Yukari Uchiha (English)

Chapter 36

I found Itachi quickly. He stood at the cliff—the place where Shisui had fallen—and the memory of that fateful day brought all my emotions surging back. The silence around us was suffocating, the wind gently blowing over the cliffs, but to me, it carried the weight of the past.

"Itachi, there you are," I said, my voice calm, though inside, I was swirling with emotion.

He turned slowly to face me, his expression serious, almost distant. "Yukari, good to see you. What's new?" His eyes revealed that he expected more—more than just simple updates. I sat down at the edge of the cliff, feeling the cold ground beneath me, and began to recount every detail of the day. I left nothing out. The anger, the sorrow, the negotiations—everything.

Itachi's face shifted constantly as I spoke. Sometimes there was pain, other times, anger. But as I went on, I saw a weight slowly lift from his shoulders. By the end—when I told him of the relief and the potential solution—his face changed entirely. Relief. Pride. He looked as though he could breathe deeply for the first time in a long while. It touched me to see him like that.

"You did it, Yukari," he said quietly, his eyes now soft but also tired. "And your service in the Anbu... we'll find a way around that someday."

I shook my head slightly and smiled. "Let's wait and see, brother. It's out of our hands now. The Hokage and Uncle Fugaku need to find common ground." I looked at him and added, "And as for the Anbu... no matter what unit I end up in, we'll always be a team." My words carried love and determination, and for a moment, it felt like old times, when we fought together without the burden of these dreadful decisions weighing us down.

Itachi gave me a piercing look. "So... your Mangekyou Sharingan, huh?"

I felt my chakra gather in my eyes, and I let the Mangekyou Sharingan appear. The red glow reflected in Itachi's gaze, and for a moment, I felt the immense pain and power that came with it. "Yes," I said softly. "I think it's been there since Shisui's death... but I only unconsciously activated it during the clan meeting. Maybe I just didn't want to acknowledge it before."

It's strange, feeling this new power inside me. It's so intense, so painful—and yet it seems to have become a part of me, inseparable from my soul.

Slowly, the exhaustion of the day crept into my bones, as though the tension of the past hours was finally taking its toll. Each breath felt heavier, and my thoughts spun, merging into a single dull hum. I could feel the silence between Itachi and me, as dense and oppressive as the darkness surrounding us.

"You should talk to Izumi," I said quietly, turning my gaze away from Itachi's motionless face. "She's worried about you. I saw her before the meeting."

Itachi didn't respond immediately. His eyes were fixed on the void, as if he were seeing something unspeakable, something only he could perceive. His silence stretched on, becoming almost unbearable, but I gave him time. I knew how heavy the burden on him was. A burden that neither of us should ever have had to carry.

"You're right," he finally said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "But I needed time."

His gaze still seemed lost, as if he had sunk into the deepest recesses of his thoughts, and I could feel the pain within him, even though he didn't show it. Itachi was strong, but I knew that strength took its toll on him. The mission he had been given was a burden that almost no one could bear, and though we had narrowly averted the looming nightmare, the shadow of that decision still hung over us. At least for now, I thought, as a cold, terrifying feeling spread within me. If Fugaku and the Hokage don't reach an agreement, the burden will fall back on us again.

"Understandable," I murmured, more to myself than to him. "You were given a horrible mission—one we've only just managed to prevent. For now..." My thoughts drifted, and I had to force myself to let go of the dark visions of the future.