Mixed Feelings

Chapter 9: Kanamoto Mizuki

Kagura looked around, still stunned by the things happening around her. A strong hand grabbed her arm, and she turns around to see Hayabusa. 

He points at Hanzo who had barged in, and secretly Kagura was glad that he did, for it interrupted the wedding. 

"We cannot allow him to harm anyone!" Hayabusa's voice rang out over the commotion. Villagers were scrambling to get to somewhere safe, away from Hanzo. 

Kagura simply nods and Hayabusa runs towards Hanzo, about to attack. Yet Hanzo looked visibly relaxed, watching everything like it was a movie. 

Kagura was evacuating the villagers, and the Chiefs were next to Hayabusa, ready to attack. 

Hanzo simply smirked and tossed the Ame No Habakiri up, and left through the gap in the roof. 

Kagura watched him leave and wondered, "What is he doing? He came and left without doing anything?" 

"Hanabi is gone!" Haruto said, looking around. 

Kagura had a thought and she said, "Is it possible that Hanzo and Hanabi planned this together? Or if Hanzo captured her?"

Haruto's face was pale as he thought of the possibilities and Hayabusa tensed too. 

"Come to my room later," Shichiro said. Hayabusa and Kagura nodded.

After checking that there were no casualties, the two of them headed to the Chief's room. A ninja came in a few seconds later with an urgent look and whispered something into the Chief's ear. 

Shichiro's face turned grim. He nodded and the ninja left. "The Scarlet Sect was massacred last night," he said. "There were no survivors. I don't think Hanabi would work with Hanzo. She's probably captured by Hanzo."

Kagura noticed that Haruto looked pale and wondered why, then she remembered Aiko. His wife was dead and his daughter was probably held captive by a murderer. 

Shichiro said, "Hayabusa, find Hanabi and bring her back. Kagura will accompany you. If you meet Hanzo, do not engage. With Hanekage, he could destroy the entire village and not to mention kill you too. We cannot lose our best ninja now or we will have no chance of winning the final battle." 

He dismissed all of them and they left the room, planning how to get Hanabi back. 

Kagura released a few of the demons in the Seimei Umbrella to search for Hanabi, but the demons were still under her control, so she could still call them back and prevent them from hurting others if she needed to. 

Meanwhile, Hanabi woke up and found herself on a bed in a room. Her body ached and she stretched, looking around. 

The room was empty. Hanabi summoned her Higanabana and tried the door. 

It was locked from outside, and Hanabi cursed. 

Hanabi looked at the window, which was also locked. She looked outside and realised that she was on the highest level of the building. 

Hanabi broke the glass in the window, and she knew that whoever had captured her would have heard the glass break. She didn't have much time. 

She quickly climbed up onto the roof. It was around evening, and when she saw the familiar buildings, Hanabi realised she was back at Kyoto. 

Hanabi jumped from roof to roof and reached the end of the stretch of buildings. She landed on the ground. The streets were busy, and she kept her head down while looking for a restaurant to eat something. Her stomach was growling like she hadn't eaten for days, although she had only missed lunch.