Chapter 4

It was mid afternoon by the time Sakura felt she was ready to return. Some of her hair had fallen out of the bun it was in while she ran down the near by riverbank. She loved to run yet she had never joined the track team, probably because she wasn't very competitive.

When she returned, everyone was there. Sango, Kagome, InuYasha, Miroku, Shippou and Kilala had congregated around the base of the tall tree, obviously waiting for Sakura. The others stood to greet her with smiles, with the exception of InuYasha. "Oh," Sakura said, her hands in her pockets, "If we needed to leave you could have told me. I wouldn't have taken so long…" her voice trailed off but Sango stopped her. "It's fine Sakura. We know you need some time. We were just going to head out to the next village before the sunsets. If you need more time…"

"No." Sakura said crossing her arms. "I'm here for a reason and I have a responsibility to keep." It was the truth and Sakura knew that but she still wished she could go back home.

Just then Kaede walked toward them from her hut carrying something flat and round covered in a dark brown cloth. Sakura turned around to face her just as she reached the group. "Sakura," she started, "I have a gift for you. I had them made for you for your journey. After all you will need a weapon or two." The old woman seemed to smirk. "Oh," was all Sakura could think to say. She removed the cloth revealing two circular blades only one section of each was wooden, apparently for a handle. "Chakrams?" They were quite huge in Sakura's opinion. She had seen some smaller versions in her time and had actually wielded a pair in her Karate classes. She picked them up by the handles and held them up. The others seemed intrigued by the odd weapon. Sango even asked to try them out.

"Well lets get moving." Miroku finally insisted and the others agreed. The chakrams were secured to Sakura's side and they surprisingly didn't make a lot of noise as she walked. A few minutes later the group left the village, making their way north toward the next village.

"There have been rumors of a demon attacking this village. Possibly a jewel fragment involved…" Sango informed Sakura. "Oh," was all she could say. To tell the truth she wasn't sure if she was ready to fight. Sure she had taken classes but none of them taught her how to fight against a demon. As they walked she looked down at the weapons at her side. She could only hope they would help her.

‡

It was well past sunset by the time they had made it to the village. As they walked down the dirt road, they noticed it was awfully quiet. There was nobody in the streets but once they got to the small palace at the top of the hill, a pair of guards armed with spears stopped them in their tracks.

"No one's allowed in the palace. You'll have to leave. It would be advisable too seeing as we have a demon that regularly attacks the village…" one of the guards said. "Well it just so happens…" Miroku replied, "That we're here to rid you of you demon pest."

Just then, without any warning, the ground began to shake. The guards looked to the village with frightened looks on their faces. Sakura spun around just in time to see a huge worm like demon with pinchers and two arms burst out of the ground, destroying the homes around it. Villagers screamed and ran for their lives while the demons large red eyes pinpointed the castle and made a beeline for the group, namely Kagome.

"Its after the shards!" Kagome shouted. InuYasha grabbed her around the waist and bounded to the right and the others ran in the opposite direction. Suddenly Kilala changed form from a small two-tailed cat to a huge saber toothed lion. Her feet and tails flamed and her eyes were fierce and red. Sango jumped on her back with her boomerang in hand. Kilala flew into the air with ease and circled the demon. Kagome looked up and spotted the glow Sakura had also noticed.

"The jewel shard! There in its forehead!" Sure enough, there was a glow emitting from a spot on the monster's head.

Sango had circled all the way up the monster to its neck and she shouted "Hiraikotsu!" throwing the boomerang directly at the demons neck. Its head fell to the ground and before it could regenerate its body and head (as most demons with a piece of the jewel do), InuYasha unsheathed his sword, it turned from a rusted old katana to a huge fang, and he unleashed the windscar on the beast's head. The head along with the body disintegrated leaving only the jewel fragment behind. Kagome picked it up and placed it in a small vile along with the other shards they had collected.

"Well that was too easy." InuYasha said, placing his sword back in the sheath. "Oh thank you!" The guards had walked out, a young lord behind them and behind him a beautiful princess. "My sister and I thank you!" the lord said again. "You must stay the night in our castle. I am lord Renjiro and this is my sister, Nariko. We welcome you." Lord Renjiro turned around and walked toward the castle. The others followed.