The Enemy of My Enemy

Chapter 13: Children in a nest of snakes

A mob of people stood in the corridor which they were led into by the bespectacled man; a man who had just left the pair moments before.

Akemi bit her bottom lip and hovered close to Kakashi in the midst of the anxious people. There were people of all ages, looks, and form. Thugs who glared menacingly at everyone, swordsmen who stood calmly with a hand resting on the handle of their blade, and there were even children looking lost in the crowd.

There were two particular kids holding tight to each other's hands and staying as close as they could to each other. They looked frightened and almost immediately Akemi took pity on them. It was obvious the two of them didn't belong in the mess they were in.

Akemi tugged on Kakashi's sleeve, the girl gesturing over at the two kids. Kakashi paused as he felt the gentle tug on his sleeve, looking down at Akemi just to see her nod into the direction of the crowd. The male followed her gaze, his eyes sweeping the crowd as he searched for the few that caught Akemi's eyes. Soon he found them, two short kids of twelve or thirteen, clinging together in the mass of people. One was a little boy, his skinny arms wrapped around a small girl in a protective manner.

In a way the two of them reminded him of themselves, him and Akemi except younger and weaker. They were children, children who still had their innocence and in that sense they were much different from themselves.

Akemi approached them first, soon followed by Kakashi. As they approached, the boy tightened his hold on the girl, glaring at the two strangers who approached them. Akemi offered him a small, friendly smile before she knelt down to their height and offered him her hand.

"Hello, I'm Akemi." She spoke gently only to have the boy stare skeptically at her hand, pausing before speaking in response.

"I'm Totaru." He introduced before the girl in his arms chirped up her own introduction.

"I'm Ami." She sounded with her own friendly smile and outstretched hand before she was pushed behind Totaru, the young boy standing over her protectively before he snapped.

"What the hell do you want with us ?!"

"Calm down, brat." Kakashi snapped back at him, a little peeved that he spoke to Akemi in such a rude manner, but she did not seem to mind.

"I was wondering if-" She was soon cut off by Kabuto shouting at the crowd from an elevated position, looking down at all of them.

"Attention! All of you will now participate in a very important experiment for Orochimaru-sama !" He shouted out, gaining the attention of the crowd who all fell silent. "There are about one hundred of you; we only need ten. Dwindle the numbers down to ten and those ten get to live. You all have twenty-four hours. Go out into the forest and slaughter each other."

Chatter erupted from the crowd, words of protest, complain, and desperation before several large doors opened and light spilled into the room. Some people cringed, others ran for the forest, and a select few already started killing.

Akemi took action, nodding towards Kakashi before she grabbed Totaru's hand who grabbed Ami's hand. All of them ran towards their nearest exit in a chain with Akemi in the front and Kakashi guarding their back.

They were forced to cut through a few men and women before they made it outside, both Akemi and Kakashi fighting to protect themselves and the two kids. With their weapons and wit they soon made it out of the hellhole and into another.

The air was moist, dew covered every leaf and blade of grass in sight. It was misty and felt damp from the night of rain before. It was dawn, the sun a flaming orange in the east as it slowly rose into the dark sky to light the world beneath it.