𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 | izuna uchiha

Chapter 21

Juri wheezed as Nanami withstood another one of her jutsu, beginning to feel fairly irritated at her incessant failure to comply with defeat. Their battle had not even raged for fifteen minutes, yet Juri could already feel the massive strength Nanami  held. She had seen her fight with Izuna, but had thought little of it: Izuna was head over heels for the girl, and would even go so far as to embarrassing himself in front of the entire clan to make her happy. Certain that Izuna had purposely lost the battle in order for Nanami to become a kunoichi once more, Juri had low expectations of Nanami when she squared off today.

As their clash continued, Nanami, who had been taking it easy on Juri at first, was now becoming less and less inclined to preserve Juri's life. Initially, she convinced herself that she would do no life-threatening harm to Juri on the premise that they shared an old friendship that Nanami still treasured to this day. However, as Juri's attacks grew more violent and began to cause more damage to Nanami, it became clear to her that the Juri she had once known and loved was now dead to her. Her heart was completely shrouded by nothing but hate and impenetrable darkness, and the good memories she had with Nanami were overshadowed by those of her husband's scandal and eventual fall from grace.

She's stronger than I anticipated, thought Juri fiercely, panting for air as she guardedly watched Nanami, circling around each other in the enclosure. Nanami's face had now gone from one of reluctance, to stone cold heartlessness. She no longer had any qualms about killing Juri, and the latter felt it too. It's time.

Without a second thought, Juri activated her Mangekyō Sharingan, and found herself relishing in Nanami's abrupt change in personality.

Shit, Nanami cursed to herself, knowing full well that her own Sharingan would be no match against Juri's fully fledged Mangekyō.

Juri grimaced frenziedly, rounding on Nanami as she walked closer and closer to her.

But then, just as soon as she had activated her Sharingan, Juri froze in her tracks.

What... what is this...

Just like Izuna had, Juri sensed the extra chakra signature within Nanami.

It's just like...

Juri's eyes widened in shock as she recognised the familiarity of the new chakra signature; it made her so weak that she fell backwards onto the ground, a hand covering her mouth as the realisation sunk in.

Tears welling in her eyes, Juri's free hand instinctively moved to her belly as she watched Nanami mirror her actions in confusion. She scrunched up her yukata in her arms as she began to hyperventilate, her cries going up loudly.

The chakra signature in Nanami was strikingly similar to that of Arashi's, and was a fact that made Juri so weak she couldn't even function properly.

Sensing the signature caught Juri completely off guard, and in that moment, she felt nothing but absolute longing.

***

"You're the most beautiful woman I know."

Young, in love, and reckless.

That was how Uchiha Juri and Uchiha Arashi were in the days of their youth; two of the clan's hottest shinobi on the market, the two were seemingly perfect for each other, in terms of both looks and prowess. Every word Arashi spoke to Juri was sweet and laced with honey; so too were his actions, and he never once failed to shower her with complete love, respect, and affection.

When the pair finally got married, Juri thought that her life was now perfect. She had a wonderful husband, who loved her to the ends of the earth, and she was a high ranked kunoichi in one of the world's most prodigious clans. All that was needed to complete her already seemingly picture perfect world was a child or two, for her and Arashi's family unit to finally be complete.