LEGACY

Dua puluh tiga

Chapter 23

Fumiko kept dodging Sasuke's attack without him answering her nor able to even scratch her. Fumiko took out her tanto and deflected Sasuke's attack before she gave her tanto a swing. Sasuke took a couple of jumps back, distancing himself from his sister.

Before he could think of anything, blood was pouring down from his loose top. His eyes widened before glaring Fumiko heatedly. The older Uchiha sighed before leaning on another tree. Her nausea came back, making her rubbing her head in annoyance.

"What do you want, Sasuke?" She asked bluntly while holding on her stomach before vomiting again.

"Why are you here, Fumiko?"

"Mission." She sighed, before sitting down. She then mumbled to herself. "What the hell did Neji-kun put in my breakfast?"

"Neji... So you're really marrying him?" Sasuke scoffed.

Fumiko shrugged. "At least he's more family than you'll ever be."

Again, Sasuke glared at her. "I won't come back until I kill Itachi."

"Who says I'm allowing you to come back?" Fumiko asked coldly, making Sasuke froze. Even though Fumiko had their mother's appearance, her strictness was definitely Fugaku's. He did not answer her, and faced away.

"You know, I didn't even use any of my jutsu nor sharingan. Yet you can't even hurt me. And I'm not in a good condition either. You sure you train, Sasuke? Cause if you can't even touch me, you won't be able to touch Itachi."

Sasuke looked up only to find Fumiko looked at him with pity. In a blink of eye, she appeared in front of him and poked his forehead before body flickered away. Fu was right beside her when Fumiko appeared on one of ROOT's training ground.

"Taichou." Fu nodded at her.

"How are things here?"

"It's under control." He answered before looking at her. "...Are you alright?"

"What are you on about?"

"You look paler than usual and your chakra flow's unstable."

Fumiko was about to answer before another barf was heard. She sighed and bit her lip. "It's just a stomach bug."

"I think you better check it up in case."

"In case of what?" Fumiko raised her eyebrow.

Fu sighed. "You know what I'm talking about. Stop teasing me, taichou. My work's already complicated enough without you adding it up."

Now was Fumiko's turn to sigh. "Alright, I'll check it up later after work."

The said girl body flickered away to her office before finishing the paper works for the day. When the evening came, Fumiko took a stroll to the hospital. A pink haired girl that she recognized as Sasuke's teammate greeted her.

"F-Fumiko-san, what brings you here?"

"Checkup."

Sakura sweat dropped at her blunt and short reply, but directing the older to one of the empty rooms. "Do you want to do an overall checkup or is there something that troubling you?"

"I keep barfing and I vomited today."

Sakura frowned before asking the girl to lay down on the bed. She then put her glowing green hand on the top of Fumiko's stomach. Sakura's frown went deepened before she finally retreating her hand.

The younger girl looked up to the older female with pity. "The reason why you keep barfing and feel nauseous is because there's a disease on your stomach. Malignant cells form in the lining of your stomach. We call it gastric cancer."

"...Is it curable?" Fumiko asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Even if Tsunade-sama treated you herself, there's no 100% guarantee that you can go back to normal. We can start the treatment as soon as possible, but it's better if you stop your ANBU activities remembering the possible side effects from the treatment."

"What's the point of treatment if I can't even be a ninja?" Fumiko snarled.

"I'm sorry, but it is for the best. We don't want your condition to get worsen. It's a good thing we detect it before it spreads all over your body."

"How many years I've got left if I let this disease?"

Sakura was concerned now. "Fumiko-san, you don't think of—"

"Just answer the damn question."

"Depends on the person." Sakura sighed. "In your condition though, if you continue doing the things you've been doing, I'd say roughly 5 up to 7 years."

"Is there any pain killer for this?"

"Ha'i."

Fumiko then looked at Sakura directly in her eyes with her Mangekyo on. "Give me some prescriptions for the painkillers and do not document them all. You don't remember any of this conversation about the gastric cancer. All you know is that I have a stomach bug. Do you understand me?"

"Ha'i."

Sakura's eyes went dull as she gave Fumiko her prescription. Fumiko then walked away from the room to pick her medicine. As soon as she was done, Fumiko walked to a familiar path leading to the cemetery. She then stopped in front of two headstones that she never visited before. Her parents' names were crafted on the stones.

"Is this your way to punish me, tou-san, kaa-san?" She asked bitterly, before casting a glance to a headstone not too far from there. Uchiha Shisui's name was on the headstone.

Fumiko did not move from her spot, but she looked up to the bright stars in the sky. The moonlight illuminated her face as silent angry tears started to pour down from her eyes.