Uzumaki Clan: Scarlet Savior

Chapter 24- The Lesson of Sacrifice (Edited 2/10/20)

MINAKO'S POINT OF VIEW

Shisui.

His name plagued my thoughts and my dreams. I couldn't eat, sleep, or breathe without feeling the pain in my chest. I had to stop myself from crying in front of Naruto and Kakashi. No one could know I was with Itachi and Shisui last night and the only one who did was my husband since he found me crying on Itachi as he carried me away from the cliff. Apparently, Itachi and Shisui came up with their own backup plan about what to do about the Uchiha clan without telling me, that way I would be able to raise my family without being suspected of being involved. 

The original plan was for Shisui and Itachi to use their abilities from the sharingan, casting a jutsu across the clan to establish peace. Itachi told me that in a meeting he had with the Third and Danzo that the Hokage was open to new ideas but Danzo was dead set on eliminating the Uchihas. I knew Danzo was a greedy bastard but the second he swiped Shisui's eye, that's when I knew that he was in it to steal the Uchiha power. Now Itachi was left with no peaceful options. The only options Itachi has are to declare war on the Leaf or complete the mission...eliminate the Uchihas. It was three in the morning and I have yet to truly fall asleep.

Itachi left only a few hours ago, his mangekyo sharingan awakening for the first time due to losing his best friend. I cleaned up my youngest...and now only...student before sending him home to his worried mother to deliver her the news. I just HAD to come up with something, anything, to save Itachi. The boy is not even fifteen for crying out loud! To put the weight of eliminating a clan on his shoulders, let alone his own, was beyond insane. There was just something I could do...wasn't there? Could I save Itachi or was his fate written in stone?

I sat out on my bedroom balcony, looking over the sleeping village with a hot cup of green tea in my hand. I had to add honey to it, otherwise the taste of plain green tea made me sick, at least ever since I became pregnant. Kakashi's soft snores could be heard through the glass sliding door, causing my lips to curl in a barely visible smile. The boy never changed, he snored quietly even when he was little. I sat down on a reclining chair we had out here, a soft robe draped over my body. I looked into my tea, a single stray leaf floating on top of the golden mint liquid. The leaf swirled around before slowly sinking further and further...until it graced the bottom of my cup. The pain I was hiding inside, the tears I held together since Kakashi found me with Itachi were let loose. My teeth were clenched, the world around me in a blur as I wept for my lost student, someone I viewed to be my little brother or even my child. The worst part was that if I wasn't pregnant, Shisui could have been alive right now. I could have saved him. It was all my fault.

"I am so sorry Shisui. I have failed you. I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry. Please forgive me." I voiced to myself as I set my cup down and clenched my arms around myself, holding my pieces together. I haven't felt this horrible since I lost my sister...and the worst part was that now I had to keep it in. I could scream and let my chakra loose when Kushina died. Now? I had to hold it all in or Kurama could break free...and I could lose my baby.

"I gotta save Itachi...I gotta save Itachi..." I whispered to the moon. The only thing up and bright in this dark, depressing night.

"I can help you." I turned to my right to see the masked man, his hair a little shaggier than last time I saw him. The dream of where I saw him reveal himself as Obito rushed back to me, my heart skipping a beat.

"O-obito?" I asked in a muffled voice. He moved up his mask to give me a small smile.

"The one and only." I couldn't even stop myself as I flung myself at him, crying into his chest. Everything I had to hide in front of my family came pouring out, the real Minako showing through.