"Chishima!"
Toki's shout was proceeded by her rushing into the room where her friend was lying on a bed. Less than a second behind her was Naruto, who walked in much more calmly than his current hidden gendered compatriot.
As he moved over to stand beside Toki, who was now kneeling down on the bed and looking at her friend with barely concealed concern, Naruto let his eyes wander towards the young man laying out on the bed.
Chishima's body was bandaged fairly well, and it looks like they had been changed recently. Even still, blood was beginning to seep into the white bandages at a slow yet steady rate. Naruto's eyes focused on what he could discern from the wounds while they were covered and, judging merely from the way they were bleeding, determined they had most likely come from a projectile. Likely a shuriken as they tended to do more damage than a kunai.
Chishima was also hooked up to several machines meant to monitor his vital signs, an IV drip that was putting lost fluids back into his body and a breath mask that was being used to help regulate his breathing, meaning he had likely suffered damage to his lungs. Naruto listened to the steady beep coming from one particular machine that monitored his heart rate, the man's steady breathing the only accompaniment to the noise.
"We found him washed up on the riverside near the old shrine just an hour ago," the guard who had accompanied them said to Toki, who was still in her guise as Sagi. "He was half conscious and kept mumbling about how he had something important to tell you." Despite the fact that Toki was obviously not paying much attention to him, the soldier shouldered on. "He's stable now, but he was in pretty bad shape when we got him here."
"I see," Toki said in her male persona voice as she finally turned away from the sight of her friend lying unconscious on the bed. "Thank you for informing me of this. You may leave now."
"My Lord!"
The soldier snapped off a salute, took a another glance at Naruto, before turning on his heel and marching out the door.
Silence permeated the room. The only sound being the steady beep of the monitors and Chishima's fitful if slightly ragged breathing. Toki looked at her best friend, worry evident on her features, before turning to Naruto.
"You said you had something you wanted to tell me," Toki prompted. Now that they were alone, her voice no longer sounded like a male's. There was no use in masking her voice in front of him.
"Yes," Naruto shifted. Unlike before, when Naruto had snuck into her room, his countenance was serious instead of playful. "I believe I know who attacked Chishima."
"Go on," Toki gestured for the blond to continue. He gladly did so.
"After I caught sight of Chomei meeting with the Cursed Warrior, I felt everything was far too convenient. The response of the guards when it came to arresting Chomei was too quick, it was almost as if they had been ordered to apprehend him before I had even caught him in the act."
"And then there was his quick confession," Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I looked up what I could on his past, and Chomei was supposed to be Tori no Kuni's most prominent tactician, and a decently skilled warrior. A man like him would not be so quick to confess his crimes, had he committed them, without some serious... encouragement."
"What are you saying?" asked Toki, her own eyes narrowing.
"What I'm saying is that Chomei was not the one responsible for the unrest happening in your country, nor was he the one who killed your father and brother." Toki's eyes widened in shock. "It was Mōsō."
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