Circumstance
Book 2: Land of Grass
Chapter 28:
Heeded
InuYasha ignores the little voice in the back of his head that tells him Hotaru probably should head back already. He tried to get her to turn back, if only half heartedly. She outright ignored him the third time.
(Which, good for her. He'd rather this sudden backbone than the cringy mess of before.)
Her task was to take him to the border, no further, and they were already two days past entering Suna's country, making their way to the River/Wind border.
More of those mysterious ninja could be lingering on their trail and InuYasha would hate himself if something happened and they could have prevented it by taking the likely safer route through River country. Not that she couldn't take care of herself.
The former hanyou placed a hand on the pouch of appropriated Kunai and Shuriken Hotaru insisted he hold with a slightly furrowed brow. A weapon was a weapon and InuYasha learned young to make due with whatever he had. He wouldn't be winning any contests, but he could hit a rabbit if it was within 20 feet. A human would be a far larger target.
Hands shifting to tuck back into his sleeves, the swordsman glanced in the direction of their battlesite.
Not a one of the enemies' chakra registered and Hotaru could not find any village specific symbols. They were as he suspected: assassins. The list of who he could have pissed off to warrant them and afford it was relatively small but Hotaru already pointed out that they were there for her. Her and her blood.
InuYasha never thought he'd be grateful people only wanted to kill Hanyou, not capture them.
He was curious about the seals the glasses wearing girl found drawn on the bodies. The seals reminded him of holy wards but obviously less mystical. Miroku would have loved learning about them. Letch that he was, the monk was a scholar.
Neither of the travelers were surprised to find each had a chakra implosion seal carved into the nape of their neck. One enterprising individual housed storage seals on the forearms that Hotaru was unable to activate now that the wearer was dead.
But, of all the strange symbols sparingly applied to each member, it was the uniform seal sensed at the juncture of the chin and throat that gave Hotaru the most trouble. She wouldn't be able to view it properly without prying open their mouths or cutting through their throats. The lock jaw from death had set in by the time she unsealed the first body to truly examine them. InuYasha was less sanguine about mutilating a dead body when they were unlikely to learn any secrets on their origin. Once she determined the general shape of the seal, she recognized nothing familiar in its making.
That said, Hotaru admitted she wasn't a seals expert. Most of her training was on generating the more common seals and sensing the placement of seals in unexpected places, not breaking them down. That was her mother's talent apparently. She relented to waiting until she returned to Ame with the mangled platoon and InuYasha was surprisingly grateful for her agreement.
Usually, he just gets talked over whenever he tried to talk sense into the others.
It was… nice being heeded.
Shaking his head of the mushy thought, InuYasha eyed the angle of the sun and decided they should make camp for the final time. This was the most direct route to get to Konoha according to Hotaru and InuYasha had a feeling tomorrow would bring change to their routine.
For better or for worse.
(A/N): Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
~Yasha's Sis