"Here," Karumi murmured, offering up a large steaming cup of freshly-brewed herbal tea. "Try this. Hopefully it will help with the chest pain."
Itachi grunted as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, taking the cup. "That's what the last cup of tea was supposed to do," he chuckled.
Karumi, on the other hand, didn't see what was so funny. Her routine for the past two weeks had been the same: spend days developing some sort of pain relief, only to have it not do anything. It was a frustrating cycle of failure that she'd dedicated so much of her time to, unable to even think of working on a cure until Itachi was at least comfortable. The only thing that had worked so far was manually healing the damage in his lungs, but even that was only a temporary solution.
Yet, Itachi could still smile at her, and tell her he was fine, despite the fact that both of them were struggling in vain - Itachi with his surprise illness and Karumi with the one time in her life she really couldn't afford to fail.
Of course, rather than give up, Karumi was only determined to try again. She was stubborn, after all, and she wasn't going to let Itachi's sickness get the better of her, but working day and night was beginning to take its toll.
"You look like you need this more than I do," Itachi murmured softly as he placed his drink down on the nightstand, before shifting his weight on the bed. "Come here. Lie down."
Karumi pursed her lips, but did as he said, lying down on the mattress beside him and resting her head on his shoulder. "You really don't feel any better?" she asked, looking down at her hands.
Itachi sighed. "This isn't something I can just 'feel better' from," he breathed. "Even if you don't want to admit it, I know you're starting to realise that too."
"I just can't believe that none of it's working," she mumbled. "Please, if you know anything about how to cure this thing, tell me."
Again, he sighed. "It involves a transplant," he murmured, avoiding her gaze. "And replacing my Sharingan with a healthy pair."
Karumi paused, feeling a chill run down her spine. "Sasuke..." she whispered.
"Yes," Itachi muttered. "Either his eyes will cure my disease, or my eyes will ensure he never succumbs to it."
A withered smile lifted the corners of Karumi's mouth. "You really think he'll let you do that?" she asked.
"No," Itachi answered honestly. "Even now, I'm aware he still plans to kill me. When that time comes, the victor will take the loser's Sharingan."
He moved his gaze to meet hers.
"Promise me that, no matter who wins," he said softly. "You'll perform the transplant?"
Karumi stiffened, wringing her hands nervously as she glanced down at them. "You want me to believe that an eye transplant is going to cure emphysema?"
Itachi fell silent for a moment. "Perhaps not quite that far," he admitted. "All Uchiha history tells of the vision loss only, and how it is cured - even strengthened - by the eyes of a close relative."
The young woman nodded knowingly. "So there's a chance that, even if you win against Sasuke in your condition, you won't get any better?"
"I'd be lying if I said there wasn't."
Karumi nodded again, this time staying silent, staring at her hands. Itachi shifted his weight to wrap his arms around her body, pressing his face into her icy white hair.
"Promise me you'll do the transplant?" he asked again, his voice now slightly muffled.
"Okay," Karumi murmured finally, curling against his chest. Even if he would never get better, at least she could be there when he needed her. At least she could keep him comfortable until Sasuke came for him. Perhaps she could even convince the brothers not to fight in the first place - though the chances of that happening were slim.
XXXXXXX
Karumi felt nauseous. The weeks of focusing on her work and looking after Itachi in her spare time were finally taking their toll. In a desperate attempt not to fall behind, she'd enlisted the help of Hotaru and Tonbo to watch over Itachi while she worked or napped - though, in reality, he was watching over them.
No one seemed to mind, however. After all, Itachi could spend time with his sons and the boys could finally learn more about their father, and Karumi always felt much better after resting; able to then work through the night on Itachi's various medicines. The realisation of what was actually happening would come to her almost a month after her sickness began.
As usual, Karumi had made breakfast for everyone, bringing Itachi's to their room to find Hotaru and Tonbo already there, sitting on the bed, demanding that their father tell them stories. As usual, Karumi had scolded them for pestering a sick man and made Itachi take his medication, but as soon as she'd set the Uchiha's breakfast down, a wave of nausea washed over her, and she ran straight for the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet.
Karumi hadn't expected anyone to come in after her, until she felt a large hand on her back, rubbing gently as her dinner spilled into the toilet, occasionally moving to brush wisps of hair out of her face.
"How long has this been going on for?" Itachi asked once she was done, and Karumi moved to rinse her mouth out under the sink.
"I haven't quite been myself for a few weeks," she mumbled sheepishly, forcing a smile. "This is the first time that's happened. Don't worry. It's just stress."
Itachi didn't look like he believed her. "This happens every time you're stressed?" he asked.
"No," Karumi snorted. "The last time this happened was when..."
She trailed off, her eyes widening. The last time she'd been this sick was when she was pregnant with the twins, but she would have noticed if something like that was happening again - wouldn't she?
Then again, with all her focus on her work and looking after Itachi, it was possible she was late and hadn't noticed. The more she thought, the more Karumi realised she'd gone more than two weeks without her usual cycle, and that was definitely unusual.
"Are you okay, Mama?" Tonbo's small voice sounded from the doorway, and Karumi looked down to see the two boys, standing at the threshold, staring at her anxiously.
Karumi blanked for a moment, though quickly smiled as she crouched down, hugging the twins closely. "I'm fine," she assured them. "Why don't you two start breakfast? Let me know if you want seconds."
Hotaru and Tonbo glanced at each other hesitantly, but quickly left, their footsteps thudding down the hallway as they ran toward the kitchen.
"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" Itachi asked, his voice mixed with worry and fatigue, watching carefully as Karumi lifted her shirt and placed her palm flat against her abdomen, closing her eyes.
"If I..." she paused as the image of a small, barely-developed embryo flashed through her mind. "If I were pregnant again...that's not a good thing, is it?"
Carefully, Karumi cracked her seeing eye open just in time to see Itachi lift her up in an enthusiastic bear hug, holding her tightly as he carried her out of the bathroom and placed her gently on the bed.
Her face reddened as he loosened his grip slightly, crawling over her to press his cheek against her stomach.
"That is a good thing," he mumbled, his speech slightly slurred, his grip tightening again.
Karumi snorted. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" she asked, covering her heated face with her hands.
"Pain killers," Itachi muttered matter-of-factly, suddenly looking up at her with childlike wonder. "Will it be a boy or a girl?"
"It's too early to know something like that," Karumi giggled, running her hand through his long dark hair as he slowly rolled to the side.
Itachi went quiet from a moment, before mumbling to himself again. "I hope it's a girl this time."
Karumi watched with wide eyes, surprised by his words, as his eyes began to droop closed, though she didn't reply.
"The first time," Itachi continued, keeping his eyes shut. "I didn't get to see you until the boys were born. I spent so long thinking about you - about our children - but when I saw you, I didn't know what to do - and you'd already named them."
Again, Karumi was stunned. "I didn't think you'd wanted to pick names for them," she murmured, beginning to regret the fact that she hadn't stuck around after giving Itachi his painkillers before. He was more open now than Karumi had ever seen him to be in the entire time she'd known him.
Itachi mumbled something incomprehensible, leaving Karumi to prompt further.
"Had you thought of any?" she asked softly, still playing with his hair.
"If it was a girl," he murmured, opening his eyes slightly. "I liked Sayuri."
"Like the flower?" Karumi asked.
Itachi nodded. "They were growing outside we were staying at when Pain first told me you were pregnant."
Karumi smiled, moving her arms to wrap around his shoulders. "And for a boy?" she asked, watching as Itachi lowered his head.
"I wanted to name him Sousuke."
A warm, pleasant feeling flooded through Karumi's chest as she hugged him even tighter. She didn't think Itachi of all people would want to honour her brother - they'd never met, after all - but the fact that he did just showed how much she actually meant to him.
"Thank you," Karumi whispered, though Itachi didn't hear; or, if he did, he pretended not to notice.
"I hope," Itachi murmured, closing his eyes once again. "That I can last long enough to be able meet this one."
Karumi pursed her lips, blinking away tears that suddenly threatened to spill over, resting her chin on top of his head. "You will," she breathed, though they both knew that that promise could never be kept for certain.
