A/N:
Hello my lovely readers,
I know you're all just itching to move on from the agonizing cliffhanger.
So don't worry no annoying lengthy A/N today.
Thank you to the ones who review - this ones for you!
Now let us begin!
- masayume
Important...this story is rated M for a reason - you have been warned.
Chapter 24. The Uchiha Law
Sakura, sakura, sakura
petals fade slowly with the wind,
taking you, claiming you
for a world yet unknown.
"SEIZE THE CULPRIT! DO NOT LET HER ESCAPE!"
The thunder of the male's voice barely registers Sakura's ears as her vision becomes hazy. The red leaves blur into the sky and she begins to feel lighter, as if she was succumbing to a peaceful slumber. Then, if only for a moment, her view is obstructed — the blurred sky is muddled with a shape of a person, barely familiar to her and she begins to feel intense pressure upon the wound in her right side.
"Stay with me child! You hear me?!" the voice says with urgency.
And within a split second she feels a flush of green chakra enter her wound, and she feels every cell mending at its touch and as the pulse of the chakra intensifies, her vision fades to black.
When the leader of the Uchiha clan finally awoken, the first thing that he saw was the vacant space right next to him. The absence of his wife in their bed somewhat unnerved him. In reality, he hoped to wake with Sakura still in his arms, basking in the warmth of each other's company — if only to steal precious moments before their duties would take them away from each other for the day.
With a deep exhale, he rose to his feet and made his way over towards the cupboard filled with kimono. His hands reached for the familiar cloth of the standard white haori of the Uchiha clan and the navy blue hakama. For once, he did not wish to don the intricate gold of clanship. For once, he wanted to feel like his old self — before he had to step into his father's shoes and take over the entire clan. It was a heavy burden and yet, the proud Uchiha continued to lead the clan with his head held high and ready to perceive any threats that may befall his family.
As he finished dressing, his attention turned to the leather strip he tends to use to keep his long raven lock pulled back. It was currently unraveled and discarded on top of the wardrobe. As his hand reached for it, a sudden sound echoed throughout the compound. The unmistakable sound of the main gate bell rang continuously in a warning pattern, ushering the entire Uchiha compound on high alert. With haste, Itachi's attention turns to his two blades and with swift feet he marches through the main house. At the sight of the household servants, he mutters a firm gaze as if to order the staff to stay put within the house. He steps outside, taking the few steps down onto the graveled path, just as the inner courtyard of his home fills with his guard.
"UCHIHA-SAMA! SENJU! SENJU RIDERS BY THE NAKA FOREST! SAKURA-SAMA IS THERE!" the guard announces as he sprints towards the patriarch.
At the mention of his wife's name, fear begins to bubble within Itachi, and he does not recognize the speed at which his feet begin to move.
"I need riders!" Itachi exclaimed as he rushes past the Uchiha barracks — his eyes do not fall immediately to his brother and the Namikaze heir already sitting atop their horses. Itachi climbs atop Nobu with haste and with a quick nudge, he rushes the equine out of the compound and towards the edge of the Naka Forest.
It was only a few moments, but it felt like a lifetime for Itachi as he hurried to his wife's side. From the short distance he could see the several Senju banner holders still atop their horses, while two Senju warriors restrained a person wearing an Uchiha garb. Then, as his horse came closer, he saw the Senju clan head next to a unmoving body in the grass — as he pushed Nobu over the edge to go faster, to get to them quicker to protect his loved one and scare the Senju off the Uchiha lands. As the sight of the body became clearer and he spotted the pink hue upon the wearer's hair, his heart dropped — already assuming the worst, his nightmare coming to fruition, coming to haunt him in the real world.
The reins he held in his arms tightened as he forced Nobu to come to a stop. As he hopped off the horse, Itachi stepped quickly towards the party. The sight of his beloved wife, lying in a pool of her own blood caused the air from his lungs to disappear. His eyes grow mad with rage as his eyes travel from his wife's face to the gaping stab wound in her side upon which the elder Senju had his hands pressed firmly, pulsing the familiar green glow of chakra into her body.
"WHO?! WHO DID THIS?!" Itachi demands, losing himself in his anger and need for vengeance.
"Calm yourself, she's not dead yet! She's still breathing — but it's dire. She needs better care," Tobirama answered, his focus remaining on watching Sakura's shallow breaths.
Itachi leans down to his wife, unsure of what to do or how to help. It is the sound of the approaching horses that cause him to look back, to see his supposed Uchiha party consisting of his younger brother Sasuke, Namikaze Naruto, two Uchiha warriors Keisuke and Toshiro. From the distance he could see another rider approaching — his cousin Aoi with his sister Sachiko sitting in front. Instantly, he extended his hand into the air and waved for Aoi to rush faster.
"Quick, Sakura needs you," Itachi said the moment Aoi disembarked from the horse and assisted young Sachi to reach the ground.
The young thirteen-year-old medical student steps forward towards the body of her mentor and drops to her knees, facing the entry of her wound. Sachi begins to recite Sakura's instructions out loud, almost as if it were a mantra as she follows the steps precisely.
"Ensure the patient's vitals are stable, Sachi. Heart…lungs… Once stable we move onto the source of the problem. First step, assess the damage — clean angled entry from the back on the right side of the patient's body — just below the ribcage…. through the soft tissue… the depth of the wound indicates potential damage to kidneys…"
Sachi looks up to her brother.
"We need to get her inside. We run risk of infection if I do the procedure here," Sachi said.
Itachi nodded, trusting in his sister and he glanced over to his riders and Keisuke, Toshiro, and Sasuke step forward.
"Do you know what you're doing? You're just a kid!" Tobirama questioned.
"She's my teacher, of course I know what I'm doing," Sachi says proudly. Then she looked over to the Uchiha men. "I will clamp the issue at hand, but the rest must be done indoors. Once, I do this, we may move her."
The young Uchiha then takes a deep breath and begins to channel her chakra, slowly getting into the surgical technique as the glow changes into short blades and the young prodigy begins the procedure with steady hands.
When Sakura was securely taken back to the compound in the escort of his brother, Itachi turned his attention to Senju clan head and the large group of his warriors. Aoi and Naruto remained standing near the Uchiha patriarch, ensuring his back was shielded from any potential Senju threats.
"What happened? Speak plainly," Itachi ordered as his usually cool facade and calm manner was long gone. Instead, it was replaced by that familiar Uchiha fiery temper, eager to serve justice to those who deserved it — and right now the presence of Senju only made his hand twitch towards his sheathed blade.
For once, Tobirama Senju remained calm, with his blade sheathed as he motioned for his warriors to bring forth the culprit.
'It was her. My daughter was collecting herbs in the field when she saw us approach on horseback and this filth … saw an opportunity. We saw how she stabbed her from behind… crudely and then quickly rushed to get back on her horse and rush back to the compound," Tobirama answered as the woman was shoved to the ground viciously by the Senju warriors.
"Seems like she hoped to blame the Senju for this," Aoi piped in, her arms crossed casually across her chest as she watched the scene unfurl.
Itachi stared at the Uchiha garb, the red fan symbol splattered on the white haori and the mop of disheveled long black hair that only further concealed the culprit's identity as she remained hugging the ground, not too eager to rise to her feet and face the Uchiha patriarch.
"Get up!" Itachi commands.
The Uchiha woman slowly rises to her feet — impatient, Itachi reaches down and grabs her by the hair and pulls it backward, forcing the culprit to meet his face. The sight of quite the familiar face fills him with even more anger and disgust. His hand immediately releases his hold on her locks and the Uchiha traitor sinks back to the ground, choosing to stay on her knees.
"YOU?!" Itachi's voice was laced with unfathomable venom.
The sight of Uchiha Izumi surprised him — the thought had never crossed his mind that the meek girl he once was tied to in an omiai would be capable of harming another. Izumi was a former childhood friend, someone who he used to play with in fields such as these chasing fireflies in the evenings as the older generations were just building up the compound. He remembered her as such — a carefree girl, chasing light bugs in the field with an ever-present smile on her face. But that's all she ever was; a childhood friend with not a single care in the world.
"WHY?!" he demanded in anger.
For the first time, Izumi willingly lifts her head to meet the patriarch's gaze. She speaks with a trembling voice. "Because I love you. I've always loved you."
"And this is how you show your love? By attempting to murder my wife in cold blood?!" Itachi questions.
"She stole you from me! Hell, she even tricked me! She wouldn't even complete the omiai procedure to verify I was untouched by man! Spread rumors that I was touched! But I never — I never did, I only ever wanted you," Izumi pleaded.
The anger within Itachi was boiling, nearly threatening to tip over at the mention that Sakura could have harmed another's reputation. The thought alone that Sakura could even be capable of such an act was preposterous — he knew his wife better than that and as such, Izumi's supposed reasons fell on deaf ears.
"She's not even an Uchiha! It isn't right! It isn't!" Izumi added as tears streamed down her face.
"SHE IS MY WIFE! SHE IS AN UCHIHA!" Itachi exclaimed angrily. His voice was laced with hatred and Izumi's gaze could only fall to the ground to avoid seeing the utter disgust in Itachi's dark eyes. Itachi breathed hard, taking a moment to soothe the inner fire as he stared at the traitor at his feet.
"This was your grandfather's scheme, wasn't it?" Itachi growled.
Izumi's eyes widen in fear, and she glances up once more to meet his gaze. "How—"
"Don't you dare say that you love me! This monstrosity — this is something you don't do to the one you love! You're nothing but a snake, always trying to slither your way into my life by any means necessary. You are your grandfather's pawn, and I am tired of seeing your face in my compound," Itachi speaks with a cruel voice.
He takes a moment to ease his breathing, to soothe the ever-growing hatred within him, but mind takes him back to thoughts of his wife and the simple images of seeing his wonderful rosette lying in a pool of her own blood causes the anger to fuel all over again. The fact that Sakura's life was currently hanging in balance only made him think of days before — Sakura's protective behaviour over herself and over her patients. The way that lately at night when they were alone, she would instinctively place her hand over her stomach. She never said anything to him, but the small gestures made him hopeful that perhaps their family would begin to grow. The thought that perhaps, she was carrying the heir of the Uchiha clan. He did not even realize where his mind took him, when he looked at the traitor and uttered the line. "How could I ever feel anything but disgust for someone who harms the mother of my unborn child?!"
At the sudden mention of a potential child and therefore the heir to the clan, Izumi's demeanor changes. In near disbelief at her own actions, she lifts her hands and stares at the drying blood that remained — the traces of Sakura's blood from the horrible act that until a moment ago she believed was justified. Izumi's body begins to shake in an uncontrollable tremor as she bows her head to the Uchiha patriarch.
"The—there are no words of com—ffort I may offer Uchiha-sama, but I am sorry for the role I played in this conflict. All I can say is that I have wronged you and I have wronged the Uchiha clan — and I accept my fate," Izumi nearly whispers.
A memory sequence.
When he was a boy, Itachi stood outside the main house of the Uchiha, watching from the distance as his uncle Madara delivered justice in front of many onlookers. An Uchiha man kneeled in front of him, his arms tightly bound in the front, as he awaited the punishment.
"You dare betray me? Your clan leader?!" Madara demanded as he towered above the traitor.
"I did what I felt necessary. You brought shame to our clan by fathering a child out of wedlock," the bound man replied.
"You attempted to slaughter an innocent child. My daughter," Madara said with an angry voice.
"I only wanted to remedy a mistake," the man replied proudly.
It only took a second, but the moment remained burned in the back of his memory. The way Madara's hand expertly wrapped itself around the hilt of his blade, unsheathing it and with a quick stroke the traitor was no more and only his lifeless form remained in the dust of the Uchiha street.
End of memory sequence.
Aoi stood near the horses, watching the scene unfurl — watching Itachi's back as he faced the culprit and for a moment Aoi is reminded of her late father's image. Itachi stands tall before the kneeling woman, breathing hard as his hand rests on the hilt of his blade. His long dark tresses sway with the wind and for a moment, the wind-kissed mane gave the wild shape of the former fearsome Uchiha clan leader. His hand grasps the blade's hilt tightly.
"Itachi… don't," Aoi calls out.
With a single cry of rage, Itachi unsheathes his lengthy blade and with a perfect precision strikes Izumi. The blade slices across her neck, separating her head from the rest of her body and both collide onto the ground — and what was once a former friend, a potential love interest was nothing but a distant memory. Itachi flicks off the blood off the blade with an almost elegant stroke and quickly retracts the blade back to its shield. His eyes do not linger on the traitor's body, and instead he looks back to his company. Aoi is the first who breaks the silence.
"I'm not sure that was the smart thing to do," Aoi wonders out loud.
Itachi's piercing gaze travels to his outspoken cousin.
"She was a traitor. I did as the Uchiha law commands me to do," Itachi answered. "Dispose of the body and make sure her family is made aware of her actions."
Aoi nodded and bowed with respect. "As you command Uchiha-sama."
Itachi then steps forward towards the Senju. His eyes travel from the Senju men to their clan leader Tobirama. The Senju clan head was standing near his horse, his arms across his chest as he watched from the distance Itachi's actions towards the would-be murderess. Not eager to swing his sword once more, Itachi chooses to address the clan head.
"Why have you come?" he demands.
"To see my daughter and to speak with you. I had a pair of Uchiha men visit my compound claiming that her life was in danger. From what I have seen, they were right," Tobirama answered.
"My wife is my priority right now. We can speak after I learn of her status," Itachi says, and he walks over to Nobu. "Naruto, the Senju may enter but ensure they are watched at all times."
"Yeah, I'm on it," Naruto said, and he climbs atop his horse, just as Itachi speeds off back home.
A/N: Please review. Writing is a all-consuming experience and whenever we (the authors/writers) receive a review it brings us joy and we feel appreciated - that our hard work is recognized. Until next time.