"Get the water changed fast!", my mother instructed my father as I struggled to keep my eyes open. The most I could manage was keep them in open slits. My chest was rising and falling rapidly as I felt my body tremble uncontrollably from the cold.
"His body is burning hot", mother informs father in a concerned voice.
"I'll go summon a medic", father assures, and I hear his footsteps stray further away.
"Oh my goodness Itachi...", mother placed her soft touch on my face to inspect my temperature.
I was breathing heavily out of my mouth when I squirmed as mother placed an ice cold clothe on my forehead. She cleaned off the beads of sweat on my face and neck, putting me at ease a bit.
"Sasuke...", I muttered under my breath as my eyes almost gave in to this tiredness, "H-Hanabi...", I imagined her face just as I felt my eyes click shut. My mouth was still parted as I breath in and out erratically.
My eyes were closed, but my mind refused to shut down. Throughout the night, mother kept changing the cloth pieces to cool my body down.
The Medic my father summoned examined me and concluded to my parents that I wasn't infected by a virus. Rather, he explained that it was a psychogenic fever, caused by mental stress and pressure.
The rest of the conversation was vague to my ears as I drifted into total darkness. The last thing I remember was that the rhythm of my breathing became normal again and I finally unfolded my scrunched up face.
I drifted into a nightmare.
It was Hanabi's Genjutsu. The Genjutsu she casted upon me when Madara successfully manipulated me into wanting to annihilate my clan.
It was Sasuke, crying and saying that he'll kill me over and over again.
"Itachi..."
My head jerked to the side, where Hanabi stood with a smile. Suddenly, her dark Genjutsu disappeared and our surroundings altered into a field of sunflowers, where her white butterflies could be seen roaming and twirling around.
I look up at the face of a thirteen-year-old Hanabi Namikaze in shock. This is too surreal...
Her blue eyes were right in their sockets, where they belong. Her hair had the striking vibrant blonde colored to it and still...
This didn't feel right...
With a genuine smile, Hanabi extends out a hand as her eyes sparkle with affection. Involuntarily, I returned the gesture as I am too desperate for her at this point.
This is just a dream...
I ignored my voice of reasoning and extended my hand in return. Hanabi took it with a smile before pulling me closer as she aims for me to land on top while she lays in the field.
If only it was real...
Shut up...
My smile broadened as I looked into those blue eyes. I wanted nothing more than to get lost in the abyss of the light hue that compliments her eyes, which was always shaped like a crescent moon.
The two of us willingly tumble in the same direction, smiling all the while looking into each other's eyes.
"This is it", she whispered, flashing me a smile that reached her eyes.
"Our happy ending?", I desperately croak out, searching the blue of her eyes for an answer.
Hanabi's smile only broadened, but she didn't give me the word of reassurance. She simply faltered back into the field of sunflowers and I was to land on top.
It was all happening so deliberately and casually. Our hands were loosely holding onto one another.
I was smiling, genuinely. The smile was just on the verge of reaching my eyes when all of a sudden, calamity stroke.
The field of sunflowers disappeared completely and the sky darkened into obsidian. A jolt of pain surged through me and suddenly, when I glanced down at our hands, four vertical lines had appeared along my wrist.
Our loose grip tightened abruptly and I had to blink to make sure if we're still in the field of sunflowers, having our happy ending.
In that blink of an eye, everything had suddenly took a turn for the worst.
Hanabi's eyes we bandaged once again. Her vibrant blonde strands turned dull and dirty.
Instead of landing in the warm field of sunflowers, my body had collided with the edge of the cliff at the Final Valley.
"...Don't let me die here.."
Before I could give any reaction, Hanabi had slipped away slowly. Her short hair flared out lengthily, demonstrating the now seventeen-year-old Hanabi who was standing on the pipe of the humanoid that belonged to Pain's tower.
This is just a dream...
I reminded myself.
Now it's a dream?
My voice of reasoning remarked.
"H-Hanabi...", I muttered incoherently my lips barely moving.
I knew this was all still a dream, but it was vivid, and one that'd make me want to wake up screaming. To my dismay, I couldn't wake up. My body was completely paralyzed as I witnessed the gruesome memories unfold before me.
My consciousness was still awake and aware, but my body refused to comply. I couldn't even wriggle a single finger as I felt my breathing go erratic again.
My lips were pursed shut as I desperately wanted to call out for someone, anyone. All I could muster up after all this mental squirm was a small stinky tear that burned as it bled down.
The night was long and this nightmare didn't seem to end anytime soon.
And the voices of my parents just heightened at this hour.
"Lord Fugaku!", a familiar voice of a Police Force member pleaded, "its a calamity!".
That suddenly pulled me out of the vivid nightmare.
"p-please it wasn't us, we didn't do anything-", someone whimpered. Loud voices filled the house as I felt my breathing grew erratic from trying to comprehend what's happening. I suddenly forgot that I might be experiencing sleep paralysis as I listened intently to what was going on.
"You'll pay for you've done so divulge already", father bellowed.
"Fugaku what if they really have nothing to do with the incident?", mother asserted.
"I have taken that into consideration as well", he replied back, "but they still have to prove their innocence".
A few whimpers could be heard, which belonged to a familiar voice of a Police Force member.
"Now listen to me", father growled at him.
The walls of the house were as thin as ever to the point where it feels like even air can pass through.
"You either confess or prove your innocence. I will not tolerate anyone who still holds a grudge against my son", father warned.
"L-Lord Fugaku it really wasn't us-"
"Shut up!", father yelled out loud, making me hold my breath captive, "my son helped prevent the coup on our clan so don't you or anyone else dare to talk ill of him", he sternly stressed on each word, making my chest tighten.
"Lord Fugaku, I-I beg you...I...really don't know anything about what ha-"
"You'll pay", father threatens, "dearly".
The man begins pleading and begging, all of which I assumed my father disregard completely, because then he announced. "Take him away, I'll know how to deal with him".
"N-no!"
I swallow the lump in my throat when the man screams out as his voice gradually disappears into oblivion.
What is going on?
I urge my body to move, but my efforts were in vain. The only thing I could do was keep my breath steady and listen.
"Lord Fugaku we could dispatch a- "
"No", father cut him off, "we can't make this public just yet..."
"Mikoto", he suddenly calls out to her, "whatever happens", he stresses enough to make me hold my breath in anticipation, "don't, and I mean it, don't let Itachi know of anything".
My breath hitched as I get a bad feeling my stomach.
"I'm off now, Mikoto", he says, "Itachi is sick, so don't let him out of your sight".
"I'll make sure of it...", mother skeptically replied back.
"Lord Fugaku", someone else calls out.
"What is it?"
"We learned from Shikaku that Itachi was the one to propose to put Danzo's fate in the Uchiha's hands".
"I'd expect nothing less from my son", my father replied with stern pride.
I wanted to get up and stand on my own two feet again. I wanted to go confront them then and there, but in my paralyzed condition, the only thing I could do was listen intently.
What could've possibly happened?
I heard the noises die down and then nothing. All of their voice were gone just like that, leaving me to wonder about this.
***
At the first rays of sunlight, I'd got up so fast it felt like as if someone had catapulted my upper body. I was gasping and breathing erratically at the same time.
That same moment, my mother had barged in, her expression perplexed.
"I-Itachi? Darling are you feeling well?", mother dropped to her knees as she began to inspect my temper frantically.
"Mother, I'm fine", I assure, even though the side of my head still aches.
"Your fever seems to have gone down...", she mutters to herself.
"What time is it?", I inquire, rubbing my eyes as I managed to conceal the panic that menaced to surface.
"It's eleven", she replies.
"So that must mean that father is off to work?"
"Y-yes.."
"Mother..."
"Yeah?"
"Have you...have you heard?", I fiddled with my duvet as I await her response. She simply puts a reassuring grip on my shoulder and says, "you're my little boy and I understand the pressure you were put under. We can talk about this later, but for now you need to rest..."
"M-mother...", I stare at her with wide eyes. There was no amount of gratitude that I could describe, which I felt towards this woman. Her genuine smile made me engulf her in my arms immediately, taking her by surprise.
Nevertheless, she returned the gesture and hugged me even tighter. For a moment I felt like I want to break right into her arms and cry my heart out of the four years I've lived.
"It's alright", she soothed when my shoulders began shaking, "I can't imagine how living with such secret have affected you".
I bit down on my lip and suffocated my cries. I knew she was also trying her best to keep on a steady tone of voice.
"Now there Itachi", she whispered, "you have visitors".
__________________________________
A/N:- This chapter was also out of boom and action, but I made sure to still keep you on the edge didn't I? I'll make sure that all this is worth your while so don't fret✨✨
Also, I'd kill for this color swap between Sakura and Hinata. I did this piece by simply tracing, but goodness is tracing hard✨✨
~A