Konohamaru woke at the sound of his wife crying in her sleep. He tried to comfort her by caressing her cheek and her shoulder, just to let her feel that he was beside her, but when her cries turned violent and she started saying 'I can't see' he panicked and decided to shake her awake. He called for her name a dozen times, but it took a while for her to open her eyes –
"Mana!"
"Anata, I can't see." Mana said.
"Mana –"
"I can't see!"
Turning to their bedside, Konohamaru reached for their lamp and turned it on. Once the room was lightly lit, Konohamaru took Mana's hand with his to calm her –
She's burning up!
"Anata!" Konohamaru called.
Finally calming down, Mana finally had a clear vision of Konohamaru. With trembling hands, she reached for her husband's face and cupped his cheeks.
"Anata..." Mana sobbed. "I thought I was..."
"Mana..."
"I thought I would never see you again..."
Konohamaru brought his wife into his arms and held her to his chest. He felt tears forming at his eyes, but he can't. He can't show his wife, who was vulnerable at the moment, that he was afraid of what was happening and what was to happen.
"Everything's going to be alright, Mana."
~*~
Yuri woke at the smell of food coming from the kitchen. Upon smelling the delicious food that she knew her mother always made at the morning, she jumped out of bed, happy that her mother was back to her feet after five days of bedrest. She ran all the way from her room to the kitched and greeted her mother –
"OKASAN –"
But to Yuri's disappointment, it wasn't her mother that she saw at the kitchen, rather, it was her father.
"Ohayo, Yuri." Konohamaru said.
"Otosan? Where's Okasan?"
"She's still resting."
"Why?"
"Yuri." Kazuto warned his sister.
"What's wrong with Okasan?" Yuri continued with her questioning.
Konohamaru fell silent.
"Yuri, just sit down and eat." Kazuto said. "You'll be late for the Academy."
Glaring at her brother, Yuri walked pass her father and sat at her usual spot and started to eat. Konohamaru settled at the very end of the table and ate with his children, a tensed atmosphere was present in them, especially at Yuri. Once everyone was done eating, Konohamaru walked his children out of the house, he waited until Yuri and Kazuto were gone before he took Itachi to Kurenai's to be watched over, he can't let Itachi know about his mother's state.
~*~
"Yuri!" Kazuto grabbed his sister by her elbow and stopped her on her tracks. "What the hell was that?!"
Yuri shrugged off her brother's hold and walked away, but Kazuto wasn't having any of her attitude. He grabbed her by her shoulder to stop her, but Yuri took his hand and flipped him, luckily, Kazuto quickly got out of his sister's grasp and landed on his feet. Yuri, came at her brother with a powerful kick, and Kazuto blocked it. She continued to attack her brother, and each punch and kick she threw at him he was able to block, when she was about to lock him with her legs and immobilize him, Kazuto grabbed her arms and twisted it to her back.
"LET GO OF ME!" Yuri yelled.
"NOT UNTIL YOU STOP!"
"JUST LET ME GO!"
Kazuto didn't listen, instead, he got out his wire and tied Yuri with it. He held the end of the wire to hold her down.
"ONIISAN!" Yuri tried to get out of her brother's wires, but each time she moved a cut was made at her skin.
"Yuri, stop it!" Kazuto said.
Knowing that she had no power to fight her brother, Yuri stopped but she kept her glare at him.
"What you did to Otosan wasn't right!" Kazuto said. "You went over the line!"
"LIKE HE DIDN'T WHEN HE KEPT EVERYTHING FROM US!"
"IT WAS TO PROTECT US! AND YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO ACT LIKE THAT!"
"WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! YOU LIED TO ME AS WELL!"
"Yuri, what they did is to protect us – "
"JUST BECAUSE YOU AWAKENED YOUR SHARINGAN DOESN'T MAKE YOU SPECIAL!" Yuri yelled.
"What's going on here?"
The two siblings stopped at the sound of a familiar voice. Turning, they saw Naruto standing before with questioning eyes.
"Naruto-Jisan!" Yuri said.
"Nanadaime!" Kazuto said.
Naruto approached Kazuto and Yuri. He took the wire from Kazuto and untied Yuri from it.
"Now, mind telling me what all of this is about?"
We're dead.
Naruto took Kazuto and Yuri to the training grounds, where they could be alone and out of earshot, to talk about what he saw earlier. He first tended to Yuri's scratches that were made by the wires that Kazuto tied around her, and healed them with his chakra. Once he was done, he had the two children sit on the grass while he stood before them.
"Now, mind telling me what I saw?" he said.
"It was nothing, Naruto-Jisan." Yuri muttered.
"The last time I saw a brother and sister fight like that was because they had a huge disagreement and had different views of the world." Naruto said, as he remembered seeing Sasuke stab Mana at the chest years ago. "It didn't end well... I don't want the two of you fixing your problems by violence, siblings shouldn't even be raising their blades at each other if they're fighting, they should talk it out." When neither of the two spoke, Naruto sighed. These two are as stubborn as their parents. "Alright, we'll stay here until you two talk it out."
"What's happening to Okasan?" Yuri spoke.
Naruto froze.
"Yuri it's –"
"AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT LYING!" Yuri said. "I'M SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THE LIES AND THE SECRETS IN THIS FAMILY!"
Naruto stayed silent. It was evident that Naruto had no intention of telling them of what was happening, so Yuri got on her feet.
"I thought I could trust you, Naruto-Jisan..." Yuri said as she walked pass Naruto.
"Yuri!" Kazuto called after her.
"Let her go." Naruto said. "She won't listen to reason while she's this angry. Just let her cool off."
"But what if she –"
"Don't worry, I'll make sure that she's being watched." Naruto said and giving Kazuto a half smile. "Now, why don't you go on your way, I'm sure your teammates are waiting for you."
"Hai." Kazuto said. "Gomen, Hokage-sama."
"It's alright, Kazuto." Naruto said. "Just promise me one thing... that you will never do that again..."
"Hai..."
"I'm sure you know what happened with your Okasan and her siblings..."
Kazuto's head bowed in shame. "Hai..."
"I don't think your parents would want that to happen to you guys... the last thing your parents need right now is you guys fighting, so please... "
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Good."
~*~
Come back to Konoha. It's an emergency.
-Sakura
When Sasuke received the letter that morning, he immediately turned his direction back to Konoha. He had a sudden feeling inside him that that emergency had something to do with his family. Sakura wouldn't send this message if it wasn't that serious. It took his three days to get back to Konoha with short stops to rest, and when he came, he immediately ran to the Hokage's office where he knew Naruto was and have an idea to what Sakura meant in the letter.
~*~
Naruto sat in his office in silence. His eyes went through scroll after scroll that was laid open on his desk that pertained to the Natsukasa clan and their Seal. He's been at it nonstop since he came back from visiting Konohamaru and Mana that morning. Right now, it was almost night, and still, he had no idea on how to save Mana aside from removing the Seal with Yatagarasu – which is now being owned by Natsukasa Miwa, who has no idea where she could be. The sound of someone appearing in his office made Naruto look up from his work –
"Sasuke?"
"Sakura sent me a message." Sasuke said, showing Naruto the letter. "What happened?"
There was silence in the room.
"Naruto –s"
"Mana-chan's dying..." Naruto said.
"What?!"
"The Natsukasa Seal inside her is eating her life force..." Naruto said. "For years, the Seal has been healing her eyes constantly, that's why she's been this long with the Mangekyou Sharingan without going blind. But now, I think the Seal is reaching its limit. Sakura said that her chakra isn't regenerating properly, and the Seal is eating every bit of her chakra to continue healing her eyes, but... it's not going well."
"Where is she?!"
"She's at home, resting. Konohamaru and Sakura are taking care of her."
Sasuke turned his back to Naruto to go to Mana, but Naruto stopped him.
"Sasuke, before you leave, we need to know more about this Seal." Naruto said. "And how to remove it from Mana."
"Removing it would be impossible." Sasuke said.
"I read in some texts that the Seal can be removed – Sasuke, this is the only chance Mana lives, if we remove the Seal then it would stop eating her chakra –"
"You don't understand..." Sasuke said. "If you remove the Seal... Mana will die."
~*~
"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked.
"A lot better." Mana said.
Checking on Mana's chakra level, Sakura sighed when she saw that her chakra wasn't regenerating fast enough, and she noticed that there was something that was eating that chakra, and she knew what it was.
"How are the kids?" Mana asked.
"Don't worry about that now, you should worry about you!" Sakura said, smiling.
Mana smiled. "I think it's impossible for a mother to stop worrying... you of all people should know."
"You're right." Sakura said. "But don't worry, Kazuto and Yuri already left, and Itachi is with Kurenai-San, Mirai said that she misses him."
"That's good." Mana said. "I never wanted them to see me in that state."
"We can't always protect them, Mana." Sakura said. "Eventually they will learn what the real world is..."
"I know... I just wanted to keep them in this sense that they're safe and sound while they're still kids... especially Itachi..."
Sakura slightly frowned.
"I was just about Itachi's age when the clan was massacred... I don't want him to experience that pain at this age..."
Sakura's head snapped at Mana's direction, from what she was hearing, she knew what was between Mana's lines.
"Mana-chan, don't say that –"
"It's the truth..." Mana said.
"Iie." Sakura took Mana's hands. "We will find a way to save you – Sasuke-kun is on his way back to Konoha, he might have an idea! Please, don't lose hope!"
"Gomen, Sakura."
"Iie..."
Tears fell from Sakura's eyes.
No, this can't be it! There has to be a way!
Standing outside of the room, Konohamaru heard what Mana have said. His hands balled to a fist –
Mana...
A knock at the doro caught Konohamaru's attention. Wiping away the tears that were forming in his eyes, he went to their front door to see who it was.
"Nanadaime, Sasuke!" Konohamaru said.
"We're here to see Mana." Naruto said, solemnly.
"Hai."
Konohamaru lead the two men to their room. He knocked first to let Sakura and Mana know that he was about to enter, when he heard Sakura's cracked voice calling them to enter, he felt his insides churn. He opened the door and found Sakura wiping away the tears she had before facing them.
"Sasuke-kun!" She gasped.
"Sakura." Sasuke said. He turned to Mana, his eyes softened. "Imouto."
"Oniisan." Mana said.
"What's her state?" Sasuke asked.
"Mana-chan's chakra isn't regenerating fully, and if it was, something is eating it..." Sakura said.
"The Seal." Sasuke said. "I'm sure you all know how it gets its power."
"Hai." Konohamaru said. "But, can't we just remove it? If we remove the Seal then it could stop from feeding off Mana's chakra and save her."
"It's impossible." Sasuke said.
"How could you be sure?"
"Konohamaru." Naruto said.
"It could save Mana –"
"It's impossible to save Mana." Sasuke said.
Silence came to the room. Konohamaru turned to his wife, who looked as if she knew that was the outcome, a tear fell from his eyes.
"Iie..."
"If either remove the Seal or don't, Mana would die either way." Sasuke said. "If the Seal is removed, Mana will only be given seven days to live to settle her debts... but if we leave the Seal be, her body would continue to deteriorate... and she would be suffering for the next months she would be alive.."
Months?! Konohamaru thought.
"You have to be joking." Konohamaru said.
"Gomen, Anata..." Mana said. "But it's not..."
"Mana, I'll conctact Itona and Miwa so they could remove the Seal –" Sasuke said.
"MATTE!" Konohamaru spoke. "We haven't even... how sure are you that Mana even wants to remove the Seal?!"
"It's a sign of mercy." Sasuke said.
"Iie..." Konohamaru said. Seven days?! That's not enough! Please, no! "Anata!"
Konohamaru saw the look at Mana's eyes, when he saw the tears that were forming. He knew that she has accepted her fate long before this was going to happen.
"Mana, did you know?" Konohamaru asked.
"Hai –"
"I'm not talking about what happens if you remove the Seal, but about this – this."
Mana shook her head. "Iie... I didn't..."
"There has to be..." Konohamaru trailed off.
"Konohamaru..." Naruto said.
"Iie, there has to be another... Mana, you can't!"
"Gomen, Anata." Mana said as tears fell.
Konohamaru took a step back.
"Konohamaru, please..."
But Konohamaru ignored her and left the room, with the door slamming shut. Mana slightly jumped at the sound and let out a sob.
"Gomen..." she cried.
"It's not your fault, Mana-chan." Sakura said.
"Don't worry, Mana-chan..." Naruto said. "Konohamaru just – he's not angry at you... he's just upset..."
Sasuke felt like his heart was being stabbed repeatedly at the sight of his sister crying. And as much as he wanted to shed a tear, he can't. He needed to be strong for them both.
"I'll contact Itona and Miwa..." Sasuke said and left the room.
~*~
Konohamaru got out his house and paced around his lawn, it was there that he let out a frustrated yell and finally cried. He wanted to punch someone – the person who put his family in this situation. The only problem was e couldn't blame anyone for this, he can't blame Mana since the Seal was forced in her, and he would never even think about hurting her; he can't blame Sasuke since he had nothing to do with it; the only person he could blame was Natsukasa Shuuya, who gave her the Seal in the first place, the only problem was, Natsukasa Shuuya was dead.
"Otosan?"
Konohamaru froze at the sound of his daughter's voice. Turning, he found Kazuto, Yuri and Itachi standing at their gate with worried looks.
"Otosan, what's going on?" Kazuto asked.
"Otosan, does this have something to do with Okasan?" Yuri asked.
They need to know...
"Hai..." Konohamaru said, he sat down on the porch, his hands holding his head.
"What happened?!" Kazuto ran to his father's side.
Konohamaru sniffed and wiped away his tears before he turned to his children.
"All of you, come here." Konohamaru said.
Yuri didn't move from where she was, while Itachi followed his father's call. Konohamaru reached for his youngest, Itachi, and had him on his lap.
"You're heavy, Itachi." Konohamaru said, trying to lighten the situation.
"Otosan, what's wrong with Okasan?" Itachi asked.
"There's something I need to tell you... all of you." Konohamaru said. "It's about your Okasan..."
And Konohamaru told them everything. The truth about the Uchiha clan, their mother's power, about when Mana and Sasuke left Konoha, Itachi's secret mission, and everything that they've been hiding from them until this day.
"So, you're saying..." Yuri said.
"Gomen..." Konohamaru said.
"Well you were right, Oniisan." Yuri said, bitterly.
"Yuri!" Kazuto turned to his sister; his eyes widened when he saw tears falling.
Without a word, Yuri ran away. She ignored her father and brother's calls and just kept going.
"Gomen... we should have told you sooner... we never should have kept this..." Konohamaru said as he cried.
"Did Okasan know?" Kazuto asked.
Konohamaru shook his head. "If we knew, then we could have found a way to prevent it."
"Was there... a way to prevent this?"
Konohamaru shook his head. "Gomen..."
~*~
Yuri found herself at the training grounds, it was the only place she could think clearly, but at that time, her mind was far from being able to find any kind of peace. It was clouded by anger, fear and sadness. Out of despair, Yuri let out a sorrowful yell, but that wasn't enough. Not long, Yuri started to destroy the training posts at the training grounds with her powerful punches and kicks. When she saw a boulder, she started to circle her hands, summoning her chakra, and in her hands, she formed a small Rasengan –
"AAAHHHH!"
Yuri attacked the boulder, but the Rasengan wasn't strong enough so the damage wasn't that big and only created a small crater.
"Yuri..."
Not bothering to turn to see who it was, Yuri spoke.
"What?!"
"Yuri..." Kazuto approached his sister.
"Just leave me alone!"
"Yuri, we have to go home –"
"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Yuri turned to her brother with a fist, but before her fist could come near her brother's face, Kazuto caught her fist. Yuri tried to pull her fist from Kazuto's hold, but his grip tightened and didn't show any sign of it letting her go. She still tried to get out of his grip, so she jumped and tried to kick him at the face, but Kazuto blocked her attack. He lightly pushed Yuri down to the ground, and she landed on the ground.
"That's enough." Kazuto said.
"It's not fair..." Yuri cried. "IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!"
"Yuri..."
"Okasan... she promised to always be there... she promised to never leave us... SHE PROMISED THAT SHE WOULD BE THERE WHEN I BECOME A NINJA!" Yuri cried. "I WANT TO PUNCH SOMEONE! I WANT TO PUNCH THE PERSON WHO DID THIS TO HER! WHY?! WHY HER?! WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO DIE?! WHY, ONIISAN?!"
Kazuto was silent as he listened to his sister's cries.
"ANSWER ME! PLEASE! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I'M ANGRY, I'M UPSET! I'M – I'M AFRAID! I HATE FEELING LIKE THIS —"
Yuri fell silent when Kazuto went to his sister and pulled her to a hug. She was about to push him away but stopped when she heard him sobbing.
"Gomen, Imouto... gomen... I don't know what to do... I don't know what to say..." Kazuto cried. "Because I'm scared too... I'm sad, I'm angry, and I'm scared... so I'm sorry that I can't help you..."
Yuri wrapped her arms around her brother and fisted his shirt.
"Oniisan... I don't want to lose Okasan..."
"I know..."
~*~
Konohamaru slipped out of the room after Itachi cried himself to sleep at Mana's side. He closed the door quietly, but he didn't let go of the knob just yet. It wasn't fair.
Sasuke came back to the hall, he was about to approach the room, but stopped when he saw Konohamaru at the door.
"Konohamaru." Sasuke said. When the man did not speak nor respond he continued. "I've contacted Itona and Miwa... they're on their way to Konoha, expect that they'll be here in five days."
Konohamaru's grip at the knob tightened, and his jaw clenched. Sasuke noticed his reaction and sighed.
"It's the only way..." Sasuke said. "If we let the Seal inside Mana, she will live her last days suffering in pain... this is a sign of mercy."
"Shut up." Konohamaru said, glaring at Sasuke.
Sasuke glared at him.
"You have to think about Mana's well-being." Sasuke said.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Konohamaru went at Sasuke, he grabbed the Uchiha by the collar of his shirt, and Sasuke let him. "How heartless can you be that you could easily decide for something like that... this may be easy for you, but it's not for me and for my family... so but out! You don't know the pain that we're feeling right now... Kazuto, Yuri, Itachi... me... we're all afraid, we're all angry, we're all sad..." Konohamaru's grip at Sasuke's shirt tightened. "If you don't feel those things at least show some sympathy for us! For your niece and nephews at least! For Mana!"
Sasuke took Konohamaru's hand and forced the young man to let go.
"You think that this is easy?" Sasuke said in a voice that made Konohamaru shiver. "Do you think any of this is easy? To watch your little sister... the sister you watched grow up... the sister you loved so much, you promised to protect... you raised, die?" His grip on Konohamaru's hand tightened. "Well you're fucking wrong! Because it's just as painful as what you're feeling! Years ago, whenever I would see Mana come back to me all beaten up and bloody from the training, she has with Natsukasa Shuuya, I would blame myself because I wasn't there to protect her when I promised her that I would! But she showed me that there was nothing to be guilty about because she showed me how strong she was – stronger than I was – but now... seeing her now... that guilt is killing me! I should have been there to protect her!" Sasuke finally let's go of Konohamaru's hand. "I've lost my clan, my parents, my brother... now my sister..." he grabbed Konohamaru by the collar of his shirt. "I promised to protect her, and this is me protecting her – I'm protecting her from the suffering she would experience if she won't remove the Seal... I can't bare to watch my sister suffer..."
"Sasuke..."
Sasuke shoved Konohamaru to the wall.
"So, before you could accuse me of not caring, remember... Mana isn't just my sister, she's like a daughter to me... and seeing her die is just like any pain a parent would feel if their child were to die."
~*~
Kazuto and Yuri came back home around midnight after Yuri and Kazuto have calmed down. When they walked into their living room, they saw Sakura and Sarada sleeping at the couch. They went to the hall and to their parents' room, when they opened the door, the lights were already turned off but for the lamp. And at the bed, they saw their mother sleeping soundly with Itachi in her arms, and their father behind her with his arms wrapped around her, afraid to let go. Yuri and Kazuto crept into the room and carefully climbed on the bed. Yuri squeezed herself between her mother and father.
Konohamaru woke at the sudden shift of the bed, and when he saw Yuri squeezing herself between him and Mana, he smiled. He opened his arms for his daughter to lay between him and her mother.
"Otosan..." Yuri spoke.
"Hm?"
"Gomen..."
"It's alright, Yuri..."
Kazuto went to lay beside Itachi. He placed his hand on his mother's hand that was on Itachi's hand. Mana shifted and slightly opened her eyes.
"Kazuto..." she said.
"Okasan..."
"Come here." She pulled Itachi closer to her and stretched out her arm for Kazuto. Kazuto came closer to her mother, not that close to crush his little brother, but enough to reach her touch.
Sasuke, watched from the crack of the door as the family slept, not bothered that they were all squeezed together. A teach fell from Sasuke's eye when he saw Mana sleeping soundly in the presence of her children and husband.