Teaser: It isn't until three hours after Itachi comes home from his first extended away-mission that Mikoto realizes something is wrong.
Warnings: Character death(s).
Notes: Written because I like to explore somewhat-serious issues with Itachi and, consequently, Mikoto. I'm trying something new with the style, so I apologize if this shot is less effective than the previous ones. (And in case you haven't noticed, I am completely lazy when it comes to teasers.)
Just some speculation about the current manga chapters. I'm just a bit disappointed that some of my earlier one-shots have all been neutralized because of canon events. And at the fact that some readers don't bother to note the publication dates on said shots and try to correct my "mistakes" without seeing that the pieces were written months (in some cases, years) before there were any clarifications from Kishimoto.
Also, I am considering Mikoto to be an Uchiha by birth. When there is more substantial evidence otherwise, I maywrite another shot – but until then, I'll make an educated guess and say that they marry within the clan.
On a last note, present tense is a killer. I am so not used to writing in it.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
In the ninja world, death and pain are commonplace. Sometimes, in more ways than a normal person can imagine.
And They All Fall Down
"Stay Alive"
By Ikabi
It isn't until three hours after Itachi comes home from his first extended away-mission that Mikoto realizes something is wrong.
At first, she merely assumes that her firstborn is just tired and in need of his rest. She is quickly proven wrong when she goes to call Itachi to dinner and finds him collapsed on the floor.
It takes her a few seconds to get over her shock, and by then she's already by his side and propping him into a more comfortable position. She holds him tightly in her arms knowing that while there seems to be nothing wrong with her child, her instincts make her nervous with worry and doubt. As a (retired) jounin of Konoha, she has the cultivated knowledge that Itachi is just fine; the only signs of outward harm are the small scrapes on his arms and the dark lines of strain under his sleep-deprived eyes.
But the knowledge doesn't ease the awful, tight sensation in her stomach.
"Itachi," she says, trying to rouse her son. "Itachi, wake up."
He stirs, his face scrunching up into something resembling a frown. She tries to encourage him by murmuring soft, soothing sounds into his ear.
She knows he is fully awake when he tries to sit up by himself, so she gives him space by releasing her hold on him. She then realizes that she had been holding her breath and seeing him awake makes her sigh in relief.
He is only seven – not even eight yet.
"Mother," he greets. He bows his head in deference and as a sign of respect – an old tradition she hasn't been able to get him to stop. It is a sort of ritual between them, one that they have kept going ever since Fugaku had drilled in the proper etiquette rules to his prospective clan heir.
What happened to my little boy?
"Son," she replies with an overtly exaggerated tone of solemnity (something that her eldest child had had trouble placing the first few times she had done this) in her voice. This usually gets him to look at her if he is in one of his better moods.
Itachi noticeably doesn't look up. Mikoto is now more worried than before.
"Itachi, is something wrong?"
He shifts, still unwilling to meet her gaze. "I do not know what you mean. My current physical health has been attended to after my debriefing with Hokage-sama."
There is something about his choice of words that sets Mikoto on edge, and she looks over her son even more closely than before. He has positioned himself so that he is sitting before her with his hands on his lap, feet tucked under his legs in the traditional seiza required of formal meetings. Nothing seems too out of the ordinary until she sees that his usual confidence (and, dare she say it? – arrogance) is lacking in his posture.
Physical health, he says. Then there is something wrong with his emotional or mental stability?
"Itachi," she orders, more harshly than she had originally intended. But she doesn't register the tone in her voice, because there is something that is skittering on the edge of her senses – something important that she knows she is missing. "Tell me about your mission."
He nods in agreement, but she can tell he is doing this merely to humor her. "The mission was a success. The Daimyo was safely escorted back to his castle." Or was it to try to get her to go away? His voice sounds more monotonous than usual and it has none of his normal inflections that allow her to read his moods.
She doesn't press him when he pauses after the first two sentences, hoping that whatever else has happened is of nothing consequential in regards to her (hopefully) over-paranoid senses.
"What about your teammates?" she tries after a few minutes. Her worry is growing with each second he remains silent.
Itachi blinks and quickly shakes his head as if to ward off an unwanted thought.
"I-" He stops.
"Itachi?"
The feeling intensifies.
"I…" He lets out a sigh before trying to compose himself. "What about them?"
"Itachi," she says again, trying to convey in just one word what exactly she is unable to say with even a thousand.
Eventually, he understands her unspoken desires and concerns. He looks up, and Mikoto gasps. She is glad that she is not standing, because she is sure that she would have fought to remain so.
Her son's eyes are red with the ever-familiar Sharingan bloodlimit.
Suddenly, she knows what had happened to his teammates and why Itachi seems so frail compared to his usual self. The Sharingan usually doesn't appear unless something life-threatening has occurred.
Not even eight years old yet.
At first, she doesn't believe it, hoping that it is merely a trick of the light. After all, some members of their clan don't ever even awaken their eyes despite the many years they have been shinobi. And the average age for an Uchiha shinobi to awaken their Sharingan is around their tenth year.
But then Itachi just looks at her, and this confirms that it is no trick at all.
Inwardly, she curses her forefathers and the existence of their damnable bloodline.
Why does it have to be her firstborn? Why couldn't the mission have gone smoothly? Why does Itachi have to be cursed with a strong talent?
She is angry at her husband, her clan, Konoha – everything that she figures eventually contributed to the state her son is in.
Please, she thinks, as she tries to soothe Itachi by singing a few lullabies and rocking him gently back and forth with a hand placed comfortably on his back. Let this all be a dream. Let me wake up to find Itachi unchanged. Or if nothing else, let me find some way to make this all better. I don't want my son to go through the same turmoil that incapacitated hundreds of shinobi before him.
She doesn't know what to do anymore, so Mikoto numbly excuses herself and leaves to prepare dinner, hoping that the familiar routine would do…something for her. On the way to the kitchen, she sees her husband poring over an old scroll, and she stops to greet him.
"Is Itachi back yet?" he asks.
She is still on autopilot and distractedly answers, "Yes. He is in his room."
"I heard from the Sandaime that his Sharingan awoke."
She is startled that her husband already knows, but prides herself on her composure when she doesn't show it. "Oh. Is that so?"
He looks at the wall, focusing on something she (or anyone else, for that matter) can see. "Mikoto, I need to show you something." His voice sounds oddly reluctant and strained.
"Can't it wait until later?" She wants to go back to the kitchen. Dinner is waiting. But what to cook? Itachi must be hungry after his missio– no, don't think about it – after having just returned home. Something filling, she supposes. Oh, Sasuke needs to be fed. Do they have enough formula left in storage, or does she need to go back to the markets to buy some more? Would the baby be old enough to start weaning off of milk and on to more solid foods? Perhaps th-
Fugaku apparently sees that Mikoto is distracted because he grabs her wrist before she can leave. "No. I want you to understand – this is a secret scroll. No one save for previous clan heads even knows it exists."
The touch of another human being slowly brings her out of her thoughts, but she is unable to say anything more than a simple, "Why?"
He hesitates, and she sees in his eyes that he is debating something within. He seems to come to a conclusion because he brings her further into the room and starts explaining.
"This scroll was written by Uchiha Madara…"
When she finally does get around to making dinner, it is with an air of absentmindedness and grief.
That was the reason why Fugaku had insisted on having at least two children – why all the other mothers in the Uchiha clan had more than one child, even if no one knew the specifics of why?
In a sudden fit of depression and pessimism, she figures that the clan is forever doomed to be caught in a never-ending cycle of misfortune and pain, of hate and struggle, of power-lust and turmoil.
If so, is there a reason to contribute any more to the process? Had Uchiha Madara known what he was getting himself into when it happened?
Does it matter anymore?
But then she sees Sasuke – baby Sasuke playing gleefully on the floor, Itachi not too far away – and she feels some spark of hope ignite. It is obvious that Itachi dotes on the small child, even though he would never admit to doing so.
Later, after they are finished eating, Fugaku starts to pull Itachi aside, and Mikoto starts to worry again.
"Husband," she calls. "I'm not sure if this is right."
"Itachi is old enough to know."
She doesn't agree. Only seven years old. Not even eight. "I have a bad feeling."
"Don't worry. Things will turn out okay."
But Fugaku is proven wrong when Mikoto comes home one day and finds her husband lying in a pool of his own blood with a kunai sticking out from his gut.
She turns in wide-eyed fear, taking care not to upset her stomach lest it damages the new baby growing in her womb.
By the time she brings the shuriken out of her side pouch to block Itachi's sword, it is too late. She only has enough time to register that Sasuke is due back any minute now before she feels pain and her world tilts sideways.
"Itachi," she calls one last time as her vision starts turning black. "How did everything turn out so wrong?"
A sudden thought shoots through her. The baby – there's no way that it would…
I don't even know if it's a girl or a boy yet.
Pain. Denial. Regret. Sadness. Injustice. Confusion.
Thirteen, not even fourteen yet.
Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy?
The last thing she sees before dying is the pinwheel of her son's eyes and a fleeting notion that Madara's "gift" to the Uchiha clan had ultimately been its curse as well.
Sasuke, she thinks to herself, trying to remember what her second child looks like. Please stay alive.
Fin
Author's Notes – April 22, 2008:
Funnily enough, would you guys believe me if I told you that I was inspired by that one giraffe-stuck-in-a-sand-pit video?
And now that I look back, this shot sounds a lot like "Defective Blood"… And no, the third child is not in canon. I'm not even sure if half the stuff here is accurate. But you guys know the drill by now, no?
I should be writing my papers. I have an eight-page one due in less than two hours, and I'm about three-quarters-of-the-way there.