Caught in the Darkness

CHAPTER EIGHT: My Name Is Uchiha Hanako

"Is this the Land of Waves?" Hanako asked the falcon in her shoulder, staring up at a halfway built bridge. She was standing on the surface of the water, taking advantage of the dense layer of mist to hide herself.

"Yes." Hayabusa snuggled closer to her, careful not to fall down into the sea. "Would you mind continuing to land? The water doesn't seem nice."

Her eyes were fixed on the dark silhouette when she heard Hayabusa speak; she smiled. "Sorry, I forgot you were part cat."

The falcon pinched her with his beak on her head.

"Ow!" Hanako glared at the bird while rubbing the part of her head where he had pinched her. "What's your problem?!"

"You." Hanako rolled her eyes at his answer.

"You could perfectly fly to land, you know?"

"Who knows what you might do in my absence." She sighed.

"I don't need a babysitter, especially not a bird..." Hayabusa chuckled.

"Then what do you need? An Itachi to stop you from doing something stupid or...maybe a Kakashi to judge you for still doing it?" Hanako's vision turned red as she looked sideways at the thing on her shoulder.

"Take it back."

"No." Hanako pushed the bird off her shoulder and smirked when she heard it splash on the water. "Oi!" Hayabusa exclaimed when he pushed his head out of the surface. "Now I won't be able to fly!"

"I can always dry you up..." The brunette smirked down at him while performing the tiger seal with her hands. Hayabusa scoffed.

"Good luck with your mission," he said, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Hanako raised an eyebrow before shrugging it off. If he wanted to stay in his home while she lived the action, be her guest.

It was the middle of the night, and Hanako had to cover herself with the hood because of the cold. She walked tranquilly among the trees, slowly getting closer to the center of the country, where she supposed Kakashi and the team were staying.

The Uchiha looked around the trees and noticed that some of them were partially destroyed. The ground was strangely wet.

It hadn't rained in a while or not that she remembered. She kneeled down and placed one finger on the ground at the same time she activated her Mangekyo.

"Suiton," Zabuza's eyes were the size of plates. "Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

With that jutsu, Kakashi created a huge vortex that covered most of the location with water. Zabuza was pulled back by the force of it, and thrown hardly against the trunk of a tree.

He slowly moved up his head to look at the silver haired man. "How did you copy a jutsu I hadn't even performed?" he asked. "Are you able to see the future?"

Kakashi appeared on a high branch of the tree he was at and looked down at him with the Sharingan. "Yes. I can also see that this is your last battle, Zabuza. You are going to die here."

Hanako opened her eyes after watching the memory. "So, Kakashi fought Zabuza?", she thought as she looked forward in the direction of the city. A smirk made its way into her lips before continuing her way.

It was interesting to know that Gatou really had hired a swordsman from the Mist. Although she was a bit disappointed when it wasn't who she had expected.

After a few minutes of walking, Hanako saw at the distance a figure walking in her direction and readied a kunai under her sleeve. He was a tall man, wearing a traditional hat made of hay with a bell hunging from its edge. He also wore the Akatsuki robe—black with red clouds—, which made the Uchiha narrow her eyes.