The Silver Wolf (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Complete) (Editing In Progress)

*Ch. 23: Revelations

Daken's POV

I'd searched all over the village, but still no sign of Kari. Not even a scent I could follow. Nothing. I'm not quite ready to waste a bunch of chakra, so I guess my next course of action would be to ask around.

After about two hours of talking to random old ladies and rude little boys, I finally got a lead. This one shop owner said he saw that man, Hayabusa, carrying a young woman with black hair over his shoulder. The shop-keeper hadn't seen where Hayabusa had taken the girl, but he knew it was kind of suspicious.

I searched the area the shop-keeper pointed out, and sure enough, I found a hint of Kari's scent. Hayabusa's scent was there too, which worried me. The woman the shop-owner had said Hayabusa was carrying was most likely Kari, so I had to assume that my new friend had been captured by Spider Vanguard.

But Kari was by no means weak. So how had one man managed to take her prisoner? From the information I've gathered, Hayabusa was powerful physically, but also loud and not very smart. Someone like him would have no change against Kari, who I'd noted was both intelligent and rather strong.

Now I was at a loss, however. I have no idea where Hayabusa had taken Kari. My first thought would be the village chief's mansion, but then again that's rather predictable. I exhaled heavily, trying to think of any other options.

That's when something landed on my head heavily.

I yelped, instinctively bringing my hand up to swat at it. But when my hand came into contact with something smooth and kind of warm, I stopped. I slowly ran my hand over the thing, and jumped again when it let out a whimper.

A black head with horns stretched down from my head to peer into my face. Claws tickled my hair where they were dug in to prevent their owner from slipping off. Telem? What's he doing here?

"What are you doing here?" I asked the dragon, reaching up and grabbing him off my head. "And where's Kari?"

Telem's eyes started whirling wildly when I mentioned Kari and his whimpers grew more pronounced. I didn't get a single thing he meant, but Telem seemed to be in pain. Kari had mentioned the bond between them, so I assumed that since he was hurting that Kari must be as well.

"Okay, it's okay," I tried to make my voice soothing, hoping the dragon would calm down enough that I could get something helpful out of him. "Come on, it's okay. I know Kari is in danger, but you can lead me to her. Can you do that?"

Telem managed what appeared to be a nod, then all but collapsed into my arms. I looked down at him worriedly, hoping he was conscious enough to lead me to Kari. I rubbed his head once, then started walking forward.

"Okay, point the way."

Kari's POV

I groaned, fighting to open my eyes. For some reason, my head ached horribly, and the back of my head felt wet. Had Telem drooled on me again? No, his weight isn't anywhere on me. I feel... weightless, yet restrained. What a strange feeling.

My eyes still wouldn't open, so I settled for trying to sniff the air. And promptly gagged when the smells hit my nose. Blood. And lots of it. But whose...

Mine? Yeah, mine. And underneath, other people's, but that was much older. Apparently it's been a while since someone went and bled out in here.

A sinister chuckle made me snap out of my thoughts. That sound... I'd heard it before. Not just laughter, I've heard laughter before. But I don't know many people who can pull off such a demented chuckle. Only one, really.