The Fox's Son

Chapter 49 - Second Encounters

Naruto and Sango made their way back to the village in comfortable silence, each pondering their own thoughts. Naruto sent a couple of glances her way as they walked. He wondered what she was going do with the scroll. If his suspicions were correct, she would probably give it to Kagome when they meet back up. Best case scenerio, she takes it to her era where their advanced technologies could probably decipher the missing script. Whether it would work, he didn't know. It was ancient Japanese writing so he wasn't sure if they would understand it.

His musings were interrupted when he caught a whiff of a rather alarming scent.....blood. Naruto narrowed his eyes as his head snapped in the direction it was coming from. He had to suppress a growl that threatened to erupt from his throat.

"Sango, hurry up! Kirara's in trouble!!!" Naruto yelled before sprinting off to the village.

Abruptly pulled out of her musings, Sango was thrown into a state of shock for brief moment. Without hesitation, Sango began running as well, praying that Kirara was alright.

When Naruto reached the village, he found Kirara sprawled on the ground with a large gash running across her right shoulder blade. It ran all the way down from her shoulder to her left hind leg. Blood caked her normally porcelain fur and her bright red eyes were now dilated and unfocused. He could tell that she was alive, but she was going to need some serious medical attention and the bleeding needed to be stopped.

He at her side in an instant, looking over her wound. Feeling the familiar presence, he knew he was going to have to fight soon so he had to do the quickest thing he could possibly think of. Taking out a kunai, Naruto used a fire jutsu to heat up the weapon before cauterizing the injury. The neko hissed and growled in pain as he did this. He had to quickly create two shadow clones to keep her from thrashing around in her unconscious state.

Just as he finished, Sango arrived. She skidded to a stop and assumed a kneeling position next to them. "What happened?" she asked frantically as she began checking over Kirara.

"I don't know, I just found her like this." Naruto answered. "I managed to stop the bleeding, so she should be alright for now, if there isn't any internal bleeding." He said as he looked down at the neko sadly. "Go grab your weapon, Lady Sango. Who ever did this is still around."

Sango nodded and with a final concerned glance at Kirara, she rushed to go and get her gear. As she left, Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stood. Extending his senses, he could feel two presences. The first one was unmistakably Naraku. The second one, however, he did not recognize, indicating that they weren't one of his detachments. Two shadow clones appeared before Naruto as he seal-lessly made them.

"Boss" one of his clone greeted.

Naruto bowed to them before he spoke. "I need one of you to scout ahead while the other get Kirara away from here." Naruto ordered. "Stay out of sight. Once you've gotten the neko out of here, begin healing her. You already know with jutsu to use."

"Hai" the clones said with a bow before carrying out their tasks. One disappeared in a shunshin, going to scout like he was told. The other went to the neko and lifted her up upon his shoulders. He gave his boss a mock salute before disappearing in a wind shunshin.

A few moments later, Sango came out with her weapon in hand and her armor already in place. As she approached, Naruto nodded to her before pointing in the direction where he sensed their opponents.

"They're over there." Naruto said, pointing east of the village.

The demon slayer nodded. Together, they sprinted toward their destination. When they finally got there, Sango's blood ran cold at the sight. Holding up her younger brother, Kohaku, by the neck was the demon she despised more than anything. It was Naraku. The young boy struggled against his grip, however, it proved to be futile seeing that his gripped seemed to tighten.