Chapter 10: A Warning, A Lady's Heartbreak

Sakura remained at her mother's bedside Naruto and Sasuke fondly passed out on the bed next to her mother's. Sakura sighed and opened the book containing her clan's secrets and history. Sakura monitored the vital signs on the screens for her mother and remained vigilant. Ryu remained steady against the wall with Tora but, she could easily see him eying her carefully while watching both the door and window from his position.

She looked again at the last passage and could recognize the beginnings of the old language. The first portion was another journal entry from the founder of the clan.

To all of my descent,

Know this well if you read the old tongue you are in a most precarious position. We who read the old tongue have the unique ability to remember and live the old ways. There are few and far in between for us who retain the purest of the flame within our souls.

Let no one take away your fire and share your tears only with those you deem worth saving. Our tears are precious gifts and if given of free will with only care and love in our hearts we can give a most coveted treasure.

Be warned if there are negative emotions in your heart when your tears are taken they may be deadly even to those you love. If you are in turmoil do not offer your tears, with us there are no second chances.

Boshara Haruno

Sakura smiled and heeded the warning within she knew her tears would be dangerous to her mother and wished to simply remain and hope for her recovery from her injuries. She let her concerned eyes run over her mother's sleeping form again before she returned to the book and turned the page to see an entry entered for her specifically.

To Sakura the Heiress of Haruno,

This gift and curse I share with you and you alone please re-

Sakura was startled out of the book as the vitals on her mother's screen suddenly went into distress and rushed into the hall to call for the closest physician. "Doctor? Nurse? Anyone!" When she heard no response she ran into the hall asking Ryu to remain with her mother and went in search of any doctors available. She saw a desk attendant and ran up, "Please! My mother…her vital signs are in trouble on the monitor."

The attendant went wide eyed and immediately called over the intercom, "Doctor Yakamu, please report to room 35B patients vitals are unstable, I repeat the patients vitals are unstable." Sakura nodded in thanks and returned to her mother's room to hold her hand until the doctor arrived. Her mother's vitals were still in the red and moving dangerously deeper into dangerous status.

It was when the doctor came in the room Sakura was ushered into her chair with Ryu watching the young woman closely. The doctor and his team surrounded the bed shouting orders and both her boys were woken up in the scramble. Sasuke stood behind her chair with a surprisingly gentle grip on her shoulder as Naruto sat by her feet holding her hand.

The team working furiously trying to stabilize the woman but, there was no obvious reason for the jump in her vitals. The woman began seizing painfully on the bed and right in front of their eyes the three children of Team 7 watched as the monitor line went flat with a blaring tone remaining.

The medical team worked trying to resuscitate the woman in the bed. Sakura could only watch as before her eyes her mother's life was slipping away. Heart wrenching in agony she turned to Sasuke and buried her face in his chest.

Sasuke looked down at the distressed girl in his arms and allowed himself to feel a pinch of sympathy for her. It didn't matter how one would lose a mother…it always hurt. He kept his eyes on the medics to ensure they were doing everything possible to bring her back while also watching the clock. The medics stopped after almost an hour had passed and the body was cooling past the frame with which they could resuscitate the patient. The doctor glanced at the clock and announced, "Time of Death: June 3rd at 3:45 in the morning. Cause of Death: Currently Unknown and will seek to find clues during the process of the autopsy if approved by the family."

The doctor regretfully turned to face Sakura who had calmed somewhat her eyes were still rounded with red from her tears with dried trails on her cheeks. He somberly stated, "I am truly sorry for your loss. I hate to ask but, did you notice anything strange before the jump in vitals?"

Sakura shook her head in the negative, "No Doctor, I heard the beeping was steady with her heartbeat and returned to reading my book. After that her vitals suddenly jumped and I stuck my head out calling for help. When I realized there wasn't anyone in hearing range I ran to the floor attendant's desk to have them call for help."

The doctor nodded and looked upset, "I truly apologize the staff should have remained well within hearing range of the room. I will look into where all our staff was at the time this occurred. Do you have anyone who can stay with you and help with arrangements?"

"I can take Sakura home," Sasuke spoke up suddenly causing Naruto to look surprised. "Naruto go get Kakashi-sensei…you know where he lives right?" Naruto nodded and ran off to find their sensei. Sasuke turned to the Anbu who now had another Anbu beside them, "Tora-san please report this to the Hokage as soon as possible." Tora quietly saluted before using shunshin to teleport to the tower where the Hokage had arrived for an early start on paperwork.

"Mebuki Haruno passed suddenly in the early hours during a sudden seizure. There are no apparent signs of foul play but, Sakura has already approved to have an autopsy performed to discover if any toxins or injuries from the Sai kid are the cause of death. Ryu is with Sakura and Sasuke who is staying with her. Naruto went to get Kakashi and Rat is following him." Genma announced sadly as he removed his mask.

Kakashi woke to a frantic banging on his door and almost went back to sleep when he heard Naruto. He got up and covered his face while dressing and opened the door to see an upset Naruto, "Naruto what's going on?"

Naruto just requested seriously, "Kakashi-sensei, can you come to Sakura's house…Sasuke is with her right now and Ryu but…her mom died in front of us this morning." Kakashi could feel only pride that the boys were taking care of their team mate. He patted Naruto on the head, "Of course, we can grab some food from Sakura's favorite café on the way."

ZIL: Hi everyone I hope you enjoyed chapter 7-10. I haven't got a beta yet but I will be searching for one soon. I hope you all enjoyed this story so far and any constructive criticism is still welcome. I hope you all enjoy!