"What? Have you finally lost your mind, kid? Itachi killed them of his own sick will, don't blame lord Danzo for that psycho's actions," the anbu boy scoffed .
"I'm not dumb, anbu boy, I'm well aware that Danzo told him to do it. So give up the ruse and just tell me why," Harumi pushed on his chest, her violet eyes staring him down.
"I know you heard me the first time, I'm not going to repeat myself. It may be hard for your childish brain to get it, but he doesn't give a shit about you. Just like your parents," he replied, a smirk forming at the end of his sentence. Harumi felt her heart clench, but didn't show it.
"You don't know anything about me, Itachi, or my parents. You're just a disposable ninja Danzo uses to get his way. You think he gives a crap whether you live or die?" she all but laughed. "Please, I bet he doesn't even know your name. You're a tool to him, nothing more, nothing less." He looked offended and like he was about to say something, but she interrupted him by saying she was going to go find a nearby river.
"Hey! Don't leave me here! Let me go!" he yelled, but Harumi simply waved him off. He groaned and slumped the most he could against the tree, re-contemplating his life choices and how he ended up there.
Suddenly, he heard the leaves rustle and sighed loudly.
"What, did you not find the stupid river?" he spoke aloud annoyingly, but immediately paled when he saw huge bandits come out from in between the trees. Oh no, this couldn't be happening. First being kidnapped by a monstrous twelve year old, and now he was going to be ganged up on by a group of idiotic bandits with bats in their hands. His day was going just great.
"Yo, look boss. I found sum' fresh meat," said one of the bandits.
"Shut up, we're looking for a girl, not a guy. She's the one who took down our boss, Goro," said the biggest bandit. Anbu boy's eyes widened. They must've been talking about Harumi!
"Hey, hey! I know who you're talking about, and if you untie me, I'll take you right to her!" he exclaimed. This was perfect! He could have them fight her, and then he'd hit her when there was an opening! Oh wow, he was a genius.
"Boss?" one bandit asked the taller one, and when he gave a nod, he came and untied him.
"This way gentlemen," anbu boy bowed, a huge grin on his face as he confidently marched forward. He was, truth be told, still new to the anbu black ops missions, which is why he was so surprised when he was assigned to capture an Uchiha. He was told by lord Danzo that since the older anbus were being sent with him, and that he'd be fine. He was excited because he would surely impress lord Danzo now! As they finally reached the river, they all jumped out from the cover of the trees proudly. Anbu boy looked victorious when his smile suddenly dropped and his jaw instead fell open.
Harumi was in the river, naked. She seemed to be in a daze, looking into the far distance with dull eyes. When she finally turned to them, her eyes narrowed. The bandits looked disgustingly aroused while anbu boy covered his eyes as he blushed furiously.
"This is the girl who took down the boss! Let's get her and maybe we can have some fun later," the tall bandit pointed.
Anbu boy slowly lifted his hand away from his eyes to see her murmur something before a water dragon rised from the river and whipped all the bandits into the sky and across the forest. Anbu boy looked terrified.
"I-I had no idea you were bathing!" He quickly defended, her eyes narrowing further as she stood up, the dragon circling her in a way which covered her chest and lower half from his view. She murmured something again and raised her hand, pointing at him. He paled further as the dragon suddenly slammed him roughly against a tree. He gasped exaggeratingly and took a few moments to calm himself down before speaking.
"I told you I didn't know!" he groaned but when he looked up, she wasn't there. He took a breath and looked around. She wasn't in the river, and didn't seem to be in the trees, so where was she? Just as he was about to take a step forward, she suddenly appeared in front of him, fully clothed, looking annoyed.
"Shut it perv, I told you to stay against the tree for a reason. I just wanted to take a freaking bath, is that so hard?" she frowned, her arms crossed as she glared.
He was about to speak when he realized this was his moment, her guard was down because she thought he couldn't do anything. He quickly grabbed his kunai and swung at her. She quickly took a step back, her eyes widening at the sudden movement. She gritted her teeth, she really couldn't have a single moment of peace. Harumi weaved the signs for another water dragon jutsu which grabbed him and slammed him into the water, drowning him. She watched as his body struggled under the water, trying to swim up for air.
He felt the water entering his lungs, making him scream louder. Was this it? Was he about to die? He had so many things he wanted to do though, so many places he wanted to go. But, this way, he could die a hero. They would honor him for trying to eliminate a monster and a threat to the leaf. Just as he was considering giving up, he suddenly remembered something that gave him back the will to live. He couldn't die a virgin, he hadn't even had his first kiss yet! He waved the hand sign, a fire style flame bullet jutsu, which burned the dragon away.
He quickly swam up to see Harumi standing there with her arm crossed and a raised brow. She looked him up and down in a judgmental way before saying, "I hope you don't think you actually burned away my dragon, your chakra's too weak for that. I only disbursed it because I don't want a child to come here and see a floating dead body. You wouldn't be alive right now if not for that."
He gasped in offense as his eyes narrowed back at her. She called his chakra weak! Wasn't she twelve?! What did she know about strong and weak! He began yelling complaints, offended by her choice of words regarding the strength of his abilities. She simply rolled her eyes and began walking away, confusing him. She knew that since he had no information on Danzo, he'd be useless to her. She realized it was a risk to let him go alive, but she didn't feel like killing him. It made her feel like a jerk, he was so much weaker than her that she'd practically be bullying him if she let him try and defend himself.
He quickly ran out of the water and caught up to her, walking backwards in front of her.
"Hey! Are you stupid?! You're not supposed to turn your back to an enemy or a threat!" he put up a scolding finger.
"But you're not a threat," she countered as she continued to walk forward.
"Y-Yes I am! I'm an anbu black ops! We specialize in killing people swiftly and stealing really important information! You should be really scared!" said anbu boy.
"Well then, you really suck at your job. When you've been around the people I have for long enough, fear of others tends to disappear," she replied simply. He gaped at her. She really didn't have a worry in the world! She noticed his confused and offended face, so she sighed and continued.
"Take Itachi as a prime example, that socially awkward boy killed the whole Uchiha clan in a single night without a person in the Leaf except Danzo knowing. So if I was friends with and chased by a person like that, do you really think I'd be scared of a boy who was nearly killed by a simple water dragon jutsu?" she turned to him, but when she saw him open his mouth, she interrupted. "Don't answer that, it was rhetorical. What I mean is that it's hard to be threatened by average people when I'm used to psycho Uchiha killers."
"Lord Danzo didn't know, you idiot! How many times do I have to say that?!" He pushed her. How dare she disrespect him so much?!
"Go away, anbu boy, I have no time to deal with your revelations. I need to figure out what to do when Itachi finds me," Harumi sighed, her annoyance clear in her voice.
"My name is Hido, and there are no revelations. You just can't deal with the fact that Itachi Uchiha killed everyone of his own free will, and that you're all alone now. You're just trying to pin it on lord Danzo to make yourself feel better," stated anbu boy, or Hido.
"I don't care if you think I'm trying to pin it on someone else, I don't even know why you're still here. Either you leave, or I kill you right here and now. And trust me, it won't be swift," she gave him a look, telling him she was being dead serious.
He gritted his teeth as she went around him, almost ignoring his presence. He wanted to scream that she was wrong, but there was a part of him that was telling him that he knew Danzo would order a massacre if need be. There was a part of him who knew Danzo had the resources to do that and pin it on someone else, a part of him knew it made sense. He hated that part of him, he wanted to shut it up but he just couldn't. It made no sense for Itachi to kill everyone for no reason, but it made all the sense that Danzo would be threatened by the clan.
"Hey! What…what makes you think lord Danzo did it?" Hido called out.
Harumi stopped, turned to him and said, "For exactly all the reasons that probably just went through your head."
She could almost see the wheels turning in his mind, so she continued. "Why would Danzo send you to kill me now of all times? Why didn't he kill me earlier, when I was smaller and it was easier? He happened to want me dead the same day Itachi killed everyone? It's very convenient, a little too much and you know it. He wanted all the Uchiha dead and wasn't happy when he realized I escaped."
Hido stood there, frozen and shocked. She was right, she was completely and utterly right. It was him who couldn't face the truth in reality, not her. He didn't want to think about how lord Danzo probably knew Hido didn't stand a chance against her and still sent him anyway. It hurt him to think that he didn't care whether his underlings died or not, that he never even truly cared about any of them in that heartless body of his. He soon noticed that Harumi had already walked away, and ran to her.
"Well I can't exactly go back anymore, I can't face lord Danzo without thinking about how he sent me here to die. So, do you need a travel buddy?" he scratched the back of his head.
"Are you sure you want to travel with a 'monster'?" Harumi smiled a bit.
"It's only for now, okay?! Until I figure out a way to deal with everything…" he huffed.
Harumi's smile grew bigger as she nodded, not realizing this was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.
Danzo looked at the injured ninjas that were brought to him. They already explained everything that had happened. They were about to be taken away to be treated. He was angry and annoyed, he should've killed the brat when he had the chance, he couldn't risk having her ruin his plans. He wanted her to kill the anbus to make her an official enemy of the leaf village, but she spared their lives. Attacking them wasn't enough to make her a true enemy. He sighed, he knew what he had to do, but it was such a hassle.
Before the ninjas could be taken away to be treated, Danzo killed them swiftly. He watched as they bleed, and as his two subordinates behind him remained emotionless to the scene before them.
"Go to the hokage, tell him that Harumi Uchiha attacked and killed three anbu black ops and is now an enemy of the leaf," Danzo ordered.
"Yes sir," one of them bowed.
"And tell him to make one more official statement," he added.
"What would you like him to say?"