Hello and welcome to chapter 11. I am happy to say that this story now has over 100 followers. I am so happy. I hope you all continue to enjoy this even though some of the waiting must drive you all crazy. I am sorry for that but it cannot be helped. I have school and work and with finals in less than two weeks. I thought I should relax for a while and write this chapter. Warning though, it might not be very long because I have to get back to studying.

Chapter 11:

I wake up to the sound of someone whining in fear. I open my eyes and see that Opal is standing beside the bed with her head bowed and her tail between her legs. I rise from my laying spot and walk over to gently wrap a tail around her being very careful of the wounds that are littered all over her body. I walk over and rub against her as softly as I can trying to comfort her and show that as long as she is with me she will not come to any harm. It takes me about fifteen minutes to get her to relax enough to where I could let go without the fear of her falling apart on me.

A week has passed and Sonya has been progressing very well. I have been trying to get Opal to join us in the training but every time I try she just cowers in fear and never fights back so I leave her alone with fighting but enforce the running and dodging skills she has.

I walk over to the door and head out to find Obaa-san who is most likely waiting by the entrance to the kitchen for my orders, and Sonya is probably waiting for me on the training fields. I listen carefully as Opal follows close behind me probably not wanting to be punished for falling behind too much. I walk slowly and when I finally reach the kitchen things seem quitter than usual. I walk inside and see that the cooks have been killed and Obaa-san is on the ground slowly bleeding even though her heart is no longer bleeding. I run over and see that she has suffered from a stab wound to the stomach and from the smell of it, her attacker was a snake. Damn those snakes, they shall die a long and painful death when I get my paws on them.

I look down at the wound and realize that there is nothing that can be done for her. The wound goes from one side to the other and is very wide. I could not heal this even with anything that I knew. Even if I knew the jutsu that Granny Chiyo used, I could not use it on her because I still owed Kyuubi the debt for my village. I growl a summons for the castle guards and try to keep a straight head.

It takes the men two minutes to get to the kitchen. Once they arrive they all gasp in surprise. All of them knew and loved Obaa-san but knew no one could her now not even I. I had healed many of them when they had come back practice bouts with wounds so they knew some of what I was capable of.

"Go and search the surrounding area for enemies. I want them brought here so that I can deal with them. Have three other guards come in here and gather the bodies and prepare them for the death rites," I command glaring at each of them.

Each guard bows his head in acknowledgement and runs off to do as told. I finally turn my attention to the bodies and sigh. They need to be burned on a pyre so that they can move on to the holy place. A few servants come in to find out what all of the commotion was about and start to cry out as they see the bodies strewn all over the place. This brings Kyuuubi in to see what is disturbing the peace of his castle.

"What has happened here," he demands as he looks around trying to decifer the different scents but with so many people having passed through since the deaths it made it much harder for him.

"I believe that it was snakes that attacked and killed these three servants of you master. It seems that they took some of the maids with them as slave trade for the others," I inform him walking over to stand at his side.

"Are you sure," he growls while glaring at me.

"Yes sir. The scent was definitely snake," I reply bowing my head in respect not wanting to anger him even more. "I have some of the guards out looking for the culprits. They could not have gotten very far especially with your maids fighting them practically the whole way."

Kyuubi's growl becomes louder and he storms off towards his study. I sigh and look at the maids who are still in the kitchen and motion my tail for them to start cooking breakfast for everyone. The girls nod before getting to work. I look around for Opal suddenly realizing that I had been completely forgetting about her.

"OpaL, I need you to go and find Sonya. She should be in the practice field waiting for me to arrive so that she can train. Tell her that she is to meet me in Kyuubi-sama's office," I order looking at the poor girl who is shaking a little bit in fear of the things that are in the room.

Opal nods and runs off to go and find Sonya. I just shake my head before turning to go to the study. I walk slowly and can see that the news of the deaths has already spread throughout the castle and some people are questioning whether or not to flee away from the castle. Those talking to the foxes wanting to flee remind them that it is probably worse out there because at least in the palace there were guards to protect them from such events. Many stop me to ask me what shall be done but I tell them that Kyuubi will be the one to issue the commands about such things. Those wanting to leave reminded the others that they would be leaving soon anyways to be with their mates for the season soon approaching.

I arrive at the office and push the door open and enter without knocking. The room is a terrible mess and Kyuubi is throwing things around the room with his tail. I dodge to the left as he throws the desk my way. I yelp as the desk hits two of my tails crushing them behind the weight and force of the desk. The yelp causes him to stop and stare at me. I can see this weird emotion in his eyes before hatred returns to them and he drags me out of the room and towards our training field. I allow him to beat his anger and frustration out on me. It takes him a few hours but he finally calms down enough to realize what he is doing.

He walks forward and lays down beside my collapsed form. I nearly jump in shock as I feel his tongue against some of the wounds he had caused. What the heck is he doing? Is this his way of saying sorry or is it just something he does on a whim. A whimper escapes from me as he touches a very deep one. He stops a moment but still continues with his ministrations.

Sorry guys but this is all. Something is approaching very soon and I have hinted at in this chapter. I am an evil little thing oh yes I am. *Evil smile*