[ The next day ]
"Are you the leaf shinobi?", an elderly man asked the team that had just arrived at the gold mine.
Asuma : Yes, we are.
He said, handing a document that the Hokage had given them.
"Okay, good good.", he replied, leading them to where the fleet was ready to be transported.
"We are grateful for this."
The transportation was going to take about a week. So the team decided that three people would always be on lookout at the start of the group - one jonin and two genins.
Not much in particular happened on the way. One of the cart's wheels fell off which was fixed. But otherwise the mission was quite smooth.
The first day ended and the three jonin decided to stay up and keep an eye on the rest of the people of the party. They sat around a fire, eating after they had made sure everyone was gone.
Hazuna : So, how is it going with Kurenai?
She asked Asuma suddenly.
Asuma : W-what do you mean?
He replied, stuttering a bit.
Asuma : Nothing is going on.
Hazuna : Ah, I will take your word for it.
She smirked.
Kakashi : You should sleep a bit.
Kakashi told his 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 student.
Hazuna : I should be telling you that, old age must be getting to you.
She retorted, making Asuma laugh.
Kakashi : Funny.
He rolled his visible eye.
The next two days were more or less similar, monotonous even. The genins were getting more and more restless.
Presently Hazuna, Shikamaru and Naruto were at the head of the party on lookout.
Naruto : So, this is just another boring mission!!! UGHHHH!!
He groaned.
Shikamaru : This is such a drag.
He said lazily.
Hazuna : Everything is a drag for you, Shikamaru.
She said sharply, making his posture a bit more upright. No sooner had she said that than a kunai flew towards her, just barely missing her face and hitting a tree behind her.
Hazuna : Ah, looks like it isn't a drag after all.
She told him, turning to face the direction the knife had come from.
Four people in masks appeared before them.
"Wait, are they leaf shinobi? I thought star shinobi were guarding the fleet.", one of them asked the other.
Hazuna : Who might you all be?
She asked.
"It doesn't matter. What are three kid shinobis against us?"
She glanced at the six members of the team that hadn't revealed themselves yet.
Hazuna : Oh, you are absolutely right. Whatever are three shinobis against you people that can't throw a kunai accurately.
She mocked.
Realising her insult, one of the masked men stepped forward.
"You sure have a mouth on you, girl. Hand over the gold and no one get's hurt.", he growled. He set his hands together, forming signs for a fire style attack.
Hazuna at once realized this but decided not to use her sharingan just yet. She countered his attack.
Hazuna : Fire style : fireball jutsu!
She yelled, stopping his fire attack from reaching the gold.
Another one of the robbers ran towards her but stopped in his tracks, unable to move.
Shikamaru : Shadow possession jutsu is a success.
He smirked.
Naruto : Shadow clone jutsu!
He yelled, attacking the two remaining robbers with his clones.
The one's Naruto was attacking overpowered him. Kakashi took this as a sign to enter the battle, instantly jumping in front of Naruto to face the two. He lifted up his headband in a split second, revealing his other eye.
Hazuna : Ring any bells?
She asked, finally awakening her sharingan as she continued to attack her opponent.
"I-is that- the copy ninja?!", the two cowered in fear.
"Which means… you are the Uchiha girl!"
Hazuna : Nice to meet you.
She smirked.
Hazuna : And now..
She paused for a split second, creating a sphere of chakra to strike her opponent.
Hazuna : Rasengan!
The battle was over as soon as it begun. There was no comparison. After interrogation, it was revealed that they were rogue shinobi, wanted in the stone village trying to make a living off of robbing people.
It was decided that the team would be split; Kakashi and Hazuna would take the rogue ninja to the leaf village while Asuma and the genins would continue to the hidden star village.
They set off, keeping the rogue's in order. They walked without much hesitation, accepting their defeat. The situation seemed to be under control, definitely.
Or so they thought…
As they headed in the direction of Konohagakure, once again they found their path blocked. Only this time, it was by two people in black robes that bore red clouds.
Both wore shinobi headbands, with their respective village symbols slashed out.
And one of those symbols was that of the leaf village. Hazuna felt her soul leave her fucking body.
Hazuna : Itachi..
Itachi : Hazuna.
He said in a disinterested tone.
Every muscle in the girl's body froze. For years she had thought of exactly what she would say to him when she saw him but her mind went blank. She couldn't think, let alone form a sentence.
Kakashi : What are you doing here, Itachi?
He spoke, noticing Hazuna's defeated expression.
Itachi : Unfortunately, we can't let you both go any further with those rogue ninjas.
He replied, not taking a second to interact with his estranged best friend.
Kakashi : What is it you want?
He asked.
The guy standing next to Itachi reached a realization.
"So, she is that best friend from back home?", he asked.
He had pale blue skin, with a large sword and a shark like appearance.
"He talked about me..?", Hazuna thought trying to pull herself together.
Itachi : That's her.
He said, before facing Hazuna again.
Itachi : We have orders to take these ninjas with us. To the Akatsuki.
Kakashi : Well, we can't allow you to do that.
He said, revealing his sharingan again.
Itachi did the same.
Hazuna gritted her teeth, discarding her thoughts before also revealing her sharingan.
"I feel kind of left out. All of you have sharingan.", Itachi's partner, Kisame said.
"Tell me about it.", one of the captive rogue ninja said.
"For a clan that has supposedly gone extinct, there sure seems to be plenty of sharingan to go around."
Kisame : Wait, you are sharingan Kakashi!
The shark boy realized.
Hazuna : Why does this happen every damn time?
She sighed, beginning to awaken her mangekyou sharingan, just in case.
Hazuna : You can still come back to the village, Itachi.
Itachi : And who says I want to?
He questioned defensively, while he thought something he dared not say.
"God, I have missed you Hazuna."
Hazuna : I know you want to.
She replied.
She knew him. Better than almost anyone. Anyone who was alive anyway. She tried desperately to find a shred of the old Itachi she knew, just so she could continue to believe in him.
As if Itachi sensed this, he softened his gaze for a split second, just long enough for nobody but her to see him. It killed him inside. It killed him to not be able to hug her, and tell her how sorry he was for abandoning her and leaving her with nothing. What he didn't know was that all of that was conveyed to her in that one look he gave.
Kakashi : Well, we are not handing over the rogues so-
He was cut off by Kisame running towards the two. Hazuna stared at him, trapping him in a genjutsu.
And it was no ordinary genjutsu either.
Hazuna : Tsukuyomi!
She yelled, bringing him to the terrible illusion that was nicknamed the 'Nightmare realm'. He screamed, as she tortured him mercilessly.
Itachi, who was coming at Kakashi with the intent to kill, had been thrown off by Hazuna using his signature genjutsu but quickly regained his focus.
Kakashi began to attack him when Kisame, who had been under genjutsu for just a minute, was so scarred by it that he became unconscious once Hazuna broke the genjutsu.
She shot the fallen Akatsuki member a cold look before returning to Kakashi's side, ready for Itachi to attack.
But to their surprise, he picked up his fallen teammate and looked straight at the captive rogues, instantly putting them in a genjutsu.
Itachi : This never happened.
He said flatly, looking at Hazuna and Kakashi.
Itachi : We didn't find you both, hurry up and leave. Take these fools with you.
Taken aback at this, they agreed immediately and Hazuna's suspicions suddenly became reality. There is no way he could have killed everyone close to him out of his own will. A surge of hatred hit her as she thought about the people at the leaf that had ordered him to tear his life apart for their sake.
Itachi : Hazuna.
He said in a low voice.
Hazuna turned to look at him in response.
Hazuna : Yeah..?
She said, slowly.
To Kakashi's surprise, he hugged her.
Itachi : It's good to see you.
He mumbled.
She hugged him back after registering what had just occurred, feeling her hatred intensify. Soon he pulled away.
"Itachi.....", Kakashi went deep into thought, piecing together what had just occurred.
Itachi : And Hazuna..
He started.
Itachi : Please, don't tell Sasuke you saw me.
She nodded, breathing shakily as they left.
She didn't say a word the whole way back to the village. Kakashi didn't try to talk either.