"Tell me, Hanabi, what are you really scared of?", Madara asks as my soaked hair sticks to my shoulders and back. In response to his question, I simply keep my lips sealed.
I desperately tried to hide my trembling body. I was shivering cold even though we were inside the tower by now. I calmed down my racing heart and began to brood again.
Did the Leaf take any precautions regarding my message?
The Akatsuki will start to move soon in order to capture the Jinchuriki...
Frantic about the topic of catching Jinchuriki, I ask Madara, "When are we going to capture the Jinchurikis?", I bit on my lip nervously as the question left my lips.
I was breathing a little heavy.
"Well, since questions cancel out questions, I'll answer yours only if you answer mine", he says, making my breath race a bit.
This is not the time to be prideful Hanabi...I need to know when they plan to capture the Jinchuriki...but I'll also not tell him the truth...
"What I'm scared of?", I begin, then tip my head low, "I fear many things and nothing at the same time. But what my mind is occupied with now is to give the rest of the Hidden Leaf's higher-ups a taste of their own medicine. I fear that I'll not be able to do so".
Well, there's a slight hint of truth in that statement.
What I'm really scared of is that all this stigma will someday make me transcend insensibility and oblivion.
And I don't want to descend into madness, but what's the solution?
What fills the void left by others in ones heart?
"I see", he sighs, "so that's it then? You just want to inflict your pain on others?".
"Exactly", I state, but I'm unsure whether it's the truth or not.
Madara gives off a long sigh before answering my question, which makes me go stiff.
"Three years from now".
Internally, I was shaking and trembling at his words, externally, however, I'd maintained a decent character in front of him.
"Why?", I solidly ask, as I squirm at the feeling of my two eyeballs.
"No specific reason, Pain just wants to wait", Madara shrugged off.
He's lying.
My gut advised. Of course he is. He's a great deceiver and manipulator. He almost manipulated Itachi into commencing the Uchiha Massacre. I'll never forget that. With him, I should always pull up a strict guard.
Without even a second thought, I blurted, "you're lying, Madara".
"Of course I am", he scoffed humorlessly, "but the truth is, Hanabi, you are way too smart for your own good", he remarked.
Every thing he says gives me the creeps, time and again...
"Tell me Madara", I say, and try calming down my pacing heart, "what made you like this?".
Madara scoffs humorlessly and replied back, "shattered faith..."
I tip my head low for a moment and sigh, "Whatever happened...don't you think there's a better way of doing things other than ending this suffering by ending the world?".
"No", he replied monotonously, making me flinch.
My hand had then involuntarily reached to my soaked hair, then it slowly trailed higher and higher until I found my fingertips slipping under the tight bandage.
In a single swift move, I unfolded the bandage. Then, ever so slowly I unwillingly began unwrapping it from my face.
The cloth snaked on my lap as it gradually grew the more I unfolded. I twirled the bandage over and over again on my face until I felt the cold air brush over my eyelids.
The tips of my uneven bangs brushed over my lids, tickling them into opening. I breathed a little heavily and got up from my place.
A single tear trickled down as I took unsteady steps while trailing my hands over the objects I got my hands on so I don't trip over my feet.
I can't do it...
My feet were taking me to the veranda, where a cold breeze brushed over my face, taking away my bangs with it.
The bandage was still in my clutch as I balled my fists while holding it against my chest dearly. I felt my face flush with heat as I finally let all the tears trickle down freely. I choke out one of my very suppressed cries as I stepped more onto the veranda.
The night was long and breezy, not to mention the clouds that still mourn how this village was the moth caught in the flames of two great nations.
The amount of blood that rained will never equal the tears that were shed.
The tears I was shedding right now, had every ounce of pain and sorrow I'd suppressed all these long years. They're burning hot as they stroll on my cheeks, making my shoulders tremble.
The thunder roared and rumbled and all I could do in response was hold back my unsteadiness. Madara was currently on the veranda as well, but there was a decent distance between us.
I recoiled at the idea of finally opening my eyes to see the place I've resided in for the past four years for the first time. I was panicking and my pacing heart grew restless.
Do I even have a reason to open my eyes?
Did I get my eyes back only to witness all the misery that is yet to come?
With a painfully scrunched face, I sniveled, "...I can't-"
Simultaneously, my body flinched with terror momentarily when I sensed the presence of an object being pelted my way.
I was too out of it to do anything. It rained upon me mercilessly as I felt my body freeze. The only thing I did was involuntarily separating my lids from one another and taking in the sight.
My breath had hitched in my throat then, my body felt stoned as I stared down at the orange mask, which had been pelted beyond the veranda and down it fell along the mourning of the heavens above.
My jaw was left hanging as I stared down at what was beyond this veranda.
The Hidden Rain Village...
Buildings upon buildings covered the landscape. It's hard to believe how such a place was a battleground during the great wars.
My emotions in this very moment transcended words. I cackled out a laugh as stinky hot tears spilled out involuntarily. I let the bandage go along the flow of the wind as I caught sight of my hand for the first time.
I caught one of my lengthy strands and scrutinized it with glossy eyes.
I can finally see again...
My hair had gone a bit pale from its original color. The strands were thick and strong.
Then I went stiff again and muscles tensed. Madara is standing right behind me...with his mask off...
"Are you liking what you see?", he suddenly asks, as the weather grew bolder by the second. I pursed my lips shut and swallowed the lump in my throat.
"Yeah", I replied, my stomach twisting into knots as I contemplate whether I should turn around.
"Hanabi", he says, making my breath heave, "look at your eyes", he informs.
In that same moment, a sharp shard of a mirror was pelted my way again, but this time, my arm had moved by itself.
I clenched the my hand around the sharp edges, letting it graze my skin so I can finally feel something.
With a skeptical heart I raised the glossy mirror shard, scrutinizing every detail as I finally stared back into my own eyes. Which didn't have my father's crescent compliment or my mother's three tomoe Sharingan.
What I stared back at were my token of pain, sorrow, and endurance. My flaming red eyes, with its sophisticated pattern, which included the design of a yin-yang. Blades flared in one direction, which were cut in half by a circle.
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My eyes were wide as they could get as the memory of what Danzo showed me at the Final Valley executed again in my head.
The sky began to rain even harder and droplets of rain trickled against the mirror shard, distorting the image of the man I was looking at.
"Who are you?", I choked out once my tears have gone dry.
I didn't dare turn around, I only observed the distorted features of the faces through the mirror. The pouring rain made it almost impossible to see the face clearly and I was too in shock to turn around and see for myself.
"You were right Hanabi".
The sky rumbled a blinding strike of lightning, making my body tremble. As a result, I dropped the shard of mirror, making myself flinch when it shattered near my feet.
"It doesn't matter who I was, because who I am is the imposter who unleashed the Nine-Tailed Fox".
He cackled out a laugh, which circulated over and over again in my ears. I was simply paralyzed, staring right ahead of the veranda.
My eyes were wide and unblinking. I was still trying to comprehend the fact that I got my vision back. And right now...I was scared...
Scared of what I'll see will make me worse.
Who could it be?
Involuntarily, my shoulders began shaking and I started shedding hot tears again. This will send me over the edge.
I can't take the truth of who this might be...
The man behind the mask...I don't have what it takes to face him.
"Y-you killed Minato and Kushina...", I shrieked, scrunching up my face in pain, "you left Naruto to be an orphan...with a void in his heart..."
I begin sobbing all the suppressed emotions I've hid for so long. They were so great that it echoed right round. This void that occupies my heart...this emptiness...
The void...
My face then unfolds from the pained expression as I blankly stare ahead when...
And this is right where it hit me. The realization.
The realization that was there all along...the realization that I managed to overlook as I sulked in my sorrows.
The realization that-
"The void", I choke out as another strike of lightning roared, "the void in your heart is filled by the people around you..."
Upon these word leaving my lips, my mind trailed off to the one person that came to mind in this very moment.
And so with a shaky breath, trembling shoulders, and a flash of painful memories, I involuntarily whimpered in desperation, "Itachi..."
"You've spun in this void for the past four years and this is your final answer?".
"Yes", I reply with a tearful smile when I recall all the limited memories I have with Itachi, "yes, that's my answer", I repeat to myself. And suddenly, through the endless mourning of the heavens, I feel like the sun might shine through for once.
Yes, it took me endless loops as I kept spinning in the void all this time, but I found it...I finally found my resolve...
I breathed out a suppressed breath as my eyes trailed down to the pieces of the broken mirror.
Via the largest piece out of all the shattered ones, I saw my crimson eyes revert back along the sophisticated pattern. It reverted back to the color of my father's blue eyes and I saw all this despite the rain that disfigured the image.
After all, my father's blue eyes are strikingly taunting just like how my mother's crimson ones bring people to their knees.
Yin-Yang...
"The people you're talking about are in danger, Hanabi"
"What?", I gasped, my blood running cold. My muscles altered rigid as I contemplated whether I should look around, "what are you talking about!?", I demand, feeling my heart go heavy.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha have been abducted".
And just like that, my heart sank in my stomach and my faith shook right where I stood. My heart skipped several beats, hell it even stopped beating as I concentrated on what he'd just said.
"Your faith will shake, Hanabi", Madara assured in a menacing tone, "just like mind did".
Does Itachi even know?
How on earth did he let this happen? I made sure to send him the message...how did the village let that happen?!
Oh Naruto...Sasuke...
"Madara...", I said in a pleading tone, my chest clenching, "...don't hurt them-"
"Hanabi", he cut me off, "it's your fault that you failed to realize how accursed this world is. And those who can't bear the truth, deceive themselves with lies".
"Even after all these long, lonely years, you still deceive yourself with this happy notion. That everything will go right for once".
It's supposed to...
"Don't hurt them", I sternly warned, clenching my fists, but his sole response to my threat was the following...
"You'll see", he menaces, "you'll crawl back once your faith shakes, just like the ones before you".
"No!", I yelled, then twirled on my heel in a flash, but I was too late, because right when my eyes caught sight of him, he was using his time-space Jutsu.
The face...I missed the goddamned face!
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A/N:- So hopefully this chapter was worth your while✨✨You'll see what'll happen next✨✨Also, I kinda went a bit crazy with Hanabi's Mangekyō design, so with crossed fingers I'm hoping y'all like it✨✨
~A