Kakashi finished giving the report of their last mission to the Hokage and finally headed home. It was almost nighttime, he never expected to take that long in the report, but the Third kept asking him about Hanako and how she had performed. The Jonin answered him everything he wanted to know, but it was until 6 p.m. that he was finally released.

When Kakashi entered his room, he was surprised to see Hanako sitting on his bed Indian style. "Sorry for breaking in," she lowered her head. "You told me I could come to you anytime..."

"What happened?" Kakashi walked to her and sat next to her on the bed.

"Why didn't you tell me what happened to them?" Hanako looked at him with pained eyes. "I know you knew, you were the one who found their bodies..." Kakashi looked away, instantly knowing what she was referring to. "Why, Kakashi?" Hanako's eyes finally teared.

"I wasn't sure you could handle it... It happened two years ago." Kakashi looked at her and his stomach churned when he stared at her tears rolling down her eyes like a cascade. He had already seen her cry twice in less than a week. She had been playing the tough girl all the time, but now he could see how broken she really was. Why was she crying like that all of a sudden?

Kakashi sighed and stood up to look in his closet for a blanket. "I'm sorry to bother you like this, Kakashi." Hanako chuckled dryly. "You must think I'm pathetic... I don't blame you, though. I think the same."

Kakashi put the blanket over her shoulders. "You're not pathetic. You're just human," he said. "I'd be worried if you hadn't reacted like this. Kaito-san was your tutor, Koharu and Hiroki were your friends. The three of them were comrades, and their loss hurt." Kakashi turned away towards his desk. He checked some papers until he found a drawing. "I found this symbol close to their bodies," he said as he showed her the drawing. A triangle inscribed in a circle.

Hanako's mouth went dry. "That symbol..."

Kakashi frowned at noticing her features. "Do you recognize it?"

"No," Hanako shook her head. "I just thought I had seen it somewhere, but I don't know where." The Uchiha looked down at the covers of Kakashi's bed and traced the shuriken drawings in it with her finger.

"A book?" Hanako raised an eyebrow as she looked at Orochimaru. "Are you actually giving me a book?"

"You should check its contents before making that face." The man smirked. Hanako did as told, and widened her eyes when she saw that it was actually the information she had asked about the Akatsuki. "It took me too long to give it to you because I was making sure it was updated. The ones with a red cross over their pictures are already dead, most of them were Kakuzu's partner. He didn't mind killing them when he was tired of them." Orochimaru sighed.

Hanako moved from picture to picture, only nine of them weren't marked. There was a lot missing about the abilities, but at least she had the identities. Two of the nine, though, had no picture. Hanako also noted that "Tobi" was nowhere in the list. "It took you more than two years to give me this, and it's still incomplete. You are only giving me their names and their picture. And still there's two of them that don't have any picture."

"I got the pictures from Bingo Books I stole from ANBU. Most of the members are S-rank criminals, but Pain, the leader, and Konan are not in any book. They are not even criminal themselves. That's why I don't have their picture, they didn't ever show themselves either, so telling you how they look is almost impossible," Orochimaru added.

"No member has seen them?" Hanako asked.

"Of course they have, but I'm not one of them." Orochimaru smirked. "Akatsuki was just a temporary affiliation. I was interested in finding a vessel but I'm afraid I couldn't find anything worthy. So, I got bored and left."

"Sounds to me that you didn't get what you wanted," Hanako muttered with a smirk as she looked at him from the tips of her eyes.

"You can look at it the way you want..." Orochimaru turned around and left.

Hanako chuckled and focused her attention back to the book. "So, let's take a look then..." She scoped through the pages. A man with a strange necklace caught her attention and she stopped to look closely at him. "Hidan...?" Hanako looked down at his characteristics, he was the last one in the book. She guessed it was because he was the last one recruited.

"I tried researching it, but it got me nowhere..." Kakashi commented with a frown. The symbol Kakashi had drawn in that paper was the same symbol in Hidan's necklace. Could it be...did Hidan kill them? Hanako gritted her teeth. Everything...every single thing she found was somehow related to the Akatsuki. Could it be...that Tobi had something to do with it?

The Uchiha was so fed up with knowing what had happened that she didn't notice Kakashi was trying to get her attention. When she finally noticed the hand waving right in front of her face, Hanako blinked a couple of times and looked at Kakashi. "I don't want you to look for their killer," he said.

Hanako raised an eyebrow. "Why? He could still be out there..." She pressed her lips.

"Stop, don't look for revenge. Just...wish him a miserable life." Hanako scoffed.

"Fine, I wish him a miserable life, and to all you damn killers who kill mercilessly...oh wait, I'm also in that list. Oh! You too, Kakashi! Oh Kami, all Shinobi are in that goddamn list!" Hanako frowned at the Jonin. "Makes me feel better thank you," her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Kakashi smirked at her reply. "That's the Hanako I know..."

"Well," the brunette pushed away the blanket and stood up. "It's getting late; see you tomorrow, Hatake."

Kakashi watched her as she disappeared into the night. Then he walked to the bed and took the drawing of the symbol. Hanako had definitely seen something in that symbol. Kakashi tightened his grip on the paper. Kaito's mission was to investigate a possible track. Hanako's track. But, it was a trap. He died looking for his student. He died believing he had failed as a teacher, and all his solace was finding the Uchiha so he could make amends.

* * *

Hayata Kaito

Hanako stood in front of his grave the next morning. The sun had barely started to rise, illuminating all the gravestones in the cemetery. The three names she knew soon had become six. "Sensei," Hanako muttered, "Hiroki, Koharu... It should've been me who died, not you..." She bit her lip. "Please, forgive me..."

"Now, from today you're officially Genin. My name is Hayata Kaito, and I'll be your sensei starting today. So, why don't you introduce yourselves? I'd like to know who I'm dealing with," he stated bluntly.

"Fine, I'll go first," the brunet boy said. "My name is Komatsu Takeshi. I live with my father, my mother died when giving birth to me so I'm an only child. My father had to quit his career as a ninja to raise me and now he works selling weaponry. My dream is to be the great ninja he couldn't be so I can honor him. I like to build stuff and train with my sword. I hate cocky people who believe themselves to be superior."

Kaito nodded, "Fair enough. Next."

"My name is Mitokado Kazuki," continued the blue eyed boy. "I live with both my parents. Unlike Takeshi, I don't have a story to tell so I'll just say that I like reading technique scrolls in my free time. I dislike when people interrupt me while I'm reading. My purpose is to become a Jonin and a master at Ninjutsu."

Kaito sighed and looked at the last member. "And you?"

"My name is Uchiha Hanako," the brunette was the last one to talk. "I was born in the Uchiha Clan, so when people look at me the first thing that comes into their minds is 'Oh God, she must be a prodigy' or 'One day she'll be part of the elite like the rest of her clan', but I don't care what you might've thought of me when you first saw me. The first time I picked a knife, I didn't know how to use it, but I learned and then I just thought: 'This is my life, this is what I want to be.' My dream as of now is to become the most powerful kunoichi of the Leaf, but you know...it might change in the future so I'm not fixed in it. I like training, that's my favorite thing to do in my free time. Sparring, taking long walks, dango and sweets are also things I live for. I hate bitter food, people who underestimate me and waking up early in the morning."

"This is an interesting team, isn't it?" Kaito chuckled. "Well, if you thought that once you graduated the Academy everything was going to be easier, then you're awfully mistaken. From now, things are going to be harder. Our first mission begins tomorrow, make sure to be here early." Kaito looked at Hanako. "Sorry Uchiha, but now you'll have to start liking waking up early in the mornings."

Hanako chuckled. "Sensei, forgive me. I pushed you away. I always did. I always chose Shisui over you, I always appeared when we had a mission and then disappeared again afterwards. I'm sorry, in the end I didn't appreciate everything you did for me. But, I want you to watch, from wherever you are. My dream has changed. Though, it's a little complicated for me to accomplish it on my own. Also, I may not be strong enough, but I'll try to protect Kazuki and Takeshi in your absence-"

"How many times do we have to say it?" Kazuki's voice ringed in her back and Hanako widened her eyes.

"We don't need your protection," Takeshi said as they stood at either side of her. Hanako smiled looking from one to the other.

"We are going to protect us among ourselves," Kazuki corrected. "We are always going to be Team 4."

Hanako smiled widely. "I agree."

* * *

Itachi and Kisame walked towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves in a calm steady pace. Itachi had gone quite a few times while Kisame was absent and even during missions. He would often send a clone with Kisame and go himself to the village, just to sit around and watch the village life. He missed being Konohagakure's Uchiha Itachi.

The Uchiha stopped walking when he noticed that his partner had halted in his steps. "You can go ahead, I'll catch up to you in a moment," Kisame said, looking at his partner with a serious face. "I already contacted Hayabusa, Hanako-sama will meet you there."

Itachi frowned. "Hayabusa?"

"Hanako-sama's summoning. She prefers to be contacted through him." Itachi nodded and continued his way to the village. "Oh, Itachi-san?" The Uchiha stopped and looked at him from over his shoulder. "Good luck." Itachi didn't say anything, just continued walking. Kisame chuckled as he shook his head. "Hanako-sama is definitely going to kill me."

* * *

Team 7 had been working all day back at their usual D-rank missions, such as weeding yards and picking trash in rivers. "I will defeat Sasuke..." Naruto constantly glared at the Uchiha boy as his competitive aura seemed to have taken the best of him.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as she looked at their teacher. Kakashi looked at her from his book. "Why isn't Hanako-sensei here?"

Naruto seemed to finally notice that the brunette had not been with them the whole day and he gasped. "Hanako-neechan isn't here?!"

Sasuke scoffed. "You're such an idiot."

"Hanako is currently dealing with some important issues. Besides, we don't need her presence for D-rank missions, so let's not disturb her unnecessarily."

"But!"

"Naruto, stop." Kakashi looked at them. At that moment a falcon flew in circles over them and Kakashi looked at it before looking down at his Genin. "I'll go present the reports, you're free for the rest of the day. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm going home then," Sasuke turned away from them but quickly Sakura tried to convince him to go out on a date with her. Kakashi sighed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

"So, you're telling me that you became a Chunin last year?" Hanako asked while laughing.

"Hey, the exam was hard! It was in Kumo, you know? They're not as bland as you Konoha..." Hyori muttered exasperated.

Team 4 had joined Team 3 to eat at Yakiniku Q, the barbecue restaurant in the center of the village. "Says the one who lost against me..." Hanako smirked at the Senju girl, making her tremble angrily.

"I went easy on you!" she snapped. The Uchiha raised an eyebrow.

"Did you? My stomach still hurts from the punch you gave me."

"Let me just give you a better memory," Hyori clenched her fist but was stopped by Ren.

"We are trying to enjoy our meal. Stop it, the two of you," said the blue haired boy before letting go of the Senju's hand. Hanako only chuckled while Hyori scoffed and looked away.

"Well," Hanako pushed away her empty plate and stood up from the table, leaving her part of the money over it. "I should be heading home."

"I'm coming with you," Hyori also stood up. "My apartment is in the same route so..." Hanako just nodded, walking out of the restaurant with Hyori walking closely behind her.

They walked in silence through the crowded streets. Neither of them was making the move to speak. Hanako wasn't bothered by the silence, she actually enjoyed it. But Hyori, she was dying to make some conversation.

"You should visit your brothers, you know?" Hyori suggested after getting tired of the awkward silence. "They'll be happy to know that you're still alive."

"I don't know..." Hanako pressed her lips as she looked down. "They probably hate me for leaving them. I would hate me, damn... I hate myself for leaving them..." Hyori raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh? So you regret leaving them?" asked the Senju while looking at her with pure and utter curiosity.

"No, is the best I could've done." Hanako sighed.

"Why is that?"

Hanako chuckled and looked at her. "I can't tell you." After that, they went silent again, until Hyori spoke up again.

"They miss you...They are going to find out the truth soon."

"You won't say anything." Hanako was quick to remark while looking at her with a glare. "I am dead to them, do you understand?"

"I want to know why..." Hyori stood in front of the Uchiha with a frown. "I want to know why you don't want to see them. I want to know why you left five years ago. I want to know why the Uchiha Clan was massacred. I want to know everything that has been going on with you, Hanako! Jeez, I thought we were friends, but... You don't ever tell me anything..." Hyori pursed her lips before looking away. "I always tell you everything, but you..."

"I'm sorry, Hyori. But honestly... I can't tell you." Hanako looked away.

"Why?!" Hyori looked back at the Uchiha with tears gathering up at her sockets.

"Because I can't drag you down with me!" Hanako yelled. "I'm not safe to be around, Hyori. There's people out there that want my head, and are not afraid to use you as hostages." The Uchiha took a deep breath. "I'm an S-rank criminal, Hyori. That's not a lie. Do you have any idea how much is the reward? Do you know how much the head of the last Uchiha female is worth?!" Hyori widened her eyes at Hanako's anger. "100 million ryo." The Uchiha shook her head while letting out a dry laugh. "My entire life is nothing but an infinite game of hide and seek. I'm constantly hiding, so I don't call attention towards me. Although I don't care that much about hiding anymore, everyone knows I'm alive so... My point is, I don't want you to live like this because of me."

"I don't care what type of life we'll have, we can do it together. You can't do everything alone-!" Hanako placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at the Senju with her Sharingan.

"Hyori, you're one of my best friends. I can't lose you. If I do, I'm afraid of what I'll become, so if you want to help me just make sure to stay alive." Hanako smiled sadly at her. "And please... forgive me." Hanako caught Hyori in a Genjutsu and put her to sleep. Then she carried the Senju to her apartment before heading back to hers.

Hanako entered her house but frowned when she saw Hayabusa waiting for her with a message in his beak. She closed the door behind her, before taking the letter from the falcon.

"Let's make it short," Hayabusa said when Hanako took the paper from his beak. "Go to the forest outside the gates, Kisame will meet you there."

Hanako looked at him with confusion. "Now?"

The falcon looked at her seriously. "Yes."

* * *

Hanako reached the forest right outside the village in a few minutes. It was easy to sneak out of the gates but she wondered if Kisame would actually make it there without getting noticed. At that instant, she realized that Kisame couldn't do it.

"Damn...that bird..." Hanako clicked her tongue. "He set me up, didn't he?" she asked out loud.

"Yes, he did," answered a masculine voice.

"Kisame can't get close to the gates without getting caught as an invader. But you... You know how to get through the barrier." Hanako closed her eyes when she felt a chakra signature behind her back.

"Bingo," Itachi's voice ringed in her ears and Hanako felt her breath hitch.

"Why are you here?" The girl turned around abruptly, looking at the raven haired boy with menacing red eyes.

Itachi only looked at her seriously. "You owe me an explanation."

Hanako scoffed, looking away while letting out a chuckle. "Why does everyone keep saying that to me lately? Do I seriously look like I need a babysitter? Because I already have Hayabusa applying for that job."

"Hanako-"

"No, wait! Stop it!" Hanako pushed him away and turned her back to him. "I don't owe you anything! I don't owe you or Shisui anything!" she snapped. Hanako bit her lip before looking back at Itachi with tears gathering in her sockets. "You didn't tell me the truth, then why should I?" Itachi just stared at her, no emotion showing. "Why should I open up to you..." Hanako walked towards him until she stood right in front of him. "...when all you did was lie to me and let yourself be used by Danzo to kill the entire clan?"

Itachi took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving hers. "Because I want to be honest with you."

"You do have guts, Uchiha." Hanako chuckled. "Lying straight to my face. You've gotten better, you know? You've probably told so many lies that you don't even know what truth means anymore-" Hanako was interrupted when she suddenly got pushed against the bark of the tree, getting trapped between the wood and Itachi's body. Hanako gasped upon feeling his body way too close to hers.

"I'm trying to be honest with you. Now, whether you believe me or not, is your decision." Itachi muttered in a low voice. He had leaned his face so close to her that she could feel his hot breath warming her cheeks.

"I'll try to believe you, but I can't make any promises..." Hanako muttered, feeling overwhelmed. Itachi was there. He was standing right in front of her with his arms at either side of her head. He was looking down at her with his blazing red Sharingan. With his husky voice, long silky black hair, and lethal features. Hanako didn't even listen to what he was saying. She was too busy looking at his moving pink lips, as they danced at every word that came out of his mouth.

Hanako shushed him by crashing her lips into his and started kissing him. Itachi didn't even take a second to kiss her back. After a moment, he pulled away slightly, his forehead still resting on hers.

"Why...?" he asked softly, their breaths mingling with each other.

"Because I missed you, idiot." Itachi smiled as he also deactivated his doujutsu. "And because I don't want your excuses, I already know-" He didn't let her finish before he trapped her lips in his. Itachi moved his hand to rest on her hip as he pulled her closer to him. It had been too long since he had last kissed her, and he missed the warm feeling of her lips on his.

Hanako had her eyes closed and tilted her head to deepen the kiss at the same time her hands wandered to his hair and she played with it. Itachi pulled away from her lips and focused on her neck. "I missed you too..." he muttered into her delicate skin, making shivers run down her spine. "Hanako..." The girl smiled as she opened her eyes to stare at the night sky. Itachi looked at her and caressed her cheek, turning her attention to him.

Hanako's smile disappeared when she took notice of his Akatsuki cloak. "I'm sorry you ended up in a place like this..." Hanako pursed her lips while touching the tissue of his black cloak with red clouds. Itachi took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

"It's not your fault, I'm the one who accepted the offer anyways..." Hanako looked at him with worried eyes.

"Because you didn't have anywhere else to go...you could've stayed with me-" Itachi poked her forehead with a chuckle.

"Forgive me, Hanako" he said softly, looking down at her with soft eyes.

Hanako glared at him while rubbing the spot where he had poked her. "You know, that trick might have worked on Sasuke but I'm a different person..." Itachi chuckled again.

* * *

Kakashi knocked on Hanako's door for the third time and no one opened it. "Hanako, open the door." No one replied. Kakashi frowned and turned the handle to find it unlocked. He entered the room and looked around the apartment to find it completely empty. The door closed behind him and Kakashi turned to it immediately to find Hayabusa staring at him with intent eyes.

"What are you doing here?" asked the bird.

"Where's Hanako?" Kakashi asked, not even bothering to answer his question.

"Obviously not here. Now, what do you need?"

Kakashi pulled out Hanako's necklace from his pouch and showed it to Hayabusa. "I forgot to return this."

"Leave it over the table," Hayabusa said seriously. "If that's all-"

"I'd actually prefer to hand it over personally, so would you mind telling me where Hanako is?" Kakashi faked a smile.

"No." Hayabusa eyed him cautiously.

"Why?" The masked Shinobi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Because if I tell you, you'll go after her. She doesn't need that."

"Where is she, Hayabusa..."

"Busy. You should come back tomorrow." Hayabusa flew towards the window sill to stare outside. "Hanako is..." the bird frowned. "She's clearing up her mind."

Kakashi looked at him before staring at the ground. "Is she okay?"

"She says she is, but you know her..." The falcon sighed. "She doesn't like to bother other people with her problems. She doesn't like people to think she is weak or that she can't deal with something." Hayabusa looked at Kakashi. "But if you ask me, I'll tell you the truth. She is not fine." Kakashi looked at him. "She doesn't sleep. She wakes up screaming every single night when she's alone. I believe the only time she was fine was in the Land of Waves," Hayabusa narrowed his eyes. "When she was with you."

Kakashi widened his eyes. "Why do you say she was fine with me?"

Hayabusa shook his head. "The Uchiha Massacre caused Hanako a lot of pain. Hanako is too fragile...and all of her pain is reflected in her eyes. Her Mangekyou is causing her a lot of pain." Hayabusa looked at Kakashi with begging eyes. "But during that mission, she finally let go of everything, even if it was for a day or two. I feel what Hanako feels, I know when she's in pain, I know when she's happy." The falcon sighed. "When she was with you and with your team. She was another person. Even after she came back after the mission, she was...different. And when I asked what had happened, she just said that she felt like herself. I don't know what you did or what happened; but whatever it was, it really helped her."

"Yesterday," Kakashi said. "Hanako came to my house and broke down to tears. I've seen her cry twice this week... I'll agree with you, she's not okay. But, I want to help her. And I need to know what's happening to her for that purpose."

"You'll know, if she wants to tell you." Hayabusa looked back at the window. "But for now, I just ask you to stay by her side. No matter what." Kakashi looked seriously at him.

"I understand."

* * *

"Since when do you have this?" Itachi asked curiously as he looked at all of the names in the Akatsuki book Hanako had. They were sitting over a large boulder, watching the crescent moon reflected in the water of a lake in front of them.

"Two years," said the Uchiha girl. "Orochimaru gave it to me."

"Orochimaru?" Itachi looked at her.

"Yes...We investigated the Akatsuki together." Hanako sighed. "But that's all we could find, you really are good at erasing your tracks." Itachi closed the book and returned it to her.

"Still, there's more in there that I even know myself." Hanako chuckled. "You should also know that there's a member missing in that list," Itachi added.

"I know. Madara, who's known as 'Tobi' within the organization, a useless apprentice with no special ability whatsoever."

Itachi pressed his lips. "Hanako, there's something I've been meaning to ask you..."

"What's my relation to Madara?" Hanako looked at Itachi. The male nodded with a serious face. The girl let out a long exasperated breath before leaning back with her arms folded under her head. "Well, get comfortable. It's a long story coming."