways leading off into the depth of the castle. It was nice to get a moment without her gushing over him and talking his ear off. However his relief was short lived as Sesshomaru started to head up the left staircase.

… meow….

Baby had been tense all day. The closer they had gotten to the castle the more strung the boy had gotten. He wasn't quite sure why. He knew baby didn't do well with others. If his actions so far with Jaken and Rin were any idea, it would take time for Baby to be able to deal with staying in the castle, where servants were everywhere. But he had never acted so stressed when he was still clinging to Sesshomaru. Usually the child trusted him more.

The last few days before their arrival had taken a pattern for the group. Baby had spent all day clinging to him. No matter if they were traveling, resting, or sleeping baby was right there. It hadn't been a big issue since they hadn't had any difficultly during their travels. However he could feel Baby's nervousness. And no matter how tense Baby got the child always insisted on Sesshomaru feeding on Blood once a day. Not that that was a difficult task for Sesshomaru. Baby had the best tasting blood he had ever had. It had become so easy to lose himself in the taste, and had to stop himself from drinking more than could possibly be safe for the child. Baby was still recovering and he needs all the blood himself, not for Sesshomaru to start getting selfish. No matter how much Sesshomaru would love no more than to drink himself silly on the blood. He was more disciplined then that after all he was a full grown demon. He is not a hostage to his desires.

Hopefully Akiyo would be able to answer some of the questions surrounding baby. Such as his age, race, and even hopefully what kind condition had caused Baby to lose to his instincts like that. Baby had shown a great ability to have control over his power and instincts. Be it in covering up his distrust to playing with Rin. Most demons would lash out or at least make sure distant was keep to make sure their instincts didn't bother them with demand in getting away from the unsafe individual. However baby allowed Rin to run him ragged playing with flowers and catching fish. The only sign of his distress was a small bracing of his body and a stray flinch here and there.

He also had a great amount of control over his own power. Killing the snake demon and attacking Inuyasha had both shown that. Such attacks seemed to take actual power and control. Most children didn't have such control or training when they were still living off living demon blood. After all children are children no matter the species. And even demon children don't have the attention span and restraint to learn such control. Most children attacked with claws and teeth. An unplanned and usually harmless attack. Baby hadn't even bothered with such a plan really. He had made duplicates of himself and when that didn't give him the advantage he wanted he attacked with a higher level of attacks. He hadn't bothered to even release his claws against the snake he had instantly gone with higher level attack. One Sesshomaru had no name for. Of course this isn't the first time he had seen or heard of attacks formed of balls of youki. But there was something different about Baby's.

He really wanted some actually answers about Baby.

…meow…..

"Akiyo. I brought you a baby to look at." The room was covered in bottles filled with liquids and herbs. Naruto cast a small look around trying to identify some of the herbs lying around. Back before the darkness he had never learned about healing so none of the herbs were jumping out at him. He would be more likely to know the herbs that caused death. Like the red leaves with small brown specks that look like dry spots on it. The name escaped him but that herb when ingested would cause a human to grow a cough and if continued to be eaten would eventually cause death. It was a slow death though, not good if you needed someone dead fast. This leave by itself would take 6 months to a year to kill depending on the victim. It had never been a very useful poison. Naruto had used it more to put people out of commission for a while. Making sure strong guards or cunning enemies were too sick to be in his way for an assassination.

There were a couple more herbs lying around that looked like something he had once used but then there were some that looked seriously close but with one difference. Like a purple flower that smelled like a poisonous plant he had known but carried too many petals to be the same plant. There was a chance that some plants had changed since he entered the darkness. He would have to research the changes if he ever wished to use poisons to kill. His luck he would poison someone and the plant he used had lost some of its poisonous nature. Better to have the knowledge and not use it then to have outdated and maybe bad info when you need it.

"A baby, you say. He looks a little old to me." Akiyo as Sesshomaru had called him was as tall as Sesshomaru and for someone as small as Naruto that seemed to be gigantic when you didn't want them around. His white straight hair seemed to constantly move behind him even though Akiyo had stopped walking a mere foot or so from Sesshomaru. Naruto couldn't feel any wind however it looked like the wind was constantly playing within the white locks.

"I found him attacking humans looking for live blood a few months ago. I was hoping you could do an exam for me. Just to make sure he is healthy." Naruto wanted to curl up even closer to Sesshomaru in attempt to make this end. He didn't want to be examined. It wasn't going to end well. It never did. He had enjoyed his time with Sesshomaru so much. He didn't want Sesshomaru to find out anything that might make him cast him away.

Naruto sighed inside as Sesshomaru left him on a table seated in the only empty space provided in the bottle covered room. The white haired demon must not actually examine many demons in this room it was so crowded that there would be no room for an adult much less a teenage demon form. Naruto himself didn't have much room to spare. He could feel a bottle hitting his left leg every time he fidgeted under the demons hands.

Naruto couldn't stop himself from casting glances at Sesshomaru every few minutes as Akiyo took blood and ran small test on him using his own powers to check him out internally. Akiyo must be a demon with healing powers for he could feel the foreign demon youki running throughout his body. Naruto had the power to cast the youki out. He had had to do it before with the human form of charka and he could easily do it now. But putting off the enviable would be childish and it would disappoint Sesshomaru.

Naruto had started to think maybe he would get out of this visit to the healers with just that one secret undiscovered when he finally felt the pause of the healer's youki right over the connection his instincts had formed. The same connection that connected him in a one way chain to Sesshomaru. The connection that might tear apart the very life that he was beginning to adore.

…meow…..

Akiyo was taking longer than he had initially thought he would. He could see Baby was starting to get anxious and tense the longer they went on. He wanted a full exam but he was afraid he might have to cut it short just to make sure Baby didn't attack the healer. He had taken a step to save the child from more tests when Akiyo froze and sighed.

"A baby he is not." Akiyo strolled across the room and started skimming bottles with small mutters and curses. Finally a bottle of green powder was selected and quickly made into a small cup of tea.

"Now if you would drink this. Sesshomaru and I are going to talk in my study. Do not touch any of the things lying around." Sesshomaru cast one last look at the child sitting on a bottle covered table sipping on a tea that smelled bitter and sweet at strange intervals before following the healer into the study.

"What do we have to talk about that we can't do in front of Baby?" Sesshomaru watched calmly as Akiyo started to rub his own head in the common signs of a migraine.

"Your baby is seriously powerful to live as long as he did without life blood. He is hundreds of years old Sesshomaru. I don't know the exact age since his body has been somehow frozen. I don't know if he caused it himself. But he literally stopped his aging process. I have to believe that that is one of the reasons he is still alive. That and he's a halfingly. One of his half's must eat something else. Be it Souls, lust, or even just youki. He has been making his body live off that and normal food. But he couldn't keep it up and his instincts finally won out. But the important issue is have you felt anything different since you found him."

Sesshomaru shock his head in answer. He hadn't really felt anything seriously different. At least not that he could recall.

"That demon has mated you. I could feel the connection going from his body to yours. The good news is that it's only one way. He has somehow made sure you didn't instinctually accept and mate him back. But the bad news is he is feeling the full effect. The tea I gave him is to ease any issues an unaccepted mating bond can cause. Such as a high level of instincts pushing at the mind. Physically discomfort at separation. A terrible need to make sure you are happy. By the simple history of abuse I have found in his body it is likely he wouldn't notice a lot of the signs himself. From the notes you have written to me it would seem he would have a lot of the signs already just because of his distrust of others. He already puts all his feelings on you and even without the mating bond he wouldn't want you to cause you any distress. Abused children believe that if they cause any problems for the one they like they will be cast out and abandoned."

A mating bond that wasn't possible was it. He would have felt something. The desire to accept the bond at least. An emptiness because it was uncompleted. He should have at least felt something when Baby had started to feel effects of the bond. He should have had phantom pains or wild emotions. Yes as he had yet to accept the bon d the emotions should have been short and easily ignored but they should have been there. How could he not know…"Baby blocked my access to the bond completely didn't he?"

"Yes but it's going to be harder for him to block you now that you are aware of its existence. You must be prepared to start feeling the effects. Until the bond dies or you accept it, it's going to start to affect you more and more. He is your future mate to your demon. You aren't going to be able to accept bed partners without his permission. You won't be able to be too far from his side. You will start to see the need for his approval and happiness. The good news is with him blocking it you won't have the full effect. The bad news he will feel it more than ever. I will send out one of the lesser demons to start harvesting the herbs I require and I will have a tea prepared for him to take a few times a day. It will cut back on the effects for a while."

A mate. No matter how old the healer said Baby was Sesshomaru had a hard time imagining him being mating material. He looked like a child. He clung like a child. Acted like a child. Well when he wasn't attacking demons, protecting him, and making him drink his blood. "Why would he want me to drink his blood?"

"Hum. A blood exchange can cause a lot of things. It could make the bond stronger which doesn't seem to be the desired effect in this case. It can be for pleasure or to deeper the emotion connection. Or it could be too… let me see you shoulder." Sesshomaru stumbled as the man before him stripped his chest of his armor without a care for his status. Why did he let this demon live again. It took all of Sesshomaru's strength not to flinch and throw out Akiyo's youki when it entered his shoulder without any clear warning.

"Yes as I thought. He is sharing his power with you. To heal you. By the looks of it, he is focusing his power into you shoulder. Within the next two months if you keep drinking his blood your arm should grow back. It will probably be painful but it is one of the best chances you have to getting your arm back so soon. Your own youki would take another fifty years to complete it but with you mate helping it should be within a few months to a year at the latest if he keeps giving you all his power. It might be a good idea to talk with him though. He has a lot of power. He could easily be more powerful than you, but he is still healing and he needs to focus on his own healing too. It would be better for him if he gave you less power at each feeding."

…..meow….

Naruto calmly drank his tea as on the inside he panicked at what was happening in the next room. He knew that the healer knew about the mating bond. He had known he couldn't hide it from Sesshomaru forever. His instincts had latched onto the one person it had felt safe with and bonded them together. Luckily he had awoken and gained control over his body before Sesshomaru had accidental accepted the bond and had been able to cut their connection from Sesshomaru's side. But it had still happened. He was old enough to have a mate. He had been old enough before the darkness had even descended but he had had no one to trust with such a bond and with his own body going unstable more and more each year because of the loss of life blood. He had never thought he would ever have a mate. Now he did and it might cost him the one he had started to love. He didn't want Sesshomaru to cast him out because his instincts can't be bothered to think about the consequences.

"Well the good news is you're healthy and going to be fine. Sesshomaru's blood has you on the fast track to recovery. It might be about twenty years or so before you can completely give up life blood but that's to be expected when you were starved so long. It might start to decrease in amount within the next five years. So you will be able to have a life away from Sesshomaru if you want later on. The only downside is that you have to drink that tea a few times a day. Two times should be fine and we might be able to find an herb or two that can be added to make it taste better." Akiyo and Sesshomaru had returned and so far he hadn't been thrown out on his ass. In fact Akiyo looked distracted and only half thinking about him. Sesshomaru was again smiling and had started to move to pick him up.

"One more thing. Can you show me you demon form. This form is cute but I would like to see what you truly look like." Naruto froze at Akiyo's words. His demon form. This form was real it wasn't an illusion like some people thought and he had lived in fear so long that he didn't even dare think about going full demon. He had been cast out so much because of that form. Hated and despised because of his appearance at birth.

"It's ok Baby as soon as you show Akiyo we will go to the kitchen and get something to snack on." Naruto could see there really wasn't a way out of this. His full demon form wasn't ideal he didn't want to get himself in trouble. He was somehow still being allowed to stay after Sesshomaru had found out about the mating bond. He didn't want to push it.

…..meow….

Sesshomaru blinked as Baby started to seem to grow ears on his head that looked like a fox. It reminded him of how his brother Inuyasha looked. But Baby had three tails sprout from him and almost knock the bottles off the table before the child held himself completely still. His claws were back as long and as deadly as before and he his small marks on his check had darkened. His eyes had gone the red of before.

He was part fox defiantly, but what was the other half. Fox's weren't known for eating anything odd. Only life blood and normal food. So was there more to Baby's form that he was hiding. Or was there another form entirely. Demons did have more than one or two forms at times. Especially if you were powerful and a Halfling.