Fire. Fire everywhere.
Run. Don't stop running. Someone is out for your life and all you can do is to run.
Broken walls. Corpses littering the area. Lightning jutsus raining down on her.
Why are you still looking at those? Someone is trying to kill you! Run. RUN!
Dodged the lightning jutsus. Continue running. Chakra reserves running low. Fire Release Chakra Mode can no longer be maintained.
Run run RUN HE'S GAINING ON YOU!
Laser beams were fired. There was no way out. All she can do is to-
PainpainpainPAINPAINPAINPAINPAIN-
Her eyes fluttered open in shock, breathing laboured. She can feel cold sweat clinging onto her skin as her eyes saw the ceiling of her bedroom. It's dark. It should be dark. It's the middle of the night and the whole compound is asleep.
Another nightmare of that day.
Hanabi slowly sat up on her bed, tucking her knees close to her chest as she wiped the sweat accumulated on her forehead using the back of her hand. Ever since that day, she has been reliving the horror of getting killed at least once per night every time she goes to sleep. If she's unfortunate enough, sometimes two.
Stupid Kumo jonin with that stupid giant butcher knife.
She covered her face with her palms and rested her elbows on her knees. Everybody's busy. Everybody has their own inner demons to fight. Everybody's tired from doing their part in preparing for the next world war that most probably will break out very soon. She cannot trouble them any further. She's already a liability as it is. She's one of the heiresses of the noble Hyuga clan. She's a kunoichi of Konohagakure. She's the jinchuriki of the Nibi. She's not weak. She can do this. It's just some stupid nightmare of that day and she is still alive. She is Hyuga Hanabi. She can overcome this.
But damn this is easier said than done.
Her now immensely powerful chakra hummed beneath her skin, telling her that she's awake and not trapped in a dream. She can feel her own growing chakra and Matatabi's fiery one. The lazy cat is probably asleep. It sleeps for at least two thirds of the entire day and hates getting woken up for 'stupid' reasons. At least the beast within her is a reasonable and somewhat cooperative one. Naruto and Kushina never stopped ranting about the uncooperative Kyubi.
She forced herself to take deep breaths, breathing in and out through her mouth. In, out, in, out. Breathing exercises taught to her by her cousin always worked wonders. Maybe there is a logic behind her Neji-nii's seemingly stupid meditation practices.
For the first time in her life, she loathes going back to sleep. Everytime she closes her eyes at night that very same scene will appear before her again. She will be running. No matter how fast she ran or what route she takes those stupid lasers will find their mark on her again. Holes will be put into her body again.
She doesn't want to admit it, but everytime she finds herself in that dream again no matter how brave she tries to be she's just so scared.
Kumo. It's always Kumo. Every single big problem in her life is always because of Kumo.
She dragged her fingers through her long hair in frustration. She's so sweaty and sticky that she feels disgusted by her own current state. Stupid nightmares.
She quietly opened the bedroom window a little bigger to allow the night breeze to enter. The chilly wind cooled her down somewhat. She weighed the pros and cons of the option of going to take a quick shower right now. She decided against it, because doing so at 2.30 am will be freezing cold.
She tightened the sash of her night robe a little and decided to leave her room to breathe in some fresh air. Maybe the sight of the full moon can slowly lull her back to sleep once more. She slipped on her slippers and walked out, her footsteps silent like how she was taught to do so at the age of five.
She subconsciously walked past Haku's room which is just next to hers. Her right hand is already outstretched, almost touching the wooden frame of his door and about to push it open before her conscious mind held her back. Her subconscious mind whispered to her to talk to him, even sitting by his side will do. She knows it can help her to quickly go back into a dreamless slumber.
Her rational thought shut all the suggestions down. Haku has enough problems on his plate to deal with. He doesn't need to add hers onto his mountain of mental problems. She's supposed to be the one supporting him, not weighing him down.
The fingers of her right hand curled inwards slightly at that thought as she let out a silent breath, her gaze travelling down slightly to look at her own feet. This is just some stupid nightmare. She closed her eyes to calm herself down. She can deal with this on her own. All she has to do is to walk one round around the small garden outside her bedroom to sort out her thoughts and she can quickly go back to sleep. Tried and tested method.
Another gust of wind blew from behind her back. It was so unexpected and unusually strong that it knocked her off her feet for a moment. Not enough to make her fall, but enough to trip her.
Enough for her to accidentally push open the door of his room and go stumbling into it.
Shit.
She didn't dare to move the moment she regained her balance in the next second. Haku's room is dark, only the area near her is slightly lit up thanks to the moonlight shining in from outside. Haku's bed is on the far side of the room away from the door. She squinted her eyes a little to adjust to the dim lighting of the room and saw that Haku's back was facing her. Her ears told her that his breathing is slow and steady, indicating that he is probably still asleep.
Good. Now to quietly, slowly, carefully exit his room without waking-
She nearly jumped in her skin when another gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and closed his doors shut with an audible bang, trapping her in his room.
Okay, once can be a coincidence, twice is not.
Her gaze turned away from the shut doors and locked onto Haku with a scowl on her face. Is he deriving joy from her suffering?
She walked up to his bed where he is currently sleeping, back facing her as he lay on his left side. She didn't bother to silence her footsteps this time. In fact, she made sure he heard it loud and clear.
This idiot was awake all along and couldn't be bothered to at least tell her earlier.
Her hands pushed against his back roughly.
"Oi, move in."
He grunted in annoyance, but moved in to make space for her anyway. She whipped the blanket away from him as she got into his bed before letting the blanket cover them both. Her arms gently wrapped around his waist as she pulled herself closer to him, hugging him from behind as she closed her eyes. She listened to his breathing, smelled his scent, feeling the slightly chilly temperature of his body as compared to her warmer one.
Yeah, she can fall asleep like this.
"Bad dream?"
Should have known than to keep it from him. Of course he would have somehow sensed that she had a nightmare even when they are a room away from each other.
"Yeah. Sorry to wake you up." She mumbled as she snuggled herself closer to him even though she is currently getting a face full of his hair. Huh, he's using the shampoo she got for him. She recognised that scent anywhere.
"Want to talk about it?"
"It's about that day that stupid Darui tried to kill me. It's stupid. I'm not even scared of him but somehow that moment becomes a bad dream."
"How long has this been going on?"
"It's fine."
"I don't think this is fine."
She is the one who grunted in annoyance this time, tightening her hold over him as she continues to hug him from behind. He usually wouldn't allow her to do something like this, but he is probably too groggy and sleepy to resist her right now. It's freaking 2.30 am.
"Just shut up and let me hug you to sleep."
She heard him huffed (or was it a snort?) but the temperature of the room dipped a degree or two, making it pleasantly cool for her. He didn't bother to argue with her logic and she heard his breathing go back to slow and steady, the rise and fall of his chest mimicking the rhythm of his breathing.
She didn't bother to hide the smile growing on her face, her eyes still closed. It's not like he can see her goofy grin right now anyway. He doesn't have eyes on the back of his head unlike her.
That night, her nightmares never returned again.
Training with her newfound power is hard.
"It's easy, Hanabi-chan! All you have to do is to think real hard and then it goes woosh! And BAM! One-tailed mode!"
It sucks that Naruto sucks at explaining anything. It doesn't matter if Naruto is the daughter of the Godaime Hokage. It's a wonder how she managed to become a shinobi understanding things like that.
"Yeah! That's the way! Just do it like how Naruto and I told you!"
Kushina isn't helping things. Woosh and bam? HOW?!
Her chakra levels had mostly stabilised. She managed to retrain her chakra control at a speed that blew everyone off their feet. She's Hyuga Hanabi, the master of chakra control (self-proclaimed). Such a thing won't stump her.
But how to go into one-tailed mode did. Calling upon Matatabi's flames like how she did when she marched into the Hokage Tower to find Haku was different. Those flames are but a very tiny portion of Matatabi's power, which came as a shock for her because that was a tiny portion of its power? Just how strong is this one-tailed mode then?
According to Kushina, Matatabi's power should be a lot easier to harness and control because it only has two tails, unlike the Kyubi's nine. Controlling one tail worth of power is already akin to controlling half its power. However, right now, Hanabi couldn't even manifest the so-called chakra shroud that all jinchurikis are said to be able to do. Naruto had demonstrated what it is for her and Hanabi had observed the entire process with her byakugan. She knows in theory what is going on, but applying it to practice is a whole nother ball game.
The one and only order given to her by her Hokage is to learn how to control her newfound power as soon as possible. Kushina had been very frank with her and told her that it will be very difficult for her. Unlike Naruto, who had her whole life of twelve years thus far to slowly get used to this foreign chakra constantly moving around in her system, Hanabi didn't have this luxury. There is a reason why most people sealed the Tailed Beasts into young children, because it is easier for them to become the perfect jinchuuriki if that was done.
She only had been a host for Matatabi for weeks.
Ever since her chakra control went back to normal, she found herself spending most of her time everyday in a secret training ground hidden behind the Hokage Mountain with Kushina and Naruto. Haku is somewhere in the area as well doing his own training, she isn't really privy to what he is doing other than the fact it sometimes leaves him a defenseless and groaning mess whenever he is done with it. Kushina told her that those symptoms are the aftereffects of the training method that Minato had taught him, but it leaves Haku unable to do anything much the next day. Something about seals and the body needs to catch up with the mind and vice versa.
Hanabi let out a frustrated growl when she failed again to pull on Matatabi's chakra in a way that can manifest the chakra shroud. Just what is she doing wrong?
"It's fine, Hanabi. This thing takes time." Kushina gave her some encouraging words as she patted her on the shoulder. The other end of the training field is filled with Narutos, each doing a different type of training of their own by utilising the memory transfer properties of the Shadow Clone technique. Kushina had promised to teach her the Shadow Clone jutsu when she managed to successfully enter the one-tailed state.
"I don't have time." Hanabi growled as she kicked a nearby pebble to vent her frustration. It has been days and there is still no progress. She had never been stuck on something for so long before. Why now? Now is a critical period. She needs to master Matatabi's powers as soon as possible!
"Maybe we could try to loosen the seal a little…" Kushina pondered as she scratched her cheek with a finger. "Mind letting me see your seal?"
Hanabi rolled up her shirt, exposing her stomach. With a brief pulse of chakra, the seal appeared. Kushina's experienced eyes scrutinised the seal markings and the frown between her eyes got deeper and deeper until she finally asked a question.
"Do you have the key?"
"Key?" Hanabi asked perplexedly with a look of confusion. "What key?"
"Haku never told you?" It is now Kushina's turn to be surprised. "Huh, weird. Wait a moment while I go get him here."
It didn't take Kushina long to reappear with Haku by her side. He had said that he will be doing physical training today instead of whatever super secret Yellow Flash training method, so it didn't take him long to appear before her when Kushina brought him in.
"Alright, brat. If the key's not on her it's on you. Where did you hide the key?"
"I didn't hide it." Haku retorted as the fingers on his right palm lit up with a blue flare of chakra, seal markings appearing on his palm and travelling downwards his wrist until it went hidden from view thanks to the sleeves of his clothes. "I split it into two. Half is with me, the other half is with Hanabi. Precautionary measures."
"What key?" Hanabi asked with her voice slightly higher than normal. "Can someone explain to me what is going on?"
"Use your byakugan and see how my chakra flows in my right hand. Do the same to your left."
She immediately did what he told her to and she immediately understood. She stuck out her left hand and called upon her chakra, willing it to flow in the same way his chakra did in his hand. The same weird seal markings appeared.
They now have matching wriggly symbols on both their hands. This is actually kind of fun.
"These are two halves of the key to unlock your seal. When the day comes when you want to claim the Nibi's power for your own, you will have to use it to unlock it fully. Right now, what we are doing is to loosen the seal a little. Just a little, okay? Just follow my lead and let me do the tweaking. Don't loosen it anymore than I allow you to."
She nodded in affirmation. Under Kushina's supervision, she watched as Haku's fingers came into contact with the seal inked on her stomach. She had to suppress her urge to giggle because the sensation of having his fingers on her stomach is a little ticklish. She put her left hand over his right to complete the key, and watched in fascination as the two seals merged and completed itself into one. He slowly twisted his right hand as if turning a doorknob, the drawings of the seal changing in response. She can see the transformation from the change in the swirl of the Eight Trigrams Seal, feel the rush of foreign chakra from her abdomen as it spread across her entire body.
"Hanabi, focus. Control it."
Kushina's words snapped her mind back to mission mode and she tried to mentally command the influx of power from Matatabi, closing her eyes in concentration. A brief scream escaped her mouth when there was a sudden assault of pain from allowing the corrosive chakra to fill her. This is different from the sensation of having Matatabi's flames protecting her. This is something else.
This is Matatabi's raw chakra.
"That's it, Hanabi. You are doing great! The shroud is forming. Control it! Will it to follow your command! Don't let it overpower your mind! It's all about willpower!"
Kushina's words temporarily cleared the feral haze that was slowly clouding her mind. This experience is painful. Naruto was right, no words can describe it when you are experiencing it for the first time. This chakra is corrosive.
But like hell she will let this stop her. She promised him that she will be his power. She has to harness Matatabi's power so that she can help him make this fucked up world a better place.
"I'm resealing it!"
"No, wait! She's slowly getting it under control!"
"Under control? She's screaming in pain!"
She's in too much pain to even talk, but she managed to use her right hand to grab onto Haku's wrist, preventing him from tightening the seal.
She can do this.
"RRRAAARRRGGHH!"
She felt the built-up chakra exploding outwards as she screamed. She felt her nails elongating and her canines sharpening. She felt her bloodlust skyrocketing and the instinctive call for her to get onto all fours like a cat, but she fought against it and tried to clamp it down. Kushina had told her early on that controlling the power of a Tailed Beast is all about the battle of willpower. The one with a stronger conviction will win.
No way she is losing in a battle of conviction against a sleeping cat.
'I've awakened the moment you chose to loosen my seal, nya. Quite bold of you to do so.'
Ah crap.
She felt Haku's hand moved and twisted the seal back into its original position. There was a mental click and the surge of chakra is suddenly gone. Her transformation receded. A sudden wave of exhaustion hit her and she simply fell forward, unable to do anything other than to fall. She barely registered a pair of arms catching her.
"Hanabi! Hanabi!"
"...am… fine." She slurred out before Haku started to panic over her. The last thing she needs is for him to summon the winter in Konoha simply because he freaked out.
"This is normal for a first try." She heard Kushina's voice in the background. "I'm actually impressed that she actually got to form a tail the very first time we attempted this, even if it only lasted for a second."
Only one second? All that tortuous experience and she only managed to maintain the proper one-tailed shroud for only one second?!
Damn it. Nothing's ever easy.
"That was so cool 'ttebayo! Better than when I first tried it!"
"Alright, Naruto. You've seen enough. Go back to your training, the whole lot of you!"
There was a cacophony of 'Kaa-chan!' from the horde of Narutos.
"Hanabi probably wouldn't be able to continue training for the rest of the day. We will just have to continue tomorrow. Let her rest. A few hours of good sleep will do the trick."
She's too tired to even acknowledge Kushina's words or even open her eyes. Is this the price to pay in trying to even access Matatabi's powers? How did Yugito survive going full cat-mode? Using this power for a few seconds already made her feel like shit.
'Fufufu… Not too bad, but you still have a long way to go to earn my acknowledgement, Hanabi-chan.'
'Yes, laugh. Laugh some more. Laugh all you want. Just you wait. I'll beat you someday.'
'When you are an old hag? Sure, nya. You know, I expected better from you since you are a descendant of Hamura. Among all of his descendants that I've met in recent years, his blood runs thickest in you.'
Hamura? Come to think about it, Matatabi mentioned this person too in their very first encounter.
'Who is Hamura?'
'YOU are asking me who is Hamura? Gosh, I can't believe this, nya! How can you not know your own ancestor?! Blasphemy, nya! How can YOU not know who Hamura oji-san is, nya!'
Only one thought ran through her mind when she heard that.
'Just how old are you for you to have met my ancestor?'
'I'll not answer that question! It's rude to ask a lady her age, nya!'
'You are a lady? I didn't know tailed beasts have genders.'
'We don't, but I'm a lady at heart, nya! Wake me up again when you finally have some progress in trying to control my power or have something interesting to share. As of now, you are weaker than a puny mouse.'
'That's it? You are just going to go back to sleep? At least tell me who this Hamura really is- Matatabi? Hey, Matatabi?'
There was no response. The lazy cat really had gone back to sleep.
She opened her eyes again when she felt movement, just in time to see Haku laying her on her bed. Wait, when had she gotten back to her bedroom? Weren't they at the Hokage Monument just a moment ago? All she did was to close her eyes for a short moment!
"You alright? Need me to call a doctor here?"
She shook her head, still too tired to form a verbal response. He carefully covered her with a blanket and was about to exit her room, but she held onto his sleeve with a hand, not letting him go.
She doesn't want to sleep, not when her nightmares from that day are still haunting her whenever she closes her eyes.
"Hanabi?"
The plea in her eyes must have been obvious. Either that, or he simply understands her very well.
He got back to her side and held her hand in his as he sat by the edge of her bed.
"I'm going to be here the whole time, okay? You are not going to get any nightmares. Just concentrate on going to sleep and get some rest."
With some difficulty thanks to the exhaustion she is currently experiencing, she used her hand to pat the empty spot on her bed beside her. She doesn't want him to just hold her hand. She wants him to be beside her where she can hug him. Only then will the nightmares disappear.
"Fine, just this once."
She mentally did a smug victory sign in her head when he lay down beside her. She wasted no time hugging and snuggling close to him as she closed her eyes and let the exhaustion take her to sleep. Like this, the nightmares cannot appear in her dreams. Like this, she can sleep in peace.
Like this, she can at least pretend that they are both alright.
"Remind me again why I'm stuck with you?"
"Because we can't do anything else 'ttebayo! Kaa-chan took Haku-nii away so you have to keep me company!"
Hanabi facepalmed in resignation. Due to their jinchuriki statuses, she and Naruto are being watched 24/7 and not allowed to go anywhere out of sight of their hidden ANBU guards. She is sure that she can easily spot a few ANBU guards around the area if she turned on her byakugan right now. Both of them will also not be able to go for missions or even team training during this period because their priority is to control their unique power, which is an extremely time consuming event by itself. She knows that Sai is now temporarily a part of Team 7 in replacement of Naruto since she and Haku are both not available for regular duty.
From the few meetups they have with the artist and what she knows from her sister, what her friends are doing right now are support work. Menial things like deliveries or fixing broken areas from the invasion while doing their own training in their spare time. Their Hokage is still reluctant to send genins out for war at this period because it will only add to the death toll if war breaks out.
Since Haku is one of the rare breeds who is actually proficient in the sealing arts, he was immediately snatched away by Kushina and introduced to the Barrier Team which she is a part of. Haku is now one of Kumo's high priority targets, but unlike fellow S Rank threats like their Obito-sensei or Hatake Kakashi, their Hokage feels that he is still too young and inexperienced to deal with constant threats on his life out in the field where the two are currently sent to. This is not even considering his recent mental breakdown yet.
In her opinion, it is for the best that Haku doesn't get involved in anything combat-related for now, but she knows it is just a matter of time before he got called upon to go to the frontlines. He is simply too powerful and valuable as a shinobi to be stuck in the village.
There is tension in the air but everyone still goes about their daily businesses, trying to act as normal as possible. Her father and uncle are now always busy and she didn't get to see them often. Most of her shinobi clansmen have been drafted into various divisions and teams in preparation for war, leaving the clan compound relatively empty. She could train till she drops to pass the time but she also knows the importance of doing things in moderation. It's too boring to be all by herself at home, so she decided to find the only other person who, like her, is not busy at the moment.
Leaving her with the hyperactive Naruto.
"This is disgusting." Hanabi had to suppress her urge to puke or spat at her fellow jinchuriki as she dug through the pile. "How long have this been sitting here?"
"Ehehehe…" Naruto has the cheek to give her a sheepish and apologetic grin while scratching the back of her head with a hand. "About two months…?"
"And you didn't bother to wash your stuff for TWO MONTHS?!" Hanabi threw the offending backpack at Naruto, who wisely dodged out of the way. "Everything in here stinks!"
Clothes, weapons, tools. Anything in Naruto's backpack stinks so badly because the idiot simply left it at a corner of her bedroom without even thinking about washing it the first thing she returned back from her last long-term mission two months ago.
"I forgot all about it 'ttebayo!"
"FORGOT?!"
"Everything's kept in sealing scrolls so it didn't smell! My bag's also lined with tou-chan's seals to keep the smell from leaking out so I didn't smell it until you reminded me about it today and then I remembered that there are things that I forgot to let Kaa-chan wash and-"
"Alright, fine. I get it." Hanabi cut Naruto off, eyeing the stinky smelly sweaty orange clothes with clear disdain. There are various kunais coated with dried blood among other things as well. Gosh, how did Naruto sleep in her own room for so long without doing anything about the backpack right at the corner of her room? It's just right there!
"Help me wash it? Please?"
"You don't know how to wash your own clothes? Really? Are you kidding me? Even I know how to wash my clothes, and I am supposed to be the spoiled princess!"
"I always did such a bad job at washing the laundry that Kaa-chan barred me from even using the washing machine 'ttebayo!"
"How can anyone be bad at using the washing machine? All you have to do is to press the buttons! What did you do?"
"The last time I touched one, it died."
Somehow, Hanabi couldn't find it in herself to doubt Naruto's ridiculous words. Anything is possible with her.
"You bring your clothes with you. I'm not touching that." Hanabi pointed to the pile of stinky rags (she refused to call them clothes until they smell like flowers) and promptly walked out of Naruto's bedroom. Her ears may be wrong, but she might have heard some quiet snickering from somewhere during her entire conversation with Naruto. Their ANBU guards are probably laughing at her plight, or maybe at Naruto's inability to do a simple chore like washing clothes.
"No, we are not dumping it into the washing machine yet." She stopped Naruto before she messed up the entire machine. "We are going to handwash your clothes first before dumping it in."
"Huh, why?!"
"Do you even see how dirty your clothes are?! Do you want to clog up the entire machine with all the lumps of mud and dirt still stuck on it?!" Hanabi had to control her urge to scream at the dense blonde knucklehead. She heard the snickers this time, loud and clear. Their ANBU guards are definitely taking great joy in her suffering.
She pointed at the dirty pile of laundry in Naruto's arms. They are covered in all shades of green, black, brown, and who-knows-what colours that she cannot and don't want to identify. She is trying very hard to not even breathe within its immediate vicinity because god, it smells so damn awful.
"You are going to scrub out all the dirtiest things out of your clothes first, then we are putting it into the washing machine to get it clean. You with me?"
They managed to find some empty buckets and promptly filled it up with water. She cannot believe that she actually has to physically demonstrate to Naruto how to hand wash her clothes. She nearly had a heart attack when Naruto nearly dumped the whole container of powder detergent into her bucket until she stopped her in time. She blanched when the clear water in the buckets immediately turned into a murky shade of an unrecognisable colour the moment Naruto's clothes were dumped into it. She lost count on the number of times they had to change the water after each wash. She screamed into the sky when Naruto tried to scrub the unspeakables out with her hands faster by using chakra, only to rip her clothes in the process. She heaved a sigh of relief when the colour of water in the bucket is clear enough for her to deem okay to finally dump the clothes into the washing machine for the final wash.
How did Naruto's house not go up in flames yet?!
She spent a total of an agonising one hour and thirteen minutes (yes, she counted) supervising Naruto and her equally trouble prone shadow clones. She considered it an achievement when she got them to dump the surviving articles of clothes which are now fit for being properly washed by the washing machine into said machine. She hasn't got to the point where she tries to strangle Naruto yet, so at least something went right.
There. Now it's done.
Getting Naruto to wash her backpack properly was a lot easier now that Naruto has some experience in handwashing things. They then ended up spending the rest of the time waiting for the washing machine to be done with the laundry by maintaining Naruto's weapons, sharpening and oiling it. Anything too worn out to be used were placed in a separate pile to be discarded or recycled.
It was when Hanabi finally reached the point where they can now hang the laundry out to dry in the sun, just right outside at the backyard of Naruto's house, did she realise that she never felt so mentally exhausted before in trying to teach someone a basic life skill.
"Woohoo! I finally learnt how to do my laundry! Thanks Hanabi-chan!"
"Don't mention it." She grumbled under her breath. Kushina and Minato better give her an award or something for teaching their daughter something which they failed to teach her for the past twelve years of her life. She can see why Kushina ended up not letting Naruto do any laundry if her experiences with trying to teach Naruto is any indication.
Maybe it's a blessing that Naruto does not have the same love for seals as they do. Who knows what Naruto will blow up if that were the case?
"If you guys are done laughing, you can help us take this pile of scrap metal to be recycled." Hanabi glared at the tree to her right where she knows an ANBU member is hiding. She and Naruto are only allowed to visit certain places of the village right now thanks to their jinchuriki status and the current state outside the village. They cannot wander off to anywhere they like because the chances of assassinations attempts done on them is now at an all time high. It is for their own safety. The recycling factory where shinobis dump their discarded ninja tools is not in the designated area where she and Naruto can visit right now.
An ANBU with a crow mask shimmered into view in front of them and Hanabi narrowed her eyes.
"I've seen you somewhere before, haven't I?"
"Oh, it's Itachi-nii!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hi!"
"I will neither confirm nor deny your claims, Naruto-san." The ANBU replied in a monotonous and garbled voice, probably an effect of donning that animal mask. "Please call me Crow as per my designated identity instead of saying your speculations out loud in public."
"Sorry Ita- I mean Crow-san!" Naruto replied, still waving her hands happily. Hanabi tried to peer beyond the mask with her byakugan, only to find that she couldn't.
"There are seals placed in the masks such that even the byakugan cannot see through it." As if sensing her inner thoughts, Crow replied as he sealed the discarded ninja tools into a blank scroll. "Among many other things."
"Am I your charge? Or is it Naruto?"
"I'm afraid the ANBU tasked with your protection is Bird's team. Protecting Naruto is the responsibility of my team." Crow replied as he stood back up to his full height after pocketing the scroll. "Although I have to admit it makes our jobs easy for both our teams whenever you two spend your time together. That is all I am allowed to divulge."
"And Haku?"
"Bird's team is also ordered to keep an eye on him, but he does not need any protection." Crow replied dutifully. "Haku-san's sensory range is way larger than any ANBU from our teams, so he would sense any threats to his person even before we could. There's no point in trying to protect him. In fact, we agree that you are at your safest if he is around you."
Haku has a larger sensory range than any of the ANBU guards that is currently protecting them? Since when? Since when did he become a sensor nin? How did he even do that? It's something about controlling the surrounding water vapour, isn't it? Didn't he admit that he is only passable at that kind of unorthodox sensing during the end of the second stage of the Chunin Exams? How did he make such a drastic improvement?
Crow faded from view after saying his piece.
"I need to learn how to do that someday 'ttebayo! That is too cool to not learn!"
"Give it up. I'm pretty sure what Crow did was a form of genjutsu. You are hopeless at genjutsu."
"Hanabi-chan~"
"And no, I don't know how Crow did that. Don't bother asking."
"Actually, I was asking if you can teach me how to cook. Kaa-chan never let me cook anything that is not instant ramen!"
Hanabi can actually feel the blood draining from her face upon hearing that question. The sniggers from around them actually became clearly audible. Damn ANBU guards and their sadistic sense of humour.
"No."
"Pleas-"
"No."
"Then what about teaching me how to sweep the floor and stuff like that? I want to surprise tou-chan and kaa-chan!"
Hanabi took a while to ponder about Naruto's request. Sweeping a floor is easy work. It couldn't be too hard even for an idiot like Naruto. Surely she would have learnt a thing or two from all the D Rank missions they had been on?
Besides, she is currently bored out of her mind since Kushina forced them to take a break from training today.
"Alright. Why not?"