Hanako was literally thrown out of the portal, and she hit the ground. When they opened the portal using Hikari's ability and set the location with her own, she had been mercilessly sucked and delivered into the present-time of the scroll. Hanako carefully poised herself back into her feet. Shisui and Hikari were nowhere to be seen, and Hanako couldn't sense them anywhere near.
"Hikari?" she called out loud. There was no answer. "Shisui?"
Hanako could feel the anxiety rising. "Guys?" There was no one around her. "Hey it's not fun to hide like that," she chuckled nervously, walking around the place, looking for the other two Uchiha. Her efforts were futile. There was literally no one close to her.
"Hey kid? You lost?" A sudden voice called to her.
There was a man, heavily armored, standing in the stone road before her. Hanako recognized the Senju Clan symbol on his collar. His chakra was similar to Hyori's, but for some reason it gave her a dangerous vibe. Why is there a Senju in the middle of nowhere? Where exactly am I?
"Hey, Itsu, this kid has the Uchiha crest on her back."
The man in front of Hanako narrowed his eyes. "An Uchiha? But those are not the clothes the Uchiha wear..." He took a step closer. "In fact, I've never seen those clothes before."
"Perhaps they've changed their style." The man behind Hanako laughed. "I haven't seen an Uchiha in ages. It will be satisfying to rip her eyes out."
Hanako clenched her fists. Who were these guys?
"Um, excuse me?" A girl interrupted them. She was wearing a brown cloak that hid her identity, so Hanako wasn't able to recognize her, but her voice was definitely familiar.
"Miss, I'm sorry, but we're kind of in an important business right now. Unless you want to get killed, I suggest you move on."
There was a smirk on her face, and she moved her hood just enough for her eyes to become visible. They were blood red, a black irregular pattern surrounded her pupil. "Let my sister go, would you?"
Both men fell, unmoving. Hanako looked at the woman. She took off her cloak and placed it around her shoulders. "If you show your crest like that, people will try to kill you at every step you take. We're in enemy territory."
Hanako was stunned. The woman in front of her, it was definitely her. "Amane..."
Amane widened her eyes. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"
Hanako clenched her hands around the cloak.
"You're the one who opened the portal? Are you from another dimension?" Amane suddenly smiled, as if she didn't believe what was happening. "This is crazy. I thought I was the only one capable of it, but look at you. How did you get here? Where are you from?" Her eyes skimmed her clothes. "Not from this timeline apparently. Are you like my granddaughter or something? Did I get married to a handsome man?"
Hanako closed her eyes. "I'm not related to you. I'm sorry, I'm just lost."
Amane crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I understand. You have to protect the timeline you're from, make sure you don't speak too much. The butterfly effect and all that, right?" She smiled. "You and I look a lot alike, there has to be a certain relation between us, but I'll give you the benefit of doubt. Your existence gives me hope at least. I really wanted a daughter, you know?" Amane looked at the road they were in.
Hanako inspected the woman in front of her. They were alike, but their personalities were totally different. Reincarnation? No, she wasn't. They were too different.
Amane suddenly snapped her fingers in her face. "I'm talking to you!" She grinned. "How about you come with me for a while? We'll find a way to get you back to your timeline, but first you have to tell me how you got here. Deal?"
Deal? She didn't really have a choice.
* * *
"Oh my god! Shisui! Where's Hanako?!"
The two Uchiha had been waiting for the jutsu to activate when Hikari's portal opened, but it closed almost immediately. Hikari had only realized that as soon as the portal closed, Hanako was missing.
"You don't think she was sucked in there?" Shisui was alarmed. "Where is she?"
Hikari looked at the scroll and opened it. Some passages had changed slightly. Amane mentioned she met a girl, and was travelling with her, looking for a way to send her to her own timeline. Her face paled. "She is in the past."
"WHAT?!"
Someone knocked furiously on the door. Shisui and Hikari looked at each other, before the latter went to open the door.
Kakashi was there with Itachi. They were both dressed in Anbu uniform. When the older Anbu recognized her, he bowed in respect. "You must be Hanako's sister?"
Hikari laughed nervously. "Captain Kakashi, what brings you here?"
"Hanako didn't show up today at Ibiki's office, and he's gotten kind of impatient with her assignment. He sent me here to escort her."
Hikari looked at him and then at the boy beside him. "Oh, you see there's a problem... It's kind of my fault actually..." she laughed nervously again.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "What is the problem? I'm sure she's here. We literally saw each other hours ago."
Hikari scratched the back of her neck. "Well..."
"Hikari sent Hanako about a hundred years into the past. It was an experiment, but now we don't know how to bring her back." Shisui appeared next to Hikari, holding the scroll in his hands. Hikari snatched the parchment from him with a glare.
"Sure put the blame on me! Like it wasn't your idea!"
"It wasn't my portal, I don't have that ability."
Kakashi extended his palms. "Hold on, you're saying Hanako is in the past? Is this a joke?"
"Anything's possible when you have a specialist in space-time ninjutsu." Shisui smiled, looking at Hikari.
Hikari gulped, looking at the scroll again. A new message had appeared.
She recognized Hanako's sloppy handwriting. My favorite sister, I'm going to kill you when I get back. Love, Hanako.
Shisui looked over Hikari's shoulder and laughed once he read the message. "I totally understand why she would be mad," he commented.
Hikari pursed her lips. "She won't kill me, will she? I mean... History class was her favorite in the Academy..."
Shisui looked at her with a serious face. "We are talking about a time in which the Uchiha and the Senju were in constant war and hidden villages didn't exist. She must be thrilled."
"Damn it, Shisui! I'm trying to think positive here!"
Kakashi looked at Itachi, who only looked back at him. He could tell he was worried, but there was nothing they could do at the moment. "Hikari, was it?"
The girl looked at the Anbu captain.
"Is there a way you can open another portal?"
* * *
Hanako grinned evilly at the scroll in her hands after putting down the brush. "I'm really not used to writing with these materials but I think the message will definitely get through."
Amane looked at the message and scoffed. "Well, I can see you and your sister really love each other." Sarcasm burned in her words.
"She brought me here, she knows she owes me big time." Hanako looked at Amane. "Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same if you were me?"
Amane sat down at her own bed, which consisted pretty much of a worn futon and several old bed covers. "I've been alone for a while now, I'd probably forgive her anything. In fact, I'm kind of thankful, right now."
"Huh? Why?" Hanako raised an eyebrow.
There was a smile on the girls face. "Because if your sister hadn't opened the portal, then I wouldn't have met you, and I would have probably made the worst mistake of my life."
Hanako leaned against the back of the chair. "Mistake? What were you up to before I got here?"
Amane looked away from her. "You read the diary, right? I bet you know about my mother." Hanako just nodded. "Well, I was about to kill the son of the leader of the Hagoromo Clan when you appeared. I stopped and went to look for you, but I didn't realize the Hagoromo Clan had taken in a team of Senju shinobi. They are well-trained sensors, and one of them recognized my chakra and knew I was an Uchiha almost instantly. If I had killed that man, the Hagoromo Clan would have probably attacked the Uchiha because of me."
"That's heavy..." Hanako sighed. "Well, I did destroy an entire town by myself after my father was killed, so I get what you're saying."
Amane looked at her. "You did what?"
"Yeah, it's a long story." Hanako chuckled nervously. "My point is... it's okay to feel angry for what happened, but it's good you could stop yourself before sacrificing someone else to satisfy your need for revenge. The feeling of losing someone will remain there, no matter how many people you kill."
Hanako could tell Amane was sad. She had probably already killed a fair amount of people before she got here. "Well, a deal is a deal. I told you my story, now tell me how to get back to my time before I make a mess here."
Amane looked at the girl and nodded. "You want to leave so soon? You just got here..."
Hanako recognized the loneliness in her eyes. The same eyes that Naruto kid had before she escorted him in the Academy entrance ceremony. Damn it, I'm not used to being this kind to people. This is definitely not good for my health.
"Well, I might have to stay for a bit while we really figure out how to take me back. Right now, we only have ideas."
The look in Amane's face morphed into a big grin. "Yeah, I mean, I have some theories, but we can't be certain. Maybe I can give you a tour around. You must be curious about this timeline."
"Sure..." Hanako looked at the stuff Amane had. She could count the objects with her fingers. She was definitely poor, barely managing to survive by doing some miserable jobs to get some coins and buy food. "Isn't the leader of the clan supposed to make sure you have a good living? I mean, we were taught that each clan bought enough crops from small agricultural families to feed their people. Pretty similar to the system villages have."
"Sure, they do. But I don't belong to any clan."
"But you're an Uchiha, why wouldn't they take you back?"
"Because I left? I'm basically a traitor to their eyes." Amane turned her back to Hanako and laid down on her futon.
"You didn't leave, your parents did. Take advantage of that to convince them to take you in. It's better than wandering around enemy territory alone." Hanako looked at the ground. "You can get yourself killed if you happen to wander into a battlefield."
Amane smiled. "I can sense chakra too, I won't make such a mistake."
"Still, are you happy like this? I won't stay here to keep you company forever, and you look very lonely to me. Going back to the Uchiha is probably the best option you have. Your mother would want that."
Amane closed her eyes. "Maybe... We'll figure something out tomorrow. Don't miss your family too much, you'll see them again soon."
Hanako could feel the hurt in her words. Amane wished she had her own family to return to. In her eyes, she was selfishly thinking about herself without realizing Amane had nothing compared to her.
Maybe we shouldn't have met. I'm going to abandon you too, anyway.