Chapter 9: Kanamoto Mizuki

Kagura looked around, still stunned by the things happening around her. A strong hand grabbed her arm, and she turns around to see Hayabusa. 

He points at Hanzo who had barged in, and secretly Kagura was glad that he did, for it interrupted the wedding. 

"We cannot allow him to harm anyone!" Hayabusa's voice rang out over the commotion. Villagers were scrambling to get to somewhere safe, away from Hanzo. 

Kagura simply nods and Hayabusa runs towards Hanzo, about to attack. Yet Hanzo looked visibly relaxed, watching everything like it was a movie. 

Kagura was evacuating the villagers, and the Chiefs were next to Hayabusa, ready to attack. 

Hanzo simply smirked and tossed the Ame No Habakiri up, and left through the gap in the roof. 

Kagura watched him leave and wondered, "What is he doing? He came and left without doing anything?" 

"Hanabi is gone!" Haruto said, looking around. 

Kagura had a thought and she said, "Is it possible that Hanzo and Hanabi planned this together? Or if Hanzo captured her?"

Haruto's face was pale as he thought of the possibilities and Hayabusa tensed too. 

"Come to my room later," Shichiro said. Hayabusa and Kagura nodded.

After checking that there were no casualties, the two of them headed to the Chief's room. A ninja came in a few seconds later with an urgent look and whispered something into the Chief's ear. 

Shichiro's face turned grim. He nodded and the ninja left. "The Scarlet Sect was massacred last night," he said. "There were no survivors. I don't think Hanabi would work with Hanzo. She's probably captured by Hanzo."

Kagura noticed that Haruto looked pale and wondered why, then she remembered Aiko. His wife was dead and his daughter was probably held captive by a murderer. 

Shichiro said, "Hayabusa, find Hanabi and bring her back. Kagura will accompany you. If you meet Hanzo, do not engage. With Hanekage, he could destroy the entire village and not to mention kill you too. We cannot lose our best ninja now or we will have no chance of winning the final battle." 

He dismissed all of them and they left the room, planning how to get Hanabi back. 

Kagura released a few of the demons in the Seimei Umbrella to search for Hanabi, but the demons were still under her control, so she could still call them back and prevent them from hurting others if she needed to. 

Meanwhile, Hanabi woke up and found herself on a bed in a room. Her body ached and she stretched, looking around. 

The room was empty. Hanabi summoned her Higanabana and tried the door. 

It was locked from outside, and Hanabi cursed. 

Hanabi looked at the window, which was also locked. She looked outside and realised that she was on the highest level of the building. 

Hanabi broke the glass in the window, and she knew that whoever had captured her would have heard the glass break. She didn't have much time. 

She quickly climbed up onto the roof. It was around evening, and when she saw the familiar buildings, Hanabi realised she was back at Kyoto. 

Hanabi jumped from roof to roof and reached the end of the stretch of buildings. She landed on the ground. The streets were busy, and she kept her head down while looking for a restaurant to eat something. Her stomach was growling like she hadn't eaten for days, although she had only missed lunch. 

A whiff of some ramen caught her attention, and Hanabi followed it to a ramen restaurant. 

She was about to go in when she remembered she didn't have money. "Damn it," she muttered. 

A lady with long brown hair and a slender body saw her outside and said, "Come in!"

"I, um, don't have money." Hanabi mumbled, but her stomach growled in protest. 

The lady laughed. "Just come! Whatever you order, it'll be on the house."

Hanabi looked at the lady and smiled. "Thanks," she said, and went in. She ordered a large bowl of spicy shoyu ramen, and it was served to her in a few minutes. 

The lady sat beside her and watched Hanabi eat. In a few minutes, Hanabi had finished the whole bowl of noodles and held the bowl up, placing her lips on the edge of the bowl and drinking the soup. 

She wiped her lips, satisfied. The lady smiled, "You must be really hungry, huh." 

Hanabi shrugged and the lady said, "By the way, my name is Kanamoto Mizuki. What's yours?" 

"Hanabi Scarlet." Hanabi said. "Oh, you're from the Scarlet Sect? I heard they were massacred today, but I don't know if it's true," Kanamoto said. 

Hanabi didn't say anything but clenched her fists, thinking of Aiko and promising to avenge her. Kanamoto thought she was mad at her, and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive but- Omg, that guy is so handsome."

Hanabi turned around and rolled her eyes when she saw Hanzo in the restaurant. "That 'handsome' guy murdered my whole village and deserves to go to hell."

Kanamoto stared at her. "You know him?" she asked. "Introduce me to him! Please!" Hanabi face-palmed. Kanamoto had completely missed the point. 

Hanzo walked over and grabbed Hanabi's hand. He said, "You're so annoying. Just cooperate for a while, can't you?"

Hanabi wrenched her hand away from him, summoning her Higanabana and pointing it at him. 

"Don't touch me, you murderer!" she spat. "I'll kill you one day, I promise."

"Try me," Hanzo smirked. "Now, come with me. Anyways, Hayabusa and Kagura are looking for you, and once they find you, I'll ask them for a favour for interrupting your wedding." 

Hanabi rolled her eyes and Hanzo said, "What? You also owe me a favour for that too. So, you will do as I say for now."

"What the hell? I'm not a doll, you crazy idiot!" Hanabi tossed her kunais at him, which he blocked with his sword. 

Kanamoto, who had never actually seen real combat before, screamed. Hanabi thought she was in danger and turned around to check on her. 

Hanzo grabbed the opportunity and knocked her out for the second time in a day. "Thanks for the distraction," he said as he carried Hanabi out. 

"Wait! She's my friend! What are you gonna do to her?" Kanamoto yelled in a panic. "You can come along if you want, but you have to leave when I tell you to." Hanzo shrugged. 

Kanamoto told her boss she had some urgent business and needed to leave right away, and followed Hanzo. She tried not to stare but she couldn't help herself. Hanzo felt uncomfortable and decided to put his mask back on. 

It took them longer than when Hanabi had escaped, because she didn't have to go through the crowd.

They went back to the inn Hanabi was in just now, and Hanzo put her down on the bed. He looked at the broken window. "Damn, I'll have to pay," Hanzo mumbled. Kanamoto sat next to Hanabi, waiting for her to wake up. 

Hanzo sat on the chair and Kanamoto asked, "Aren't you gonna go?" 

"Nah, she'll run away again." Hanzo said. Kanamoto said, "I'm Kanamoto Mizuki. What's your name?" 

"Hanzo." 

Hanabi woke up at that time, blinking. "You're awake! Are you feeling okay?" Kanamoto said. 

She sat up and glared at Hanzo. She couldn't seem to run from him, and was probably stuck here with him for a while. 

Hanzo smirked at her annoyed expression, and Hanabi said to Kanamoto, "I'm okay here. You can go now."

Kanamoto pouted. "Can I stay here for a while more? Please?" She looked at Hanabi pleadingly. She looked so cute that Hanabi couldn't resist and said, "Fine. But you gotta stay with me in case he tries to kill you." She pointed at Hanzo, who rolled his eyes. 

"Yay!" Kanamoto yelled.

The inn provided clothes, so Kanamoto didn't need to take any from her home. They shared a room while Hanzo was in the next room. 

After the two girls washed up, they climbed onto the queen-sized bed. Kanamoto fell asleep quickly, but Hanabi couldn't get to sleep. She climbed onto the roof again and lay down, watching the moon. 

It was a full moon, low and bright, and Hanabi stayed there for a while. When she turned around, she almost screamed when she saw someone lying on the roof not far away. 

She sat up and realised it was Hanzo. He probably wanted to check if she tried to escape. She sighed and remembered her Aiko's body, thee pool of blood, the kunai in her chest. Hanabi gritted her teeth. 

She glared at Hanzo, wanting to kill him right there and then, but that would be unfair. And her gut told her not to kill him now. Tired, Hanabi fell asleep gradually under the moon.