A Lethal Observer (Naruto) [ALW Series Book Two]

Chapter 7

"I take it you have a plan other than stalking Ibiki-sensei from up here." Hanako looked at Kakashi as they hung onto some water pipes close to the ceiling of the Intelligence Division building. They were on the last floor, where Ibiki would normally keep the information gathered. It goes without saying they didn't exactly have the proper authorization to be there in the first place.

"That's pretty much the plan," said Kakashi in a hushed voice as he pulled himself a little closer to a column. "Unless you can suggest something better."

"We can always kidnap Ibiki, force him to tell us what he knows and then make him forget about it."

Kakashi looked at her as if she had left her brain back home when she decided to come. "I see so many flaws in that plan I don't have nearly as many fingers to count them."

Hanako rolled her eyes. "Creepy stalkers then?"

"Shh, he's coming."

Ibiki soon walked into the room, followed by the Third Hokage. Hanako's eyes became wide as plates. If he catches us, we're done. No more exciting missions for me.

"I understand that Ibiki, but we need to get it done as soon as possible."

Ibiki laughed a little, looking at the Third with concern in his eyes. "I don't think you understand, Hokage-sama, no one I know is capable of doing what you request."

The Hokage looked at Ibiki with a small smile, one that Ibiki came to find annoying as to what he was asking of him was nearly impossible. He never disliked the old man's optimism, but it didn't mix well in certain situations.

"Lucky for us, I do know a person capable of it." He smiled brightly and looked up, right at where the two Anbu were hiding. "What a perfect timing, I must say. Hanako, Kakashi, come down."

Hanako looked at the silver haired man and smirked. "What a perfect plan, huh?"

Once down, Hanako crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked away from the Hokage, Ibiki and Kakashi, not wanting to admit she had just been caught at eavesdropping. Kakashi, in his way, was trying to cope with the responsibility of failure. It had been his plan to listen in, after all.

"I really didn't expect the two of you to still be here." Ibiki was still trying to process what was happening. Looking especially surprised at Kakashi. "Weren't you supposed to be transferred back to Team Ro?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, but I had some things to finish with Hanako before I could leave calmly."

Ibiki quirked an eyebrow. "Up in the pipes?"

"He has some kinky fetishes," Hanako commented casually and became surprised at Ibiki's reddening face. It wouldn't be long before blood trickled down from his nose. The Hokage shook his head and looked at the ground with a frown, but Hanako didn't miss the slight blush in his upper cheeks. And well, Kakashi could die from embarrassment right there. He was so red Hanako could easily distinguish his face from both his hair and mask. "What?" She frowned. "Is something I said wrong?"

Kakashi took a deep breath. "Do you, at your age, even know what the words 'kinky' and 'fetish' mean? Both together and each separately."

Hanako shrugged, "Shisui said something along the lines of 'weird preferences' when I asked him."

Kakashi sighed relieved, "That's separately, but together they are normally used in a very specific context. Which you probably don't know about, so I am going to shut up now."

Hanako tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "Anyway," the Hokage cleared his throat, nearly composed after the earlier misunderstanding. "I won't question as to why both of you were up in the pipes, I'll just let it drop."

"You're not nearly as free from me though," Ibiki said, looking with a glare at Kakashi. Then his eyes fell on the girl. "We will talk about this when we're done with this matter." Hanako gulped.

The Hokage sighed. "You were the Anbu who retrieved the stone figure, am I right?" Kakashi and Hanako nodded. "I'm certain, seeing as we found you spying, you know about its properties."

Hanako bit her lip. "The bandits we recovered it from might have spoken a little too soon about it."

The Third nodded. "Well, it's true. The thing is: We cannot use it unless we decipher how to, but we don't know about anyone who can crack it."

Hanako looked down, "Oh..."

"I want you to try it, Hanako." The Hokage smiled at her.

Hanako returned his look with horror. "Oh no, I can't. I'm not nearly as smart as Ibiki-sensei, let alone Kakashi."

"Give yourself a shot, come by my office at eight." He dismissed any attempt Hanako could have at refusing, and left the room. Now they were alone with Ibiki.

When she looked up at him, he was giving them a look of sadistic excitement. "Now, what exactly were you doing up in the pipes?"

* * *

The next morning, the shinobi got up early and continued their escort to the Water Country. After a couple of hours, they were already nearing the border. Shisui started to look around for the Kirigakure shinobi, since they were supposed to show up any time now to escort the daughter of the Feudal Lord back with them to the Water Feudal Lord's mansion.

The Konoha shinobi reached the clearing in which they were supposed to meet. Itachi narrowed his eyes when he found no one there. Had something happened?

"Stay here, I'll check our surroundings." Itachi nodded towards Shisui as he watched him leave. He stayed behind to watch Hisako and her bodyguards. Not even a couple of minutes had passed when he heard Shisui's voice calling to them.

They hurried towards his location and their eyes widened when a pile of corpses came in sight. "These are..." Itachi started to say, but his words died down before he even had time to process them.

"Kirigakure shinobi." Shisui confirmed with a nod. "And judging for the fresh blood on the ground, they didn't die long ago," he added, analyzing a bit of blood on his finger he had picked up from the ninjas. Shisui then turned to Hisako. "I hope you're not tired, miss. The attackers must still be around, and if we stop to rest we might be risking an ambush."

"There's no problem at all," she responded calmly, which surprised Itachi. A girl in her situation must have been freaking out by then, but she clearly wasn't even flinching. "Actually, this was to be expected." Shisui raised an eyebrow at her statement, but then just shrugged it off.

"All right then, let's go," he said, and they started heading once again towards a different destination. Itachi looked at Hisako from the tip of his eye when she caught up to him and walked by his side.

"Hey," she muttered softly, as in a means of starting a conversation. "I wanted to apologize for what happened last night. I guess it was too rude of me to ask such things, it must be personal for you. I'm sorry." Itachi scoffed while closing his eyes.

"There's nothing you need to worry about. It should be me apologizing for my earlier attitude," he replied, opening his eyes again to look at her.

Hisako chuckled softly. "No problem. I was actually expecting that kind of reply since the beginning." Itachi gave her a strange look. She must have noticed this since she chuckled again while softly shaking her head. "I've always dreamed of being like you," she added softly. "I've always heard stories of the shinobi, and I've always wanted to become one." She took a deep breath when she finished and looked at Itachi for a brief moment before dedicating him a smile and turning back to the front. "I hate it when people treat me nicely, as if I were a fragile doll just because I'm the daughter of the Feudal Lord." She chuckled lightly. "I actually find it amusing being with you. It's the first time I've been treated as if I were just...another person." Hisako smiled widely, looking back at him. "And I'm actually getting a taste of what it's like, being a ninja on a mission."

Itachi stared at her, dumbfounded, before his gaze drifted to the ground. They remained in silence for a moment. He didn't know what to say, but he felt comfortable in the silence. And that's when a question popped up in his mind. "Do you know why we're escorting you to the Land of Water?" Hisako calmly looked at him. To Itachi's surprise, she nodded her head.

"I heard my father speaking to you," she explained. "I'm willing to do anything for my country. After all, that's my duty as the daughter of the Feudal Lord."

"Are you really okay with that?" Itachi shared a sympathetic look with her.

"I'm not, but as I said before it's my duty," she said. "I have no idea who the son of the Water Feudal Lord is, but I'm willing to marry him for the sake of my country."

Itachi decided not to say anything else and just remained silent. Her father was probably very proud of her. Her resolution is the one thing to be expected from a Feudal Lord's daughter, but that made him wonder what type of shinobi would Hisako be had she been born in the village.

Itachi got lost in his thoughts, wandering back to the real purpose of his mission and how it deviated from the mission they all believed it was.

"Remember Itachi: The result of this mission will guarantee your entrance to the Anbu." The boy nodded.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." There was still something about the mission bothering him. He turned his back to the old man and was about to take his leave, but then something slipped from his tongue.

"Is this really the mission that will grant me entrance to Anbu?" Itachi could tell by the Hokage's silence that he was surprised by his question, so he decided to continue. "This is an easy mission. It can be perfectly carried out by any Chuunin." Itachi looked at the Third from over his shoulder, his eyes widened when he found him smirking slightly while igniting his pipe.

"I was wondering how long would it take for you to find out. Although, I'm amazed it didn't take you more than ten minutes," he said before smoking. "There's still the possibility that I had chosen this mission for you, precisely given the fact that you are still a Chuunin. However, I chose this mission for you, Itachi, not because you're a Chuunin but because the issues between Konoha and Kiri are a bit more complicated than I would like." The Hokage continued to speak as he paced around the room. "I have to congratulate you, Itachi, for passing the first test in order to be accepted in Anbu."

Itachi turned fully towards him. "It was obvious that there was something going on. For a first, there's no way you would have let me take someone with me. And moreover leave the choice to me." The Hokage nodded, turning his back to him. He shot a glance at the village through the wide windows at his office.

"Right now, I just wanted to measure your intellectual capacity and information analysis. In order to be accepted in Anbu, I can't give you a simple B-rank or A-rank mission, I ought to give you a mission that mimics the risks and dangers of a real Anbu mission. In other words, an S-rank mission." The Hokage looked at Itachi with a serious face. Itachi observed him intently while he searched in his desk for some documents. "I recently got some information about a spy working for Kirigakure that made its way into the village. He's amicable with the Fourth's current govern, so your job is to take out that spy before it can get out of the village with all our information." The Hokage handed the boy a paper with all the intel the Anbu had gathered about the spy. They didn't know how he looked nor who he was, but they had enough to make a correct guess.

"So, you suppose that this spy will take advantage of the escort mission to get out of the Land of Fire?" Itachi raised an eyebrow at the Hokage but the old man just exhaled smoke from his pipe.

"Precisely," he smirked. "It's up to you to find him and eliminate him before you reach the border." The Uchiha looked at him and nodded.

"I will complete the mission." The Hokage's blank stare on him made Itachi press his lips, but the Third sighed on approval.

"There will be Anbu watching you. I ordered them to stay out of your sight, so don't expect them to help you if you get into trouble. They will act as mere observers and report to me your results.

Itachi nodded and turned to, this time, leave the room. "Hai, I understand."

Itachi pressed his lips into a thin line. Seeing the bodies back in the clearing was all the confirmation he needed about the existence of a spy leaking information. Otherwise, the Kiri shinobi would not have been murdered. Itachi concentrated a bit of chakra on the soles of his feet and jumped ahead to where Shisui was, catching up to him.

"Shisui—"

"Are you thinking the same thing I am?" he interrupted Itachi before he could say anything else. Itachi furrowed his brows, waiting for Shisui to develop. "I think that there's someone alerting the Kiri shinobi. I don't think they could have been killed so easily by a B-rank rebel group. There's a third party we should worry about."

"We might be thinking the same." Itachi nodded. Shisui looked at him briefly from the tip of his eyes before looking back at the front. "What do you know about these ninjas?"

Shisui sighed. "Kirigakure is undergoing a revolution right now. Shinobi have separated themselves into two sides." He looked at Itachi. "Have you heard the term 'Bloody Mist'?"

Itachi nodded. Kirigakure had been known as the Bloody Mist for a fair amount of time, even its academy graduation exam consisted on killing one's own classmates to become a Genin. Although it has created a powerful generation of shinobi assassins, it is known as a ruthless village.

"The ninja of Kirigakure have aligned themselves into those who want a peaceful village and those who prefer to stay in the Bloody Mist," Shisui continued. "The peaceful party is the one looking forwards for this marriage to occur. Also, they are the ones who offered to escort the girl to the door of the Feudal Lord. The other party probably is the one that murdered the team sent to escort the lady." A frown formed in Shisui's face before he continued. "It wouldn't be strange if they suddenly decided to attack us and kill Hisako-sama, so they can ensure the marriage does not occur. But I still suspect that there's someone among us leaking information, or else no one would've found out about Kirigakure's peaceful team."

Shisui looked at Itachi as he finished speaking, but the young Uchiha couldn't get his thoughts out of his head. He could only think of two possibilities for the shinobi spy. He was using this mission as a screen to get out of the village. He was probably a well-trained ninja and knew how to handle weapons, and at least the basics about chakra control.

Itachi's eyes drifted towards one of Hisako's bodyguards. He was staring intently at them but quickly averted his eyes when he noticed Itachi's eyes on him. Itachi's eyes narrowed. He didn't seem to be tired at all, even though he barely slept the night before. He looked like he could easily catch up to Shisui or himself, but he preferred to stay behind with his comrade, supposedly to fulfill his job as a bodyguard. He had various weapons on him, while his partner only carried a sword on his back.

Itachi's irises faded to red as he focused his eyes on the man. He noticed his chakra swirling freely around him, while the other bodyguard and Hisako were clearly both civilians without any visible chakra. He probably also carried a scroll with Konoha's intel somewhere in his robes, Itachi thought.

His lips tilted up into a barely visible smirk as he focused his eyes once again at the front and realized they were now getting closer to the border.

* * *

At eight sharp, Hanako reached the Hokage's to find an open door. The old man was inside, standing next to the window and watching the village while smoking from his pipe. "Come in, Hanako. I don't like you standing at the door while staring inside." He turned to look at her from over his shoulder. Hanako nodded and walked slowly to his desk.

"So, you want me to crack the stone?"

"Sure," he turned to face her. "But first, I wanted to talk to you about what you did the day of the Academy Ceremony." She lifted her eyes to look at him.

"Is there something wrong?" The Third chuckled shaking his head.

"No, not at all. I'm just a little curious, that's all." He gave her an assuring smile before offering her a seat.

"So, this is about Naruto. Isn't it?" Hanako raised an eyebrow while sitting in the chair, right in front of the Hokage's desk.

"Precisely." The old man sat in his own chair. "Why did you decide to escort him, Hanako?"

She was taken aback by the question and lowered her head, trying to come up with an answer.

"Probably because," she looked up at him, "That's what I would have wanted someone to do for me if I were in his situation." The Hokage looked at her seriously for a moment before diverting his gaze towards the window.

"Escorting a student into the Academy means that you are to consider a lot of responsibilities to take," he warned, but Hanako didn't seem to mind.

"I'll take them," she said with a shrug. She had to stop herself from laughing when the Hokage looked at her as if she had just grown a head.

"Why?"

"Because I believe that everyone deserves a chance at a good life, and Naruto is no exception. I know he's an orphan, but that doesn't mean that he can't enrol in the Academy." She frowned. "I don't understand why there is so much tension between him and everyone else, it's like they hate him for no reason." Hiruzen sighed.

"They don't hate Naruto; they hate what's inside him." Hanako gave him a strange look.

"Inside him?"

"Have you ever heard about the Tailed Beasts?" She frowned deeper.

"What's a Tailed Beast?"

"Tailed Beasts are chakra monsters, capable of destroying an entire village with just one move of their tails. Their power surpasses that of the thousand most powerful shinobi together. That power is also proportional to their number of tails, from one to nine," he explained. "One of these monsters is sealed inside Naruto. No other than the Kyuubi, the Nine Tails. The vessels of these beasts are called Jinchuuriki, and they are scattered all around the Five Great Nations."

"In other words, Naruto is the Nine Tail's Jinchuuriki." Hiruzen nodded. "Are there only nine beasts?" Hanako inquired with a raised eyebrow. The Hokage nodded again while smoking from his pipe.

"Their origin is unknown though, the Kyuubi was first brought to Konoha by Madara Uchiha." Her eyes snapped at the elder at the mention of Madara's name. What else had he done besides founding the village? "He was planning to use its tremendous power to destroy the village."

"What?" Hanako's mouth went dry. Why would Gramps want to destroy the village he and his best friend created together?

The Hokage seemed to ignore her sudden surprise. "However, it's thanks to the First Hokage, who controlled the beast and took care of Madara, that we're here today. He brought the Kyuubi back to Konoha, where he sealed it into his wife, Mito Uzumaki. She became the first Jinchuuriki. Since then, the Kyuubi had been sealed inside Uzumaki members, being the previous Jinchuuriki Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto's deceased mother."

I don't understand, none of this was taught to us in the Academy, but it seems an important part of Konoha's history. If Madara was supposed to be dead, then why is he here?

"If it can be controlled, then I don't see a reason for the villagers to be too cautious. I mean, everything's all right. Isn't it?" Hanako asked.

"In a way, yes, but the seal can also become undone, which happened six years ago." The Hokage exhaled smoke. "The Kyuubi was released in the village and caused huge destruction and a lot of casualties. The Fourth saved it by sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto, but he can't return to us what the Kyuubi took with him." Hanako gulped and looked sadly at the ground. It wasn't Naruto's fault to be hated like that. They hated him because of the beast sealed inside him. "But, like you mentioned, it can be controlled."

"Which is more the reason for him to enroll into the Academy. He needs to learn how to control it." She looked back at the Hokage.

"But he will need help with that, won't he?" Hanako pressed her lips into a thin line. "I see a lot of potential in you, Hanako. Your chakra seems quite special to me. I suspect you will be able to control the Kyuubi if the seal were to be released." Hanako took a deep breath. "You said you would accept the responsibilities of escorting Naruto to the Academy."

Hanako frowned. "Were you planning this?"

The Hokage laughed. "No, actually I was expecting someone else, but I am grateful it was you who decided to escort him. I would like it to be you who takes him as a student after he graduates." Hanako's eyes widened.

"I am just a Chuunin," Hanako found herself using that excuse very often. And it was just that, an excuse, because she was sure she was capable of anything. She just didn't give herself a chance. "I thought Genin were supervised by Jounin."

"You will be a Jounin by the time he graduates," Hiruzen smiled. "You will be notified constantly of his progress. You'll get a copy of his report card every six months, and it will be your responsibility every time he skips class. I'll take care of the rest, so that it won't interfere with your Anbu jobs." The Hokage smoked yet again from his pipe. "The war is over, and thanks to you Iwagakure has been quite peaceful for the last months. I think it's time for a change. We have reached military balance, so we don't need more shinobi to maintain peace. Therefore, from today it will be mandatory that every student must conclude the seven years scheduled for education as a requirement to take the graduation exam. No more sufficiency exams will be allowed, unless the situation calls for it."

Hanako smirked. "That means Naruto and Sasuke will both be graduating in seven years." She sighed, and looked through the window.

"I'll take it you will train Naruto?" asked the Hokage.

Hanako smiled and looked at the man. "Absolutely."