Red Butterfly

Chapter 24, Chronicles of The Third Great Ninja War: Part 8

"She opened her eyes!", Hayate had blurted to no one in particular, as he held his daughter in his arms. As soon as Kushina and Minato leaned in, they were met by two sapphire-colored orbs. The thin hair on the baby's head was also light and glistening.

"My god, she has Hayate's blonde hair and blue eyes", Kushina had remarked.

"But her stare is the same as Ichiko's", Minato smiled, looking down at the tiny creature in Hayate's arms.

"Hanabi", Ichiko had said in her hoarse voice, "where is Hanabi?".

Hayate turned around and treaded towards her. Ichiko's tired eyes suddenly caught sight of the petite girl in Hayate's arms. Her eyes welled up in emotion. She managed to sit up straight as Hayate cautiously handed her their newborn.

"Hanabi..", she'd managed to say, "your father was right. You really do resemble the fireworks of that day".

Hanabi kept her sapphire orbs glued to the dark-haired woman holding her. She eventually began to cry and one of the nurses had offered to take Hanabi and put her with the rest of the infants born this November 11.

The night had grown colder. Hayate had fallen asleep in his chair and Ichiko was awake, nevertheless, she was tired from the pain of birth-giving. She rolled her eyes at Hayate's loud snoring and forced herself out of her bed. Minato and Kushina had gone home but promised they'd come to visit shortly. She smiled to herself as she recalled Hanabi's face.

Her two sapphire-colored eyes remained cemented in Ichiko's memory, the more she recalled her baby's eyes, the more she'd yearned to see her face again. Her baby girl was at least five hours old by now. Ichiko decided that she'd wanted to see Hanabi's face. She flashed the sleeping Hayate a grin before fixing her hospital gown and heading out. Ichiko was heading to the hospital's nursery, where she knew Hanabi was kept.

The pain had eased a bit but she still had way much to go. The hospital's nursery had come into her view. She looked through the transparent glass of the nursery and her eyes warmed when she spotted that familiar glistening hair. Hanabi was sleeping soundly among other infants born the same day as her. The green blanket helped Ichiko distinguish her baby girl from the bunch of other infants.

Ichiko was appreciating the sight of her baby girl from afar, her expression was in awe. She never gave a second thought to the nurse that was roaming in the children's nursery until she saw her daughter getting snatched away before her eyes. Her heart sank when she saw that the nurse's face was masked.

Anbu Black Ops.

She felt her body immobilize as she witnessed her child being abducted in the dead of night. Ichiko did the only rational that crossed her mind. She yelled out to the people nearby, urging them to catch her child's abductor. Much to her dismay, it took her some time to digest the fact that the entire hospital staff along with the nurses and ninja medics had been somehow replaced with masked Anbu members. Therefore, no one attended to her plea.

Hanabi's abductor halted in her tracks as other Anbu members attended to her side. The was no doubt about it. The entire hospital staff has somehow disappeared and members of the Anbu Black Ops had taken their place.

"Give me back my daughter!", Ichiko bellowed, clenching her fist and biting down her lip sharply.

This was the first part of Danzo's plan, which had been executed successfully.

"Wait!!", Ichiko had shouted when all the Anbu members bolted for what she assumed to be the hospital's exit. There was no time to go get back Hayate, he was already heavily asleep. Ichiko's body had moved on its own. The Anbu members were speedy, making Ichiko curse them out loud. From this day on she had officially become a mother, and she was not going to let them take her daughter when she didn't even get to spend enough time with her.