Red Butterfly

Chapter 10, All-Nighter

Itachi's P.O.V

The wind blows back my hair, sending locks of my dark hair to tickle Hanabi's face. The moon's hue was not as bright as usual, rays of moonlight caressed Shisui's tired face. His eyes were illuminated by the faint hue of the moonlight. The marks from battle evident on his face and clothes.  

I licked my lips and cleared my throat, looking back and forth between Hanabi and Shisui, I wondered where to start. I take in a deep breath my eyes darting from Hanabi's blue ones to Shisui's dark ones.

"First off...", I declare, mentally preparing myself to fill both of them in on everything,

 "Shisui, this is the Fourth Hokage's disciple, Hanabi Namikaze, I'm sure you've heard of her".

Shisui eyes Hanabi for a moment, then dumbfoundedly asks her, "You used The Teleportation Technique?", he sounded skeptical, which made a crease form between Hanabi's brows.

Hanabi's sole response was a nod, she goes on to give me a look that gestures for me to go on.

"Hanabi, this is my best friend, Shisui Uchiha, also known as Shisui of The Body Flicker.."

"Cut the formalities Itachi and get straight to the point", Hanabi interjects, folding her arms over her chest she turned to Shisui and said, "Hanabi Namikaze, and before you say anything else, yes I used The Teleportation Technique back there. No, I have no idea what's going on or why Danzo was targeting you, but your friend over here was frantic, dare I say terrified".

She extended her arm out for Shisui to take, willingly he took it with a questionable look plastered on his face. "Shisui Uchiha", he introduced himself, eying Hanabi intently, "thank you for what you did back there, but I have no idea how you guys found me", he breaks off eye contact with Hanabi and stares at me.

"Itachi, how did you find me?"

I honestly don't know how to elaborate or explain everything without making either one of them confused. Exhaling a breath I collapsed down on the cool grass, my body relaxing for a long time. 

"Hanabi, Shisui, if we're going to discuss everything in detail, we'll have to pull an all-nighter", I address, gesturing for them to sit down on the grass. Shisui and Hanabi obey, both sitting opposite me, their faces getting illuminated by the moonlight.

"Earlier today, I was summoned by Danzo to attend a private meeting in total secrecy", I begin, carefully observing their expressions. "The point of the meeting was to remind me of the options I have left", I directed my glance at Shisui as I said this and he immediately got the gist of it.

"I don't have any faith in Danzo, which is why I planted a crow to secretly fill me in on intel when I'm not around. Since I have my doubts and skeptics about him. That crow is the reason why we were able to save you, Shisui".

I darted my murk eyes to Hanabi and sure enough, she was intrigued but remained silent.

"Hanabi and I met last night under not-so-convenient circumstances, but here we are, still under not-so-convenient circumstances", I slightly chuckle.

"When the crow told me that Danzo was targeting you and that you were out-numbered I panicked since there's much that you and I still need to do, Shisui".

"I thought quickly to myself and decided that Hanabi could be of help, and so here we are.."

I swallowed a lump, exchanging glances with both of them. I still have to keep them both in the dark, since there are things that both of them shouldn't share knowledge of. Shisui can't know about the masked man, since the masked man is a secret that I keep solely to myself. There's a dilemma again, and this time I am more than torn because either way, something will go wrong. I can feel it.

If Shisui knew that I stole a file for Hanabi from the restricted section of the Archives he'll want answers. Those answers will lead him to the masked man, Madara Uchiha. On the other hand, if Hanabi knew about the whole situation with the Uchiha, it might just get complicated more.

What do I do now? Do I reveal certain information to both of them and keep the rest to myself? Or do I share these burdens with the two of them, risking their lives as well? Danzo has seen our faces, he can't just simply forget that Hanabi and I intervened. My eyes flow up to meet Hanabi's blue orbs. I can already feel the stink in my eyes. Danzo has witnessed Hanabi performing her Teleportation Technique, there's not an ounce of doubt that it was her. She's the Fourth's disciple, everyone knows Minato passed his teachings on to her.

"Hanabi..", my voice trails off, I lower my head in despair. How did I manage to complicate things more than they already are?

"Hanabi I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess..", I say guiltily as another wave of wind strikes through the air, making me shiver.

"Itachi...what are you talking about?", I heard her almost whispered tone of voice.

My mind couldn't think of a logical response to say, as a result, I slid my hand under my Anbu vest. Slithering the archive file from underneath, I extended out my arm.

"Here..", I keep my head lowered, " This is a token of my gratitude".

"Itachi what's going on?", Shisui inquires, but I proceed to completely ignore him.

"I'm sorry Hanabi, I-I-I have dragged you into this mess...", I shamefully admit, biting down on my lower lip harshly to suppress a shriek.

"Itachi...", she trails off as she hesitantly takes the file from my hand. I can somehow feel her eyes burning into me as the file slips out of my grip.

Shisui has kept silent as he carefully analyzes our current exchange.

"Itachi you owe me an explanation remember?"

"You don't understand...I can't..."

"Itachi", Shisui says sternly, still I can't bring myself to look at either of them.

"She risked her life for me. Now she's known as someone who has disrupted Danzo's plans. Do you honestly think that keeping her in the dark is the same as protecting her?". 

I remain silent, my thoughts racing and contemplating, there's some truth to what he's insinuating...

I can feel his eyes darting to Hanabi as he directs his next piece of information.

"Hanabi, once you're in there's no going back, there's no going out. And right now, you have no choice, and neither do we".

"Do you even know why Danzo was targeting me in the first place, Itachi?"

My head jerks up as I realize that through all my paranoia and anxiety I never really had this question answered before.

"Why?", my eyes glistened and I despised the pleading tone in my voice.

Shisui takes a moment to dart glances between Hanabi and me, making sure to inspect our faces before he informs, "He wanted to get his hands on my Sharingan".

Eyes wide, both Hanabi and I had mirrored expressions, just what is this man up to?

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A\N:- Stay tuned for a more well-written chapter tomorrow. As expected, the next chapter will also be in Itachi's P.O.V since I want you to get a clear look into his thoughts and heart. Who wants a P.O.V switch? Leave your suggestions down below. 

P.S:-Tomorrow I'll have the final design of Hanabi Namikaze revealed in the next chapter. This time I have put effort into drawing her in Naruto-Style Anime so it would resonate more. So stay tuned and don't go anywhere, I have so much up my sleeve teehee.

-A