Caught in the Darkness

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Essence

"Amane..." Hanako muttered with gritted teeth. The girl smirked widely.

"Cute but not dumb. Reminds me of myself."

"What do you want?"

Amane laughed as if she had just said the most delirious of jokes. "I don't want anything from you."

The Uchiha frowned. Did Amane really expect her to buy that?

"I know what you're thinking, Hanako," she said. "I'm also an Essence user. I know how your mind works. All those techniques you learned from my scrolls, I learned them by myself. It took me years to master them, understand them so I could pass it on to you." The brunette just looked at her, waiting for her to finish her monologue so she could jump in and question her. "I knew you were next. I knew when I was going to die. Curse...blessing...it all depends on your point of view."

"My point of view?"

Amane chuckled. "Look," she started saying, like if she were teaching a lesson, "you always know what's going to happen. For you, it's a curse because you don't like knowing everything. You love uncertainty. For me, it was a blessing because I hated uncertainty."

"What are you doing here?" Hanako hissed with her eyes narrowed. She ignored her babbling. She really didn't care whatever she had to say about Essence or whatever she was talking about uncertainty. She spoke like some ancient kunoichi—which she was—and the young Uchiha couldn't quite get her tongue.

Amane smiled widely, "My explanation is beyond your comprehension, isn't it?"

"It's not!" Hanako growled.

"Then let me," Amane stood up and placed a hand on her forehead. "You must know that having two consciousness and only one mind is really not healthy for one head." Hanako frowned.

"Then get out."

"I can't." Amane smiled again. She really seemed innocent to anyone who looked at her but, for Hanako, she looked like the evilest of demons.

"Why not?" Hanako slapped her hand away from her face.

"Because you need me."

Hanako raised an eyebrow at her rushed assumption. "Says who?"

"You're weak, Hanako. You have no idea how to control your abilities. My abilities," Amane quickly corrected. "You need me, to defeat Madara."

The brunette burst into laughter. "And who said I wanted to defeat the old geezer?" She spoke to her like a clown trying to mess with a youngster. "Because you seemed to have done an awesome work trying to defeat him." I emphasized the word "defeat" pronouncing each syllable with perfect intonation.

"Why else would you join Orochimaru? Why else would you avoid the Akatsuki at all costs?" Amane listed knowingly, with a convinced grin. "Why else would you—"

"Okay, that's enough." Hanako interrupted her, raising her hand to shut her up.

Amane chuckled, she knew she now had the upper hand. "You try to keep your business to yourself. You might get lost in the way, not exactly knowing what you're doing. But you always maintain the same road to the same end," she said. "You want to defeat Madara, because you know he's not right."

"I don't know that." The young Uchiha was quick to remark. "For instance, he might be right. Maybe this fucked up world needs everyone in an endless dream so it can finally be calm."

Amane's grin disappeared from her face. "You're talking murder," she stated, completely unfazed.

"No," Hanako grinned. "I'm just stating facts."