Symphony of The Fallen Crow {Itachi's daughter Story}

Act 9: Part 5

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

As she came to, the first thing Mina noticed was the sound of her heart monitor. It was a sound she hadn't heard in a while and though, the last time she heard it was a bad time for her, she couldn't help but feel happy at the familiarity. 

Mina was afraid, so desperately terrified that she would never escape Roku and see her family and friends again and to her, that was a worse outcome than death.

 It was only at that moment that she realized someone was holding her hand and looking down, her sight began to blur as tears welled up in them. The sandy blonde hair of her boyfriend met her as she reached out her other hand to run through his soft locks, trying to steady her quivering bottom lip. Her actions caused the boy to stir from his sleep and lift his head, hot pink eyes widening in shock. Before she could say anything, arms wrapped around her form. Immediately, she buried her face in his shoulder, trying to ease her sniffles. The girl was so incredibly relieved that she was safe, that she could be in the arms of one of her special people once more.

"I'm so happy you're awake, Mina." Kagura murmured into her neck stroking her ebony locks that now reached her shoulders. The girl tightened her grip around him in response.

"Yeah. 'm awake now, 'gura." Her voice was raspy and uneven and when the boy pulled away, he handed her some water, which she immediately downed. He placed his hands on her cheeks as soon as she placed the glass down, tenderly wiping her tears away with his thumb. 

Kagura moved away from her as the door to her hospital room opened, but continued to hold her hand. A gasp was heard from the pink-haired doctor. A smile of relief broke out on the woman's face as she noticed Mina gazing back at her with tired and tearful onyx eyes.

"She's awake!" Sakura spoke to people outside of the room and Mina was immediately surrounded by the people she cared so much for: Sarada, Mirai, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Kagura. Her tears resurfaced at the sight of her family. 

Sasuke pushed through everyone and brought the girl into a hug. She melted into his warmth as she felt him rubbing her back soothingly. When he pulled away, the man gave Kagura a subtle nod. Once everyone had embraced her, the conversations began.

"How are you feeling, Nee-chan?" Mina looked down at her hands that lay delicately in her lap. Bandages, that were wrapped around her wrists from where she had been chained up, poked through from beneath the hospital shirt she wore.

"I'm fine." Sasuke's eyes widened when he noticed the smile she presented to her sister. A smile so unlike the ones she had given before, so...fake.

"Alright. Everyone, out. We need to speak to her in private." Though all of them wanted to protest, they didn't, choosing to leave with a sigh and a reassuring squeeze to her hand by Kagura, until the only ones left were Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

Sakura took the initiative and went forward, holding the girl's hands. "Mina, are you okay?" she asked, quietly, giving her rough hands a squeeze. The girl didn't reply, just continuing to gaze at their entangled hands, along with the stains left behind by her dried tears and that was enough for Sasuke and Sakura to know her response. 

With Sakura on the left side of her bed, Sasuke moved to the right and both leaned forward, encasing the girl in a tight hug. The adults both closed their eyes, feeling a tightness in their chests when they noticed Mina's shoulders shaking, a sign of silent sobs.

Sasuke, himself, wanted to cry but refrained. He rarely cried now that he was an adult, but that day appeared to be an exception.

 If you looked closely, you could see dark bags under his eyes from the sleepless night he'd spent searching for his daughter, and Sakura wasn't in any better shape. She had to comfort Sarada and keep the truth from her because if the girl knew, she would be heartbroken. Her big sister was her world after all.

It was a weight on the shoulders of everyone who knew her. She'd been gone for a long time and Sakura could only hold onto hope that her baby girl was still alive when she and her husband curled up in bed at night, faced away from each other, and sobbed silently. Neither mentioned it. To make matters worse, now that Naruto and Sasuke knew she was traumatized and harmed from her experience, they felt guilty for sending her.

As Mina and her parents continued to embrace, Naruto ran his hand over Mina's short and uneven locks calmingly. After some time, her silent sobs became sniffles and hiccups as she began to calm down. She was in the eye of the hurricane, the tranquility inside the raging storm, back where she belonged; in the arms of the people she loved, in the village was happy to protect, even following such an experience. Mina was happy to be alive.

Author-chan's Fun Fact: Even though it doesn't seem like it, Mina suffers from minor depression which is often exaggerated by her nightmares. When those happen, Itachi is usually the one to hold and calm her. that's why when she saw Aneko and the family in an alternate universe, she thought it was just another dream-turned-nightmare. Even in the other world, Itachi was able to briefly comfort her.

A/N: Hiiii! Sorry for this somewhat late update. I've lacked motivation a lot this week along with class assignments that have been kicking my butt, so thanks for bearing with me during the wait! This is just a chapter to show the aftermath of Mina's rescue which will also continue into next week's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please vote, comment, share, etc. Have a great rest of your week and I'll try to update sooner next week.

-Yuri <3 (this means Lily in Japanese xD)

Q: Who would you consider to be the worst parent(s) in all of Naruto/Boruto?

A: Hisashi Hyuga in Naruto, no explanation needed. I also kind of want to say Sasuke as well since he could've dropped by Konoha to see his family every now and again while Sarada was growing up, but he chose not to.

Published: 10/05/2023

Word Count: 1,071