A/N: Hope you aren't getting tired of the Harunos yet. Here's just a little more angst with the Harunos and Morino.
Another explosion wrecked the city center, screams rippling in the air as civilian and soldier alike were thrown from the impact. By the time everything died down, more than thirty casualties were reported, most of them civilian, and more than a hundred injuries were treated, the worst of them third-degree burns from the very center of the chaos.
By that afternoon, the king had reluctantly ordered that all non-business and/or clan families, as well as students of the shinobi academy, were to be under temporary house arrest, and that anyone caught breaking it would not only have to have a life-or-death reason, but would most likely face arrest.
Mebuki glanced out the window for the umpteenth time in worry, and her husband continued to pace the floor.
"What will we do, Kizashi?" She desperately questioned. "How will we survive?"
"I… I don't know," he quietly replied, his voice resigned. "All we can do is trust in the gods to deliver us."
"He said what?!" Shien exclaimed, startling both Sasuke and Naruto.
"Didn't you get the memo? He announced it this morning," Naruto said slowly, giving her a strange look. "Civilians are under lockdown in the capital."
"But- but I-" She spluttered, head whipping around as she looked from the boys to the window.
"What's the matter with you?" Sasuke questioned, eyes narrowing at her.
"I have family!" She exclaimed, wringing her hands. "They've come to give me away! If- if the entire capital is on lockdown…"
"Oh. In that case, my father can lift it for them." The prince returned to his book nonchalantly. "Just let Mother know they're coming, and she'll let him know so they can be escorted to the inn."
"No, that's not the real problem!" She wanted to shout, but she held her tongue. She looked desperately towards the window again, the bare streets only populated by a handful at a time unnerving.
"Please… Kaguya-sama, please…"
They'd traveled so far, and yet they had such a long way to go before they made it to Konoha.
Hinata and Boruda helped Karin along, the young woman feebly stumbling with fever. She still hadn't recovered from her stress-induced illness, and the group was getting worried that she would never do so.
Aoi and Aika glanced at one another grimly as Daitan walked before them, shoulders tense and eyes drooping with dark circles beneath. Her mussed hair was haphazardly braided, and it swayed slowly with every step she took.
Aoi glanced towards the back of their company, where the wounded were being carried. Hideki was among them, the boy supported by two older men. The white wrappings were snug around his throat, and his chest struggled to rise and fall. Sweat beaded on his brow and his expression was troubled, yet his eyes were unfocused and unseeing.
They turned back to Aika and murmured into her ear, "He won't last the night."
Solemnly, she glanced back at him for a second before shaking her head at them.
"And if Karin falls even more ill, I don't know what we'll do," they continued with a weary sigh. "She and Shizune-san are the undisputed leaders of the group, save for Akiyama-san."
"(We must have hope,)" Aika replied with shaking hands. "(We must do our best, even in our darkest hour.)"
Nodding in agreement, they hesitantly held out their hand, and when she took it, they squeezed tight.
Darkness was creeping in and Mebuki was locking up for the night.
As she opened the door and stepped outside, she narrowly missed a small parcel on the front mat.
Raising an eyebrow at the innocuous package, she stooped to pick it up. She hesitantly moved it back and forth, inspecting it carefully. On the paper was their family name printed by a painfully-familiar hand, as well as an amount of money and a short message: "Take comfort and have faith."
She gasped softly at the message and inspected it again, closer this time, before whirling around and rushing back inside.
"Kizashi!" She exclaimed, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. "Kizashi, come and look!"
The graying man jogged in from the kitchen, his eyes wide. "What? What is it?"
"Look!" She thrust the parcel forward. "It's a sign! Oh, Kizashi, it's from our Sakura!"
"Impossible," he breathed. "She's been dead all this time."
"It is possible," she insisted. "Nobody else would have this writing! It's a sign from the heavens!"
He looked closely at the writing before his lips parted in shock. He looked at his wife and took in her tears before bringing her in for a tight hug.
"It's a miracle, a miracle has been brought to us this night," he began to weep. "This is enough money to last us another week!"
