Growing Pains

Chapter 33

As the day turned into night, the two teens continued their trek. Araile's tail twitched as her stomach fluttered in nervousness. What would they do when they went against Seishin and Kazoku? Shaking her head, Araile brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face.

"Let's stop for the night" she said, and Shinrai nodded.

The two picked a spot where a large tree had overturned; it's branches creating a shelter for them. As Shinrai gathered branches for a small fire, Araile spread out her sleeping roll, along with Shinrai's. They would find a way to get their friends back.

A rustle and a muffled sound caught her attention. Her head snapped up, ears pricked to listen for any sounds of an intruder.

"Shinrai?" she called out hesitantly.

A cold pit formed in Araile's stomach when she didn't hear him answer. Ears twitching, she got up and started walking towards the direction she thought Shinrai was last night. Her ears swivelled back and forth as she peered in the dark foliage. A bush rustled, and Araile snapped her gaze towards it, gold eyes narrowing.

A 'thud' echoed in her ears as a blinding pain raced through her skull. Her eyes rolled back and she dropped to her knees, and then to the ground. Two figures appeared in front of the unconscious girl, and one of the figures reached down to pick the unconscious feline up. It slung her like a sack of rice over its shoulder and disappeared with the other figure, which also had an unconscious Shinrai over its shoulder. The two jumped away into the trees, their targets acquired.

A couple minutes later, barking echoed through the trees as Kakashi's nin-dogs appeared. Pakkun gazed around the empty campsite as his pack searched through the empty bags and sleeping rolls. Her scent lead them to here, but Araile was nowhere to be found. It made no sense to the little pug. Bull suddenly barked once, alerting the rest of the pack.

The rest of the nin-hounds surrounded Bull, who had found a kunai pack discarded on the ground. The large mastiff growled low as he sniffed at the pouch. Araile's scent was all over it, but it was also mixed with something else. Blood dotted the area around the kunai pouch, and it mingled with the stink of fear and demon.

The hounds looked up as their grey haired master and his friend appeared. They stood in the centre, looking around as Bull picked up the kunai pouch in his massive jaws. Even though his jaws could easily crush bone, Bull handled the pouch with care.  He padded over to Kakashi and dropped the pouch into Kakashi's open palm. His visible eye narrowed as he gazed at the pouch. This was Araile's, he was positive about that.

"Bull found it over here" Pakkun stated as he sat down, his little pug face in a deep frown.

Kane closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. The next statement had his eyes snap open.

"There's blood over here too" the pug said.

Kane rushed over to the small pug and sure enough, there it was: a dark red contrasting with the lush green. His gold eyes narrowed as he took in the sight. What happened here?

A large bark sounded and both men turned to see Bull at the edge of the camp. Kane looked at Kakashi who looked calm but determined.

"Bull found her scent" the Jonin said, and Kane nodded.

The hounds bounded forward, following their pack mate as the large mastiff took off through the trees. Their howls echoed throughout the dark forest as the nin-dogs took off following the scent trail. The two men followed, their minds on what had happened to the 14 year-old and her companion.

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Groaning, Araile opened her eyes slowly. Drips sounded from all around her, causing her ears to twitch constantly. Her head pounded, and she shut her eyes against the pain. It felt like someone was bashing her skull with the edge of a kunai over and over again.

Groaning again, Araile opened her eyes and groggily looked around. Where was she? It looked like she was thrown into a cell, with her arms shackled to the wall behind her. The only source of light was from underneath the cell door. The metal cuffs cut into her wrists as she tugged on the chains. The cell was cold and damp, and the chill bit into the girl's skin, causing her to shiver.

Where was Shinrai? Was he okay?

A sound echoed from outside the cell, and Araile's eyes snapped towards the door. It sounded like someone was opening the cell door, and Araile pressed herself against the wall. The door swung open and a figure stood there, the light outlining it in shadows.

A dark laugh sounded, and Araile bit back a growl. Boots thudded into the cell, and a hand reached out towards Araile. She let out a yelp when it grabbed some of her hair and pulled her head sharply back.

"Did you miss me?" a familiar voice hissed in her ear as he released her hair and a boot caught her in the side.

Araile sailed back against the wall as her chains clinked. She spat out a mouthful of blood and glared up at the demon Ishimaru as he stood in front of her, a maniacal smile on his face. He reached down and unlocked her chains, and kicked her in the back; the force slamming her into the hallway.

Before Araile could react, Ishimaru appeared behind her and lifted the edge of his sword. He swung the hilt down and hit her on the back of the head, knocking the girl out immediately. He gave another dark laugh as he looked at the girl's prone form on the ground. He bent down and picked her up with ease, balancing her weight against his hip. He really wanted to slice and dice the brat right now, but Seishin wanted her for whatever reasons. Ishimaru snorted as he walked down the hallway.

He would get his chance, and when he did it would be amazing. The demon continued walking until he came to a door. He opened it and walked into a large chamber, candles flickering here and there. He dropped Araile into the stone ground, smirking when her head smacked against the stone.

"Thank you, Ishimaru. That will be all" Seishin said smoothly from the front of the chamber.

Ishimaru waved nonchalantly and exited out of the chamber, the door slamming echoing throughout the large chamber. Seishin sat in a stone-like chair with his chin propped on his one fist as he gazed at the unconscious girl on the floor. A chain rattled from beside the man, and he blinked, turning his gaze towards the sound.

"Ah, Shinrai you're waking up I see" he said with a smile.

A groan answered the man, and Seishin grinned. Shinrai was shackled to the ground, blood caked on the side of his head. His green eyes opened slowly, and he lifted his head, blinking a couple of times. Once his vision cleared, Shinrai looked around, eyes wide.

"What? What happened?" he said, eyes darting around.

He gasped when his eyes spotted Araile lying lifeless on the ground, blood oozing from the back of her head. He rushed to get to her, but was jerked back by the chains. He looked down in surprise to find himself chained.

"Now, now Shinrai. You'll be with Araile soon" Seishin said gleefully as he watched Shinrai struggle.

"Araile!" Shinrai shouted, hoping to rouse the girl.

"ARAILE!"