A Lethal Observer - ALW Saga Book 2

Chapter 28

The Uchiha Compound was rather silent when Madara and company returned. Everyone looked out the window to witness the group of brave and powerful shinobi. The first thing they all noticed was the head, and it wasn't Tajima. In his place, Madara stood tall as he led his people.

The group of the back was carrying a dead weight, hidden under multiple bandages. Bickering started.

Izuna looked at his brother, but Madara ignored everyone around him as he continued nonstop towards the main house. Dusk had fallen upon them, bathing the skies in red. The house wasn't as welcoming as Madara hoped. Behind him, Izuna closed his eyes as the rest of the Uchiha scattered around him. Itachi and Shisui were the only ones left.

"Izuna," his brother's voice brought him back to the present. Izuna looked up to meet Madara's glare from over his shoulder. "The house is empty."

A sense of dread filled Izuna. His first instinct was to make his way into the house and check his room. It was empty. Next, the room Hanako and Amane shared. Again, empty. Last, his brother's room. Empty. Certainly, Amane and Hanako were not there.

Madara had taken Itachi and Shisui to the living room when Izuna returned from inspecting the house. "They're not here." Madara looked up at his younger brother with tired eyes.

"Told you the house was empty."

"Where did they go?"

"My guess is they took the opportunity to inspect Utah's castle in our absence. We did return before scheduled, but they don't know that. Maybe they were counting on returning before us."

Izuna sighed. It was highly probable. "What should we do then?"

Madara sat down. "We wait. Utah's castle is far from here. If they're not back in five days, we'll look for them."

"Five days?" Izuna's shoulders slumped.

"In the meantime," Madara's voice got serious again as his eyes found Itachi and Shisui. "We need to cremate our father's corpse and find these two a place to sleep."

Izuna looked at them and then at his brother. "Okay..."

* * *

Pulling two bodies out of Utah's almost collapsing castle was no easy deed. Amane was almost at the edge of collapsing herself after she managed to find a place where they could be safe. When she was about to close her eyes, she caught sight of Hanako squinting at the sky.

"Wow, took you a long time to recover from the shock of finding your sister," Amane muttered in a low voice.

Hanako looked around the place and realized they were in the woods still close to the castle. She looked at the eldest girl, only to find her heavily breathing and her eyes almost closed. She got up in a second and moved to her side. "What happened to you?"

Amane sighed tiredly. "I got attacked by this black thing... However, he disappeared before I could take a good look at him. I did run from him to find you so..."

"Black thing?" Hanako frowned. "Zetsu?"

"Yeah, I had forgotten its name. It came after me after I teleported you into the surface."

Hanako sighed. "Well, good thing you're okay..." Something then crossed her mind. "Hikari! Where is she?"

"Behind you."

Hanako turned around quickly and saw her sister lying unconscious on the ground. Her breathing was shallow but she could wake up soon.

"What are you going to do about that woman?" Amane suddenly asked. Hanako narrowed her eyes as she measured her options. There wasn't much she could do.