Asuma didn’t immediately recognize the voice cutting through his daze. In fact he wasn’t sure there was anyone actually there. It could have been a product of his imagination, or a distant shout from further down the twisting corridors. That voice was just in his head...

...damnit, no, he had to check. The Daimyou and his family were still locked behind the heavy door. He had to stay alert, to be sure every threat had passed. With great effort Asuma shifted to look around, cheek lifting from Chiriku’s bald head.

When he saw the Yondaime’s distinctive coat, the identity of the voice finally clicked into place. He started to tap his covered ANBU tattoo in an automatic salute, but grimaced and paled at the grating of bones in his forearm. There would be no normal salutes from him any time soon. Asuma uncurled his fingers from Chiriku’s cooling hand and gingerly touched his right shoulder instead. Better a backward salute than none at all.

“Yes,” Asuma managed, voice hoarse.

Yondaime-sama made a brief gesture, two fingers flicked forward at shoulder-level, and two of the silhouettes behind him moved. ANBU, a rabbit and a badger; they didn’t bother to pick their way cautiously through the bodies. They started to hoist him to his feet, but the state of his right arm and the noise he made when Rabbit touched it made them quickly adjust their grip. Badger took most of his weight, slinging Asuma’s good arm over his own broad shoulders. Rabbit counterbalanced them, gripping the belt loops of Asuma’s jeans. The effort left him breathless and trembling; it was all he could do not to trip and send them all into the muck.

Asuma thought he saw a flicker of recognition in the Hokage’s eyes as the ANBU hauled him closer. He must look a right mess. “Sarutobi,” Yondaime-sama greeted. “What happened?”

Lightning charring flesh from the bone. Harsh words and even harsher blows. Chiriku’s bloody smile. Asuma took a breath and tried to focus.

“Kazuma,” he started, exhaustion making his speech stilted—“the captain of the Twelve, led a coup to overthrow the Daimyou. They failed.”