Hanabira

Onyx and Ivory

"Here's good," Itachi stated after their final day of travelling to get to Hanabira. They were almost at the border between the Fire Country and the Land of Rice Fields; one would only have to continue in a North direction for a few hours before you would be leaving the country.

"For what?" Hoshiko asked as she landed next to him. They had stopped beside a large tree, with overgrown bushes at its base. Itachi reached up to his weasel mask and pulled it off as Hoshiko copied him.

"We're entering the village under the pretense of finding our lost brother, no one can know that we're ANBU," he explained as Hoshiko nodded, she remembered reading that in the scroll.

"We'll leave all our gear here," he pointed to the bush as Hoshiko set down her mask and started unclipping her armor and hiding it under the bush also. She watched Itachi as he reached up to untie his forehead protector as it came loose in his hands, when it fell past his eyes he met Hoshiko's gaze, the girl clearing her throat and untying her own forehead protector. She let her hair down from the ponytail it had been in for a few days now, her gaze then travelled to her exposed tattoo on her shoulder. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she reached into her travel bag and pulled out her long sleeved shirt and ducked behind a nearby tree, changing into it.

Itachi had also changed his shirt, removing the one that had the Uchiha emblem on the back and going for a plain black shirt. Silently, they both stuffed their weapons into their bags and hoisted them back onto their shoulders as they gave each other a small nod.

They walked through the forest, coming to the main road that would take them right to the town as they glanced up and down the road, there were no other people around to see them so they ran until the sign for the village came into view.

The town of Hanabira was small but was home to almost five hundred people, a large wall surrounded it and the archway had the towns name etched onto it, decorated with petals. Hoshiko gazed up at the archway; she thought it was pretty.

They entered the town, looking around; it reminded them of Konoha, it was practically built the same as their home, the buildings were squished together, they could hear the sounds of a market in the distance, the roads were all straight and filled with people on their daily errands.

"Let's find a place to stay," Itachi said to her as they walked down a street to their left. Hoshiko followed him; she kept looking around the village, thinking about how homely it felt here. She smiled at the people they passed, they returned her gesture; and some even gave her worried looks, why? She didn't know.

They walked by a large open grassed area, with a children's swing set, Hoshiko frowned as she looked up at the sky, it was midday, and it was a beautiful day at that, and yet the swing set was unoccupied.

"Hoshiko."

The girl flinched when she heard her name being called. Her head turned, meeting Itachi's onyx eyes as he faced her, he was only a few feet away, "Come," he said, turning to the right and reaching for a door. Hoshiko glanced up, seeing the name of the building that they were entering as she followed Itachi inside.

The inn seemed small but homely, potted plants decorated the corners and an older woman sat behind a desk reading a book. Her weary eyes glanced up when she saw Itachi and Hoshiko enter together.

"Welcome!" She said, setting the book down. She smiled, showing a missing tooth in her old age as Itachi approached the desk.

"I require a room," he said to her. Hoshiko came to stand next to him as the old woman looked between them both for a second.

"A single futon, or two?" She asked with a smirk.

Hoshiko felt her face flare up in embarrassment. Itachi and Hoshiko briefly shared a glance as the older Uchiha turned back to the woman, "Two," he replied coolly. The woman shuffled around for a few seconds before producing a room key as Itachi handed over the money for their stay.

"Enjoy your stay," the old woman said to them as Hoshiko and Itachi turned to the left, heading to the room.

"The witness lives here," Itachi pointed to a map of Hanabira as Hoshiko peered over his shoulder. They had settled into their room, dumping their bags on the ground and placing their weapons on their beds, sorting through them for a few minutes before Itachi had pulled out the map and began examining it. Itachi had also spread all the pictures of the missing children across the table for them to memorize once more. The home of the witness was on the outskirts of the village, outside of the wall, he lived on a small farm that produced the crops for the village.

Hoshiko walked over to the window, peering out into the street below, she watched grown adults wonder around the streets, going into shops and food stalls. Yet again, she saw no children.

"Itachi," Hoshiko said his name, turning her head slightly as the boy looked over at her. "Have you noticed that there aren't any children out?" She asked him, remembering the empty swing set from earlier in the day. She heard him stand and walk over to her, she felt his arm brush against her shoulder as he too looked out of the window and into the village below. Hoshiko shared him a glance, noticing how his brows knitted together as he thought deeply about something.

"Let's go talk to the innkeeper," he said to her, turning his back on the window and collecting up the photos and placing them away.

Hoshiko readied herself and picked up the picture of the young boy who looked like Sasuke. Hoshiko and Itachi were playing that part of older siblings to this young boy, seeing as all three of them had similar characteristics. He had gone missing from another village, so their story was safe for now, all they had to do was ask some questions from their witness and see if they could get any leads.

Itachi and Hoshiko left their room and walked to the reception desk, seeing the same older woman from before behind the desk reading the exact same book as before. When she noticed that the two were standing before her she gave them a toothy smile.

"What can I help you with?" She asked.

Hoshiko produced the photo of the boy and showed it to her, "We're looking for our younger brother, his name is Kenta and he's missing."

The woman had a look of dread on her face as she glanced between the two teens. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know anything about that," she rushed out.

"Then why are there no children outside today?" Itachi asked, his tone strong. The woman set her gaze on him.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"It's a sunny day, and the children's playground is empty. A village this size must have children, unless something has happened," Hoshiko said, leaning towards the woman.

The woman looked around nervously, as if looking for someone. She bit down on her lower lip in nervousness, "It's just a coincidence. I'm sorry your brother is missing," her face then changed drastically as she sent them another bright smile, "I can tell you all the best places to eat in Hanabira! If you would like to see our famous cherry blossom trees they're all in the center of the village, I can produce a map if you would like?"

Itachi and Hoshiko shared a bewildered look at each other, confused at this woman's demeanor. One second she looked like she was about to wet herself, the next she had reverted to a sales woman, changing the subject completely.

"That wont be necessary," Itachi said firmly. He gave the woman a short bow of his head and turned on his heel, motioning for Hoshiko to follow him as the two left the inn and emerged out into the daylight.

"There's definitely something going on here," Hoshiko said in a whisper to her companion. Itachi nodded in agreement as he pointed over to the right.

"The Witness' home is this way," he said to her.

They left the village walls, leaving through the back gate and making their way to the small farm. The road leading up had crop fields on either side of them; a few workers were hoeing the fields and pulling out the harvest. As Hoshiko and Itachi approached the main house the front door opened and a body came flying out, hitting the dirt and rolling away a few feet. In the doorway stood an older man, with muscles as big as Itachi's head and a beard colored grey and black. The young boy who had been thrown couldn't be older than Hoshiko and Itachi, with dark hair and a lean body.

"That'll be the last time you fall asleep on your shift!" The old man yelled, his fist raised in the air.

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" The young boy begged, on his knees and his hands clasped together.

"Get out of here, and don't let me catch you asking for another job here again!"

The boy scrambled to his feet and ran down the road, obviously terrified of the old man.

There was a second when the old man didn't seem to see Itachi and Hoshiko standing there, looking like they had just been caught red handed doing something they shouldn't. Once the man actually realized that they were standing there he narrowed his dark eyes at them.

"What do you want?" He barked, stepping out of the house and towards the two. Itachi was preparing himself to talk to the man in a gentle tone, seeing as he was riled up and hotheaded, but Hoshiko beat him to it.

"We're looking for our brother, and apparently kids have been going missing in your village too. Someone said you saw something," Hoshiko said, stepping up to him as the older man wiped his hands down on his trousers.

It was strange, the man seemed hostile at first, but once he heard their fake story his expression softened.

"You heard right," he admitted. Hoshiko glanced over her shoulder to see what expression Itachi had on his face, but the Uchiha was impassive. His onyx gaze was focused on the man. "You'd best come in," the old man waved them over.

Itachi finally looked at Hoshiko, she was silently asking him if they should follow this man in, Itachi nodded to her. Itachi was always a great judge of character, and she trusted his judgment, and if he thought that they should go into this house, Hoshiko would follow his lead.

Once inside, the man led Hoshiko and Itachi to his kitchen area; setting out a pot of tea for them as the two ANBU took a seat on the mats, folding their legs under them and their hands neatly laid in their lap.

The man set out three small cups and poured the tea into them; afterwards sitting opposite the two Shinobi and drinking the scolding hot drink without flinching.

"What are your names?" The man asked.

"Itachi and Hoshiko," Itachi replied to him instantly. They had decided it wouldn't harm the mission if they used their real names, but they wouldn't be using their last names, they were too well known.

"Sadao. I'm sorry that your brother is missing," Sadao said sincerely as Itachi and Hoshiko nodded in thanks. Hoshiko pulled out the photo and showed him.

"Have you seen him anywhere?" She asked. Sadao studied it for a second before shaking his head.

"No, but I'm guessing you know that he's not the first to be taken from the nearby villages."

Itachi and Hoshiko both nodded.

"It started a little over two months ago. At first it was older children, no older then yourselves, they would either be working and not returning home or disappearing in the night. Most thought they had left their villagers, searching for other work or heading to larger villages where there's more going on," Sadao explained as the two Shinobi listened intently. "And then about a month ago was when the younger children started going missing, in broad daylight as well. Some would be playing in the village, their mother would turn to talk to someone and as soon as they turned back, they were gone. If I remember correctly, four have gone missing from this village."

"We heard that you saw something on the night a child went missing?" Itachi said, drawing Sadao's dark gaze to the Uchiha. Sadao nodded and took another drink of tea.

"I didn't see the kid get taken, but I did hear it."

"Hear what?" Hoshiko inquired, her tea lay forgotten in front of her; she was never really a big fan of tea.

"An earthquake."

There was a beat of silence, Hoshiko trying to gather whether she had just heard this man correctly, did he just say…?

"…Earthquake?" She repeated.

Sadao nodded, "I had sent one of my workers home, Ren, he was a young boy, only ten. He's an orphan and I gave him work on my fields to help him with paying for food and his home. I was out working the fields, making sure that everything was fine, Ren had yelled out, telling me that he was going home when I heard it. A loud rumbling sound, the ground shook for a second, when I looked to where Ren was, he was gone, disappeared."

Hoshiko's silver eyes cut over to Itachi, she wanted to know what he thought about it, his brow was furrowed as he stared at the old man. He wasn't giving much away, only that he was just as confused as Hoshiko was; but it was like he was thinking hard about it, like he was trying to understand what this earthquake could've been.

"Take us to where he disappeared," Itachi ordered with a firm tone.

Sadao didn't seem too fazed but the young man's abruptness and hastily nodded and beckoned them to follow him. Hoshiko followed behind Itachi as they exited the house and came outside once more.

They walked silently until they came to halfway down the dirt road leading to the farm. Sadao stopped and faced Hoshiko and Itachi.

"This is where he disappeared," Sadao pointed to the spot where they were standing as Hoshiko cast her gaze around them, even though it had been over a week since Ren's disappearance, she was hoping to see something that maybe someone else had missed. "You're welcome to look around, I've got to get back to work now," Sadao said to the two. He started to turn, pausing and looking back at them. "A word of advice, don't go out walking alone." He said with a pointed look to them both. Hoshiko nodded in thanks, knowing that even if someone tried anything she'd probably be able to take them on.

Once Sadao had disappeared into the fields Hoshiko turned to her stoic companion, "So what do you think?" She asked him. "It's not much to go on, none of this is. I don't see what an earthquake has to do with this, this region doesn't get earthquakes anyway," Hoshiko mused, tapping her chin. When she noticed that Itachi wasn't replying to her she turned to look at him. Itachi was crouching to the ground, his hand grasping the dirt as he dragged his long fingers through it.

"Itachi?" She called his name, thinking that maybe he hadn't heard her and her questions.

He was silent for a few seconds before he replied, "You're right."

"I am?" Hoshiko said, surprised. "About what?"

"That this region doesn't have earthquakes."

"That's common knowledge, everyone knows that." Hoshiko argued.

Itachi finally met her icy stare, "Then why did he mention that was the sound he heard?"

"Uh, did you meet the guy?" Hoshiko asked, placing her hands on her hips. "He looks insane, he probably heard something else. I say we go back to the inn and ask that lady some more questions, she looked like she knew something." Hoshiko tapped her chin as she turned her body in the direction of the village. She walked three steps before the ground under her feet shook and she heard rumbling.

With a gasp she looked over her shoulder, preparing to see Itachi coming under attack from whoever had took the boy, Ren. Instead she saw Itachi with the palms of his hands on the ground, a hole big enough for them to jump through at his feet.

"…What?" Hoshiko asked breathlessly as Itachi stood tall on his feet.

"An earthquake." He said with a smirk.

Hoshiko approached him as she stared down into the hole, it was pitch black inside but there was a gust of cold wind blowing out of it, meaning that there was indeed something down there.

"Itachi," Hoshiko said, dread laced her voice as she met his gaze. "This means that Shinobi were the ones behind it."

The look that Itachi gave her chilled her core; his expression grew dark as his onyx eyes glared down at the hole in the ground. Itachi reached into his pack and brought out the small flashlight, he clicked it on as the yellow light lit up the hole. Hoshiko did the same, bringing out her own flashlight.

Itachi gave her a tight-lipped nod as he dropped down into the hole. Hoshiko took a deep breath, glanced around her surroundings one more time, feeling the sensation of eyes on her as she stepped forwards and dropped into the hole.

It was a short drop, only a few meters down from the surface. Hoshiko shone her flashlight around, seeing the tunnel curving around her head. The constant flow of wind ruffled her hair as she turned to see Itachi a few feet away from her, examining the tunnel with his hand on the wall of it.

"Well, this was definitely done by Shinobi," Hoshiko said as she shone the light further down the tunnel. There seemed to be no end to it, but on the other end, behind her the tunnel abruptly stopped. When Hoshiko realized that Itachi hadn't responded to her, she shone her light on him, seeing him staring into the endless dark of the tunnel.

"Can you talk or something? I want to know what you're thinking," she stepped closer to him. Itachi gave her a glance over his shoulder for a split second before talking off at a brisk walk deeper into the tunnel.

"We should see where this goes," he said bluntly as Hoshiko sighed in frustration. She waited a few seconds, cooling her burning desire to yell and bitch at him before following after him.

The first junction they came too had both teens stopping. There was a tunnel that branched off to the left and shortly after that another one branched off.

"Those all lead into the village," Hoshiko pointed out as they turned down a tunnel that branched off to the right, they had turned as the gust of wind went that way. They had concluded that wherever the wind was coming from would be an exit to where the Shinobi who made the tunnels would have to leave and enter the network of tunnels.

"We can assume that this is how they have been getting around and taking the children without being seen," Itachi replied to her.

They walked for what seemed like hours, their hearing heightened, listening out for any sounds of footsteps or ambush. Itachi had requested that Hoshiko use her chakra senses once in a while to make sure that they weren't being followed or if anyone was ahead of them, so far she hadn't sensed anyone except the villagers above their heads.

"What could they possibly want with children?" Hoshiko asked rhetorically, the question had been burning a hole in her head for the last couple of days.

"Children are easy to manipulate," Itachi replied, surprising Hoshiko, as she hadn't expected him to answer her. "Taking the older children and orphans who don't have anyone looking out for them means that they'll go unnoticed."

"But they've taken children from families too," Hoshiko added. She saw Itachi nod his head.

"Which means they might've become desperate."

"Desperate for what?" Hoshiko said to herself, barely a whisper.

She thought about all of the children, who were all probably terrified at the moment, not knowing what was going to happen to them, who had taken them and for what purpose. They were probably thinking that they'll never see their family again, and the ones who were orphans…even though they may not have anyone waiting for them in the village; they were still valued greatly in Hoshiko's eyes. She vowed to herself that she'd find them, and she'd bring them all home, and then she's take down whoever had done all of this.

Hoshiko was getting sick of the tunnels. They had been walking for over two hours, following a new turn here and there every time they felt the wind change, it wasn't until Itachi made a noise in the back of his throat that Hoshiko actually paid attention to what she was now seeing.

They had emerged into a large cavern, the ceiling was larger here and the large open area was about the size of an academy classroom. Itachi and Hoshiko looked around, seeing three more branches of tunnels going in North, South and East directions. To the East was a strong breeze, and if Hoshiko squinted hard enough, she was sure she could spot light at the end of the tunnel.

"What direction is the next town over?" Itachi asked her. Hoshiko pointed to the South-facing tunnel.

"That way, I think." She said with a shrug.

"And the other town would be that way," Itachi pointed to the north tunnel.

"They're all connected." Hoshiko stated.

"It would be the easiest way to take the children undetected," Itachi agreed.

"More than one Shinobi would have to do this," Hoshiko assumed as she shone her flashlight around once more. It was completely silent within the tunnels, but she still felt like someone was watching her.

"We'll go this way," Itachi said as he pointed to the tunnel with the light. "See where it leads out, we might find something else." Hoshiko nodded in agreement as the two set off.

The walk to the exit of the tunnel was short compared to how long they had been travelling, and in no time they had come to the exit. The dirt tunnel transitioned into a rocky cave, in one of the alcoves Hoshiko spotted a lead of rope and material that was probably used for blindfolding and tying hands together. A lantern was hooked onto a sharp rock jutting out of the wall; the wax was all but spent and hadn't been lit in a few days.

Itachi was the first to emerge from the cave, his Sharingan was activated, scanning the area for traps or ninja's waiting to ambush them. His eyes looked in between the trees, scanning the dense leaves and thick branches. Hoshiko followed a few seconds later, shielding her eyes from the sudden brightness after being in the tunnels for nearly three hours. Her silver eyes dropped to the ground as she searched for any signs of footprints left behind by the kidnappers or their victims, but the ground was clean. Fresh mud and leaves coated the floor, causing the girl to huff and cross her arms.

"Great," she muttered. "What now?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at the Uchiha.

Itachi didn't reply as he suddenly leapt up into the trees, climbing as high as he could, Hoshiko was left speechless as she stared after him, watching him disappear among the foliage.

When he dropped back to the ground a minute later Hoshiko jumped in fright and held a hand to her heart.

"What were you doing?" She asked him as Itachi brushed down his clothes and pulled a stray leaf out of his hair and flicked it away.

"There are no settlements nearby, I was getting a better look of the landscape." He replied simply, meeting her stubborn gaze.

"You couldn't have said that before you turned into a monkey and started climbing the trees?" Hoshiko grumbled.

One side of Itachi's mouth lifted, "I would've thought it was obvious for me to check around the area."

A faint blush tinged Hoshiko's cheeks as she turned away from him, embarrassed, "I-I knew that," she muttered.

"There's nothing for us to search here, we should head back and ask around for any Shinobi hanging around the village," Itachi told her as Hoshiko nodded in agreement.

The sun had just dipped below the horizon when Hoshiko and Itachi jumped out from the hole they had made in Sadao's farm. Hoshiko spotted Sadao sitting on a wooden log a few feet away from them; he had been sharpening some of his farming tools at their arrival as he glanced up at them.

"I was wondering when you two would return," he said to them, rising from his seat.

"Sorry about the hole," Hoshiko said, pointing to the obvious hazard. Itachi was silent as he regarded the older man as Sadao approached the hole and peered down.

"So this is how they took Ren, huh? Bastards…" Sadao ground his teeth together, his fists balled up together at his sides.

"This tunnel would've been made by Shinobi, do you have any idea if there are any here in this village?" Itachi asked him.

Sadao thought about it for a second, rubbing his fingers along his chin thoughtfully, "Can't say that I have. We're a pretty tight nit community, if a stranger suddenly appears the whole village will know about it in a few short hours."

Hoshiko sent Itachi a disappointed look.

"Say…" Sadao started, catching their attention once more, "How did you two know to do that?" He pointed to the hole in the ground that Itachi had unearthed with his Earth release. Hoshiko paled, she had completely forgotten about how they were undercover and no one was meant to know that they were ANBU.

"You're Shinobi, aren't you." Sadao stated.

Itachi and Hoshiko shared a look saying that they were both screwed as they had been caught out. They were both also trying to figure out whether they should continue the lie or admit the truth to Sadao. Hoshiko felt like they should tell the truth, Sadao had helped them discover the truth about he kidnappings, they owed him that much.

"Yeah, we are—"

"Hoshiko." Itachi hissed her name, his eyes narrowed. The dark haired girl turned to her companion.

"He figured it out, Itachi. Besides, there's no point in hiding it, your little demonstration there outed us," Hoshiko pointed back to the hole as she cast her silver gaze to Sadao. He was glancing between he two of them, wondering if he had made the right decision to out them with the way Itachi was glaring at his female companion.

"We're from Konoha," Hoshiko continued. "We were sent here to help find the missing children."

"That team of Chuunin that came the other day, they tried to help us but couldn't figure it out," Sadao said.

"We're not Chuunin," Hoshiko said with a sly smirk. She was proud to finally say something like that. Her and Itachi were definitely not Chuunin, it was to be expected that the Chuunin's hadn't pieced the earthquake being jutsu together, plus, they didn't have the Uchiha prodigy with them like Hoshiko did.

"You're a bit young to be Jounin," Sadao said with a scoff, as he looked them over again. Seeing Itachi a few inches taller than Hoshiko; one with icy silver eyes, another with pitch-black irises. Hoshiko's long dark hair unbound over her shoulder and Itachi's hair tied at the nape of his neck.

Hoshiko crossed her arms over her chest, "We shouldn't say anymore, Sadao-san; but please leave this to us, we'll find Ren and the other children, it's a promise," Hoshiko flashed him a bright smile. The girl missed the pensive look Itachi sent her way as he studied her, seeing no doubt in her expression and eyes as she made her promise to the farmer.

Sadao returned her smile, "I'm counting on you, kid."

"You shouldn't make promises." Itachi said to Hoshiko as they re-entered the village. They were heading in the direction of the inn, the day had ended and they doubted they could pick up any leads on the Shinobi who had taken the children at the moment; they would start again in the morning. Hoshiko glanced to the side, seeing the side of Itachi's face as he stared ahead of them.

"Why not?" Hoshiko questioned him with a scowl.

"Because what if you don't come through with your promise?"

"I will," she replied determinedly.

"There's no guarantee that we will find the children alive," Itachi argued.

"That sounds like loser talk," Hoshiko snapped. "I thought you weren't a loser? That you never failed a mission?"

"It's not," he bit back calmly, "It's called being realistic."

Hoshiko scoffed at him and faced the other way, "What's so bad about giving people hope? It gives them something to fight for, I thought you were all for that."

Itachi remained silent.

"It's not wrong to tell people to hold onto hope. What's wrong is lying to people to give them hope. It'd be wrong of me to tell Sadao that I would bring Ren back alive, I know that we might not find these kids alive, but just finding them would give these villages closure. I told Sadao that I would find them, I never said anything about bringing them back alive, I'm not an idiot, Itachi."

The Uchiha said nothing again, choosing instead to listen to her words and mull them over.

They reached the inn; they hadn't said a word to each other since their argument. Hoshiko walked in first, opening the door and stepping inside the warmth. Itachi followed behind her, shutting the door.

"Oh, there you are!" A voice said from further in the room. Hoshiko and Itachi turned to the voice as they saw the old woman receptionist waving them over. "Your parcel finally came today, it's in the back room!"

Hoshiko furrowed her brows in confusion, she looked behind her, trying to see if the old hag was talking to anyone else, but it was just the three in the entrance.

"We didn—ouch!" Hoshiko hissed, rubbing her arm where Itachi had pinched her sharply. One look from the Uchiha had her silenced as Itachi shook his head.

"Follow me, I'll take you to it," the woman said as Itachi thanked her quietly and followed her behind the desk. Hoshiko was still rubbing her sore arm as she bristled quietly but followed after the dark haired Uchiha.

The back room was just a room with a couch, a small table with a few books scattered over it, a wilting potted plant and a small window. The woman ushered them in with a quick peek out of the room before she closed the door and locked it. The woman turned to the two occupying her room as she brushed her hair away from her face.

"I'm sorry for it being this way, but you can't be too careful with whomever may be listening."

"What's going on?" Itachi asked, his tone quiet but still laced with authority.

"This morning, you asked me about your brother. I wanted to tell you more but I couldn't, it isn't safe in this village, especially for children like yourselves."

"We can handle ourselves, please just tell us what you know," Hoshiko said with a firm nod.

"It's just something I have observed and found out over the month, all the children that have been taken from our village have come from Konoha."

"What?" Hoshiko asked, confused.

The old woman sighed and collected her thoughts, "The orphan, Ren. His parents were originally from Konoha, he was born there but they moved out here when he was a young baby. They died in a tragic fire a few years ago; and some of the other children that were taken, their parents came here from Konoha too."

"You're saying that these people are targeting the children of previous Konoha residents?" Itachi cleared up as the woman nodded spastically.

"Exactly, it was only by coincidence that I over heard a few of the villagers talking about it."

Hoshiko and Itachi shared a bewildered look; it made absolutely no sense to them as to why someone would kidnap children whose parents had come from Konoha.

"I can tell that you two are no ordinary kids," the woman sent them a pointed look. "I'm not a prying person, but I will say this, be careful with who you talk to. This village isn't safe anymore; even if you can take care of yourself, watch your backs."

Hoshiko had a sneaking suspicion that the woman had guessed that they were Shinobi; by the way she was speaking about them and the look she was giving them. She was grateful that the woman had spoken to them about this, it had indeed given them another lead but it still didn't point fingers at anyone who could've done this.

"Arigato," Hoshiko said with a bow.

Itachi nodded his thanks. The woman suddenly remembered about why she had brought them in here as she searched around for a medium sized box and shoved it into Itachi's chest, causing him to 'oof' as he grasped it.

"Be safe," the woman said to them as she opened the door for them. Hoshiko thanked her again and followed Itachi out of the room, the Uchiha with a sour look on his face from being manhandled by the old woman.

Hi guys! Thanks for your feedback! I hope this mission isn't too boring, trust me it's get better and we'll be having some kickass action fight scenes coming up soon! Guesses as to what you think is going on with the missing children? I'll be surprised if anyone actually guesses right! xD