"Mōsō?" Toki's voice betrayed her surprise. "But... how could that be? Mōsō is nothing more than a wandering old man. A peddler who managed to gain my father's good graces and become this kingdom's adviser through his parlor tricks."
"Parlor tricks?" Naruto blinked at the term, but quickly shook his head. He didn't need to know. "I don't know much about the man's past, but I can assure you Mōsō is the one responsible for everything that has happened so far. After apprehending Chomei, I created two shadow clones. One left the country in my stead in order to fool anyone who might have been following me to make sure I left. The other stayed at Mōsō's residence hidden as a mouse. It saw Mōsō ordering a Ronin to give him a report on whether or not I had left."
"Ronin?"
"Ronin are like missing nin," Naruto said in response to Toki's question. "Except, unlike missing nin, these shinobi never had a home to go missing from. I heard from Anko-nee-chan that they are ninja who wander the world stealing jutsu from other hidden villages." Anko had actually clashed with a few of them before. Apparently, they had tried infiltrating Konoha a time or two, and at least one of those times one of their numbers was caught. He killed himself before Anko could get anything out of him, but it let her know of their existence.
Toki stared at him, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought of everything she had just been told. Could she have been wrong? Could it be possible that Chomei was not responsible for the death of her brother and father? That it was actually Mōsō who killed her family?
"E-Everything he says is true, Sagi-sama."
Two heads jerked in the direction of the bed to see Chishima, his eyes barely open, looking at Toki still hidden in her Sagi disguise. It was a wonder the man was even awake considering the state he was in.
"Chishima!"
"E-Everything N-Naruto just told you... is true," Chishima continued as Toki knelt down by the bed once more. "I-I saw him talking t-to... several ninja with m-my own two eyes. H-He mentioned something..." Chishima's eyes began to droop as he spoke. He was likely on drugs to dull the pain he was undoubtedly in. "H-He said they had... that they had f-found wh-what they were searching for."
"What they were searching for?" Toki questioned, frowning. She turned her gaze towards Naruto, who shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'don't look at me, I don't know what he's talking about'.
"Sagi-Sama," Chishima gasped, bringing attention back to him. "You must... must... mu...s..."
"Chishima?" Toki's eyes widened as Chishima's eyes closed and his body went completely slack. "Chishima!"
"Relax," Naruto placed a hand on the woman's shoulder to try and calm her down. "Look, he's just sleeping. I'm surprised he even woke up. It looks like those doctors put some serious anesthetics in his system."
'I'm surprised you know what anesthetics are.'
Naruto barely managed to keep from frowning. Was it just him? Or was Kyuubi being a bit more belligerent and haughty than she usually was?
'I've been in a hospital enough times to have picked up a few things.' It probably helped that the doctors had often been forced to drug Naruto near constantly in order to keep him in bed, otherwise he would sneak out. He hated hospitals.
"So you were right," Toki stood up, her eyes narrowed in anger. "It was Mōsō who betrayed me and my family."
"If it's any consolation, I doubt he was ever loyal to you at all," Naruto said bluntly. "I'm pretty sure he was just here to find whatever it was he was searching for, and got into your father's confidence to improve his chances of finding it."
"That doesn't really help," Toki deadpanned.
"Well, can't say I didn't try," Naruto shrugged, before giving Toki a serious expression. "Now that you know who really betrayed you and your family, what do you plan to do about Chomei?"
"Nothing."
"What?" Naruto blinked. He stuck his pink in his ear as if to clean it out. "I'm sorry, I think I had something crazy stuck in my ear. Could you repeat that?"
"I said I'm going to do nothing," Toki told him bluntly. "If I rescue Chomei then Mōsō will know that I'm onto him. If he knew that I knew about him, it would be nearly impossible to get my revenge."
Naruto's eyes narrowed at what he heard. "So you'd sacrifice an innocent man for the sake of your revenge? That is not how a Daimyo is supposed to operate. It's your job to protect those who work under you."
"There is nothing that I can do," Toki looked away from the blond, unable to peer into those accusing eyes. "Chomei is guarded by an army of soldiers. We could never save him by anything less than starting a civil war."
"Would you just listen to yourself for a second!" Naruto grit his teeth as he forced himself to remain calm. "Are you or are you not the Daimyo of this land? Who the hell do you think controls the soldiers here?! If you ordered them to stand down, they would stand down!"
Under the blond's accusing stare, Toki turned away. There was something incredibly unnerving about that glare.
"Tch," Naruto scoffed. "Fine, if you're not going to do something, then I guess it will be up to me."
Turning around, the whisker marked shinobi began walking towards the door, preparing to mount a rescue mission of Chomei. Unlike Toki, he was not willing to allow someone to die for the sake of maintaining secrecy. Not like there was any point in trying anyways. If that Mōsō guy was as well informed as Naruto believed, than he likely already knew who the real Cursed Warrior was and would be dealing with Toki soon enough.
"H-Hey!" Toki shouted in shock as she saw the blond walk away from her. "Where are you going!?"
Naruto paused. He did not turn around, but he did turn his head to look at the woman who was staring at his back in shock.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to do what you can't. Or should I say, what you won't."
It just wasn't in Naruto's nature to leave someone to their doom if he could save them. He wouldn't say it was a hero complex so much as it was his belief on helping others if you were able. If someone had the power to make a difference, then they should put it to good use. And Naruto had the power to make that difference here.
Toki bit her lip in frustration as she watched the blond leave. Should she go after him? What would she do if she did? What would she say? What could she say? Was there even anything that needed to be said?
As much as she didn't want to admit it, the young blond had gotten to her more than she thought. There was just something about the way he spoke, the look in his eyes, and that disapproving frown on his face that made her feel like a child who had disappointed her parents. It was almost like her brother was staring at her with disapproving eyes instead of the blond, even though the two did not look or even act remotely similar.
She looked from the door to Chishima and sighed. Toki could do nothing about Naruto right now. He was probably already gone to save Chomei, but she could at least look after her friend until he got back.
XoX
Chomei found himself being led into a clearing surrounding by the traditional high wall with sloping tiled roof on all sides. His arms were bound to his torso by rope, and his hands were similar bound except the rope was extended like a leash so the soldier in front of him could hold it and lead him around. Surrounding him on either side were soldiers, there hands resting on the hilt of their katanas, prepared to cut him down should he try to escape.
The situation looked very bleak.
As he was led towards the spot where he would be forced to commit sepukku, Chomei eyed his surroundings. Mōsō was sitting in the center of a table that was set up on a veranda that elevated him above everyone else. He was being protected by several guards standing on either side of him.
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