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

Chapter 18

"Has no one found a single trace of that damn kid?!" Ibiki roared to his subordinates in his office. He had gathered the best tracking team he had among his own Anbu, but none of them had managed to report back to him about Hanako Uchiha.

She had gone missing two days before, and they still had no clue about her whereabouts. According to Kakashi, not even her own family knew where she was.

Ibiki sighed tiredly.

"We will continue looking for her, Ibiki-sensei," one of the Anbu tried to make up to him but Ibiki shushed him with a glare.

"Just get out."

Without another word, the Anbu left Ibiki alone in his office. The professional in torture and interrogation let himself fall over the chair and leaned back with a loud sigh. "That damned kid, right when I found something new about the stone..."

A soft knock called Ibiki's attention. Kakashi Hatake was standing at the door, with his dog mask covering his face.

"Kakashi," Ibiki acknowledged his presence, sitting straight.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," Ibiki found some documents and read them thoroughly. "I know you've been tasked by the Hokage to watch over the kid. You must be as worried about her disappearance." Kakashi listened carefully. "I think we should join forces to look for her. If you know something, please tell me."

Kakashi nodded, sticking to the promise he had made to Hikari. "All right, I'll let you know if I find something."

Ibiki stared at him for a long minute before closing his eyes. "There's another favor I need to ask. Can you please search the video recording of the past week of the Uchiha Compound? Just to make sure there's no irregular activity."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes behind the mask. "Of course."

"Thanks, Kakashi."

With a last nod, Kakashi left Ibiki's office.

Back in his department, Kakashi looked for a certain young Uchiha. When his eyes found the small kid, he approached him. "We have a new assignment."

Itachi looked at him with curious eyes. "What about?"

Kakashi's eyes softened slightly, and with a smile he said, "You'll see when we get there."

* * *

Hanako, Madara and Amane had left Riza's store and where now travelling back to the Uchiha Compound. Hanako kept staring at the metal bracelet around her wrist. Neither Amane nor Madara asked anything about it, but they both kept casting occasional glances at it. The girl was still amazed at the fine details in the carving of the flames. They were definitely made by an artist.

Amane sighed and looked at Madara with tired eyes. "Did we just waste an entire day so that you could pick up a stupid fan?"

Madara was walking calmly with his eyes closed. After Amane spoke, he simply grunted. "You wouldn't understand. This isn't a stupid fan."

She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't even look that special to me."

"But it is," Hanako butted in, looking at Madara's fan. "Riza mentioned that it was a symbol for the Uchiha clansmen. It meant power and influence, and could only be wielded by the head of the Uchiha."

Madara smirked. "Even the little girl is better informed than you. You should be ashamed of yourself, Amane."

"My name is not 'little girl'." Hanako huffed with a glare.

He smiled. His eyes then wandered to the silver metal around her wrist. "What's that bracelet?"

Hanako looked at him with a grin. "Riza gave it to me. Just like your gunbai, this is a spirit weapon. She called it the hitsurugi."

A single brow quirked up in Madara's face. "A fire blade? That doesn't look like a blade to me..."

Amane stopped both of them and looked at the girl with curious eyes. "I'm more concerned about why she would give something like that to you."

Hanako looked away, hiding her arm behind her back. "Well, it's because I could use it. This weapon is very selective of its owners."

Amane crossed her arms in front of her chest. "How so?"

Hanako was about to respond, but at that moment she sensed a numerous group of people surrounding them. Ninja of the Hagoromo and Senju Clan appeared out of the blue, holding every type of weapon.

Madara narrowed his eyes at them, tightening his hold around his gunbai. "Well, look at that," he commented, his eyes turning a fiery red. "A bunch of clowns have come to put up a show."

"Clowns?" One of the Senju snickered. "You are brave to speak like that in your situation. You must have noticed that we outnumber you, so why don't you just give up now and come with us as prisoners. We'll let you live then."

The Uchiha's lips quirked up. "Outnumber? No, that's just enough men to put up a fight with me."

The man growled and pulled out his sword. "You won't be so brave when we cut off a limb or two."

Madara only grinned wider, pulling his gunbai from his back. "Come."

With a battle cry, all men attacked at once. Hanako was paralyzed, so Amane stood in front of her to provide cover. In a single movement, Madara hit the ground with his gunbai, creating a wave that pushed back all shinobi. The trees were all pushed back by the momentum of Madara's attack.

Amane stared at Madara with wide eyes. "Did you just do that with that fan?"

Madara huffed, "I told you it wasn't any fan." With a smirk, he picked up the weapon once again and put it back on his back. At that moment, thousands of shuriken flew in their directions. Amane's eyes shone red and with a wave of her hand all weapons froze in midair. With a smile and another wave, all shuriken returned in the direction they all came from.

A brow quirked up in Madara's face as he looked at the black haired girl. "You were hiding an ability like this?"

She only shrugged. "There's a lot more I can do, I just haven't had the chance," she grinned in his direction. Madara smirked slightly, returning his attention to the men.

Hanako took a step away from Amane with a frown. "I don't need your protection." Amane faced her with a glare.

"You're just a kid. Stay back and let us deal with this."

"No, I will fight." Hanako felt her fingers curling. "I'll support you."

"No, you–"

"Let her," Madara interrupted Amane. "If she wants to fight. Let her fight. She's a ninja too, you have no idea what she can do. Besides, in a situation like this, the more the merrier."

Amane sighed. She sensed the men molding their chakra at the time but pushed her uncertainty aside. "Fine. You can fight too."

Hanako smiled brightly, feeling her chakra burst. The bracelet around her wrist lit up in flames before taking the form of a spear. Madara and Amane both stared at the weapon.

"It really changed its shape," Madara noted. With a grin, Hanako used the spear to deflect several kunai that flew in her direction. With her Sharingan, she could calculate their origin, following their trajectory in a straight line. Adding to her sensory abilities, she was able to sense two men far ahead.

She molded her chakra into the spear, creating a flame at its tip. "Let's see how this works..." With enough force, Hanako threw the spear in the direction she previously calculated. A few seconds later, two cries could be heard.

Madara shook his head, regarding the two girls with curious eyes. They weren't like any average Uchiha girl. Both of them had their own background that somehow marked them and allowed them to become stronger. "It seems like looking after you two won't be as boring as I originally thought."

The spear returned to Hanako's hand on its own. "Since when am I boring, Gramps?"

Madara didn't swing his fan at her right there because they already had matters to take care of, but when he had the chance he would.

The fight of the three extended long enough as more shinobi seemed to appear out of nowhere. They were starting to feel the drainage of their chakra, and men just kept appearing. Madara gritted his teeth, holding more tightly to his gunbai. "This is getting impossible."

* * *

"Father! Where is Madara?" Izuna crashed into his father's office where he was meditating. Tajima looked up at him with stern eyes.

"He went to Neko-baa's store to pick up the gunbai."

"When did he leave?"

"This morning. Why?"

Izuna was becoming impatient. "It's getting dark. Did he take those two nuisances with him?"

Tajima sighed. "Probably. They weren't in their rooms," he said as he continued to stretch.

His youngest son growled lowly. "We've been getting reports from the lower ranks about several Senju and Hagoromo shinobi scouting the place. How can big brother fight while taking care of them?" Izuna pulled his own hair trying to think. "I'm going to look for him."

Tajima straightened and looked at his son with serious eyes. He knew he couldn't stop him, but if the rumors were true and the Senju had indeed formed an alliance with the Hagoromo Clan, Madara wouldn't be left unscathed.

"Take a small team with the strongest high ranks with you."

Izuna nodded and left the room.

* * *

Itachi was stunned when he entered the room Kakashi pointed. It was filled with countless monitors, all displaying live records of the Uchiha Compound. "What's the meaning of this?"

The room was filled with several Anbu when they first walked in, but they left after Kakashi informed them that their shift was over. "Ever since the attack of the Kyuubi, the council has been fixed in blaming the Uchiha Clan."

"I've known about that," Itachi commented, observing one of the cameras. At that precise moment, Sasuke was walking back to the Compound after classes were over. "But we didn't do anything. Some have noticed that we were being watched, but we didn't have any evidence to support it."

"So, now that you have the evidence, what are you gonna do about it?"

Itachi looked at Kakashi. "Nothing. They won't be happy about it. Besides, I'm not allowed to talk about my job."

Kakashi looked back at the monitors, clicking the backward button several times. "I'm sorry you have to do something like this. You can leave if you feel uncomfortable."

"I don't mind," Itachi shrugged. "I signed up for this when I accepted the first mission. What kind of Anbu am I going to be if I can't do something like this."

"It's still a dirty job, spying on your friends and family." Kakashi closed his eyes. "I would feel uncomfortable. It's the worst betrayal I can imagine."

"A mission's a mission."

Kakashi opened his eyes again as he stared at the monitor once again. He didn't perceive any irregular activity in the clansmen. Why would Ibiki want him to search for something out of the ordinary?

Well If we're looking for Hanako, might as well search for her in the tapes.

However, several minutes passed before Kakashi realized that Hanako didn't show in any recording. His brows knitted together as he looked at Itachi. "You didn't know about the cameras, right?"

Itachi had been focused over watching the senior police men talking outside the Police Force building when Kakashi talked to him. "No, this is the first time I hear about this. Why?"

"These cameras are well hidden, they aren't exactly easy to find even if you know their location. And even then, I can't find Hanako in any screen for the past month. I haven't searched farther back, but I have an idea of what this means."

Itachi froze. "Hanako knows."

"Yes." Kakashi took a deep breath. "Shit... I have to report this."

"Please, don't." Itachi stood up and glanced at Kakashi with wide eyes. "Please. I know it's too much to ask, but if you report Hanako knowing about the cameras, they are going to assume all the clan knows and cause a serious problem." Itachi closed his eyes and bowed entirely. "I'm sure Hanako has kept it a secret for the same reason. Let me study this well and figure out who knows exactly."

Kakashi's eyes softened. "All right, let's keep this between us."

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess, Kakashi-san."

With a smile, Kakashi put a hand over his head. "Don't worry about it Itachi, you can count on me for anything. Always know that."

Itachi gritted his teeth.

"However, we need to find Hanako as soon as possible." Itachi looked up at him. "Things are going to turn nasty for us if she doesn't come back soon. They might brand her a traitor for defecting the village, even though that wasn't her intention."

Itachi looked at the ground. "We might have found a way back, however, it's not possible without Hanako's cooperation from the dimension she's in. We're waiting for the right time, but only Hikari can now for certain."

Kakashi looked at the ceiling. "Then I don't have a choice but to stall as much as I can."

Itachi smiled. "Thank you, Kakashi."

The jounin looked at him from the tip of his eye. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Are you guys dating? You and Hanako, I mean..."

Itachi looked up at Kakashi with surprise. "Huh? Er... No, not exactly." His eyes slowly moved away, trying not to make eye contact with his supervisor.

Behind his mask, Kakashi grinned. "Oh? Really? You seemed pretty close to me."

"Well, we're used to training together and such..."

"Then, you wouldn't mind if I asked her out for a coffee?" Kakashi mentioned casually but Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"Hanako doesn't like coffee."

"Then, tea?"

"Neither."

"What does she like?"

"Not you."

Kakashi chuckled. "Fair enough." He looked at the young Uchiha with a soft smile. "You're worried, aren't you? Even if you show a poker face around, I can feel you're anxious."

Itachi sighed. "We had a fight before I joined the Anbu. We haven't really talked since, she keeps ignoring me."

"What happened?"

Itachi shook his head. "Do you think wanting to change this world and erase all conflict is a childish dream?"

Kakashi looked through the window. "Not childish, but I would say it's unrealistically ambitious."

"Ambitious, huh?" Itachi smiled sadly. Everyone in the academy laughed at him when he first spoke about his dream. It wasn't until he graduated that everyone started to consider him being serious about it.

Itachi had already made up his mind. He was definitely going to change the system. Whatever it takes.