Hanako felt a wave of heat crash against her face when she entered Tazuna's home. It was cold outside, but it immediately wore off when she felt the high temperature inside the house. The first thing she received was Naruto running up to her and wrapping his arms around her. Hanako's eyes widened and she let out a small chuckle. Sakura walked inside after Tazuna and sat at the table, right next to Sasuke. The Uchiha boy looked up at the newcomer and smirked.
Hanako's eyes then moved towards the Jonin leader of the team. Kakashi was looking at her with his eye wide in surprise. Although, she could tell he was also glad to see her. He was using crutches, meaning he couldn't even walk on his own. Hanako let go of Naruto and laughed softly upon seeing the silver haired man.
"How many times do I have to tell you Kakashi," she started saying, "that no matter how much you try, you will never be as cool as I am when it comes to the Sharingan?" she finished with an innocent smile.
Kakashi scoffed, although there was a trace of a smile under his mask. Hanako shook her head and looked at Tsunami who had been staring at her in awe.
"So, you are?" Tsunami asked.
"Uchiha Hanako," Tazuna replied before the brunette could even open her mouth. "She's here to help Kakashi and his team with their mission."
"Oh, really?" Tsunami asked as she looked at the female Uchiha. Hanako nodded with a smile. "Come on in, then! We're about to have dinner."
* * *
Their meal consisted of curry and rice. After they had all eaten, Tsunami invited the Shinobi to rest in the leaving room while she finished doing the dishes.
"So, Hanako" Kakashi started to say. "What are you doing here, exactly?"
Hanako looked at him and shrugged. "I had a mission."
"About?"
"I don't owe you any explanations," she replied curtly.
Before Kakashi could say anything else, Sakura interrupted him. "Hanako-san, you said there was another Ninja Swordsman in the island. Who is he?"
Hanako pressed her lips and looked at Sakura with hard eyes. She wasn't very smart as she seemed to be. How could she ask that in front of Kakashi? "No one important," she replied without looking away from the girl.
"There's another swordsman?" Kakashi glared at Hanako. "How do you know that? And why didn't you tell me as soon as you got here?"
"Relax, Hatake." Hanako smirked at him. She found it funny whenever Kakashi lost it. "You couldn't have done anything anyways," she said as she looked up and down at him, carefully eyeing his crutches. "Besides, I think he had much better things to do than to come after a Genin team."
"So, he's not working for Gatou?" Sakura asked again. Hanako let out a large breath, one day she would sue her mouth shut.
"No, he was probably here for Zabuza." Hanako glared so hard at Sakura that she gulped and looked around desperately for a way to change the subject. Her eyes suddenly landed on a photograph hanging up in the wall.
"Is there a reason for this photo to be teared up?" She pointed at the picture of Tsunami, Tazuna and Inari. The right-up corner of the photo was teared apart, obviously not accidentally. The living room became tense at that instant as everyone fell silent. Hanako sighed again, leaning against the back of the couch where she was currently sitting. "Who did you tear off?" Sakura asked again.
Tsunami stopped for a moment what she was doing. "My husband," she answered without even looking at her. Hanako narrowed her eyes, that seemed to be a hard subject to bring up.
"A man in this land where everyone looked up to as a hero," Tazuna added grimly.
After the mention of the word "hero", Inari stood up and left the room without looking at anyone. When she heard the door, Tsunami looked up at his son disappearing into the hallway. "Inari, where are you going?" The boy didn't reply. Tsunami left what she was doing to go after her kid. When she reached the door she turned to look back at her father with a glare. "Father, you can't refer to that man like that in front of him, and you know it!"
Tsunami slammed the door closed. Sakura looked at Tazuna with confusion. "Did I do something wrong?"
Tazuna sighed. "Kaiza was regarded by all the people in this island as a hero," he started saying. "He came to the Land of Waves about three years ago. When he first appeared, he saved Inari from some bullies who threw him into the water. Inari didn't know how to swim, so he almost drowned. Kaiza was the one who pulled him out, and since then, they were always together.
"Kaiza was a good villager. He helped everyone in need, so he quickly won every villager's heart. Inari used to smile all the time, he even imitated him in all he did. He was, for the first time, truly happy. But, it didn't take long before Gatou came and terrorized the country." Tazuna pressed his lips as some tears fell down his cheeks. "Kaiza was the only one who never surrendered before him. They captured him, tortured him, and then they put up his almost unrecognizable body to display."
"Listen up, everyone!" Gatou announced while he stood beside Kaiza's body tied to a trunk in the shape of a "T". His small, rounded figure didn't even reach at Kaiza's middle. He smiled smugly, his small eyes hidden behind his round glasses. He lifted up his black cane and hit Kaiza in his bruised abdomen. "This man dared to defy me, and now you are all going to be witnesses of his punishment."
"TOU-CHAN!" Inari hurried through the crowd until he reached the metallic fence. His eyes were glassy with tears and accompanied by a runny nose.
"Inari, stop." Tazuna stopped his grandson and pulled him away from the fence.
"I expect you to learn the lesson. No one will get in my way or in the way of my company. If you follow this man's steps, you will also be executed," Gatou continued.
"NO! PAPA!" Tazuna grasped Inari's shoulders. Tsunami covered her mouth as tears cascaded down her cheeks.
Gatou looked at the two men beside him. "Proceed," he said. One of them nodded and unsheathed his weapon.
Inari widened his eyes, Gatou's subordinate readied his katana, and swiftly lashed it towards the man.
"That's horrible..." Sakura muttered softly.
Hanako looked at Tazuna then at the door where Inari had disappeared. "His father was killed," she thought. "This kid, he wants revenge but he considers himself too weak to do anything."
"Kaiza was our hero. Since that day, everyone lost all hope, and Inari never smiled again." More tears ran down his face. "Damn that man," the Uchiha felt a pair of eyes on her and she looked up at the bridge builder. He was looking at her with pleading eyes. "He needs to be taken down."
Hanako nodded. She knew she had to erase that man and his company from the map. Kakashi noticed the silent conversation between Tazuna and the brunette. He knew Hanako was hiding something, but to get the truth out of her was like looking for an owl in plain daylight.
Hanako noticed Kakashi was staring at her. She mouthed "Later," to him and stood up. She wanted to have a word with Inari. She already knew what was going on through the kid's mind. She exited the room and walked a few steps through the hall until she heard a faint sobbing. Hanako walked towards the sound and found Inari crying at the porch.
"Tou-san..." he sobbed.
"He hasn't moved from there..." Hanako looked beside her at Tsunami. "Father told me about your mission." The woman looked at her with fear in her eyes. "My husband died because he went against Gatou, I know you're a professional but I don't want you or anyone to go through what he went." Hanako looked back at Inari.
"It happened...when?"
"About a year ago, but he still suffers as if it had happened yesterday." Hanako was staring at the seven-year-old kid.
"I saw my father die when I was his age," the Uchiha commented. "A Shinobi from Iwagakure pierced a katana through his heart in a mission. Right in front of me..." Hanako looked at the ceiling. "This pain never goes away. You only learn to live with it."
"I'm sorry..." Tsunami muttered.
"It was a long time ago," Hanako smiled. "Would you mind if I speak to your son?"
"No, of course not." Tsunami smiled. "I'm going to prepare a futon for you. You are all sharing the same room, that's not a problem right?" I shook my head. "Okay..." After that, she disappeared up the stairs.
Hanako turned her attention back to the kid. He had stopped crying, now he only stared at the starry sky. "Hey..." Hanako sat down next to him. Inari remained silent. "Are you okay?" She looked at the kid, but he only ignored her. The Uchiha sighed, it wouldn't be easy to talk to him. "Suck it up." Inari looked at her from the tip of his eye. "These things happen, but I can promise you that this will end." He didn't reply, and instead he looked back at the horizon. Hanako rolled her eyes. This is the reason why she didn't want kids, they were so hard to deal with. "It's been a year, Inari. It's time to let go."
"You don't know what it's like..."
"I've been through a lot worse than you, Inari." Hanako looked at him seriously. "Like you, my father was killed in front of me. You probably want revenge, you want to kill Gatou for making your father go through what he went. I understand you, I've been there, done that." Hanako sighed. "But you have to move on. You have to live through what your father wanted you to. Be the same hero he was."
"My father wasn't hero," Inari replied.
"If you say so," Hanako chuckled. "Every land has its heroes. In Konoha, they're all remembered with their names engraved in the K.I.A stone. And there's this person who everyone looks up to, the Hokage." Inari seemed to think a bit. "I think that any person who dies protecting what they love most is a hero. And any person who defends what they believe until the end is truly brave. You decide what you want it to be, Inari." Hanako stood up and let the kid do the thinking by himself. She noticed that as soon as she left, Kakashi appeared.
* * *
"This is the room," Tsunami said as she showed Hanako the small room. There were five perfectly folded futons on the floor.
"Thanks." Hanako nodded at her and walked inside. She let her bag fall on the floor and let out a long breath.
"Tired?" Kakashi's voice made her jump and she looked at him from over her shoulder. He had walked in right after Tsunami left.
"Yeah, very." Hanako unbuttoned her skirt. She wore a black leggings underneath it, so she would take it off to sleep. When Kakashi noticed what she was doing he immediately looked away. Hanako turned to him and chuckled. "Sorry, should have warned."
"It's okay..." Kakashi walked in and tried to put his crutches away but he could barely move. Hanako sighed.
"You shouldn't have overused your Sharingan if you knew that it was going to leave you like this." She neared him to help him. "Careful," she said while taking the crutches from him and letting him support himself on her. "Okay, I got you."
"Why are you here?" Kakashi asked. Hanako looked at him. Now she couldn't escape from him.
"When I said 'later', I didn't mean today," she replied tiredly.
"Hanako," he said seriously.
"Do you want me to help you lay down?" Kakashi didn't answer.
"Hana-"
"Don't 'Hanako' me!" she snapped. She looked him in the eye, she already had enough of his. "Kakashi, I can't tell you. I'm just here to help, or is it that you want me to leave?" she asked with questioning eyes.
Kakashi looked deep into her eyes and sighed before looking at the ground. "I don't want you to leave," he said softly. "I want you to stay." Kakashi looked at the brunette with soft eyes.
"I'll stay," Hanako assured with a nod, trying to help him lay down but Kakashi stopped her.
"You don't understand." Kakashi took her hand and looked at her more firmly. "I want you to stay," he repeated. "I don't want you to leave ever again." Hanako opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out of it. Kakashi placed his hand on her cheek and looked at her with their noses almost touching each other. "Don't leave again, please..." he begged silently, his voice barely a whisper.
Hanako had stopped breathing, having Kakashi so close to her made it hard for her to even process basic operations. Her knees buckled for a second and Hanako widened her eyes. "I can't..." she tried to say but with the Jonin's weight supported on her, she lost her balance and fell backwards. Kakashi managed to put his arms in each side of her head so he wouldn't crush her. But from the middle of his body and down he was still numb. Hanako gasped when she felt Kakashi's weight fall over her. "Damn it, you're heavy." She bit her lip, trying not to laugh.
"Sorry," Kakashi managed to say.
"How are we going to get up now, genius?" she asked. "Because there's no way in hell I'll let those kids see us like this."
At that moment, as if on cue, Sakura opened the door of the room. Hanako looked at her and almost burst out laughing at the look on her face. She was as red as the clothes she had on, she almost looked like a tomato wearing a pink wig. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed loudly. Too loudly.
"Can you please help us?" Hanako asked with a soft smile. "Kakashi can't move, so I need you to roll him off me. Can you do that?"
"Oh," she sighed. "Sure..."
* * *
Next morning, Hanako woke up earlier than everyone. Kakashi slept in the futon next to hers. Beside him, Naruto's bed was empty and neatly folded. The girl sighed, he didn't come back last night. Sakura was still asleep and Sasuke's place was empty but unfolded. She narrowed her eyes.
Hanako decided to get up and take some fresh air. It was about four in the morning, the perfect time to meditate a bit. Everyone was asleep, there was no sound, and the air was the purest. She carefully opened the window and jumped out of it without waking anyone. Then she climbed to the roof.
Sasuke was already there, looking up at the cloudless, starry sky. "Hey," she greeted, sitting down right next to him.
"Hey," he replied back, looking at her for a moment before returning his eyes towards the sky.
Hanako bit her lip and looked at her intertwined fingers. "Sorry, I haven't got the time to talk to you...about what happened..."
"It's okay," Sasuke interrupted her before she could say anything else. "You can talk to me whenever you're ready. In the meantime, I'm happy with just having you here with me." Hanako looked at him in surprise before her lips curled up into bright smile. She let out a soft chuckle and shook her head.
"I still owe you your training, don't I?" she asked, looking up at the perfect sky. Sasuke didn't say anything. "Since I'm here, why not begin right now?" Hanako looked down at him. Sasuke was already staring at her with analytical eyes. "I know what happened in you first battle with Zabuza, I don't want you to cower again." Sasuke widened his eyes and quickly looked away with a faint blush in his face. Hanako chuckled at that. "Let's warm up before the sun comes up." She jumped down from the roof and landed swiftly on the porch, signaling Sasuke to follow her. The Uchiha boy only smirked and jumped down as well.
* * *
When Hanako and Sasuke smelled the food from the house, they decided to stop their training to eat breakfast. They worked in the boy's Taijutsu abilities for about two hours, and then continued with chakra control for another hour.
They stepped inside and Tsunami greeted them with a smile. "Hanako-san, would you do me a favor?" the woman asked, walking up to the brunette. "I ran out of eggs, do you think you can go to the market and bring me some?" Tsunami handed her a bill and Hanako nodded with a smile.
"I'll be right back."
Hanako wasn't looking up to going back to the market any time soon. The ambiance there wasn't pretty at all, everyone had grim looks in their faces. The air was heavy, filled with all the problems everyone had. She bought the eggs she needed from a small store she found, planning to return quickly before anything happened.
When she turned around to leave, she bumped into someone. The person immediately reacted into a defensive stance, which made Hanako automatically do the same. When she saw a girl with a pink kimono and a basket, she calmed down and smiled.
"I'm sorry, are you okay?" However, the girl reacted like a Shinobi would, which made Hanako suspicious. She activated her Sharingan to see that the girl had a constant flow of chakra. The three tomoes around her pupil morphed together into her Mangekyo and she placed her hand over the girl's shoulder.
It only took that touch to absorb every inch of information, the girl/boy had in his mind. He was Zabuza's acquaintance, and was here in his way to look for medicinal herbs to help the swordsman heal faster. She also figured where Gatou's hideout was located, and how many men guarded the place.
After that, she made sure to make him forget what just happened and deactivated her Sharingan. "Are you okay?" she asked again with a soft smile.
Haku only nodded and narrowed his eyes when Hanako turned away and left. His eyes then fell over the crest in her back, partially hidden by her long brown hair. His eyes widened when he identified the red and white fan. "Uchiha..."
* * *
"I'm back!" Hanako said when she entered the house with a bag full of eggs. Tsunami immediately helped her in and took the bag from her with a "thank you."
Most of them had already eaten their breakfast, Sakura was the only one who hadn't touched hers. And Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
"Naruto is...?" Hanako asked, looking around for the blond.
"That idiot continued to practice tree climbing in the dark. He didn't return last night," Sakura sighed. "He probably dropped dead out there somewhere when he ran out of chakra."
"I really hope he's okay..." Tsunami said in a worried tone. "A boy training alone in the woods and in the dark..."
"He's most probably okay, he might be sleeping in a tree or something..." Kakashi assured her but Sasuke's next comment didn't help.
"No, I think Sakura is right. That idiot must be dead," he commented before getting up.
"You're going to look for him?" Hanako asked with a raised eyebrow and a mocking smirk.
"No, I'm going to take a walk." Sasuke rolled his eyes. The Uchiha girl chuckled at his comment as she watched him leave.
"If you say so, just make sure to hit him hard when you find him!" she yelled. Sasuke waved at her before closing the door behind him.
Sasuke walked for a few minutes through the woods when suddenly a girl in a pink kimono appeared in his way. He walked just past her and felt a wave of chakra coming from her. He halted in his steps and looked at her from over his shoulder with his eyes narrowed.
"Sasuke!" His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly heard Naruto's voice. He looked at the blond and rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?!"
Sasuke stood in front of him and hit him hard on his forehead.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"You idiot, did you forget breakfast?" Sasuke asked with a frown. Naruto widened his eyes at the same time his stomach made a noise. He smiled clumsily at the raven haired boy at the same time he scratched the back of his neck.
"Sorry..."
Sasuke shook his head before turning his back to him. "Forget it, let's go." The girl's presence still bothered Sasuke a bit. That girl had a chakra source, meaning she was a Shinobi. Was she somehow related to Zabuza?
* * *
"You really look fucked up," Kisame mocked Zabuza when he entered his room through the window.
"Are you going to do this every day?" Zabuza asked tiredly, sitting up in his bed. He had finally regained some movement after Haku put him into a death state.
"Sorry, it entertains me to see you not being able to move a finger." Kisame chuckled.
"You won't say the same when I get to move again," Zabuza hissed.
"Oh?" Kisame smirked, showing his pointed teeth.
"Zabuza-san!" Haku opened the door with widened eyes. "We have a problem."
"Problem?" the swordsman asked. Haku nodded.
"Uchiha Hanako is in the island."
Kisame's smirk widened, he turned to see Zabuza's reaction but his expression remained blank.
"Not even a little excited?" Kisame asked.
"Who is she? Should I be worried?"
"Kind of, yeah..." Kisame replied, sitting in the small couch they had in their room. "She's known to be the strongest Uchiha since Madara. I'm surprised you don't know about her."
"Well, if you say it like that. It actually excites me to try her." Zabuza added. "Can't wait to test the true power of the Sharingan."
"You tried Kakashi's and look how it left you," Haku noted. "And now you want to try it from a real user?"
"You were the one who left me like this, Haku." Zabuza rolled his eyes.
"The kid has a point," Kisame said. "You haven't seen the real power of a real Sharingan from a real user: an Uchiha. Their power is truly terrifying."
"Oh right, I forget that your partner is also an Uchiha." Zabuza nodded his head in his way. "Sharingan no Itachi...right?"
Kisame chuckled. "Yeah, he's not one to mess with. I haven't seen much, but I do know that his eyes are to be feared."
"Hmph, anyway...What did you say your reason to come here was?" Zabuza asked, leaning back in his bed.
"I got some intel from the village, and I thought you might want to know."
"What is it?"
"The Fifth Mizukage is tracking down what's left of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. She wants the swords to return to the village's hands."
"All of them?"
"All of them." Kisame smirked when he saw the disgust in Zabuza's frame.
"There's no way I'm giving my Kubikiribouchou back. That generation is full of degenerates who cry for their moms when they get pushed too hard." Kisame laughed at Zabuza's remark.
"Just be careful, Zabuza. No place is safe now. Not for us."
"Heh, don't worry about me. I'll finish my mission and get out of here as soon as I can." Zabuza scoffed.
"Are you really going to fight the Uchiha?" Kisame asked with a smug smile.
"Oh..." Zabuza chuckled darkly. "I can't wait to fight her."