Caught in the Darkness

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Battle at the Bridge: Hanako vs. Zabuza

Hanako stayed back with Naruto at Tsunami's house while Kakashi and the rest of the team went with Tazuna to the bridge. Naruto had carelessly wasted all of his chakra while training last night, so he didn't wake up in the morning to go to the bridge.

"He probably won't be able to move a finger, so we can give him the day off," Kakashi said.

"And why the hell do I have to stay here as well?!" Hanako scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Kakashi looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Because of what you did last night?"

Hanako rolled her eyes. "It was just a bit of money, no need to make a tantrum about it, Kakashi."

"It's not that..." Kakashi approached her and leaned to mutter in her ear, "The walls have ears. I know you fought Gatou's men at a restaurant."

"They called Tazuna, didn't they?" Hanako let out a long breath.

"I'm hurt you didn't tell me," Kakashi pulled away with an air of deception. "If you had at least mentioned where you were going, I would have considered letting you go," he finished with a shrug.

Hanako clicked her tongue, "Crybaby..."

"But well, since you like to play 'mystery girl', you can play on your own, staying here."

"I hate you," Hanako narrowed her eyes.

"Now, who's throwing a tantrum?" The Jonin smirked, starting to walk towards the bridge. Hanako didn't respond, instead she just walked back into the house.

Inside, she covered her face with her hands. "Darn it, Kakashi!" Hanako let out an exasperated sigh while sitting at the table.

"You didn't tell Kakashi-san about your mission, did you?" Tsunami asked while searching the fridge for ingredients.

"About killing Gatou? Hell no, he wouldn't let me do it." Hanako pursed her lips. "Should have done it yesterday, I got the bastard wrapped around my finger but I let him go."

Tsunami looked at her with widened eyes. "Why didn't you kill him?" Hanako looked at her.

"I don't like killing people without a fight. That would be a meaningless kill, besides it's boring." Hanako rolled her eyes. "I gave him the chance of meeting me at the bridge, so I expect Zabuza to show up today."

"Shouldn't you warn them?!" Hanako smirked. Tsunami had dropped a couple of things when she got up to look at her with widened eyes.

"It's not necessarily going to happen, relax. Besides, you heard what Kakashi said, I have to play 'mystery girl' on my own. Too bad for them. After what he said I'm just not in the mood to warn him, he'll find out when he gets there anyway." Tsunami sighed.

"You're hard to deal with, aren't you?" she asked as she picked up what she had dropped and looked at the Uchiha with doubtful eyes.

Hanako chuckled, playing with a kunai. "Yeah, I get that a lot." She found it funny, what Tsunami said was something Hyori would say to reprimand her for her arrogant attitude. "Anyway, I don't know why I'm actually listening to Kakashi. I never listened to my sensei when he told me to stay put. I'm not some kind of dog, you know?" Hanako looked at her reflection on the knife and chuckled at it. "What should I do, Tsunami-san? It would be a waste to stay here while they might be there needing my help."

Tsunami looked at Hanako and sighed before getting ready to prepare lunch. "You did quite a show last night at Temaki's restaurant. Gatou is quite insistent, but he won't stay with his arms crossed waiting for Zabuza to finish his job, he will do something else in the meantime," she said and the brunette put the kunai down to look at her. "Right now, he's surely gathering every possible warrior he has to finish off all of his oppositions. If I were you, I would wander around the city to see if my guesses might be right."