Not the End...

8 min read

Deviation Actions

HeartShrineVillage's avatar
Published:
778 Views



The room was tense. The silence had been lingering for what seemed like years, though it had only been a few minutes since the last person spoke. Outside, the sun was creeping through the clouds and the sound of birds chirping happily like yesterday didn't happen. A lot of people didn't want to believe yesterday had happened. There were a lot of injured--shinobi and civilians alike--and there were just as many who had lost their lives, protecting their village which they loved with everything they had. The ambush had been a distraction, which was evident now as reports kept arriving to the Mikokage's office. The Priests reported missing sacred scrolls, and the Intelligence Division was just the same. Someone had snuck past all the barriers to steal the scrolls. Which scrolls that were stolen were still a mystery as both divisions were tirelessly going through their inventory to scrounge for the data needed. The sooner they could determine what was stolen, the sooner the Mikokage could determine where the village's secrets were at risk. It was a crucial time, which meant Eimi had to call for her elite for an emergency meeting. They needed to discern their next course of action against the Crimson Order.

"So..." The silence was broken by Narashi of all people. "You're saying there's a traitor in our ranks." He stated rather plainly.

Everyone was exhausted at this point, having been up for more than twenty-four hours. No one could sleep, and if they could, no one wanted to sleep. There was too much grief and destruction to even feel the exhaustion at this point. It was evident with everyone in the room and no matter how many times they would state the obvious, someone else would bring it up. It was just impossible. Someone from the village of love was a traitor? No one could imagine it. And yet, it was true. With the thief getting away with precious information, most likely handing it over to the enemy, it meant there was a traitor. However, saying their name aloud was almost like a taboo because of the one person in the room.

"She's not a traitor." Raiden got to his feet faster than anyone could blink. Kanmuri had done her best to heal him after suffering damage from the building collapse. He still had two cracked ribs, a limp, and dried blood along his hairline where he'd been hit in the head from debris. However, his brotherly instinct wouldn't allow him to not defend his sister.

"Raiden..." Kan frowned as she reached for her husband's hand. She hadn't believed him at first. How could she? By the time she'd caught up with him, he had looked as if he'd been dropped from the sky and dragged around the entire village. Surely it had been his imagination.

Raiden shook his hand away before glaring over at Narashi. He knew the man was only stating what everyone else was thinking. Hell, even he had thought the same initially, but it couldn't be true. "You have no idea what you are saying. Any of you." He looked at everyone in the room, letting his eyes linger on Eimi especially. After all, it was going to be her word whether or not his sister would be deemed a traitor.

"Listen, Raiden, we understand what you must be feeling--" Gosai began, sighing as he looked to his pupil.

"No you don't!" Raiden yelled.

"Raiden, please," Kan urged him to sit back down. She hated when he got upset, but she was also afraid of his impulsiveness. He could lash out physically or verbally, which would only make things even worse. "Just sit back down." She'd gotten up and placed her hands on his shoulders, hoping he'd calm down.

Raiden's breathing had picked up as he was only getting more and more upset about the whole thing. "You don't know her. Not like I do. It wasn't her!"

"But you said--" Narashi started calmly.

"I know what I said!" Raiden was quick to cut the man off. "And I know what I saw..." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It was her...but...it wasn't her."

"Raiden, you've already said that, and we've deduced it wasn't a shadow clone." Aiko spoke up, rubbing his eyes. He was getting tired of the conversation going in circles. "Besides, she had been missing for five years before coming back. Who knows what happened in those five years."

"You aren't listening to me." Raiden shook his head. "This Azuna...She was...There was something missing from her eyes. There was no...life." He breathed, clenching his hands at his side, feeling his knuckles tear open again as the warm blood trickled into his palms. "It wasn't her."

"Enough." Eimi unclasped her hands and placed them flat on her desk. There were many files open in front of her; some were of deceased shinobi, missing shinobi, captured Crimson Order members, but the one on top was Azuna's file. "Raiden, there were several reports saying they saw her fleeing the village with the Crimson Order. She was scaling buildings and moving at speeds which aren't normal for civilians." She told him. Again. "I know it must be hard, but your sister is not an ally of this village. She has put my citizens in danger, and because of that, I have no choice." She sighed tiredly. "We must put this to a close and move on. The village needs to be repaired and brace itself for winter. I am terribly sorry..."

Raiden's eyes widened as he realized what Eimi was going to say. "No! You can't!"

"From this day on," Eimi continued, "Azuna Sasagawa is considered a traitor of Omoichidou."


***********************************************************************************************************************************************************


:star::star: Stay tuned for the next arc! :star::star:

skin by blissart
© 2015 - 2024 HeartShrineVillage
Comments5
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In