Akazo

Dead Tree Leaves

    "Akazo."

    No response.

    "Akazo. Wake up."

    The motionless ANBU member in question twitched a little bit before slowly opening his eyes.

    When he saw that Sasuke was the one at his side, he felt relieved. He also felt a sharp pain coursing throughout his body when he tried to sit up, which forced a grunt or two out of him. Sasuke smiled a little at his partner, relieved himself that he didn't sustain any serious injuries.

    Akazo immediately noticed that his stomach, along with other regions of his body such as his arm and head, was bandaged. When he asked Sasuke who did that for him, the Uchiha clan member pointed to himself with a thumb.

    "Thanks, Sasuke," his partner said.

    Akazo also quickly noticed that they were in a confined, cold room behind several locks. Other Konoha ninja like Ebisu and Kurenai were also in the room. They appeared to be unconscious.

    "Where in the hell are we?" Akazo asked his partner as he picked at the numerous bandages on his body.

    "We've been imprisoned by Orochimaru's shinobi for the time being. Tonnes of our ninja are in this state, too. The ones who kept fighting were just slaughtered in broad daylight," Sasuke replied, recalling what he experienced when he awoke.

    Akazo gritted his teeth as he inspected the room, now realising they were inside of Konoha's correctional facility. A sudden fear then entered his mind.

    "Where's Ketsueki?"

    Sasuke pointed to a figure in the dark corner of the room. It was Ketsueki, who gave Akazo a little smile and waved at him with two fingers. Akazo smiled back at him, relieved again.

    "I'm glad that you two are okay," Akazo told him.

    Ketsueki stood up, holding onto his injured ribs. Now that he was out of the dark corner, Akazo could clearly see the numerous cuts and bruises on his body. Even his hair was a mess.

    The redheaded Kuraiya clan member winced in pain as he walked over to Sasuke and Akazo and dropped a piece of paper in front of them. Sasuke picked it up, studying the small, almost illegible characters.

    "What's this?" he asked.

    "A message from one of my sources. That woman from the Osore, Seiko, is the one in charge of the village so long as the Hidden Sound and Dark are here. And from the looks of it, they're staying here permanently," Ketsueki replied, using a finger to wipe away blood underneath his eye.

    "Wait, she's in charge?! What happened to Lady Nori?" Akazo inquired. The last time he saw her was when he and Sasuke were debriefing Orochimaru's initial attack on the village. He had no idea that those events would transpire into chaos that put the existence of the Five Great Nations at risk.

    "Orochimaru killed the Hokage. Another one of my sources also just notified me that the acting Tsuchikage in the Stone was killed by the Osore. We're assuming Gyatsō is going to execute all five of the Kage, then replace them with a member of the Osore. Just as he did here."

    Akazo hung his head down, which of course was significantly difficult due to the pain. To have the Hokage defeated was demoralising to all ninja from the Leaf, especially someone like Akazo. Sasuke put a hand on his partner's shoulder, trying to reassure him. Ketsueki looked over to the locked door as he heard someone approaching them from outside.