[OP: "Pale White Horse"--The Oh Hellos]

Hanabi was scanning the inside of the hospital with her eyes--though it was hard to do with contacts in.

But she judged by the amount of people in it that it might be harder to slip away from them, and what if Tsunade was not inside? She didn't see her chakra signature at all.

She didn't want to get trapped in the hospital.

"You can get out all right?" she whispered to Suigetsu. "Turn into water or something?"

"Sure I can, but what're you doing?" Suigetsu asked.

"Meet me in one of the streets then," Hanabi said. "I don't want to risk them locking me up in there if they realize I'm not sick or anything. I'm going to run for it and hide in the alleys. Catch up to me."

"Hey, are you sure that's such a good--?" Suigetsu began but Hanabi began to leap and scream, "I don't want to get infected!"

And then she ran like she'd lost her mind, waving her hands frantically, into the street next to the medical center.

No one stopped her, as they all thought she'd been exposed too closely anyway.

Suigetsu was moved inside by the medics as if he was made of glass--or soiled underclothes or something they didn't want to touch. Really, it was rude. Karin was like that, but that was just her bad manners. You'd think an official medic would be more professional.

He hoped Hanabi didn't immediately get herself caught... He had a feeling Hinata would be more formidable if he came back alone...plus he kinda liked the kid, so he didn't want anything to happen to her.

* * *

Hanabi saw no one was following her from the medical center, but her luck didn't hold out.

Once she got a few streets away from it, she saw some more bandits--or so she assumed, anyway.

They looked at her and seemed to realize she'd just been running, and that made them suspicious. They started to move toward her.

Hanabi didn't waste any time ducking into the next small side street and running along it.

Now she was scared for real. Her heart was pounding.

"After her!" she heard a rough voice yell behind her from the street. "That girl was up to something!"

"Well, hurry up yourself then," someone else called at them.

Hanabi didn't think they had any jutsu, but then the ground under her suddenly turned into something like one of those whack-a-mole games. The ground jumped up at her.

One hit her hard in the thigh, and she fell over and tumbled into the wall.

That would bruise later.

"Got her," someone said. 

Adrenaline kept Hanabi from feeling the pain of the injury as much as she would later, and, realizing her bones weren't broken, she leapt up and scrambled up the wall.

That was risky because they could all see her now, and she heard them say, "Hey! That's a ninja then!"

She only hoped and prayed her chakra grip didn't waver this time like it had on the mountain. This was no time for her rookie mistakes.

If she could just shake these guys, she could go back to spying again, she was sure, with Suigetsu, but shaking them would be the hard part.

She dashed over the roof, slipping on a piece of it, but she didn't care as it shattered.

The next street over, she didn't see anyone yet, so she hopped down and started to run.

Her leg hurt but not nearly enough to slow her down.

The other ninjas had followed her, and they were taller and gaining on her.

One of them tossed shuriken at her.

Hanabi dodged them easily enough; with her Byakugan it was child's play to see them coming.

"Head her off," someone said.

Hanabi looked around... She needed to hide better so they'd lose sight of her.

If any of them had a really dangerous jutsu, they'd have used it by now, she thought, so probably they were small level ninjas...maybe just capture and restraint ones, in their past lives before they'd been bandits. That was good for her...but she couldn't take them all, not at her level and without risking slowing down to try to block their chakra points.

But then she saw she'd run into the part of town where the greenhouse was. It had been near the marketplace, so that was no great surprise.

At least she knew this area. She swerved towards that part of the street, with them still gaining on her, but she hopped over some barrels and a low stone wall that was in front of one house, and her light weight made her a bit faster than them on her feet.

Still, they were following, and if they started to use that rock-popping jutsu again, they'd be sure to put an obstacle that she couldn't hop over in front of her to injure her.

She headed for the greenhouse.

Then she got a shock.

The walls of it were broken in. They had big chunks missing, and in the front of it, where it had had a sign that declared it was a gift from Sand Village, had the sign spray-painted with some curse words.

So this was how Stone showed their disapproval, even after everyone had left?

That didn't really seem wise on their part, but if they'd intended to clean it up before anyone came to the Village again to see it, that hadn't worked out.

Still, the sight stunned her, and she stopped short, not sure now if she could even go this way.

But one of the bandits had gained on her.

"Got you," he said, grabbing at her shoulder. "What are you running from, you little brat? Did you steal something from us?"

Hanabi thought that was ironic, but, rather than pointing that out, she just kicked him as hard as she could in his stomach.

He didn't seem to expect her to think of that, and he let go of her and doubled over. She'd hit his chakra point sure enough.

Hanabi then hit the side of his neck with her soft hand, just as she had with Sasuke, and the guy seemed to actually pass out.

The others who'd been with him were right on his heels now, and they stared at her.

Great, now they knew she wasn't an ordinary kid for sure.

She held up her hands and started to back up, veering onto the property of the greenhouse now.

"Just give up, girl," one of them said. "Whatever you're doing, it's not worth it trying to get away now. I promise, we'll go easy on you if you give up."

One of them laughed in a weird way.

Hanabi didn't like that one already.

She was sure they were lying to her. Suigetsu was waiting anyway--she had to go back...if only so she'd have the chance to send Shine a message.

She hit the wall of the greenhouse right then.

"Nowhere to run now," they said.

Hanabi put chakra into her hands and flipped herself on the wall of the greenhouse the way a gymnast might vault over a bar.

They were surprised.

Hanabi was surprised she'd pulled that off after not practicing that move for so many weeks, but no time to be happy about it, she tore up the side of the greenhouse and hopped onto the roof.

They threw more things at her, which she ducked.

"Well, get on up there," said one.

"Are you forgetting that's glass, you idiot? I wouldn't want to put my weight on it. It's not that strong. She has to come down. We'll just close her in."

"Right."

Now she was trapped.

Hanabi froze.

Then she felt the glass crack under her weight.

In hindsight, maybe they should have used plexiglass for this place. Who'd have thought anyone would need to use a greenhouse for a hideout?

She took her weight off of it and tried to spread out to balance herself more, but the pane was clearly loose, because it fell through the roof, and she fell with it, landing on a bed of large sunflowers.

Plus side--she didn't break all her bones. Well, it was only about a 4-meter drop anyway from the roof to the ground.

She did break several of the sunflowers, and they fell on top of her also.

"There she's stuck now for sure." She heard one of the bandits outside. The glass walls didn't really block them out. "But make sure you tie her up. She was a Genin for sure."

Hanabi was almost flattered that he thought so, but she was more worried when she tried to move and pain shot up her leg. It had been hit in two places now--that probably wasn't good.

She hoped it wasn't sprained, just jammed, but it still throbbed when she put weight on it.

Actually, she'd hit it on her way down on the edge of the glass--that was what had wrenched it, not landing in the dirt and flowers. They had been softer than that. And she'd cut it, too. She now saw blood coming out of her leg. The glass had been sharp.

Not good.

She started to prop herself up using one of the plants, and it just snapped under her weight, and she fell onto a bed of...were those squashes?

To her shock she found someone else there.

"Hanabi?" the person exclaimed.

Hanabi blinked and pulled her hair out of her eyes.

It was Eichi! The kid from the street gang!

"What are you--?" she began, and Eichi suddenly shoved his hand over her mouth.

The bandits had just opened the greenhouse door and were looking around.

"She's hiding in one of the plants, for sure," they said. "What a mess... Who builds a greenhouse in the middle of winter anyway? Some team gift..."

"Come on, little girl," said the mean one. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Hanabi wanted to scream, cry, and curse them out at the same time.

Eichi motioned at her to stay silent, and she was indignant. What was he doing?

Then he held up fingers and made several hand signs.

Hanabi had only time to think, Eichi knows ninjutsu? before the ground suddenly opened up under her and dropped her into it.

It went pitch dark after second.

* * *

After what felt like a long silence but was only a few seconds, someone lit a match.

Eichi had fallen in with her.

Hanabi brushed dirt off herself and spat some out of her mouth.

"What...what was that?" she asked. "You're a ninja?"

"Not really," Eichi said. "Just a few ninjutsu tricks I learned from my mom, that's all... They come in handy sometimes for sneaking in and out of places. I can't fight them, so don't be too loud. We gotta go. They'll sense we're here soon enough if they have any other jutsus... Do they? I didn't get a good look at who it was."

"They didn't that I saw, but the guy I knocked out outside did," Hanabi said. "I think... Actually, I never saw which one was using it, but I think it was him or they'd have used it just now."

"I'm not so convinced," Eichi said. "But wait, was the guy you knocked out a big guy, mustache, beady eyes?"

"Yeah," Hanabi said, though she wasn't sure she'd looked at his eyes.

"Ah, I know who that is," Eichi said. "And he's trouble, at least for us, but I think can make a tunnel far enough to get out onto the next street, but that's as far as my control goes, so move fast. I can't hold it open for long."

He made another sign, and the earth in front of them moved.

The tunnel was small, but they could fit through.

Hanabi decided to wait to ask him about this till they got away, and she got out as fast as she could with her leg killing her.

Eichi followed her quickly, and then they were crawling out into a dark alley.

"They'll figure that out soon," he said. "What are you doing back here? I thought I was seeing things for a second in there, like maybe those mushrooms weren't the edible kind after all."

"Mushrooms? What are you talking about?" Hanabi said. "Why were you in the greenhouse? It looked abandoned."

Eichi looked a little guilty. "Oh, uh...just...getting some food."

Hanabi now noticed he had a bag with him that had dirt on it.

"Were you stealing it?" she said. For some reason she was surprised.

"Well, no one's using it," Eichi said defensively. "And it's all there, and it's better that than taking it from people's houses, isn't it? What choice did I have? And I was watering the stuff, so..."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on." Eichi took her by the arm. "Let's go. They're probably coming now."

He started to move, and Hanabi tried to move, and her ankle protested.

"Drat it...I think I twisted my ankle when I fell in," she said.

"You're lucky you didn't die," Eichi said. "The roof wasn't too stable after people tried to break the place in...till Kurotsuchi told them to leave it alone until the village decides what to do with it. But they knocked some holes in the walls, so it's not safe now. I was always sneak in through the ground."

"I'm sure you do... I'll be okay." Hanabi leaned on her good foot. "I just need a minute."

"You don't have a minute, Hanabi... Come on, I'll have to help you for now," Eichi said.

Hanabi wasn't sure she wanted anything from him, but she didn't want to be caught by the other guys, so she decided it was better to just accept it.

Eichi was stronger than his size suggested, and he got her down the street, and then he dodged between some houses and into one that had a hole in the wall.

Inside there was a nest of rats, but they scattered as soon as they saw people coming.

Hanabi thought she was going to be sick for a moment, but then she swallowed it down.

"They won't look for you in here," Eichi said. "Not someone like you, I think. They'll probably give up after a bit... So why did you come back?"

"Maybe you should tell me what you were doing first," Hanabi said. "The last time I saw you, you were running away at that terrible 'art show' they had. All of you were." She folded her arms. "How could you do that...? They were going to kill her."

"Oh..." Eichi winced. "Look, I couldn't do anything about it, all right? What was I supposed to do? I'm not that good of a fighter. All of us felt the same way. I didn't want to watch it, so I left. I hope you're not gonna be mad about that. I mean, none of you did much either."

Hanabi winced, since that was true. "Well...still, you didn't even say something when we left."

"Your group left in so much of a hurry there was not much chance to," Eichi said. "And I think we were all too ashamed."

Hanabi was silent a moment. That was a good answer.

Well, maybe she could understand that.

But something about this didn't add up. Eichi never had said he was a ninja. Hadn't he and Ryuji and Lin all been non-Genin? Wasn't that why the others hadn't Iiked them?

She looked at him closely.

"So why were you stealing?" she asked.

Eichi looked down. "Not much choice, like I said. Don't worry about it."

Hanabi felt that something was off. "Eichi...when did the bandits attack the Village?"

"Oh, you know about them, huh?" Eichi said, uneasily. "I think it was two to four days after you all left. They didn't wait long. But people started to fall sick right at the same time. It's been...terrible. I think half the Village is down." He fiddled with his bag nervously. "I'm afraid that my mom might catch it... They've had her working too much around the area--just 'cause she's not that powerful, so they think she's expendable. It's not right."

"Your mom...is working? Is your mom a shinobi for Stone? Did they make them join them?" Hanabi asked curiously. After all the others had said, she wanted to know more about the bandits.

Eichi looked a little uneasy again. "Look, Hanabi, my mom doesn't like stealing, all right? I know she doesn't, but without my father around, she didn't have any way to feed all of us, that's all. And I don't like it either, okay, but I can't work. There's not enough work here for grown men, let alone kids like me. So...it's just what happens."

Hanabi frowned at him. "Eichi, you didn't seem like the others. You seemed nice before...jumpy, but...and you warned us about that part of town...and..." She suddenly caught her breath. "Eichi, you're not one of them, are you?"

A very tense pause.

Hanabi grew upset. "What? How could you be? Bandits are even worse than the rogue ninjas, and how could you be one of them?!"

"Shh!" Eichi motioned at her to quiet. "You want someone to hear you? And I just told you, it's not like I wanted to do this. I didn't get much of a choice, really. Once they dragged my mom into it, they had me run for them too, me and the other boys. No one suspects us, that's why. I never wanted to, but I had to. And I wanted to warn you just so you wouldn't get in trouble with them. The Village never knew we were even here, they were so understaffed."

"Wait, what do you mean? How long were you here?"

"Since after the war," Eichi said. "No one ever noticed...and a lot of us were Stone Shinobi at one point, or from the Land of Earth, so we blended in...but we couldn't make ends meet, so the bandit tribe recruited us. Most of them are just starving, that's all... The dangerous ones are only a few, but they're terrible. You don't want to get on their bad side. I saw one of 'em kill someone just for screwing up their job... It scared my mom really badly too. So don't just think the worst of us like that, Hanabi. What would you do if you were us?"

"I... Well, stealing still isn't right...not..." Hanabi began, but then she thought of what the others had said. "Well, maybe I could see why you're stuck, but, if you're taking out a whole Village, that's not just to survive, is it?"

"I know, I know!" Eichi sounded cross because he clearly felt guilty. "I didn't want nothing to do with that part, but I really didn't even know about it till now. They don't tell me anything because I'm just a kid. I just have to do what I'm told, and the next thing I know they take the whole place over, and then they've not even been bothering to give us food or anything. I don't think they care about us runners now that we're not needed anymore. That's why I was going to the greenhouse and stuff. I mean, I can't get a job now... Mom is still doing things for them. But they don't let us family members work together anyway. They think we might scheme to get away from them. I only ever see my mom when they have us all together for meetings, and that's hardly ever."

"That's horrible. How could they keep you from your mom like that?"

"Because they'll beat her if they catch her around me," Eichi said. "And me too, probably. They're really terrible people, Hanabi, the higher ranking ones. The lower ones, they're kind of just...well, none of them are bad, but most of them just got jumped into this like we did without knowing how bad they were gonna treat the Village. I'm sorry, I really am, but what do you think I can do about it?"

Hanabi sat back.

Well...what could he do?

She felt sorry for him.

After a bit, she spoke again. "I guess I see your problem... I...actually, I do know how it feels. My dad kept me away from my sister for a long time, as much as he could...so I know how it is to not be allowed to be with your family. But she wasn't being held by bandits..."

"I thought your sister was with you," Eichi said. "And now that you mention it, you wanna tell me why you're here again? I thought you all were long gone. I was glad you were, actually."

"You should have told us this was going to happen!" Hanabi suddenly hit him in the arm, which made him wince. "We could have helped you then! And headed this whole thing off."

"Ouch. I didn't dare," Eichi said. "What if you hadn't? Then we'd all have died for warning you. I already warned you as much as I dared. You all should have left as soon as the Village turned against you anyway. What were you all thinking hanging around for so many days?"

"Well, we're not quitters," Hanabi said. "But you...well...and we could have helped you, trust me. I'm sure you can guess why I'm back again, but I'm not gonna tell you. What if someone's listening to us?"

"Good point," Eichi said. "But if they are, I'm dead. I don't think they'd tap a small hole like this, but if they followed us..." 

They both went still but heard nothing.

Finally, Hanabi said, "I have to get out of here. Can you tell me any more about what they're planning? Are they just going to stop with Stone Village?"

"I have no idea, Hanabi. And I wouldn't dare ask about it," Eichi said. "You should just go if you can. Go back to Leaf. Warn them. Maybe then they won't come here and get caught. We're all already trapped."

"You shouldn't just give up like that," Hanabi said. "We've beaten the odds before. We just came back from Rain Village for crying out loud!"

"What?" Even Eichi had heard of Rain Village. "Don't pull my leg. No one survives Rain Village."

"We did. It was different than we thought. They actually were very nice to us," Hanabi said. "We made friends there, and you'll hear about it someday if we make it through this, because the other Villages already know about it. At least Sand Village and Mist Village do."

"I can't believe that," Eichi said.

"It's true," Hanabi insisted. "Why would I lie about that?"

Eichi couldn't seem to think of a reason. "Still, your team is special. The rest of us can't fight off so many bandits. We're stuck anyway. No one's ever tried to leave that I've heard of, so either they died or the tribe killed them. So even if we thought about running away, we couldn't... And where would we go? No one would take in bandits. Like you said, they're worse than the rogue shinobi."

"But if they made you join them, maybe the Villages would understand that," Hanabi said.

But she wasn't sure... Ninja Villages weren't known for being fair.

But she knew Gaara wouldn't blame them, and that was good enough. "The Kazekage would at least take you in, I know it for sure. He would never judge anyone for being forced into this kind of life."

"Even if he would," Eichi said, "and he did seem like a kind person, so maybe you're right, but that doesn't matter, because I can't get that far, and I can't leave my mom and my siblings anyway. And they couldn't come here, and none of us can get to each other. And the tribe wouldn't let us get far enough to escape. This whole place is blocked off. I can't figure out how you even got past the wall--but don't tell me. It's better if I don't know."

"But I can get us both back out," Hanabi said. "Trust me. And you can escape."

Eichi looked thoughtful for a moment, but then he shook his head. "Not without my mom, Hanabi."

"Would she leave if she could?" Hanabi asked. "Because if she would, we'll get her out too."

Eichi brightened. "Really? But no, how could we find her?"

"You have to know where she is," Hanabi said. "If you know she's still working."

"I've seen her working, and she left me a note," Eichi said. "But I can't talk to her in person, and if someone found the note, we'd all be dead."

Hainb thought about that.

"Is there any code you could use?" she asked.

"Nothing like that."

Hanabi thought again. "Maybe one of us could send her a message from you. Can you write it down for me, and then I can ask Sai to send it to her with a rat or something. No one will notice that. If it's from you, she'd trust it, right?"

"Even if it works, how would you guys know to find her?" Eichi asked.

"We'll figure it out somehow. We're good at that," Hanabi said. "Isn't it worth trying? I mean, you want to be a bandit the rest of your life?"

Eichi looked bemused. "Well, no...but...I don't know... It's better than dying. How do I know it would even work?"

"The plague thing might mean your days are numbered here anyway." Hanabi had picked up Dabi's habit of saying the truth bluntly and without much hesitation.

Eichi flinched, but of course she had a good point.

"How did it start anyway?" Hanabi asked.

Eichi shook his head. "I don't know, but I know that the Boss, he knows how it started. And he's said he's immune to it and so are his top dogs. But us lower ones, not all of us are. And I just heard that through the vine, because he never talks to us runners and the bottom lackeys at all. We're not considered important by the others because we can't fight much. I've only ever seen the guy more than once or twice at a distance."

"I don't want to find him anyway," Hanabi said. "Not alone. I just want to know what causes the plague. What are the symptoms?"

"I haven't really seen any of them. I've been avoiding anyone who has it," Eichi said. "But it works fast once someone has it, I know that."

"Maybe my partner will figure that part out," Hanabi reflected. "Is there anything else you can tell me? It might help."

"Not much, but I can tell you that not all of the bandits are from Stone or Earth, really," Eichi said. "They're from all over the place, some from the Lands of Lightning and Mist and outlier Villages. The war left a lot of people without work and destroyed some of their towns also, so they got roped in. Which tells us they have all kinds of jutsu, so you can't just assume it'll all be Earth-Style ones like most of us have here."

This was news, all right. Hanabi hadn't given it much thought, but, if you knew where someone was from, you had a decent guess what jutsu they might use, if you were well versed in the different Villages. This would make it harder to anticipate.

However, she didn't expect Team Zoe would have any trouble at all. They were always ready for anything.

Undaunted, she just nodded at Eichi.

Eichi was kind of surprised she wasn't freaking out more now that she'd heard all this. But then, he'd thought Hanabi was pretty gutsy when they'd met before--only he thought before it was because she had no experience with any danger, but that couldn't be right, not after they'd all been run out.

"So what happened after you left?" he asked, curiously.

"Right after, we got invited to go to Rain Village. There's a nice lady in charge right now, but we did bust a rat," Hanabi said roundly. "The people were gloomy but nice to us. And we found something called a hooker too, and brought her there."

"What's a hooker?" Eichi asked.

"I don't know, but the others acted like it was really bad, so they must be dangerous," Hanabi said.

It was not surprising that her sheltered self didn't know what it was. It might have been more surprising that Eichi didn't, but apparently his mom had never explained that to him, because he was just as baffled as her.

"Wow," he said.

"It was great. I'll tell you all about it later," Hanabi said, looking out the walls. She didn't see anyone yet. "I should go before anyone catches up. Hurry up and write that message. I've got paper and a pen."

She took it out of her pack she had strapped to her leg.

Eichi did write his note, though not very well. He wasn't that well practiced.

"I just don't know if it will work though," he said.

"If there's a chance it will, shouldn't you take it? And I don't see how it could get much worse from this point," Hanabi said. "Can you stay hidden till we come and get you?"

"I can't guarantee it." Eichi shook his head. 

"Well... fine, we can find you easily anyway," Hanabi said. "Only I wish Miss Likstar knew what you looked like...but I do, and Karin is good with that kind of thing. I should find Suigetsu...and I'm still looking for him, but I don't see him anywhere. Do you think they got him?"

"Where did you get split up?"

"At the medical center."

Eichi winced. "Well, mostly the people over there were just making sure the medics didn't run for it, I think, but that's where he could catch the plague the easiest, couldn't he? Maybe he can't leave now."

"But he was just faking. He didn't actually have it. We took precautions." Hanabi pointed to her mask.

"A lot of people here have, but it didn't make any difference," Eichi told her.

This was a blow.

"None at all?" Hanabi asked.

"Nope, masks didn't help," Eichi said. [Avoid making political jokes, guys.]

Hanabi tried to think.

So she could have been exposed anyway--on the other hand...if masks didn't help, didn't that mean it wasn't airborne to begin with? At least she hoped that's what it meant. She didn't know a lot about contamination, but she had the idea that, if it was airborne, masks would be helping them more...

So was it something they touched? How did contamination work, again?

"And you don't know how people get it?" she asked.

"There's no pattern that anyone has said anything about. But maybe if they knew, they wouldn't bother telling us, you know? They wouldn't care. I heard that the medic from Leaf, Lady Tsunade, she might know."

But Hanabi knew that she didn't know, so Eichi was just as bad off as they were, and if he was, so were most other people in the Village.

This was even more serious than she thought.

No time for her to lose. She had to get out of there before she caught whatever it was and go and tell the others.

But not sure now if she should risk going back to the hospital--it seemed horrible to leave Suigetsu there, but if both of them got caught or infected, it would be worse, because then no one would know about it. She thought she'd better just write Shine now, so she did.

"I'll disappear soon," she told Eichi aloud. "Don't be scared or anything--it's all normal. We'll be back, just as soon as we figure out a plan. Thanks for your help... Hey, why did you help me anyway?"

Eichi looked embarrassed. "Just because I have to steal for them doesn't mean I have to help them catch people...at least not if they didn't know I was there. I knew whatever they were after you for had to be something bad...and you guys are nice... It doesn't seem fair that you should get in trouble."

"Oh, really?" Hanabi said. "Well...that's the first time anyone here has said that to us. It's kind of nice to hear it."

She was a bit salty about the way Stone had acted, still.

But she was also glad Eichi was being so reasonable. "For whatever it's worth, you really don't seem so bad either. I think it's rotten luck that you ended up stuck here."

"Well, you and me both," Eichi said dryly--he seemed pretty ironic for someone his age. "Aren't you gonna disappear now?"

"Well, it might take a few seconds--" Just as Hanabi said this, a light opened under her, and she fell through it without a chance to say any other goodbye.

Eichi stared after her, but the hole wasn't big enough for him to fall in, and it was gone almost as soon as it was there.

[Everyone surprised? Well, I know my sisters already knew about this plot twist, but everyone else?

I'm sure you're all just glad to finally get some action in this story again. I like the slice of life format fine, but a little action here and there spices things up.]