After leaving the merchant's place, Itachi and Kisame asked around some more to gather additional information about the incident, Old Man Bocchon, and his granddaughter before taking off to the mountain.

During the whole questioning that day, Itachi was being especially careful. He wanted to avoid causing any panic among the villagers. Even though he suceeded in doing so, the amount of information they could obtain was very lacking. That's why they couldn't help but going directly to the mountain peak in order to meet this "Old Man Bocchon" they had been told about while also investigating the area.

The truth is, Itachi wanted to avoid going up the mountain without any information. However strong he was, he was always the cautious type. Waltzing into what could be the enemy's territory without sufficient information wasn't an action he would prefer to take. Moreover, they had no clear grasp yet about what their target could be. The current lack of knowledge bothered him, forming a frown on his forehead. Kisame on the other hand, was as relaxed as ever.

Itachi took a careful look onto his surroundings. Sure the path was rough, especially for normal civilians. He could see why the merchant and the villagers refused to visit the old man's hut by themselves. This also deepened his suspicion upon this old man. Especially since he had gotten an extra bit of information which signified that the old man fell sick near the time the construction started. But what about the old man's granddaughter that everyone had been talking about? A 12-14 years old, lovable civilian old girl having anything to do about the missing groups of strong worker and shinobis didn't seem to be likely, though she was nimble enough to climb the rough path by herself.

As he was thinking, Itachi and Kisame reached their destination. An open plain in the middle of the forest. Underneath the mountain's cliff that surrounded the plain, a small house surrounded by a stone wall of about 2 meters tall stood. Observing the surrounding of the houses and the equipments laying on the walls side, it was obvious that the house was a hunter's hut. Itachi took a deep breath, trying to find any trace of blood that would linger after a massacre.

There was none. Not even a scent of animal's blood. It seemed like it had been long since the old man last hunted his own food.

He felt a bit relieved. The idea of having to kill an old man in front of his granddaughter nauseated him. It reminded him to his last mission as Konoha Shinobi, the Uchiha Massacre.

However they still needed to be cautious. Together, the pair walked towards the dark hut. It was already late at night, and there was no lighting around. However, the path was bright enough from the light of the moon, even though it wasn't a full moon night.

They stopped in front of the hut's door.

"Uncles over there, what are you doing here this late at night?"

A young girl's voice asked from behind them.

Itachi and Kisame didn't felt any presence earlier. Thrown off by the sudden question, the two quickly turned back and backed off. A strong wind suddenly blew, throwing Itachi and Kisame's cloaked hat off their head.

It was the girl they saw earlier in the village, the 'orange-chaser'.

She was sitting above the hut's stone wall behind them, dressed in all white. She swung her legs playfully as she took a more careful look at the pair's expression.

Upon seeing the two's face, the girl put on a surprised face as she brought her hand to her mouth and laughed cheerfully.

"Oh, i'm sorry, it's a brother and an uncle then~"

The sight of the girl's cheerful innocent laugh would normally put people off guard as the tension relaxed. But Itachi felt that something wasn't right.

"Which one is which, huh?" Kisame replied back, while relaxing his posture.

"Kisame!" Itachi called to him, warned him not to let down his guard yet. He activated his Sharingan.

The girl smiled. With her back against the crescent moon's light, the smile seemed to be somewhat wicked.

Author's Note:

IT APPEAAAARSSSSS! Joking, she's not a ghost *forgive me for throwing nonsense jokes*

for illustrated version, read on tumblr: tagged/moondemon

Illustration by

Comission type: BW art