Akazo

The Mouths of Traitors

   An unusual, small, and dank room kindled by several candles, their flames consisting of blues, yellows, and reds. Each of the four tiny windows covered by square-shaped cloths with unfamiliar insignias in the centres. Various ninja tools, weapons, and equipment optimised for combat attached to wooden cases on the black wall. A portrait of Gyatsō hanging on the opposite wall. These were what caught Hikari's eye in this new environment that the white-haired male brought him to. But as he cautiously looked around, he failed to pick up the smell of vanilla perfume or a loose strand of red hair, or any sign that his best friend was brought here as Gyatsō had promised. He turned to the man still grasping his shoulder.

   "Where's Suzuka?" he asked him dejectedly. Gyatsō walked to the cluttered desk in the back of the room and pressed a button on the wall. He then moved his head to a rusted speaker implanted in the wall and spoke into it. Announcing their arrival to some place known as the Hidden Dark's capital to a calm feminine voice on the other side of the speaker. Was he thinking about far more important matters to notice the boy's question, or was he just outright ignoring him? If Gyatsō lied just to bring him here, Suzuka would still be in the Hidden Stone, hunted by the village's best tracker ninjas. She could be captured and executed at any minute. Hikari quickly walked up to Gyatsō and roughly pulled on the back of the man's untucked white shirt.

   "Take me back to the village!" he said angrily. Gyatsō barely turned his head to look at the boy, as he was still answering the various questions coming from the speaker. Was Suzuka's safety that unimportant to him? Hikari wouldn't hesitate to show him that he wasn't an ignorant and callow child. He already killed two people. Surely Gyatsō would never take him back to the Stone, so he could easily kill himself with one of those dangerous-looking weapons on the wall. Maybe even kill Gyatsō beforehand, since he lied to his face.

   "The girl's at the hospital," Gyatsō said fervently. Maybe he didn't lie.

   "She is? Can you take me to her?" Hikari asked. Gyatsō shooed him away with his left hand, as his right was quickly jotting down words on a piece of yellow paper. Since he was solely paying attention to his conversation with whoever was talking in the speaker, the blonde boy hurriedly walked out of the door and studied his surroundings.

   The boy was standing in a long hallway crowded by people he never saw before. They must've been members of this Hidden Dark Nation, as the insignia on the flags in that musty room were embedded in their forehead protectors. Meaning all of these people were actually shinobi. Hikari didn't know about the other Hidden Villages that much, but he knew that the Five Great Nations only comprised of the Leaf, Mist, Sand, Cloud, and Stone. These Hidden Dark shinobi could only be defectors from the Great Nations then. As Hikari wandered the hall, he wondered why so many people would pledge loyalty to Gyatsō. Including himself, although admittedly only due to a lack of alternatives. Then he remembered there was no other place he'd be accepted. He was just an eleven-year-old murderer, without a family now. Like Suzuka, perhaps this Gyatsō Mataba came into his life when he needed someone like him the most.

   "You lost, buddy?" a deep voice asked above him. Hikari had been too caught up in his thoughts to realise he caught the attention of a tall, muscular man with brown hair extending to his back. He wondered which Hidden Village the buff ninja originated from and why he ultimately defected from it.

   "Yes, I'm trying to find the hospital," Hikari replied. The man pointed behind Hikari, to a small illuminated sign hanging on the ceiling. Labelled with a first aid symbol and arrow. How could he have missed that? Hikari thanked the man and followed the sign until he was outside of the building. A few other people were headed to the hospital, so he decided to just follow them to make it easier for himself. Sparing himself any further queries on who came from where and why. Maybe Gyatsō was inputting his own coming to the Dark in some database earlier. It would simply say that Hikari Notori of the Hidden Stone Village has emigrated to the Hidden Dark Nation because his execution was to take place the day after. Not that his connection with Orochimaru caused the villagers to despise him for all he was worth... unless Mataba had access to that information, too.