Months passed by, and as Karumi grew bigger, Itachi grew sicker. Once a month, he would be sent out on missions with Kisame, but would always return within a few days to receive treatment. Despite Itachi's condition, they had fallen into a comfortable routine. Their family would eat breakfast together; and Tetsuya would stop by to take the boys to his house while Karumi worked and Itachi slept. Occasionally Itachi would spend the day in Karumi's workspace, insisting on helping her with her work despite his lack of medical knowledge. In the afternoon, the twins would return to spend time with their father while Karumi left for her house calls; and as evening came, they would all eat dinner together, Hotaru and Tonbo would be put to bed, and Karumi and Itachi would lie in bed together, chatting about nothing and everything.
Karumi loved it - at least, she would have if circumstances were different. If Itachi weren't so ill; if they still lived in the Leaf Village; and if Sasuke wasn't still after Itachi's life, she would almost certainly be happier. Then again, without running away together, and living their lives as they had up until now, would there be any chance that the things that made her happy now would ever exist?
She couldn't imagine life without the twins, and the child growing inside her made Karumi even more giddy with excitement. Despite that, however, her fears of losing Itachi ran more rampant than ever with her increasingly chaotic hormones. It was only a matter of time before he'd be gone for good.
As Itachi worsened, Karumi had turned to manually healing his lungs daily with medical ninjutsu, not in an attempt to heal him completely, but as a means for him to keep going while they waited for news on Sasuke's whereabouts.
That information had arrived while Karumi was working. Late one night, despite the fact that she struggled to move around her workspace with her massive bump, Karumi had made her way back up to her home, opening the front door to find Itachi, fully dressed, pulling his shoes on while Hotaru and Tonbo watched nervously from the other end of the hallway.
"Where are you meeting?" Karumi asked, already knowing why he was leaving.
"There's a fortress in the Land of Fire originally built by the Uchiha clan," Itachi murmured as he stood. "I thought it would be fitting to have our last fight there."
Karumi smirked, though the smile did not reach her eyes. "I never realised you were so theatrical," she breathed, feeling the tears that threatened to spill stinging her eyes as she reached her arms out.
Itachi was quick to respond, eagerly wrapping his arms around her torso, turning in her at an angle so he could hold her close, placing his lips against the top of her head. "Do you remember your promise?"
"Yes," Karumi whispered, pausing for a moment before craning her head to kiss him.
The Uchiha returned the kiss eagerly, cupping her face with one hand while the other arm tightened around her, desperately trying to memorise the feel of her lips against his.
"I love you," Itachi murmured, pulling away to rest his forehead against Karumi's. "I've never said it properly, but I love you...so much."
Karumi pursed her lips, feeling her tears begin to well up. "I love you too," she croaked, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her coat. "I always have."
She hugged him again, catching the gazes of Hotaru and Tonbo, and quickly forcing herself to smile.
"Boys," she called softly, pulling away from Itachi to beckon them closer. "Come say goodbye."
The twins hesitated for a moment, before quickly tottering towards their father, each grabbing Itachi around one of his legs.
"Where are you going, Papa?" Hotaru asked, his expression worried as his watery eyes stared up at the Uchiha, panicking.
"Are you leaving because we bother you while you're sleeping?" Tonbo asked, his face mirroring his brother's.
Karumi's heart sank, her breath catching in her throat, though before she could console either of the boys, Itachi crouched down, hugging them both tightly.
"Of course it's not because of you," he murmured quietly. "A long time ago, I did something very bad, and now I have to pay for it."
The twins didn't seem to completely understand, though, and as they grew more distressed, Karumi found herself crouching down beside Itachi in an attempt to help calm them down.
"What's important is that your Papa loves you," she said softly. "So make sure you give him the biggest hug you can."
Both boys glanced at each other for a moment, before hurrying to return their father's embrace, burying their faces against his cloak to muffle their sobs as their tiny bodies shook.
Itachi looked up at Karumi, who was pushing back the urge to join the twins in their wailing, his expression conflicted. It was unlikely he pictured having a new family like this when he planned to manipulate Sasuke into hating him and taking his revenge. That plan was a poor decision, as Karumi had been pointing out to him since day one, and Itachi now understood why. Still, Sasuke needed closure, and Itachi wanted to pay for his mistakes. Not even Karumi would be able to stop him.
Instead, the young woman reached her hand out, gently placing her palm against Itachi's back, offering one last bout of healing chakra. At least this way, he might stand a chance in the fight.
Eventually, Itachi stood up again, moving to place one last solid kiss against Karumi's lips before heading for the door. "I'm going now," he murmured, chancing one last look back at his family.
"Stay safe out there," Karumi answered, forcing herself to smile, though she could feel her legs growing weaker.
The sound of the front door opening and closing was all it took for Karumi to collapse to her knees, the tears now freely flowing. In her pregnant state, it was a miracle that she'd managed to hold on this long, but now everything was coming out.
In essence, Karumi had just sent Itachi, the man she loved, to his death with a smile on her face. All memories of the Hanakawa clan, the Uchiha clan, and every moment she'd spent in Itachi's presence all came flooding through at once; a painful reminder that she would never see him again.
An anguished wail escaped her lips, joining the cries of her sons, which were also becoming more hysterical.
Karumi took them both in her arms, and what remained of her family continued to grieve until they were too tired to continue. Only in the early hours of the morning could Karumi finally muster the strength to carry Hotaru and Tonbo back to their bed, both puffy-eyed, but sound asleep.
Despite her own exhaustion, however, Karumi didn't rest. As dawn broke, all Karumi could do was stare out the window in the twins' room, unable to find solace in the pouring rain for the first time in years.
XXXXXXX
Several days later, a knock sounded at her front door, and Karumi, half-expecting it to be Tetsuya arriving early to work, sluggishly waddled towards the door.
"I've told you, you can just go in-" Karumi had started to say as she pulled the door open, though stopped herself as soon as she saw the figure standing in front of her.
Even though Karumi had never seen him before, she could recognise the presence of the man who had stabbed her through the stomach several years ago; and even though her body wasn't physically scarred, Karumi's instincts told her to keep her distance.
He was slightly taller than Itachi, with short black hair. The rest of his face was hidden by a spiralling terracotta mask that centred around his right eye. Knowing he was an Uchiha, Karumi didn't dare look into it.
"What brings you here, Madara?" she asked, knowing that the man had never approached her for medical attention before.
"You may not have heard," the man murmured, his voice sending terrifying chills down Karumi's spine. "I go by 'Tobi' now."
The young woman nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. The name definitely didn't suit him, but she wasn't about to say so. "So," she murmured, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "What do you need from me?"
"Itachi and Sasuke have made contact," Tobi stated. "I want you on standby to heal whoever manages to stay alive."
The unspoken second half of his sentence lingered in the air. Of course, Karumi would be healing the fight's victor, but she would also need to harvest the eyes of the loser. Being an Uchiha himself, Tobi was certainly aware of that fact.
"Will you be bringing them here?" Karumi asked.
"No," Tobi muttered. "I have everything prepared at a secure location. You'll be brought there."
Gulping, Karumi glanced back towards the twins' room. "They're coming too," she stated, slowly moving to go and wake her boys up.
"What?" the man at the door asked, his tone bordering on a sneer.
"Even with my help, the chances are whoever comes out of this fight alive won't be able to go anywhere for several days," Karumi explained. "That means I won't be leaving either, which means my children will have to come with me."
Despite the confidence in her voice, Karumi was anything but. Not only had she never left Hotaru and Tonbo for more than a day or so, but she was far from emotionally stable enough to be away from the rest of her family. Losing one was already enough.
It didn't take much to rouse the boys from their sleep. Karumi was certain they'd been listening in, judging by the fact that they were already fully dressed by the time they'd managed to hastily kick their own blankets off of themselves.
As both boys stared up at her, fully prepared to leave, Karumi noticed an assured glint in Hotaru's eyes.
"We're going to rescue Papa, aren't we?"