4 Interlude || Kagura's Route

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* If Hanabi stayed with Kagura.

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A soft breeze blew through the thick curtains, moving them ever so slightly, accompanied by a series of chirps from the birds that sung outside. Hanabi laid on the cushion fast asleep. The bed creaked, as someone shifted their weight under the mattress. Groaning, the black-haired female turned to her right, murmuring indistinguishable words in her slumber. It proved to be a mistake though, as the moment she did, a bright ray of sunlight seeped through the cracks of navy-blue fabric, as though she was hit by a very, very unfortunate luck, the harsh golden streak of light somehow specifically shone right down her closed eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed and her face scrunched in annoyance as she woke up to the bright glare.

"Damn it..." she cursed to herself, pushing herself up and stretching.

"Good morning!" a cheery voice greeted her from behind, immediately, she recognized it to be Kagura's. "I was just about to wake you up. Get yourself ready, we're leaving soon."

Ah, right. She had just remembered where she was. Who was he again? The shaman—. He was kind enough to let them stay there the night. For a moment there, Hanabi nearly forgot what went down the other day. Hanzo, the Ame no Habakiri, her reconciliation with Kagura. Wait a minute.. Hanzo—! She needed to check on him immediately.

"I'll catch up, I need to get something. You two can get a head start." Hanabi immediately rushed to get up, patting her clothes down as she slipped her footwear on. "Kagura, have you seen my hair tie—"

The female stopped dead in her tracks. Standing before her, facing to her right, stood the other girl. Kagura was brushing white locks of hair in front of a small mirror, her furisode was wide open. She still wore the bandages from last night, but it appears that Valir's healing did quite the job. There were minimal bruises left, but all in all, she looked completely fine. What froze Hanabi though was how the other was wearing.. black underwear. Completely unexpected. Even Hanabi wore dull maroon panties— under her thin shorts where she can hide small parchments in— under her skirt!

"H-Hey! Cover yourself!"

Hanabi scowled, looking away and putting her hands in front, as if to cover the sight. Her face was a bright red and her body felt this weird, fizzy feeling. Like bathing in soda. She heard a soft chuckle from the other.

"We're both girls!" Kagura shook her head, a goofy grin on her face from her companion's reaction.

She pulled the cloth over herself and got her ribbon off the small table beside the bed, tying it the way she found comfortable, behind her. The stupid thing was so big she couldn't put it at the front as it limited her movement so much.

"You can open your eyes."

Hanabi ever so slightly opened one at first, checking if she was being tricked or not, then sighed in relief as she stood up straight, not realizing how much she crouched down. She avoided Kagura's eyes, a soft salmon flush still on her cheeks.

"Are you stupid?" Hanabi clicked her tongue, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Don't be silly. You're acting like I was butt-naked just now." The other girl placed a hand on her hip, head tilted, eyebrow raised and a smirk on to further tease the other.

For some reason, Hanabi found that funny. She puffed her cheeks, trying to hold a giggle back.

"I don't want to see your baby butt." She shook her head, finally turning to meet the other's stare.

"I wasn't offering though—! Pff-" Kagura laughed, joined by the other. Hanabi sighed from the light-hearted exchange and for a moment, just stared at her with a smile on her face.

Kagura returned it, a quirky curve on both of their lips for a few seconds. The oddness of it almost had her in a fit of giggles again. Then she snapped out of it, remembering something.

"Oh, right! Your hair tie." The shorter girl snapped her fingers, and turned to her back.

"Ah-. Right, right." Hanabi nodded and unconsciously peered over her shoulder, trying to look at what Kagura was doing. She was taller, the other girl was the same height as Hanabi's eyebrows.

Kagura faced her again, a long red ribbon on her hand. It was dirty and tattered, a bit torn at some parts. Hanabi frowned slightly. She loved that thing.

"It's kinda worn out, I think..." Kagura murmured sheepishly.

"Oh, that's alright. I'll just…" She trailed off, nodding and forcing a small smile on.

Honestly, Hanabi was a bit dismayed. Her hair was long and it was a nuisance to move around with. Not to mention it was hot as hell all morning 'til afternoon. She hated having her hair down, but at the same time, didn't want to get it cut either. That's why she got that tie in the first place.

"Hmm, wait. I got an idea."

She turned to Kagura again, a bit confused. The girl pulled something long and blue out, holding it in front of her.

"Here! It's mine, but if you'll let me, I'll tie your hair with it."

"E-Ehh?! No, no, no—! It's fine I swear. You can wear it instead! I'm alright-!" Hanabi stammered her words out waving her hands as to reject the offer. "You really, really don't have to!"

"It's fine, come on!"

Kagura nodded in assurance and patted a space on the bed. "Sit."

Hanabi whined in refusal, for a second, just sharing a long staring competition with the other female who persisted quite effectively. Giving up, she muttered a defeated "Fine." and proceeded to take her seat. Kagura grinned, face beaming in victory as she began to brush black strands of hair. The ninja, having just woken up, had her hair in a tangled mess, but in a few moments later, they were as straight as everything but this. She had her hair tied up, as how high she'd put it herself, and locking them together was a light blue ribbon tightly pulled in place.

"Blue looks nice on you too." Kagura stated, patting her shoulders to inform that it's done.

"I like red."

"Doesn't hurt to try new things, you know."

She shrugged, standing up and making her way to the mirror. Blue does seem like a nice change though.. It's a fresh sight from the fierce red and black she had always worn. It was light, cute and small. Not something she'd immediately gush over, but surely, something she'd begun to like. "Huh.. I guess you're right."

"Heh. Do you think I should do a twintail?"

Hanabi met her eyes through the mirror. Kagura had her white hair held up beside her head, staring at herself in the mirror. She held it up, then lowered it, as if trying to find a good look for it.

"No, no. Too childish." Hanabi smirked, crossing her arms and facing her. "You're too old for that."

"Hmmm," the other hummed, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. "Yeaaah, too childish."

"I'll tie it for you, come here."

Moments later, both of them stood by the mirror, hair tied up identically. A happy smile rested on the shorter female's face and the other looked at her with amusement through the mirror. Had it not been a day ago that they wouldn't even dare speak to each other, and yet not they seemed like birds of the same feather. Perhaps they aren't as different as she thought, Hanabi spoke to herself in her mind, maybe this friendship could've started earlier if she hadn't let hate get in the way.

It's never too late.

"Let's have breakfast first." Kagura suggested and turned to the door. "I'm not sure wether we're having deer or fowl today, I wasn't able tag along the hunt. He didn't wake me up."

Hanabi was about to nod her head in agreement when she remembered about her captive. She mentally facepalmed, completely forgetting her secret duties for a good twenty minutes, give or take. Unfortunately, she'd have to pass the offer.

"Ah, sorry. You two go on, I have to fetch something quickly—."

"What is it?" The other asked, turning her head. "We can get it together-"

"No, this is on me." She immediately cut her off, looking at her half sternly, half in plea. "Trust me, I'll be quick."

"Okay then, if you insist."

Hanabi made her way out, exiting the room, towards the main temple. The table from last night had a couple of meat, roasted to a perfection, definitely neither fowl nor deer. Mutton, most likely. It looked utterly delicious along with the variety of vegetables and a few berries lined along. To the edge of the room, stood the shrine mage. He seemed to be busy with stew, and preserving extra animal meat. A hare and what seemed to be the hind legs of a small creature. Hayabusa clearly had gotten lazy and went for the easier kills. The ravishing smell alone tempted the girl to stay for a few bites, but she knew what she had to do, and priorities must come first.

Scanning the area for the other ninja, she cautiously made her way out, politely declining the offer for food from Valir. It seemed clear. Hanabi made her way down the hill, breaking into a sprint through the forrest below.

Unknown to her though, a familiar set of red eyes locked on her figure as she hastily disappeared through the bramble. The shadow scoffed, leaping off a tree branch from where he had hidden himself. Hayabusa glared towards the direction he last saw her, further suspicions rising at the back of his mind. Just what was Hanabi hiding? Fists unconsciously clenched beside him, he made a step forward, about to chase down the shady female before he got interrupted.

"Hayabusa!"

Kagura leaned her head to the side, curiously watching how he acted.

"What are you up to?"

"It's nothing, just a thought." He breathed a small sigh, and gave a small, reassuring smile. "Let's eat."

"Oh, right. Hanabi wanted to fetch something. We can just wait for her at the crossroads, by the town before we reach Iga."

'Fetch something.', he repeated in himself, noting it down. The crossroads Kagura mentioned wasn't very safe. It was used by commoners and high officials alike, therefore the chance of running into mercenaries and bandits were high, not that it bothered him in the least. If it weren't for Hanabi being the 'Hero' of this mission, he'd want nothing more than to head straight for Iga without any stops. Was he mad? No. But looking on hindsight, he was rather disappointed at himself for missing his chance at the very task he trained his whole life for. His purpose. It'll be a lie if he said he wasn't blaming it on Hanabi though.

"Alright. She better be there by noon."

"She will, I'm sure."

He raised an eyebrow, "Why are you suddenly friends with her?"

Kagura shrugged, a healf-hearted giggle in response to his question. "She's not bad."

"Yeah, but she's still a bi—."

"Hush, if anything you should be friends with her. Aren't you two sparring partners?"

"No? She's my rival. She attacks me for no reason and calls it training." Hayabusa rolled his eyes. He appreciates the reflex tests and the constant ambush trainings, but accompanied with constant nagging and insults? Gods. Maybe he's still just upset about the whole kill-steal bullshit.

"Besides, she's rude. And arrogant. She never listens to anything I say." he, continued. "Can you believe she called herself the Scarlet Shadow? Even my title—!"

His ranting halted to a stop when he realized his lover was just staring at him with a blank expression, eyebrows furrowed. Hayabusa sighed waving a hand in dismissal and walking over, swinging an arm over her shoulders and changing the subject as he led her back inside. He didn't understand why girls did that—, stand up for each other no matter the context, but it's annoying. Hanabi took his kill from him, his mission. Surely when they reach Iga, she will have stolen his title as the Shadow as well. The least he could do now is to make an effort that she wouldn't take away his precious Kagura. He held back an irked remark when he noticed she had her hair tied up, nothing he hadn't seen before, but he quickly connected it to why Hanabi earlier wore a blue hair tie. Seriously?

Hanabi arrived in front of a dishevelled cabin surrounded by brambles and overgrowth. It was where she left her weapon, and more importantly, it was where she hid him from the others. It was farther up North where a normal traveller would trek, the journey was rough, dangerous and harbored the risk of running into bandits and demons. No one would've found him here if they tried, just the way she intended it. Half of her wished that she wouldn't see him there— that he'd gone off during the night and fled back to the shadow abyss, just so she wouldn't have the burden of figuring out what to do with him. The other half? Well, she dreaded the thought of him waiting there, by the door covered in shadows, ready to pounce and kill her the moment she walks in. Well, whichever it really is, Hanabi had no choice. This was the action she chose to take, and if it'd be the death of her, then so be it.

Carefully, she made her way in. Old wooden floorboards creaked under her weight. She expected dreadful silence, one that's almost deafening, as you would expect entering a death trap. A set up where you know something was coming to get you at any second. But there was none. The breeze blew through the trees outside, leaves softly rushing along the crisp autumn air. Birds chirped. It was almost too assuring. The Higanbana laid by the doorway, resting against its frame. Her eyebrows furrowed at the thought of having to explain herself out of this one when she gets back, —if she gets back. Hayabusa would give her hell for it, even worse, the grandmasters back in Iga. Sure enough, they'd be pissed. Kagura crossed her mind. Of course, Kagura wouldn't judge her too harshly, would she? The female ninja let out a sigh as she continued walking.

Before she even made it to the room where she held Hanzo captive, a loud, agitated groan erupted beyond the door she faced. "Hurry up, will you?" That familiar male voice from the night before, now groggier and clearly upset. "Let's get this over with."

He was sitting in plain view from the door, just as how she had left him there the night before. Hands tied behind him, body tight in restraints on a pole. Hanzo's face had a bitter scowl, discomfort obvious on his features. Seems like he had a rough time getting any sleep, if he even had to in the first place.

"So what's your deal, shadow?" he hissed upon seeing her figure beyond the wooden frame of the door, "Did you spare me so you could torment me? Are you going to punish me for my acts against Iga? Don't tell me you'll be bringing your friends along so you fools can take turn beating me up."

Hanabi returned his venomous glare as she made her way to him. She placed a hand on her waist, towering over him and looking rather intimidating.

"That's not my plan, but it could be, if you prefer it that way." She wasn't sadistic at all, but she treated the people the same way they treat her, perhaps even worse, if honest. "I just need some answers. I came alone."

"Ah, so you're my interrogator." He nodded and leaned back. "Alright, I'll cooperate."

Hanabi shot him an eyebrow in suspicion. "Just that easily? I expected the demon Hanzo to put up more fight than this."

"Ahaha—, no." He couldn't help but smirk at what she said. Demon. That's funny. "I'll make your job easy, it saves both of us the trouble. I have a condition though."

"You're not in the place to be making conditions right now." The female kneeled down to his height, a menacing look on her face as she leaned over, perhaps to intimidate him even more.

Hanzo, however, wasn't fazed at all. Instead, he leaned towards her, quite uncomfortably close, as much as he can despite his restraints. Hanabi was taken aback, but didn't show it. She kept her glare straight into his turquoise pupils despite them being inches away.

"Tell me, weren't you on the floor bleeding last night? I could kill you right now, if I wanted to. Your friends aren't here to help this time."

Hanabi's heart raced in her chest for a moment, fearing for her life as a small flash of memory from the night before came to her mind. Him. The demon as he drew closer, blade in hand and ready to end her, just before a flash of pink and blue, a familiar voice calling her name and the feeling of being pulled off the ground. But along with it was the memory of this man in front of her, weakened and desperately pleading for death. He didn't want to kill her, did he? If anything, it was the other way around. Hanabi wasn't so sure, wasn't so confident, but it was two lose puzzle pieces that fit together, not perfectly but enough to paint a picture. She still needed to be careful around him.

"But you're not going to. You don't want to." She spoke, with what reluctance she had masked under a firm, strong tone.

Hanzo's smirk dropped, and he slowly backed away, pressing his head against the pole behind him, unbeknownst to him, it was much to Hanabi's relief.

"I'm right." She whispered, though it sounded more of a question than it did as a fact.

"You are, partly." He replied. "I could, but am I going to? Maybe I will. But I don't want to."

"Why..?"

"Is this really your question?" Hanzo asked, sounding a bit annoyed but confused himself. It wasn't her question, but it was a start anyway. "I'm tired, you know. I'm immortal. I'm restless."

"You're not going to kill me.. cause you're bored of killing?" She asked, sitting down in front of him, in a position where her kunais are easily accessible.

"No. I'll trust you with a secret, but you'll have to trust me too."

"I won't."

Who would blame her? He was a merciless beast hell-bent on destroying everything in his path. Trusting him was a foolish decision, one Hanabi already made too many of. She already learnt not to act rashly, not to jump on anything she had an impulse for. She had to be on guard and she had to know her own limits, what she could take on and what she couldn't— alone. Hanzo was much stronger than her. It could be a trap.

"Untie me." He ordered her.

"I won't."

Silence.

"I won't attack you. You'll know when I will. The sword isn't in the room, is it? You have my word that as long as I'm conscious, I won't harm you. Just untie me, and I'll tell you everything there is to know. I want this over as much as you do."

Should she wait for him to beg? Why is she even considering this? What does he mean by conscious? Hanabi had too many questions and the answer was tied right in front of her. She could just beat him to death and force him to comply, but what if he chose to stay silent? It didn't feel morally correct either. But morals don't have anything to do with this. She was a ninja, she's taken lives herself, done heinous things all for the Order and yet the idea of hurting this monster didn't feel right.

"Okay." She finally relented. "But make one move and I'll slit your throat."

"I'm so scared." Hanzo rolled his eyes. What even made her think he's scared to die? He was literally asking for it.

The female leaned over and began to undo the knots behind him, she was uncomfortably close but both of them had to deal with it. Midway through, he began to speak again.

"Say, Hanabi, was it?" he asked but received no answer. Hanzo waited a few seconds, eyeing her as she was busy loosening the ties that bound him. "Are you scared of me?"

Hanabi gulped but remained calm. Why the hell did she overdo this in the first place? "No. Don't try anything funny."

Hanzo felt his arms freed of ties and he continued to inspect her figure.

"Why?" He asked, but to himself, not her. The man chuckled softly. He brought a hand up to her hair, right to where it was gathered and tied together with a pretty blue ribbon. "I'm sure this was red."

Hanabi felt this small tug, and immediately her eyes widened and she jolted back, hand firmly pushing him back with a bit of force unto the pole behind him. Her face flushed a slight crimson as she angrily scowled at him.

"I said don't do anything funny!"

"I wasn't, I was just—"

"Don't. Touch it." A finger was firmly on his chest, eyes narrowed and burning into his. "I'll break your arms."

"Alright, sheesh." The other man laughed, sitting back comfortably as to keep his promise of not hurting her.

When she seemed to calm down a bit, the former shadow eyes her a bit. She's strange, isn't she? Idiotic, if anything. Come to think of it, it was so easy to push her down and run for the door. He could kill her now, and no one would ever know. She's alone and she told him that. But no, he'll keep true to his words this time. Maybe she can help him. Maybe she'll end up killing him. "Alright, I'll play with you."

Hanzo gave her a grin. "Let's talk."