A Lethal Weapon (Naruto) [ALW Series Book One]

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Do You Believe in Reincarnation?

The three Uchihas walked silently along the streets when, suddenly, a series of quick and short steps could be heard nearing them from behind. Hanako turned around slightly at the moment someone threw themselves over her. The next thing she knew: she was lying on the ground with two people on top of her.

“Hanako!” Two voices spoke in unison, but Hanako was able to recognize them.

“Kazuki! Takeshi!” She tried getting up, but both boys were suffocating her with their hugs.

“You’re alive! You have no idea how worried we were!” Takeshi yelled loudly while holding the girl even tighter. Kazuki let go immediately when he noticed Hanako was having trouble to breathe. He looked up to find two other Uchiha staring back at him. He gulped and looked away in embarrassment. “Why didn’t you tell us you were back?! It had been so long since you went away…”

“Takeshi…” Hanako tried to say with the little breath she had in her lungs, but the boy only continued to speak as if he hadn’t heard her.

“We were going to ask the Hokage to send someone to look for you…” Shisui rolled his eyes. Sometimes Takeshi was a nuisance. He then seemed to remember something, and looked at Itachi with a mocking grin. The boy was only staring at Takeshi with a serious expression. Shisui scoffed, so much for pretending not to be jealous.

“Takeshi…can’t breathe…” Hanako tried again, but again she was bluntly ignored. Kazuki was also growing impatient.

“I’m so glad to see you here—”

“TAKESHI.” Kazuki said loudly, making him go silent. He finally released Hanako from the tight hug. “She looks fine, stop bugging her.” Hanako coughed slightly, but then smiled at Takeshi reassuringly. The boy had tears in his eyes, and she almost felt bad for not telling him anything. She had been back days ago, but she couldn’t talk to anyone, not even her best friend.

“Hanako…” When she heard her name being called, she turned around. She had almost forgotten Itachi and Shisui were still there, waiting for her. Takeshi hadn’t noted their presence, but when he did, he stared at them suspiciously; especially at Itachi, his eyes would almost burst into fire glaring at him. Kazuki tried to ignore their presence, staring at the ground. “You can stay with them if you want…” Shisui finally said, narrowing his eyes at Takeshi’s attitude towards Itachi. Like he felt he was a threat. He smirked. Maybe he already suspected of his crush, even if Itachi still denied it. “I’ll let your mother know where you are.”

Hanako nodded, watching Shisui and Itachi head back to the Uchiha Compound.

When they were finally gone, Kazuki looked up and muttered softly. “Hey…who were they?”

“Itachi and Shisui,” Hanako looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “From the Clan.” She then smirked. “Were you intimidated by them Kazuki?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Since when do you know them?” Takeshi added to the question.

“Well, you guys know Itachi…” she shrugged. “He was in our generation in the Academy. Shisui has been a friend of the family for a while, he went with my sister to the Academy and became very close friends. He’s always at my place when he’s out of duty.” Hanako scratched her chin in a thoughtful stance. “Though, I found out today Itachi and Shisui were friends. What a coincidence…”

“Tsk…” Takeshi rolled his eyes. “Now what… he’ll bring Itachi to crash at your place often too?”

“Why? Are you jealous?” Hanako asked with a smirk.

“No!” Takeshi snapped.

“Hanako…why are you wearing a black yukata? Isn’t it too hot for that?” Kazuki asked, eyeing her clothing.

Hanako looked at herself and sighed. “Right…it was for a funeral I had to go to…”

“Funeral?” Takeshi asked. “Who died?”

Hanako felt a knot in her throat, but pushing her thoughts aside she gathered the courage to look up at them. “My father.”

They both froze in place, not knowing what to do. “Your…father?” Kazuki asked softly, afraid he had misunderstood something.

“Yeah…he died in the mission…” Hanako bit he lip, her eyes were drawn back to the ground. “There was nothing I could do to stop it…I could only watch…” Takeshi put a hand on her shoulder.

“You did everything you could,” he said. “Things happen for a reason, don’t they?” Hanako bit back her tears and nodded.

“I know. Thanks, Takeshi…”

“You should start calling me Takeshi-kun…” He smirked at her, changing the subject to lighten up the mood.

“Not in a million years, i***t-kun.” Hanako smirked back.

“I bet she’ll call Itachi ‘-kun’ before any of us,” Kazuki said.

“What did you say, Kazuki-kun?” Hanako blinked at him. “You know if I were to choose any of you for a boyfriend, I would definitely pick Kazuki-kun.”

“Where does that come from?!” Takeshi snapped at her.

“Because I like seeing you all worked up towards the subject,” Hanako laughed. “Calm down, it was a joke.”

Takeshi sighed. “Seriously Hana-chan, sometimes your games confuse me.”

Hanako hit him in the head. “I told you to stop calling me that.”

* * *

Itachi and Shisui walked towards the Police Force main building, where they knew Fugaku should be right now. When they walked in, they came across several familiar clan members.

“Hey, look who we have here!” Tekka greeted them.

“Tekka-san,” Shisui greeted him with a respectful bow. Itachi mimicked him.

“Shisui!” Tekka punched his arm playfully. “I told you to stop being so polite towards me. We’re friends, bud! When are you finally going to join us?” Shisui chuckled.

“Soon, hopefully…”

“Where’s my father?” Itachi asked, interrupting their chat.

“Um…” Tekka instantly became serious. “He should be in his office, as always. You know where that is.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Itachi nodded respectfully before heading in its direction.

“Thanks, Tekka-san.” Shisui nodded too before following the younger Uchiha. They reached a wooden door, it was locked. Itachi knocked.

The door was opened by a tall man. “Itachi, Shisui, what are you doing here?” Fugaku frowned. “And why didn’t you go to the funeral?”

“Um…well…” Shisui scratched the back of his neck. Fugaku’s glare could be terrifying, but it didn’t work on them as much as it worked on others.

“We weren’t the only ones who skipped it…” Itachi said softly, trying to defend themselves.

“You were with Hanako?!” Fugaku’s glare intensified as he activated his Sharingan. “Do you know how embarrassing was for her family when I presented them and she wasn’t there?!”

“We were with her…” Shisui nodded calmly. “And we are deeply sorry Fugaku-sama. But that’s not why we’re here.” Fugaku raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain. “We need your help. It is certainly something of great interest for the clan.”

“Of great interest?” Fugaku opened the door and moved away, letting Shisui and Itachi into the room.

“Tell me, Fugaku-sama. Do you know anything about her chakra?” Shisui asked.

“Yes, I do. I trained her for the last couple of years. Why?” Fugaku watched Shisui as he eyed all the posters on the wall. Most of them were civilian criminals who were causing too much trouble in the village.

“Did you know she has a full developed Sharingan? She fooled me with a surprisingly basic Genjutsu.”

“Yes, I do.”

Shisui looked down, pressing his lips tightly. Of course the leader would know that.

“Did you know she’s a sensor as well?” That seemed to spark Fugaku’s interest. He looked at his son for some kind of confirmation.

“It’s true,” Itachi said. Fugaku looked back at Shisui.

“What do you want, Shisui?”

“I only want to know if there is another sensor within the clan. You know, it’s kind of rare.”

“It’s rare for Uchihas to be sensors now,” Fugaku nodded. “But not before.”

Shisui frowned. “What does that have to do with what I’m asking?”

“When it comes to Hanako, it has everything to do,” Fugaku said. “There was a time when being a sensor was a must. Before villages existed, going out of clan territory meant probably not coming back. War invaded every corner of the planet, so everyone had to be trained not only for the front lines but for the effect of survival.” Fugaku walked towards an archive behind his desk, and looked for Hanako’s information file, but he also pulled out another file.

He opened Hanako’s on his desk in front of the boys. She seemed to be a normal girl with above average stats for her age. Shisui looked up at the leader. That was Hanako’s entire information, and he was telling them. “What is the meaning of this?” Shisui asked with a frown.

“Do you believe in reincarnation, Shisui?” Fugaku asked. The teenager frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No.”

“Then you might. What I’m about to show you, doesn’t get out of here, understood?” He looked intently at both boys. The both nodded solemnly. Fugaku sighed and placed the second file on the desk, beside Hanako’s. When he opened it, Shisui gasped while Itachi’s eyes widened. The woman was an exact copy of Hanako, but in an older version. “This is Amane Uchiha.” Shisui noticed that Amane’s stats were almost that same as Hanako’s when it came to basics, but Amane had a lot more knowledge and experience in other categories. “Hanako will eventually surpass these stats, but Amane’s stats aren’t even complete. She died in the time of the First Hokage, and these files were made almost half a century later. The picture is just a cut out from Hashirama-sama’s personal photos.”

“Wait a minute,” Shisui took a deep breath, pointing at both pictures. “Are you telling me that these two are the same person?” Fugaku looked seriously at Shisui.

“Yes, Shisui. At least, that’s what we believe.”

“And who’s reincarnation am I then?! Because I’m not a sensor!” Fugaku shook his head.

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“Then how?!”

“That’s a mystery I want to solve as well. You came here asking for help, now I am the one asking you, Shisui, Itachi.” Fugaku closed Amane’s file and gave it to Shisui. “If you can, solve it for me. Like you said, it is of great interest for the Clan.”

Shisui took the file and nodded. “Guess we could start training with Hanako,” he commented with a small smirk, eyeing Itachi from the tip of his eye. Fugaku noticed and stared at Shisui.

“Why are you looking at my son like that?” Itachi looked at Shisui, at the same time he shrugged.

“Ask him.” Shisui smiled. Fugaku frowned. Itachi looked at Shisui then at his father. The teenager placed the closed file beside his face, covering himself from Itachi. Then he neared the leader and muttered softly, “I think your son has a crush.”

Fugaku widened his eyes and looked at Itachi. Then, he looked back at Shisui, asking a silent question, ‘Are you sure?’ to which Shisui only winked. Itachi frowned, not knowing what was happening.

“Anyway, we should get going,” Shisui bowed before walking out of the room. Itachi bowed too and followed Shisui.

“What happened in there?” Itachi asked when he caught up with the older Uchiha.

“Just an inside joke I have with Fugaku-sama.”

“Can you tell me?” Itachi asked.

“Do you even understand the concept of ‘inside jokes’, Itachi?” Itachi sighed.

“I’m sorry…”

Shisui laughed. “Why are you apologizing?” He patted his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

Kaito decided to take a walk, thinking about the approaching Chuunin Exams. The Hokage had asked every tutor to think about recommending their students for the exam, and to make it official in that evening’s meeting. Kaito thought a lot about it. His students were rookies, only ten-year-old brats. Even if they had three years of experience as genin, he couldn’t recommend them, they weren’t ready.

The Jounin entered a dango store he saw from the tip of his eye, and saw Anko Mitarashi sitting at one of the tables. She was eating a big combo of dango. Kaito smiled to himself, remembering about her addiction, and walked towards her.

“Enjoying your dango, Anko?” Kaito sat across from her at the table.

“They’re my favorite,” she said, taking her last stick. “Wanna order some?” Kaito could swear he saw sparkles in her eyes.

“No, I’m not hungry.” He frowned slightly. “And if you keep eating like that, you’ll be fat in a couple of years.”

“Shut up,” Anko waved her hand at him. “Anyway, tell me Kaito, are you recommending your brats for the Chuunin Exams?”

“As friendly as always, Anko…” Kaito said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. “I haven’t thought enough about it. I think they’re still too young to take the risk,” he said while staring at the entrance of the store. He noticed two Uchiha boys who just entered, and watched them intently until they took a seat near them.

“Who are your students?” Anko suddenly asked as she ordered more dango.

“Kazuki Mitokado, Takeshi Komatsu and Hanako Uchiha.” Anko started to cough violently as the dumpling got stuck in her throat.

“So, you’re that brat’s sensei…” she muttered when she stopped her fit.

“Yeah, what if I am?” Kaito raised an eyebrow at her.

“The Hokage didn’t tell you about the mission?” she looked at the Jounin incredulously.

“What mission?” Kaito inquired. Anko suddenly looked at their surroundings, eyeing specially the two Uchiha boys. Then she muttered softly, so only Kaito could hear.

“The Hokage showed me the report of a mission; however this is classified information that for nothing in the world can be revealed.” She paused for a moment. “Your little student Hanako Uchiha escaped to go to a mission with her father and another two Jounin. It was a B-rank mission, but they were ambushed during it by an entire division of Iwagakure and Kusagakure shinobi. That mission became an A-rank, obviously.

“Unfortunately, all the Jounin —including her father— died. But somehow, that kid managed to survive, completing the mission. And besides that, she reduced a whole town down to ashes, killing all of the ninja and peasants.” Kaito widened his eyes at her words.

“She couldn’t have done that…” he muttered, more to himself than to his companion.

“Well, she did.” Anko looked at him playfully. “She’s definitely an Uchiha to the bone. She’ll make it to the elite in no time,” she said as she finished the last of her dango. “I have to go, see you later…” She stood and walked out of the store. After a few moments, the waitress came to the table.

“Are you ready to ask for the bill, sir?” Kaito’s eyes widened. Cursing under his breath at Anko, he pulled out his wallet.

* * *

The two Uchiha were walking along the Konoha streets after leaving the Police Force building.

“What are you thinking now, Shisui?” Itachi asked tiredly.

“We need to convince Hanako’s sensei to recommend her and her group for the Chuunin Exams.” He sighed. “Then we will have an excuse for training with her. However, it would be a lot of help to at least know who we’re looking for.” Shisui started to look around until he found the dango shop. “Hey, look Itachi!” He pointed to the store, Itachi followed his hand and looked at the store with a raised eyebrow.

“You want dango?”

“Come on, we both know you love them. Why don’t we go for some while we think about what we’re going to do to find this sensei? Maybe we could go afterwards, and ask the Third about him.”

“Why don’t we go now? I’m not hungry.” Itachi sighed.

“Come on Itachi, don’t be like that.” Shisui dragged him into the shop. When they entered, they heard two Jounin talking.

“Who are your students?” a purple haired Kunoichi, who Shisui recognized as Anko Mitarashi, asked.

“Kazuki Mitokado, Takeshi Komatsu and Hanako Uchiha.” Both Uchiha immediately reacted at the last name mentioned. They found the table next to the Jounin empty, and decided to sit there so they could listen to their conversation.

“So, you’re that brat’s sensei.” Anko said after coughing out her dango.

“Yeah, what if I am?” Kaito asked.

“The Hokage didn’t tell you about the mission?” She looked at him incredulously.

“What mission?” Shisui and Itachi pretended not to care about their table neighbors when they found themselves under Anko’s intent glare. Then they heard muttering and decided not to pay attention to the following.

“Then, this is him?” Itachi asked Shisui.

“Yeah, don’t let him out of your sight.” The other one nodded and once again they focused their ears on their table.

“She did.” They heard Anko speaking once again. “She’s definitely an Uchiha to the bone; she’ll make it to the elite in no time… I have to go, see you later.”

Itachi and Shisui looked at each other. “We have to follow him,” Shisui said and the other one nodded. They waited until Kaito left the shop to go after him.

They followed him as he walked through the streets, while they went hiding in the trees and bushes.

“I know this guy,” Shisui commented as he hid behind one of the trees.

“You do?” Itachi raised an eyebrow at his companion.

“He’s Kaito Hayata, a Jounin who was once recommended for the Anbu.” Shisui explained. “However, he rejected the recommendation saying he wasn’t fit for the job.”

“And is he?” Itachi asked.

“Definitely.”

They both followed Kaito until he suddenly came to a halt. “I know you’ve been following me for a while now,” he said. “Show yourselves.” The Jounin turned to look at the two Uchiha as they both came out of the bushes.

“He’s good…” Itachi mumbled. Kaito raised an eyebrow.

“Two Uchiha brats, huh?” He eyed them curiously. “What do you want?”

“I want to make a deal.” Shisui said nearing him.

“A deal?” Kaito looked at him suspiciously.

“Yes…We couldn’t help but hear the conversation you just had with Anko-san. I wanted to ask you if you’re sure about not recommending your students for the Chuunin Exams.”

“They’re still too young,” he said curtly. “Maybe in a couple of years.”

”But…” Shisui added. “Don’t you think that with the appropriate training they could participate?”

“I’m their sensei; I think I know very well their capabilities for an appropriate training.” Kaito frowned. “Where do you want to get with this, Shisui?”

“So, you know me.” The aforementioned smirked.

“Of course I know you, Shunshin no Shisui.” Kaito narrowed his eyes. “I said, what do you want?”

“I want your team to participate in the exams.” Shisui spoke seriously.

“I don’t have time to train the three of them for this, maybe next time.” He said as he started to walk away.

“Please.” Shisui called to him, making him stop. “I’ll take care of the Uchiha. You can focus on the other two.” Kaito looked at him.

“Of course, this is what it’s about… Hanako.” Kaito smirked. “Your clan just can’t miss the chance to put your kids to fight, can you?”

“Well,” Shisui shrugged. “My leader gave me an order. I’m just asking kindly though. If you don’t want to recommend your students, I’m sure we can figure something out. Although Fugaku-sama might not like it very much.”

“Shisui…” Itachi tried to stop his friend, but Shisui lifted his hand to stop him. He looked at Itachi and smiled, silently saying ‘I can handle this.’

Kaito pressed his lips tightly, looking at him with deadly eyes. He finally sighed and shook his head. “Will you take care of her?” he asked.

“Of course. She’ll be stronger for the exams, at least for the second test and for the finals.” Shisui was too determined. “I promise.”

“You sure about this?”

“You don’t know how much potential she truly has,” Shisui said with a smirk. “She needs someone from the clan to train her. That way she’ll learn how to use her Sharingan properly and some fire jutsus...” Shisui waited expectantly while Kaito just remained silent for a while.

“Fine, I’ll recommend them.” He sighed. “But if something happens to them, you’ll regret it,” he said threateningly

“You worry too much.” Shisui smirked.

“There will be a meeting for jounin and chuunin this evening. There, the genin will be nominated and the proctors will be selected, in case you didn’t know.” Kaito added.

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

“In that case, I’ll see you there,” Kaito said before leaving and continuing his path.

“Yeah…” Shisui turned to his companion, Itachi looked back at him confused. “We should start with the training; the exam begins in a week.” Itachi nodded and they both left, looking for the brunette and her team.

* * *

“Aw!” Kazuki exclaimed, “Takeshi’s jealous!” he said nudging his teammate.

“Jealous?” Hanako raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not jealous!” the brown haired boy defended himself while blushing.

“Oh, you’re not?” Kazuki inquired while raising an eyebrow playfully. “Then you wouldn’t mind if Hanako really had a boyfriend, would you?” Hanako looked at him questioningly.

“No, of course not.” Takeshi looked away.

“You’re such a liar!” Kazuki pointed at him.

“What did I say about pointing at me?!” Takeshi snapped.

“Stop it!” Hanako sighed. “Don’t waste your time on stupid arguments.” She closed her eyes tiredly.

“Hm?” Kazuki looked at her. “And what would you rather do, Uchiha?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Train,” she said, starting to walk away towards the training grounds. “It’s more productive than watching you guys argue all day.”

“Do you have any problem?” She halted.

“Yeah. If you have so much time to argue with each other, you could at least well spend it in training to become strong!”

“Are you telling us that we’re weak?!” Kazuki inquired loudly.

“I’m not saying that…” she muttered. “But you’re not that strong either.”

“Do you want to fight?!” Kazuki asked angry.

“You against me?” She chuckled. “I would kick your ass.”

“Don’t get so cocky,” Kazuki replied. She turned around to face him. “I don’t care if it is said that the Uchiha are elites, that doesn’t give you the right to believe yourself better than us!” The black haired boy was getting infuriated.

“It does give me the right.” She said calmly. “Because I am better than you.” That was the last drop to fill the glass.

“What did you say?!” he inquired.

“I didn’t realize you were deaf.” She smirked. Kazuki tried to launch himself over her but was stopped by Takeshi.

“Kazuki, control yourself!” He had both his arms surrounding him.

“I want to fight with you.” Kazuki said. Hanako raised her eyebrow. “I will show you that I’m not weak, I’ll show you that you’re not above me!” He freed himself from Takeshi’s grasp without taking his eyes off from the girl. “And I want you to use your eyes! Show me what the Uchiha are capable of!” Hanako smirked.

“That won’t be necessary,” she said surprising both guys. “I can beat you without the Sharingan.” She started to walk away again until something grabbed her arm and pulled her back with enough force to throw her at the ground. Kazuki grabbed her from the collar of her shirt, and looked at her with rage as he pulled her up.

“Stop underestimating us,” he said. “Or is it that you’re afraid?” he inquired mockingly. Hanako narrowed her eyes and swiftly kicked her teammate on his stomach, hard enough for him to let go of her. He gasped for air as he looked at her menacingly.

“You wanna fight?” She snapped finally giving in to her anger. “Fine, I’ll fight you but not here.” She stood up and walked again towards the training grounds. “Follow me.”

Both guys followed her, Kazuki to have his fight in spite of the pain on his belly, and Takeshi to interfere if it was necessary…and possible.