Red Butterfly

Chapter 7, Hanabi's Order: Retrieve & Leave

Itachi's P.O.V

"The village or the clan, Itachi. Make your choice because time is running out", Danzo growls. These words get engraved in my mind painfully. Everyone should die? Mother? Father? Sasuke?...Izumi? The shinobi life is such a plague.

Eyes blurring, I saw a small tear fall from my eye, Danzo of course being oblivious to this, simply turned around and demanded, "Itachi Uchiha, you are dismissed".

I attempted to conceal my trembling body as much as possible, and so without another word, I quickly scurry off, gradually regaining myself back together once I've decided to calm down.

Right! Hanabi's Order: Retrieve and Leave!

I look up at the sky, the blanket of darkness deliberately falling upon the village, my eyes still a bit foggy from crying. In spite of my aching heart, I manage to lower my eyes and stroll down my path. What'll be left of me if I commit this massacre? Who'll punish me for slaughtering my clan?

Danzo is right, time's running out. Shisui and I will have to execute our plan when the next Uchiha meeting is held in the basement of the Naka Shrine. First I'll have to Hanabi off my case, then if the Uchiha and the village find a middle ground I could reveal to them what I know of Madara Uchiha.

Shisui told me to meet him near the Naka waterfall, where we'll either decide to betray or obey one of the two sides. We agreed to meet up in secret in the dead of night where no soul could hear us. Shisui of The Body Flicker promised me that he'll use his Kotoamatsukami  (An Uchiha visual prowess) to compel the Uchiha leaders into negotiating with the village and work through all the problems.

I've got information that around this time of the day, the Leaf's library is closed and no one is allowed inside. So of course that is where I'm going right now. One way or another I'll have to make sure that Hanabi Namikaze wouldn't rat me out to any of the high figures of the Hidden Leaf village. Especially not Danzo.

Now I'll have to complete the mission given to me by Hanabi Namikaze, which is why I'm heading to the Tree Leaf Ancient Book Place. The Konoha Archive Library contains sensitive information regarding the Hidden Leaf Village, about its ninja, and past. This is why it's located inside of the Great Stone Faces of the village. I made sure to slip out of sight carefully as I head out to my next stop.  Why does Hanabi need that file? I'm pretty sure that file is placed in the restricted section of the Archives. I grinned like an idiot once I realized that this my second S-rank mission of the day.

I began running, making sure that my chakra and presence won't be detected easily as I head for the Great Stone faces. Involuntarily I begin inspecting the Stoneface of the Fourth Fire Shadow. What a true hero. I feel like Hanabi is trying to make sure we don't forget about Minato Namikaze and what he for The Hidden Leaf Village. Not only did Minato Namikaze made a human sacrifice of his son, but he also made sure to pass on his teachings to his disciple, Hanabi Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze died, and now he'll never know what fine shinobi his disciples have become. More like his remaining disciples. Obito Uchiha is the reason why Kakashi Hatake is nicknamed The Copy Ninja. I've heard from Kakashi that Obito Uchiha had the same spirit as The Fourth Hokage's son. And now I felt confused because I thought that was the Namikaze's spirit. However, I was dumbfounded once it hit me that this not just any spirit, this is the will of fire.

When my train of thought ended, I realized that I had in fact successfully trespassed into the Leaf's secret archive building inside the Great Stone Faces. It was pitch black inside, the naked eye wouldn't be able to find anything like this. I felt my eyes flicker in a flash as I activated my Sharingan. I spotted a small candle on one of the tables and proceeded to light up with a small flame of my Fireball Jutsu. A file about something like that would remarkably be stored inside the restricted section of the Archives.

I immediately headed for the restricted section of the archives, hovering my hand over the candlewick so the flame wouldn't go out easily. As I expected, the shelves of the restricted section was protected with a Sealing Jutsu. However, the Sealing Jutsu used on these shelves were not out of the league of someone in the Anbu Black Ops. I grinned once I figured out the reverse of the formula used to cast this type of Sealing Jutsu. I raised two fingers in front of my face and whispered, "Release".

The Seal was reversed, where the symbols and writings descended into oblivion, leaving me with the mass amount of archive files to look through. I fastened up my pace in order to search for a specific file that Hanabi stressed on too much when she talked about it. I laid the flickering flame of the candle aside and began rummaging through the almost endless shelves of restricted archive files. I recalled the keyword that Hanabi kept stressing on throughout our conversation at the Leaf Hospital.

The Third Great Ninja War

The gruesome sights I witnessed during the Great Ninja War turned me into the pacifist I am now. I recoiled at the memories and kept searching for the file about the members of the Namikaze clan who died in the Third Great Ninja War. Why does Hanabi need something like that? I rummaged through the archive section about the war and found many sensitive top-secret files along the way. However, I didn't have the time and energy to snoop around with sensitive files of information. I kept on searching for a file that corresponds with the keywords Hanabi stressed on so much until my eyes stumbled across something of the same familiarity to her words.

The Third Ninja War: Clan Casualties

I'm not sure if this what Hanabi was looking for, but the title of the archive is the best match to correspond with the keywords she'd given. I decided that this is the archive file she was hinting at and quickly hid it away.  It has taken me almost an hour of nonstop search.

With my Sharingan, I released the formula of the Sealing Jutsu used on the shelves and cast it again when I've tidied the files to their respective places. With my two fingers, I immediately put out the small flickering flame of the candlewick and bolted for the exit.

Hopefully, Hanabi will never mention 'the masked man' again. I have used one of my crows to guard the entrance of the Archive for me in case someone decides to show up. Thankfully, no one did.

My next stop: The Hidden Leaf Hospital.

Heavily panting from speed running, I almost didn't notice one of my crows that circled around me as I ran. I immediately came to a sudden halt as I allowed the crow to rest on my extended arm. A surge of panic rushed through me as I recognized this crow to be the one that I set up to discreetly spy on Danzo. Having my crow returned back like this meant nothing but trouble.

The crow seemed to be in a rush as it is, it was behaving abnormally. I concentrated my chakra into trying to decipher what the crow wanted to say. I activated my Sharingan and focused on the crow. On the spot, my entire body froze when the deciphered words of the crow sank in.

Danzo is targeting Shisui with a team of his powerful Anbu subordinates.

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A/N:- So we're getting closer and closer to the moment where Itachi will have to decide. Also don't you want punch Danzo in the face? Will Itachi get to assist his best friend in time? Are you hyped about the plot???? Anyways I'll be working on some Hanabi and Itachi's art.

~A