The Last Namikaze | Uchiha Itachi x OC

Chapter 3: The Copy Ninja

Hanako couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her old anbu teammate was standing across from her after so many years. 

"Hana" he said.

"W-what are you doing here?" she asked. 

"I was supposed to survey Orochimaru's hideouts. The leaf is looking to retrieve Sasuke" he explained. "I can't believe you're here. Lord third told me you were on a mission all this time."

"I was trying to confront Itachi the night of the massacre" Hanako explained. "But, I was kidnapped and brought here to be Orochimaru's new vessel." 

"That explains it. Your emotions must have been heightened. That would have been the perfect chance to catch you off guard." 

"Unfortunately, it was" Hanako sighed. "I missed you, Kakashi-senpai."

"And, I you. Hana-chan" Kakashi said, his eyes softening. "When I arrived, I never expected you to be here, but my sharingan picked up some chakra reserves that were off the charts and I had a feeling it was you. I am so glad, it was you."

Kakashi opened the cell using a key that was hanging from a wall nearby and used chidori to blast away the snakes holding her still. Hanako felt her legs collapse from under her. The snake was the only thing keeping her upright all these years. Kakashi caught her before she could hit the ground. 

"Let's go home, Hana-chan."

...

"Do you have any food pills?" Hanako asked, as the masked ninja carried her on his back. 

"Yes, here" he said, handing her a few. 

She bit down on the small ball and chewed. The taste was bitter and familiar, but it was the first solid food she'd had in years. 

"Pass me my kunai" she said, once she finished eating. She was glad Kakashi noticed her flying raijin kunai on one of the desks in Orochimaru's laboratory and grabbed it before they left. 

Kakashi handed her the kunai and she took a deep breath. "Ready?" she asked.

And, with no time to spare, she flashed them back to the leaf. After performing this jutsu, due to the years of neglect, she was completely drained. Kakashi rushed her to the leaf hospital and got her admitted. 

After a few months of healing, Hanako was finally getting her strength back and she was able to begin training again. Kakashi would sleep in her hospital room every night, not letting the younger ninja out of his sight. He was 29 now and she was 22. 

He would sit and read his book during the day and complete his duties as sensei only to always return to her at night. He missed his old teammate dearly. 

Kakashi couldn't help but admire her beauty. He never thought of her in any romantic type of way in the past, but now that they were both adults he couldn't ignore what was right in front of him. Her red hair was unique. She was the only one in the village with this color. Her green eyes complimented her well. She had a small button nose, heart shaped lips and a beautiful figure. 

Kakashi just enjoyed spending time with Hanako. He savoured every minute with her. She was one of the only bits of his past that didn't end up dead. He needed to protect her. 

"Thank you for staying with me all this time Kakashi-senpai. You've been too generous" Hanako said, signing her discharge papers. 

"Of course, Hana-chan. It's no trouble at all. I want to be here for you as long as you'll let me" he returned with a bright smile. Although the man wore a mask that covered the lower portion of his face, his smile reached his eyes.

They spent many days training together as Hanako got her strength up. She didn't need help with jutsu's as much as regaining her physical strength. Years of muscular atrophy did her dirty, but her body was impressively quick to recover. In no time, she was back to her usual exemplary performance. 

She was shocked to learn of everything that happened during her absence. Hiruzen was dead. Orochimaru killed him. The akatsuki were trying to kidnap her brother to obtain the nine-tailed fox inside him. Itachi put Kakashi in a long coma when he returned to the village. So much had happened and there she was locked up, unable to do a thing about it. 

After a vigorous training session, Kakashi and Hanako were sat against a tree enjoying some dango.

"I've been meaning to ask you this...but did you want to meet Naruto?" Kakashi asked. 

"Of course" Hanako replied. 

"Okay, I will bring him to you now" Kakashi said and left quickly. 

Hanako could hear the sound of a loud voice in the distance. She saw two figures ascend the hillside towards her; one being the silver haired jonin, and another, a blonde haired blue eyed boy sporting a leaf headband. 

"Hanako, this is Naruto" Kakashi said. "Naruto, this is Hana. Your sister."

"Hello Hana onee-chan, so nice to meet you" Naruto beamed. 

Hana wanted to cry at the sight of him. The young boy was the spitting image of her father. 

"Naruto..I'm so glad I'm finally meeting you" she said, and reached out to hug the boy in her arms. 

"Can I see your jutsu?" Naruto asked, enthusiastically. 

"Of course, Naruto."

First, Hanako threw her kunai and flashed across the open field. She threw it once more and returned to Kakashi and Naruto. 

"Woah! You can do dad's jutsu that's so cool!" Naruto shouted.

"Just wait" she said.

"Firestyle: fireball jutsu" she said as she let out a blast of flames. 

Shortly after, she yelled "Waterstyle: a thousand feeding sharks."

With that, a tidal wave filled with sharks filled the land where she cast the fire style until the flames dissipated. 

"Rasengan" she yelled, letting a ball of chakra form on her hand before shoving it into a nearby tree. Her jutsu left a gaping hole and the tree collapsed at the damage. 

"Kakashi has been telling me about your abilities as a jinchuriki. Can you go into four tails mode for me with the nine-tails cloak?" Hanako asked.

Naruto looked towards Kakashi in disbelief. 

"Go ahead" Kakashi said.

Naruto quickly let an orange cloak envelope him and one tail emerged. Soon two, then three and finally four. Naruto began running around out of control, overtaken by the overwhelming power of the nine-tails. 

"Adamantine Sealing Chains" Hana shouted, as two gold chains surrounded Naruto effectively restraining the beast within. 

Hanako performed a quick sealing jutsu and Naruto was shortly back to his normal state. 

"Wow, onee-chan. The only person that's been able to restrain me in the past was Yamato. You're so strong!" Naruto exclaimed.

"She is, isn't she. So don't you go upsetting her" Kakashi laughed. 

Hanako smiled, for the first time she felt a bit of normalcy in her life. She missed Sasuke, but she was happy to be home. They were going to let her use her real name now that Lord third passed. Lady Fifth, Tsunade, believed she was strong enough to manage herself and thought it was about time they stopped keeping Hanako in the shadows. She decided Hanako would assist Team 7 in Sasuke's absence and gave her the long deserved rank of jonin. Hana still was determined to help Sasuke find Itachi. She would get the answers she craved no matter what it took. A crow stared at her from a neighbouring tree. Little did she know, he was closer than she thought.