The Last Namikaze | Uchiha Itachi x OC

Chapter 25: Death

"We're here!" Sasuke called.

Hana greeted Sasuke and Naruto near the front door. 

"The twins are asleep. If they get hungry, everything you need is in the fridge ready to go. You know where everything else is...thank you boys. I really have to go though. Bye" Hana said running out the door. 

She flashed to the hospital as soon as she was out of the house. She ran to a nurses station where she saw Sakura on the other side. 

"Where is he?" She asked frantically. 

"He's in surgery. Lady Tsunade is trying to clear some of the blockages in his lungs...but I'm going to be honest. It's not looking good."

"Oh my god" Hana said, her worst fears coming true. Her husband's illness had finally caught up to him. From her limited knowledge of medical ninjutsu, she knew Itachi's illness would progress eventually. And Hana knew once it did, there would be little they could do to stop it. Healing jutsu's don't work the same on debilitating diseases as they do on superficial wounds. The chakra control it would require was far too refined that the medical specialist would die before they could fully heal the patient.

Hana knew all of this and yet she tried to convince herself that somehow they would beat the odds. She summoned Gamakichi once more. 

"I need another favour." 

"Anything, miss Hana."

"Please bring Sasuke here and have Kakashi take over looking after the twins."

She realized then that she probably could have just done that initially, but her panicked mind was not thinking rationally. 

"Yes, miss right away."

Sasuke showed up at the hospital not long after and rushed over to Hana who was crying and hugging her knees in a hospital chair. 

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked placing his hands gently on Hana's shoulders. 

"It's Itachi" Hana said. 

She didn't have to say anything further for Sasuke to knew what she meant. He knew that his brother was battling an illness. Itachi had spoken with him briefly about it, but didn't want to burden the younger Uchiha with his problems.

Sasuke put his brother's illness in the back of his mind since he'd always seen Itachi as someone strong. Someone unbreakable. To think a disease could bring him down was not even a possibility. At least that's what he kept telling himself all this time. But, the look on Hana's face told him otherwise. Sasuke knew she wouldn't have called him here unless it was absolutely pertinent. This was bad. 

Sasuke sat next to Hana and rubbed circles on her back as she continued to cry and stare blankly into space. 

"It's gonna be okay" Sasuke kept whispering like he was in a trance.

Hours passed and the two remained in the same spot. They kept whispering to to each other words of comfort, but the pit in their stomachs wouldn't ease. 

After what felt like an eternity, Lady Tsunade finally emerged from the operating room. 

"He's stable" she said. "But, not for long. Get ready to say your goodbyes."

"Sasuke, you should go first" Hana said.

"What? No, Hana" Sasuke said. 

"I would spend the rest of my life hating myself if I didn't let my husband say goodbye to his little brother. Now, go." 

Sasuke stood and followed Lady Tsunade to Itachi's room. Hana just sat nervously praying that she would at least have a chance to say goodbye. Sasuke emerged after a little while with tears dripping down his cheeks. 

"Go see him now" Sasuke said. "You don't have much time left."

Hana entered the room and saw Itachi looking like a shell of the man he once was. His skin was pale and his breaths were shallow and ragged. He had dried blood around his lips and he was attached to various machines. The only sound filling the room was the faint beeps of the heart monitor. 

Itachi was unable to speak since a breathing tube was connected to his airways. Hana wanted to break down at the sight of him. 

"Itachi" Hana breathed. 

Itachi stared back at her, unable to keep his eyes fully open. It's like he was consciously battling them not to close. He stared at the woman in front of him and knew she was the oxygen that kept him breathing all this time. Itachi knew he was doomed to die young. It was predetermined from an autoimmune disease long ago. He accepted this fate as his karmic retribution for the sins of his past. 

Although he accepted this outcome, he never expected someone to change his outlook entirely. Hana was that person, and now she brought two beautiful sons into the world that would start to undo the irreversible damage he inflicted upon the Uchiha clan. The world had given him the opportunity to right his wrongs, and it was all thanks to her. 

He just wanted to tell her he loved her one last time, but he couldn't form words without his breathing tube. And without his breathing tube, he wouldn't last any longer. 

Hana stared at Itachi and said the one word he wasn't expecting. "Kotoamatsukami."

Itachi opened his eyes and saw himself and Hana looking after the twins. It was as if he was watching himself from an outsider's perspective. He watched he and Hana raise the twins until they reached the age to attend the academy. Due to their exceptional parents, they both joined young at only 5 years old.

Ichiro excelled at kunai skills and Yuto mastered fire ball jutsu by the time he was 6. They outranked all their peers at the academy and became genin before age 7. At age 7, the twins witnessed the loss of a teammate on a mission and both awakened their sharingans. After gaining their visual prowess, their skills only became more refined. 

They both were promoted to jonin by age 8. Ichiro learned the rasengan and was a prodigy in genjutsu. Yuto was an expert in utilizing the copying skills of the sharingan and was able to mimic any jutsu performed before him. Both of them were successful in ways their parents could only dream of, and Itachi watched he and Hana shower them with praise and encouragement. He watched Hana and himself train the twins and the twins eagerly learn new jutsu. 

The twins grew up and finally moved out of he and Hana's place. Hana and Itachi grew old together, their love just as electric as when they first started dating. The twins both married and Itachi walked them down the aisle. Itachi and Hana became grandparents and Ichiro and Yuto brought their kids over to visit. Itachi watched until he and Hana died of old age, the perfect end to their simple, but happy lives. That was all he ever wanted. 

Itachi had a smile plastered to his face as Hana saw the heart monitor flatline. She had given him the future he wanted and he would die without knowing anything different. 

"I love you" she said, holding his limp body as she let out gasping sobs. "I will love you always."