The Fox's Son

Chapter 45 - Departure

Inuyasha woke up that morning with a groan. His face contorted into a frown as his eyebrows furrowed. 'What the hell happened last night.......' he said inwardly. The last thing he remembered was....... 'KIKYO! KAGOME!' he shouted inwardly as his eyes popped open and he tried to sit up.

He hissed at the bright light that suddenly hit his eyes before he jumped and lost his balance in the tree. The hanyou crashed into the forest floor with a thud. He huffed out a groan of pain as he lifted his head up to find that the rest of the group already breaking camp and packing everything. 'What the hell? I'm usually the first one up.' he thought to himself as he silently wondered from his place on the ground.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he walked to the hanyou. The mutt looked clueless and lost like the puppy he was. Shadowing his lying figure, Naruto looked down at the hanyou lazily with a hint of amusement. Snapping the hanyou out of his musings, the red head spoke.

"Good morning, sunshine." Naruto chirped with a smile under his mask, much to the displeasure of Inuyasha. "You seemed to be tired, so we decided to let you rest. We'll be done breaking down camp and will be leaving soon enough."

Inuyasha didn't say anything as he stood with a slight groan. His head throbbed......and it wasn't just from his encounter with the ground. Last night had been rough for the hanyou. He had to make a decision that he wasn't ready to make yet - a choice between his progressive lover and former lover. At that thought, he glared at the red head who was no longer beside him. It was his fault. If he wouldn't have forced him to make that choice, Kikyo still would have been there and Kagome wouldn't have had to have gotten hurt. His ears flattened a little at the thought of the dead priestess. 'I wonder what happened to her?' the half demon thought to himself. 'Was she gone? Was she still alive?' were a few questions that buzzed through his mind as they continued to pack up camp.

Kagome's aura was subdued this morning. The events of what happened last night continued to play in her mind repeated as she packed. The reason's for Kikyo's actions shook her, much more than she originally thought. However, the most looming event was what happened afterwards. After her and Inuyasha talked, they both went to sleep. But before she completely shut her eyes, something caught her eyes. White balls of light shot into the sky before disappearing into what she assumed was the afterlife. She only knew one source that was responsible for holding that many souls......Kikyo.

If she had indeed released the souls she was using, was she dead? If so, then what happened? And where was Naruto? The miko furrowed her eyes. She eyed him from the corner of her eye as she packed, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto, unknown to her. She silently picked up a bucket and turned Sango.

"I'm going to wash my face. Do you want to come, Sango?" she asked.

However, Sango knew better. It was not a question, it was a statement. Whenever the miko wanted to speak to her in private and the luxury of the hot springs was not available, Kagome had developed this secret way of getting away from the men. In following proper protocol, the demon slayer nodded and smiled brightly at her.

"Sure, Kagome." Sango said as she stood as well.

"I'll come to!" Shippo chirped happily as he bounded up onto Kagome's shoulder.

The miko thought for a moment before smiling and nodding her head. Despite of his relatively short life experience, the young kitling had his moments where he offered some good advice and with him being a demon, he may have some insight on what she was going to ask Sango to do. At this, the three left, unaware that a certain red head was watching them.

The trio walked in silence as they departed from the group. Once they got relatively far enough, away from possible prying ears, they stopped at the small stream they used to gather water, just the day before, when they set up camp.