Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine; they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. The following story is for entertainment and not profit.

Chapter 7: Scarred

"Where is Naosu?" Kagome questioned Inu Yasha as she and Sango returned to camp from their evening wash.

"How should I know?" he snapped, turning back to the fire. Kagome clenched her fists in anger and readied to unleash it on the hanyou when Miroku spoke up.

"Lady Naosu offered to gather wood for the fire, though I suspect her true intention was to find somewhere to be alone with her thoughts. She should not be long."

Kagome sighed. She understood the need to be alone sometimes, and it was often Inu Yasha that led to it.

"Didn't she leave right after we made camp?" Sango noted as she tried to remember the direction in which the woman had left. "Then shouldn't she be back by now? The sun will set soon and she's unarmed. It isn't safe around here after dark."

Without waiting for agreement she grabbed Hiraikotsu took off in the direction of the stream. She couldn't explain why she felt so protective of the other woman. She certainly wasn't weak or helpless; in fact she could be stronger than Sango when she tried. None the less, she found herself compelled to protect Naosu almost as if she was family.

"I smell blood." The sound of Inu Yasha's voice startled the exterminator.

"Where?"

Glancing at her in the dying light, Inu Yasha took off in the direction of the scent. He didn't know why he was helping Sango look for the girl. He didn't want Naosu traveling with them anyway, but then he had caught the scent of his half-brother laced with that of human blood. He may not like Naosu, or even trust her, but he was not about to let Sesshomaru have the satisfaction of harming anyone Inu Yasha was traveling with.

They slowed as the body of a large lizard demon came into view. Its head was no longer connected to the torso but laid a good six feet away. Not far from the decapitated youki was a pool of cooled blood in the bent grass, but the smell let Inu Yasha know that it hadn't come from the mutilated demon. Sango bit her lip as she watched the hanyou drop to all fours and start sniffing around the field.

"She was here," he stated abruptly as he rose to his feet, "and so was Sesshomaru."

"And the blood?" Sango feared his answer.

"Naosu's."

"But…her body…? Where…?"

"If Sesshomaru took her they could be anywhere. He must've flown out of here. I can't track him." Inu Yasha turned back the way they had come. "All we can do is return to camp and tell the others."

Sango searched for a reason to object, she wanted to start looking for Sesshomaru and Naosu immediately. Who knew what he would do to her, or even if she was still alive. Sango paled at the thought. She knew Inu Yasha was right, besides, Kirara was back at camp.

"We'll start searching as soon as we get Kagome back to the village so that she can go home." Inu Yasha waited for any objections.

"How dare you think that I would just leave while one of my friends is missing?" Kagome felt her irritation with the hanyou growing.

"Fine," he retorted, "don't leave. It makes no difference to me, but we're still stopping in the village anyway. It's on the way."

"On the way to where, Inu Yasha?" Miroku asked, hoping to lessen the growing tension.

Inu Yasha sighed and rolled his eyes at the question, "Well, if Sesshomaru took her, we should start by finding him…in the Western Lands…on the other side of the village."

Sango nodded at his reasoning as she climbed onto Kirara's back. Miroku lifted himself into place behind her and Shippo jumped up in front of her. Inu Yasha moved to kneel before Kagome, offering her his back. She climbed on without objection. Now was not the time, she told herself, a missing friend is more important than some stupid fight.

It was barely morning when Inu Yasha and the others finally reached the village. Kagome spotted Kaede's hunched form already at work in the small garden beside the hut. The old woman looked up from her work as they approached.

"Good ye have returned. I am in need of your assistance, Kagome. Please, join me inside. Oh, and Inu Yasha," she continued as she moved to stand next to a large pot, "could ye see that this is filled with water."

Inu Yasha knew better than to refuse the old woman's request, especially when fighting with Kagome. He had no wish to be 'sat' this early in the morning. Kaede could sense that the two were fight yet again, but knew that she had more important duties to attend to.

Once the hanyou was out of sight, Kagome followed the older miko into the main room of the home. Sango and Miroku greeted them as they entered. Sango sat on her opened bed roll stoking the tiny cat youki curled up in her lap. Shippo lay wrapped in one of the blankets, fast asleep. Kagome smiled at her friends as she continued to one of the smaller rooms along the back wall of the hut. She couldn't help but notice the worried expression in the demon exterminator's eyes. She knew that Sango would have rather continued on to look for Naosu, but it had been decided that they would rest before starting out again.

Kaede led Kagome through the sliding partition at the rear of the main room. As she rounded the paper screen, Kagome froze. There, laid out on a futon on the floor was the woman they were to go looking for, her distinct silver streak of hair framing the profile of her sleeping face in the lamplight.

"But…how?" Kagome stuttered, keeping her voice low so as to not disturb the patient.

"She was laid just inside my door." Kaede paused as she lifted a folded bundle from the head of the mat. "Does not this belong to the half-brother of Inu Yasha?" She unfolded the fabric to expose the red and white floral pattern unique to the Lord of the West. "She wore it when I found her."

Kagome nodded. The haori was definitely Lord Sesshomaru's. They had suspected that he had taken her, but why would he have left her here?

Kaede refolded the haori and returned it to its resting place. "Ye should tell the others that she is here, but we must tend to her before they can see her. And ye shall not tell them of this," she added, gesturing to the folded fabric, "not until we have given the child a chance to explain."

Kagome agreed. If Inu Yasha thought that Naosu was working with his half-brother it would only make things worse. Accepting the bowl Kaede handed her, Kagome rose and returned to the main room. Inu Yasha had returned with the filled water jug, but had obviously left again. Kagome smiled at her friends that remained. She could tell that both Sango and Miroku where too worried to let themselves sleep.

"You both need to relax and get some sleep," Kagome said over her shoulder as she filled the wooden bowl from the water jug. "It will probably be a couple days before we head out again."

Sango's mouth shot open to protest only to be silence by another knowing smile.

"Naosu is safe. She's in the other room." Kagome motioned to the divider at the back of the room. Sango felt her heart leap.

"I'm sorry, Sango," Kagome said as she gestured for the other woman to remain where she was, "Kaede has asked that you wait. She has wounds that need tending to and she needs rest. I suggest that you both get some sleep."

Sango nodded reluctantly. She knew that she was too tired to help the two mikos. Naosu would be in good hands and there would be time to ask questions later.

Kaede folded down the sheet to reveal the injured back of the patient and the blood soaked cloth that had been used to bind her wound. Kaede knew that she would have to remove the cloth bandage even at the risk of reopening the wound if she were to see the full extent of the damage. As Kagome returned to sit beside her, Kaede let her knife slice through the first of the ties that secured the make-shift bandage. The fabric was easier to remove than she expected. Taking a clean piece of cloth, Kaede wet it in the cool water and began to carefully wipe away the sticky mess of dried blood that remained. Kagome moved to the other side of the patient to help the elderly miko. As their view of the injury became clear their hands stopped to assess what they were looking at.

All that seemed to remain of the wound that had bled so profusely was a thin pinkish line that ran from the patient's left shoulder blade to the base of her spine, but below it laid a greater mystery. There is the middle of Naosu's expose back was a familiar arachnid shaped scar. It was fainter than either miko had seen before, but distinctly the same as that of Naraku.