The Fox's Son

Chapter 54 - Rin Is Rin

Naruto's eyes slowly opened. The rays of the morning sun, just beginning to rise over the horizon, bathing the area in a soothing orange glow. He was thankful his large hat shaded his face. He would have hated to have been blinded on such a beautiful morning. He let out a small sigh and sat there for a while before willing himself to get up and get through the rest of the day. It had been 5 days since he split up from Sango and fought the Taiyokai of the West. He had stopped to make camp for the night and was now getting up to continue his individual quest.

As he got up and stretched, he sensed two energy signatures. One was small while the other was slightly larger than the first. He could feel that slightly larger one was demonic and the small one was human. He raised an eyebrow at this. 'How odd.....' he thought to himself as he grabbed his staff. After he stretched and cracked his bones, the red head began to walk toward the two signatures, eventually taking to the trees to keep his stealth.

Soon, the sounds of a child's voice reached his ears. It sounded vaguely familiar. Not long after, he could hear what the child was saying.

"Ah-Uh, do you know where Sesshomaru-sama went? Rin is scared." the voice of a little girl spoke.

Although it took a minute, the names finally registered in his mind. Of course, it was the young human girl that traveled with Sesshomaru and his two-headed dragon steed. He continued to follow them, leaping from branch to branch so he could observe the dragon and the young girl. The human was riding on the dragon's back, looking around with somewhat of a scared gaze as the shadows of the forest seemed to encroach upon them.

He was about to leap onto another branch when an idea popped in his mind. Checking the surrounding area, he spread out his senses in all directions. He quickly noticed that Sesshomaru was no where near the area. His eyes somewhat narrowed at this. It appears that the demon lord had decided to abandon the girl.

However, it didn't make sense. She was his ward. Even if he had decided to leave her behind, he wouldn't have left her unguarded. 'Did he not have another traveling companion?' Naruto thought as he went through the information he had gathered. Ah, that is right. There was another little demon traveling with the Taiyokai. He didn't exactly recall his name, but he looked like a green frog or something. He wondered what happened to him. Did they get separated? Or did he just leave the child to the hands of nature?

Naruto sighed. Whether the girl was abandoned or not, he was not going to leave her in the middle of the forest without the demon lord around. He sighed again before silently leaping down. He had been came to the conclusion that he had signed up for more than he bargained for.

Rin was jerked away from looking into the trees as Ah-Uh spun around swiftly, nearly knocking her clear off of her seat. The dragon began to growl. The girl had to clear the cobwebs before he was able to look to see what Ah-Uh was growling at. A strange man dressed in all black with a large conical hat walked out of the shadows.

Rin stared at the stranger. She couldn't see anything but his long, red hairs that fell to his shoulders and down his back. He had a staff in his hand and his hat hid his face well. She saw his left hand go up and give her a small wave.

"Hello" the stranger greeted.

The child continued to blink at him with those wide brown eyes while Ah-Uh continued to growl. Naruto refrained the urge to shift from foot to foot as the girl continued to stare at him. After a good five minutes, the child patted the dragon on the head, causing the creature to cease his growling. The dragon stared at him with a cautious gaze as he stopped growling. Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment on it.

"Hello, man with weird hat. Rin is Rin and Ah-Uh is Ah-Uh." the child introduced in her own unique way.

Naruto smiled under his mask and stepped forward. He cautiously stretched out his hand to one of Ah-Uh's heads. One head sniffed his palm slightly before lightly nuzzling it, indicating that he was alright. With a look of approval, Naruto looked up at the little girl and smiled, although she couldn't tell due to his hat. He stretched out his hand to her, offering a hand shake.

"Hello, Rin. My name is Naruto." he said, still smiling at the girl.

The girl seemed to beam at him as she shook his hand exuberantly. "Hello, Naruto-sama." she greeted back.

The man chuckled blithesome nature. The girl reminded him of Konohamaru's friend, Moegi. His features slightly saddened at that thought. Most of everyone he knew was far long dead by now. Although he didn't too much care for the village, he still had people there he cared for and loved. Konoha was also the only thing he knew. It was his birthplace. He lightly sighed. He supposed that was the downside of immortality, watching what you know disappear as you continue to leave to see things start anew. Naruto turned his attention back to the jubilant child.

"Well, Rin-chan. You mind telling me what a cute little girl like yourself is doing out here alone?" he asked, poking her stomach, earning a giggle from the girl.

The child then grew somber and began looking around. "I was looking for Sesshomaru-sama." she said as began to tear up. "He had left Rin with Master Jaken for a while, saying he had something to do. While he was gone, Rin and Master Jaken were attack by demon and split up. I don't know where he is either."

Naruto consoled the girl, patting her on her head before kneeling down, meeting her at eyelevel. "Hey, now......there's no need to cry, child. I am sure Sesshomaru-sama and Master Jaken are just fine." Naruto comforted. "Tell you what. How about you travel with me for a while. And you can go back with him when he comes back to get you."

Rin sniffled before she looked up. "Really?" she asked with her bottom lip jutted out in a cute way.

Naruto felt his heart warm up at this. He gave her a warm, welcoming smile under his mask and nodded. "Of course. And hey, we may just find him on the way to where I'm going." he said, cringing a little. He knew Sesshomaru would be in the exact opposite of the way he was going. Maybe on his way back, will they most likely run into the demon lord.

Rin seemed to beam again as he said that. "Yay!" she exclaimed as she somehow managed to clamp onto his neck with a vice grip. How her head missed his hat, he did not know.

Naruto chuckled as he pulled her back slightly. She gasped upon getting her a glimpse of his eyes under his hat. "Whoa....." she said in awe as he sat her on Ah-Uh's saddle. "Are those your real eyes?" she asked.

"Yes." Naruto answered as he grabbed the dragon's reins and handed them to her. "Come on. We are heading North." he said as he began walking ahead.

Rin smiled and nodded. Patting Ah-Uh's head, the dragon turned and walked side by side with the hatted man. As they walked, Naruto's eyes drifted to the beaming child. He felt a small smile quirk on his lips. 'Perhaps this trip won't be so boring after all....' he mused to himself as his eyes traveled back to the path in front of him.