𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 | izuna uchiha

Chapter 14

"Ah, good. You're up." Nanami raised an eyebrow and gloomily looked up as Izuna entered the kitchen, shutting the back door behind him. He walked towards her, giving her a warm smile as he approached.

"How are you feeling today, huh?" he asked cheerfully, putting a reassuring hand on her arm. Nanami merely shrugged him off and turned back to her late breakfast, frowning heavily.

"Terrible," she said in a downcast tone, making Izuna's grin falter. He sighed and sat beside her, pouting at her.

"Well, I have a feeling that my news will make it seem less terrible," he said with hope in his voice, hoping to gauge some sort of positive reaction from Nanami. There was none. She remained as gloomy as she had been before, silently eating. Izuna sighed, and straightened up.

"I spoke with nii-san, and it's been decided that you will resume your training as a kunoichi under me," he said, keeping his eyes completely focused on Nanami. He wasn't disappointed; the dark haired female slowly stopping chewing, and looked up at Izuna with her dreary eyes.

"What?" A grin cracked on Izuna's lips.

"Yup. I'll be training you up to your optimum potential, and if you've improved enough to fit nii-san's standards, then you'll be welcomed back into the military branch. Isn't that exciting to hear?" Then, just as suddenly as she had lit up, Nanami went back to her gloom, making Izuna sweatdrop in confusion. "I-Isn't it? Aren't you happy?"

"It's impossible for me to meet Madara-sama's standards," muttered Nanami under her breath. "I'll never be a kunoichi again. He'll probably send me off to work in the fields. What's the point of having strength if I can't even utilise it to be a proper kunoichi?" Now Izuna frowned, and gently hit Nanami in the arm.

"That's why I'm here," he said softly, sidling up to her side. "I'm here to make you the best you can be. I know nii-san, and I know his standards. That's why you're going to get there; not only because I know what I'm doing, but because I know you're perfectly capable of reaching his expectations. I'm not going to go easy on you, Nanami. I'm going to make you the best." Nanami smiled weakly and uncertainly at Izuna, shrugging his hand away from her.

"How long is he giving you?" she asked unsurely, looking at Izuna with a neutral expression on her face. He frowned, and rubbed his chin in thought.

"A month...? Give or take, I'm not sure yet, he didn't clarify," he admitted, making Nanami sigh. "But I know we can make it. You're an amazing woman, with amazing potential. We can do this. Together." Izuna reached for Nanami's slender hand and took it in his own, interlocking their fingers and smiling encouragingly at her. Nanami blushed faintly and turned away from the higher up, letting her hair serve as a curtain between their two faces. Izuna chuckled and brushed her hair back, locking it behind her ear.

"Hey," he said softly. "We can do this." Nanami nodded shyly at Izuna, feeling herself go hot in the face at their interlinked hands and close contact. Seeing her change in demeanour, Izuna beamed brightly and gave her a quick, fleeting one-armed hug before rising to his feet, oozing of positivity.

"We'll start first thing tomorrow," he said brightly, smiling without ever ceasing. "Right now, I have to go make the final confirmations with nii-san. You finish up your breakfast and enjoy your last day of rest. It's going to be hell from here on out, so make sure you're prepared for tomorrow and what's to come. Okay?"

"I wouldn't expect less from you, Izuna," said Nanami sheepishly, furthering the brightness in Izuna's smile.

***

Uchiha Juri walked past the guards positioned at the compound entrance clutching a bouquet of the finest flowers she could assemble, and made her way towards her deceased husband's grave, further away from the land than she would have preferred. As he was executed as a criminal, Arashi had been buried away from the clan compound, in a remote area far away from any other human life. 

Juri had chosen to have him buried in a secluded area in a forest not too far away from the Uchiha compound, where only she and a couple of his closest comrades knew of. She had chosen the area in the center of the forestry and cleared it out herself, toiling to make her husband's final resting place something worthy of the man he had been: a noble, hard working man who was dedicated to his clan, and not as the criminal rapist people believed he had died as. In the short span of his death, Juri had erected a small monument over Arashi's grave as a testimony to his legacy, proving her undying love for the man she had loved above all else.

Upon reaching the small forest clearing, Juri caught sight of the stone monument marking her husband's grave, which appeared to gleam in the limited light it was exposed to, and she felt her heart seize up in her chest as she approached closer and closer to the marked spot.

"Arashi." The foot of the monument was scattered with flowers and offerings from past visits, which Juri had made sure to keep tidy by throwing away old, withered flowers and replacing them with new, vibrant ones every time it was needed. Clutching her newest bouquet against her chest, Juri knelt down at the head of the grave and placed them at the foot of the monument, pulling out a few incense sticks from her pockets and lighting them before putting them in the little pots that stood on either side of the monument.

It was silent as Juri sat down and stared at the earth beneath her, envisioning her dead husband lying in the ground way before his time was due. He didn't deserve to go the way that he had; that was Juri's firm belief. Apart from that, Juri also held many regrets, which she felt were a burden on her shoulders that simply could not be lifted. Her first regret was that she had ever welcomed Nanami into her home and made her feel like family; if it hadn't been for that treacherous low-life, her husband wouldn't have been seduced into her games and forced to pay the ultimate consequence. Her second regret was the fact that she was in fact a barren woman, and it hurt her in the heart every time she thought about it. She regretted not being able to bear children for Arashi, because if she had been able to produce even one child, then it would have been a greater condolence to have a part of her husband living with her.

"You complete fool," she said in a cracked voice. "How could you ever let trash like that be your downfall? You of all people should have known how to tell a tramp from a mile away. Not only has she tricked you, but she is in the midst of bringing Izuna-sama down as well. Why, Arashi? Why did it have to be you? Why did she have to wreck our marriage?" Juri buried her face in the palms of her hands, shutting her eyes as she felt tears splash onto her cheeks. The more she thought about it, the more it anguished her poor, shattered heart. Not only had she lost the love of her life, but she had lost him because she had trusted a lowly maid. A maid that she had entrusted with her life, a maid that she had welcomed into her home with open arms. Juri's sobs soon turned into howls of anger, and she threw back her head as she let out an ear piercing wail.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHH!" she shrieked, her eyes opening to reveal her activated blood red Sharingan, her eyes straining as she glared at the heavens above and clawed at the loose earth below her, letting out wail after wail. She was tormented with grief and betrayal, and all she could do was make sure that Arashi got the justice that he deserved by eliminating Nanami.

End of Chapter 14 [by Kushina]