With Kira on the loose, Hanako could barely relax. Back in their room, within the Uchiha main household, she watched her sister sleep as she thought of ways of defeating their witch of an aunt.
"I still can't believe our mother never told us she had a twin sister..." she muttered under her breath. Though, being honest with herself, Hanako wondered if she would want anyone to know she had a psychopath for a sister.
The door of the room opened and Amane entered with a loud relieved sigh. "Ah, that was the best shower I've had in weeks! Your turn, Hanako."
The girl frowned up at her. "When are we going to check that sighting in the Waterfall country?" She asked.
"Instead of worrying about that, you should worry about finding a way to defeat Kira." Amane turned to her with a calm expression. Her wet hair was disheveled after she attempted to dry it with a towel, but regardless of her appearance she was extremely serious. "Just shower already. You reek."
That comment brought self awareness to Hanako, and she discreetly smelled herself. Cringing visibly she took her towel and hurried out of the room.
Have I been stinking all this time?
An image of Itachi hugging her when they saw each other haunted her mind and she gasped. Oh no... How could I hug him like this?!
She hid her face in her towel, wanting nothing more than to disappear into the wall. "This is so embarrassing..."
"What is?"
Hanako halted when she heard a male voice. Izuna was standing directly in front of her with slightly wet hair and fresh clothes on. Looking away, Hanako tried to walk around him, but she was stopped by his arm across her path. She traced the skin and sleeve up until her eyes met his. He raised his brows. "Are you just going to ignore me?"
"I need to shower." Her voice was barely a whisper.
Izuna leaned closer, making Hanako take a step back. "What is your relationship with Itachi?" he suddenly asked.
Surprised by the interrogation, Hanako met his black eyes again. She wasn't sure what to say. They had been friends since young, but she didn't see Itachi as just a friend. If she were to compare the way she felt around Kazuki and Takeshi, it wasn't the same feeling she held towards Itachi. There was something more. A longing she couldn't quite describe, but the blushing when around him, how his actions made her heart flutter, and the crashing waves of emotions were enough proof of her feelings. Hanako liked Itachi...in a romantic way.
"I don't see why you would care about that."
Izuna checked over his shoulder. Itachi was standing behind him, glaring daggers at him for the way he was standing close to Hanako. Pulling his arm away, Izuna scoffed. "Obviously, I don't." When he looked back at the girl, he realized she was just as stunned as he was. He smirked. "Go and take that shower, Chibi."
Hanako flinched and glared at his retreating back. She lost sight of him when he turned around the corner. "What's gotten into him?"
Itachi looked at her. "Tell me if he bothers you again." Hanako sighed and shook her head.
"He's not always like this. He must be still grieving his father. Izuna really admired him."
"So, you know about what happened in the battlefield?"
Hanako looked at the ground with a sad expression. "Yeah, news travel fast." Looking back at Itachi, she found his attention still on her. She fought the blush reaching her cheeks and cleared her throat. "About that night... I wanted to apologize for saying your dreams were childish..." She looked away in embarrassment. "I think it takes someone brave to have such a big dream."
Itachi smiled slightly. "Kakashi said it was unrealistically ambitious, but I took it as saying it was childish with nicer words."
A pang of guilt reached her heart. "Hey, don't let what others think about it discourage you—"
"Hanako," Itachi's voice sounded so serious, she didn't dare to interrupt him. "I've never cared what others think about me or my plans for the future." He took a step closer to her. "Even to this day, my dream hasn't changed. In fact, if that dream is ambitious as it is, why not aim for something bigger?"
Itachi kept his gaze fixed on her as he thought about the peaceful world he yearned for.
I want you to be with me to see that peaceful world I dream of. That is probably the most ambitious...or childish dream I have.
Hanako smiled and nodded to him, oblivious to the thought raging in Itachi's mind. "Yeah, you're allowed to dream big. You're exceptional Itachi, I'm sure you can achieve anything you want to."
Itachi took another step closer, very aware of the flood of emotions inside him. However, when Hanako realized the proximity in which he stood, she put the towel she was holding in her hands right in between them and chuckled nervously. "I'll catch up with you later, right now I really need to take a shower." She moved around him and hurried towards the bathroom.
Itachi watched her until she walked into the room, and slammed the door closed behind her. A ghost of a smile reached his lips, and with a voiceless laugh he continued to the room he shared with Izuna.
* * *
Madara Uchiha was enjoying his green tea as he waited for two people to walk into the room. The first time Hanako and Amane had been in that place had been when they first arrived in their territory. Now, a little more than three months later, they became important members of the Uchiha Clan. One was a twenty-year-old woman with knowledge of Space-Time Ninjutsu and special Sharingan abilities; and the other one a twelve-year-old girl who accidentally arrived into this timeline from 100 years into the future.
After getting accustomed to their presence, it seemed like their journey was coming to an end. With the arrival of Hanako's peers, she now had all the tools to open back the portal to her time, and they would forget everything that happened in these few months.
Madara thought about his brother. It didn't really matter if after all this time he had caught feelings for that young girl, because she would make him forget about her anyway when they leave. He didn't know what the future was like, and even though he caught glimpses from Hanako's memories, he wasn't supposed to know.
Something still felt out of place ever since that girl looked at him for the first time. And the more he kept pushing it into the back of his head, the more it would resurface when he was alone with his thoughts. Gramps... The nickname she had given him would bother him greatly. He wasn't that old. Then another memory crossed his mind.
"I asked who trained you."
"Ah... You could say an old man who refers to himself as a legend."
Madara put the cup down and let out a long breath. Gramps. Old man. The way she fought, those movements were just like his. It was like...
"Why are you suddenly smiling? You've been trying to summon a falcon for over an hour without any progress." Madara sighed loudly. His long hair covered his face as he leaned forward, tired.
"I'm sorry." Hanako bowed her head slightly, still bearing a big smile on her face. "I'm just happy I get to train with you again."
Again, she had said. Again, but it was the first time he had agreed to train someone who wasn't his brother.
The door opened to reveal the same girl who had stolen his peace of mind. She walked in, silent, until she stood in the middle of the room, waiting for his acknowledgment. Amane sighed beside her, giving him a courteous bow.
"Then," he began. "What will happen now?"
"I'm afraid they can't live until they finish some pending accounts with a certain woman," Amane said, still eyeing the girl beside her.
"I'm sorry. I really tried to avoid causing too many struggles here, but my friends paid too high a price to come here, and I want to fix that."
Eyes narrowed, Madara leaned back. "Too high a price?"
"In Hanako's family, there is another Uchiha who mastered Space-Time Ninjutsu. Her friends asked for her assistance to come look for her, but it backfired on them." Amane explained the whole situation to Madara. As she listened, Hanako clenched her hands into fists.
Madara raised an eyebrow. "Hikari cannot leave because her lifespan was reduced to one month, and you need to defeat Kira to save her." Interest had sparked in his eyes, he had never imagined that the Uchiha had a branch who specialized solely on the space-time. His eyes moved from the girl to the woman. There was a link between them, a bond that surpassed that of blood. Amane could be the origin of Hanako's branch family, and that would explain why they are so alike. "That technique Kira uses, sounds a lot like those you could use, Amane."
Hanako raised her head. The way he looked at the woman beside her was like she had been the one who caused all of this. Amane didn't even flinch. "So what, if I can use the same jutsu?" she asked. "It's not me who can return the girl what was stolen from her."
"To me, it looks like Kira learned that from you, though."
A glare was directed his way. "What are you implying?"
Madara decided to look at the girl and with a smirk ask: "Hanako, how did you two meet?" Hanako remembered Amane had saved her from two Senju men in the middle of nowhere. "Do you think," he continued, "that it was a coincidence?"
"Are you saying I brought her here?" Amane barked a laugh.
"I was brought to you," Hanako said. "How could you have known where I was if you had never met me before?" Amane closed her eyes. "You even knew I was from another timeline."
"I studied that technique of yours, Amane, for the last three months." Madara stood. With slow and calculated steps he circled around the two girls. "Opening such a portal by accident is not that plausible."
Hanako noticed that Amane was biting the inside of her cheek. All colors faded from her face. "Don't tell me..."
"They could have tried... They could have grazed the dimensional barrier just enough for someone actually experienced in the field to notice the intention." His eyes pierced the back of Amane's head. "But they couldn't have managed to open that door. Why? Because they lack the knowledge of space-time, so they don't have the key." He took a step closer to her and leaned in to mutter right into her ear. "Why did you open that door for them, Amane? Why did you bring her here?"
Hanako's blood froze in her veins as she stared at the pair beside her. "What did you just say?"
The man continued his pacing as he narrated the current facts he had. "Three months ago, we found out the heir of the Hagoromo Clan had been murdered, along all of his soldiers, in an isolated bar right in the middle of the Fire Country. There were rumors spreading about an exiled Uchiha wreaking havoc everywhere she stayed. I knew it had to be you when Riza mentioned that one time how popular you were becoming."
The girl turned to her. "You said you didn't kill him."
"She lied." Madara crossed his arms over his chest. "When Hanako and her sister were tampering with your stuff in their own timeline, you saw the opportunity to open a portal and bring a salvation card to yourself." He sighed. "You knew you would be hunted down after they realized you did it, and Hanako would be the perfect excuse to ask for our protection. After all, why would we refuse a woman when she had a kid to protect?"
Hanako's knees trembled. Every word was fitting into a puzzle she had been building inside her head. "You wanted revenge after your mother's death. Since Tajima-sama had exiled your father, so you weren't sure if you would be welcomed." Hanako covered her face. "So, you brought me here and told me a story to make me pity you. You manipulated me into bringing you here." It wasn't the only thought crossing her mind. "You could have sent me back right away after you got here. Why did you keep me here?! Why did you have to bring me here in the first place?! Come on! With your skills you wouldn't have had a problem!" The betrayal in her eyes hurt Amane's heart.
"Because... I liked you. For once, I didn't feel alone in this world." Amane shook her head. "I'm helping you because it's my fault that being here made things worse for you. I was selfish. And Madara is right, even if you tried, you couldn't have opened the portal yourself because you don't have permission."
Hanako narrowed her eyes. "Permission?"
"There's a deity that regulates time travel, and travel among two completely different dimensions. Normally, users of space-time ninjutsu can only move into self-built pocket dimensions, and unless they signed a contract they couldn't travel beyond that." Amane paused to breathe. "'Each travel costs to your lifespan 1% of the years traveled for time, and the distance between dimensions is proportional to the amount of chakra required'."
"You gave up a year of your life to bring me here?"
"I have too many to spare." Amane's voice had gotten soft. "I could give your sister some, but there's a leash around her neck. Kira will just take them again."
"We could have avoided this, I wouldn't have this problem if you had never brought me here." Hanako's voice was hiding anger. A menacing threat lingered. "You followed me around as I thought of ways of going back. You played dumb right in front of me, knowing that you were the only one who could send me back."
"It's not like I can open a portal anywhere, anytime!" Amane raised her voice. "I still needed something to connect both timelines. There wasn't such thing, until your friends came. If they were so confident in coming, it's because they have the anchor we needed." She looked at the ground. "I know you're angry, but please listen to me. I'm sorry—"
"Yes. You should be." Hanako's eyes had turned a bright red, and heat was spreading inside her body. "Because of you, I was trapped here for three months. Because of you, my sister has only a month left to live unless we defeat my freaking aunt I didn't know existed until roughly three days ago." The more she spoke, the higher her voice was becoming. "How do you suppose you can make up for that, huh?!" Breathing deeply, she continued in a lower voice. "You know, the Uchiha Clan had always been secretive about your existence. At first, I thought it was because you were a really powerful kunoichi, and I wanted to know more about you." She scoffed. "Now, I think they were rather hiding how much a failure you actually are."
Hanako stomped away from the two Uchiha and slammed the door closed behind her. Outside, Hikari was leaning against the wall. Her eyes were full of tears, but when she looked at her younger sister, she couldn't form any words. Without anything to say, Hanako continued her path, away from the room, and away from the people inside it.
Amane gave Madara an inquiring look. "How did you know?"
The man shrugged. "Just a guess."
"Don't lie to my face," Amane grit her teeth and walked to stand in front of him. The small walls felt like closing upon them as she glared right into his black eyes. "No matter how smart you are, you couldn't have possibly known about my research unless you talked to me."
With a condescending smile, he pulled out a scroll from inside his yukata. It was worn, old, and hard to read, but Amane recognized it. It was her journal, the one from the future. The anchor that had been used to connect her timeline to Hanako's. "Shisui had this among his stuff. He must have stolen it from this Kira right before they got separated."
Amane was pale. They weren't supposed to know anything about the future, but Madara knew everything. "Tell me you didn't..."
"I read it."