Clash 2: The Wolf and the Desertstorm - a collab with Amaterasu

Chapter 8

Daro kept a frown on his face the entire walk back to the meeting point. He'd left the village close before sunset, with a package of food 'for the road'. He was sure Ken and Akio would appreciate it.
The rumors he had heard would not leave him alone, but he had hesitated to act on them in order to not rise suspicion.
Perhaps Akio would know what to do.

The boy sighed and narrowed his eyes to search the area. He should be close now, but the darkness had set in and his comrades would be in hiding. He could barely see a thing, but he knew Ken would sense him. He stopped and leaned against a tree, patiently waiting for the sensor to find him.

A shadow dropped down. "This way," Ken gestured over his shoulder. "Akio-san made us a small den so we could have a fire without anyone to pick us out."

"I brought food," Daro offered, "though it's not much. I didn't want them to be suspicious, since I'm supposedly traveling alone."

Ken smiled. "Thanks, and don't worry; Akio-san and Karasu teamed up to get us a couple rabbits. There's plenty to go around."

They soon came upon the hidden den. Ken knocked his code against a wall and the earth shifted open to welcome the two inside before closing back up behind them. An orange glow was seen from around a corner where crackles and pops of a fire were heard. Akio looked up from his task of cooking their dinner. "Almost have dinner ready. Come, take a seat and relax. And don't worry about staying on guard. I have a couple of earth clones out to keep watch, and Ken set up traps."

"Got a few barrier tags pasted on this place too," Ken added as he sat down and gave Karasu a bit of attention which the bird was eagerly accepting. "They'll activate if an assault is made. Akio-san has a few bolt holes ready for us if we need to get away fast."

"It's all only precautionary though," Akio kindly assured. "As far as Ken and I have gathered, the whole area is deserted. Not a single Ookami to be found." Ironically it would have been nice to have had an Ookami sighting to gain the leads they desperately needed.

Daro sat down at the fire and stretched out his hands gratefully. His face was grim and he nodded at Akio's words. "They were all forced to leave," he said in a quiet, serious voice, "by Satoru."

The kind smile Akio had on his face fell into a dark frown. The fire crackling was the only sound for a moment before the man finally spoke.
"Forced...and I'm sure Orochimaru is behind that move as well. But to where? And why?"

"I don't know," Daro answered, "I heard some men talk, but I couldn't ask too many questions. All I know is that they just left, along with the rest of the clan, and left their families behind. It didn't sound like the villagers were expecting them back. Though some of them are still waiting. There was this girl..." Daro bit his lip at the memory of the lost look in her eyes. He looked at Akio with a sad look. "I don't know. It was like all life had been drained from her." He sighed. "The bartender said Satoru was in league with some shady people and moved to be closer to them." There was hope in his eyes, as if he expected Akio to know where that might be.

Akio let out a heavy sigh as he ran a hand over his head and slouched forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his head over the tops of his hands as he laced his fingers together. There was a calculating gleam to his eyes as he stared into the fire.
"I have no idea where that might possibly be Daro. All that I know is that Satoru is an ally of Orochimaru. They had their goal to capture Hisayo—and they succeeded. As cold as this probably will sound, we can use the village's state to our advantage to gain the information we need." He finally said. "I don't like to do it, but it's the only way. Point out the ones you saw that are those families; we'll get them alone and ask them a few questions. After, we're pulling back to get in touch with the others and see if they have found leads."