AHH HELLO GOOD PEOPLE!
Yes, I'm alive and this story is still on-going! I had a lot happen over the last year, between getting a new job that is impeccably demanding and getting married, I had very little time to write. I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME FOR CONTINUING TO COMMENT AND GIVE KUDOS. I'm not sure I would've had the willpower to continue this story if it weren't for all of you lovely hoomans.
I will have part two of this out in the next week. Sorry it's a shorter chapter squad, but as a christmas gift to you all I thought I'd do two updates after such a long hiatus XD I'll try to update as often as I can–hopefully every week or two–but you guys hounding me to get stuff out drives me, so, DO THE THING. I welcome it3
A cough.
Then another. And another.
I blinked, trying to open my eyes enough to see who was responsible for the hacking.
Keeled over on his knee was the raven haired boy. Dark red splotches speckled his hand as he wiped his lips.
My heart sank into my churning stomach. Coughing up blood was… bad. To say the least.
And there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I was next to useless. I could barely sit up or walk, let alone heal anyone. A jolt of pain rushing up the back of my skull forced a groan to slip from my lips.
But… somehow… I was feeling a little bit less like death. Had my companions given me something?
"Sora-chan, you're awake!" Kisame leapt up from tending to the glowing fire, almost tripping in his haste.
Peering down, I examined my own hands. They were real. As real as the hard ground beneath me.
As real as the coughing coming from Itachi's shadowy form making its way off into the distance.
"Yeah…" the word weakly spilled from my dry lips. I cleared my throat, "W-what did you give me?
"An antidote to the poison." Kisame sighed.
"H-how… where…" My eyes widened as I struggled to make words–the reality of what he was implying hit like a punch to the gut.
His dark eyes fell to Itachi, then to the ground.
I sat in utter disbelief. How the hell did that boy get the antidote? Orochimaru was the only person who could have had it… and he was hacking like a patient with pneumonia.
Clearing his throat, Itachi stood to face me. Words weren't necessary, his face said it all. He had overdone it trying to save my sorry ass. He needed help. We could discuss what happened later.
Energy levels be damned, I groaned while struggling to my feet. "Let me take a look."
A tired glower was his only response.
"Please…?" I cooed with a soft smile.
"You need to rest. We can deal with this lat–" Ragged hacking abruptly ended his sentence.
Looking at the blood on his hand after the episode, I pleaded with the sweetest look I could muster… I had to see how extensive the damage was.
This mysterious illness needed to bite the fucking dust. And he had made me a promise. I knew what had occurred while I was out like a light was not a dream.
Turning to let me see his back was enough for me. I was tired, depleted, still a bit sick, but I could care less. He was actually allowing me to help.
Nothing could have prepared me for the damage to his lungs. His heart. His chakra network…
There wasn't a piece of his body that hadn't suffered in some aspect.
The green glow of my hand tapered off as it fell limply to my side.
"Fuck…" The curse slipped past my lip before I could reel it back in.
Itachi let out a ragged sigh, "That bad, huh?"
"I mean, you are coughing up blood and all…" Kisame chimed in. "So, what are we looking at here, Sora-chan?"
I rubbed my eyes, "I'm not exactly sure what is causing all the damage–but your soft tissue is essentially killing itself. Particularly around your heart and lungs. It is affecting the rest of your tissue through your chakra networks."
"I see…" Something in the conformational tone of his voice told me he knew what was causing the issue.
I thought about it. And thought about it. Like a train going 1,000 miles per hour, it hit me.
"It gets worse after you use your Mangekyou Sharingan, doesn't it?" Peeking over his shoulder, his dark eyes reflected pure defeat. He nodded once.
"Let me see your eyes. I want to check your optic nerv—"
"No. You need to rest." He cut me off as he stood and walked off.
"Where are you going?" Kisame hollered, confused.
"For a walk." Itachi muttered back as he slipped into the late afternoon shadows.
Kisame and I exchanged worried glances. Sighing, I sat plopped down next to the big shark boy. "He said he was going to let me help him."
"He did? Really?" Kisame gawked.
I gave a weak nod. "Yeah. He did… he showed up when I was passed out. By the way–" narrowing my eyes, I stared him down. "What. Did. You. Two. Do. How am I not dead? And don't you dare lie to me, Kisame."
Letting out a stale breath, his round eyes fell closed.
"Well, fuck. So, you two did go to Orochimaru?"
"No… it wasn't Orochimaru." Confused, I cocked a quizzical brow.
"Just, promise you won't freak out when I tell you, okay?" Kisame rubbed his temple.
My brows pinched tighter.
Who the hell was it, then?
After a far too long, pregnant pause, he spoke, "It was Kabuto."
I couldn't help but laugh. Hysterically. Because, truly, it was laughable to think that someone who hated me as much as Kabuto would have actually helped.
Kisame's no nonsense demeanor knocked me back into reality. "I'm deadass, Sora. He gave us the antidote. All in exchange for a small amount of information."
My eyes widened, "What sort of information…"
He looked over at Samehada, "He is after the Seven Swords. I happen to know where some of them are. In exchange for the antidote, I pointed him in the right direction."
A tree could have fallen on me and I wouldn't have noticed I was so caught up in what had just come out of his mouth.
I shot up to my feet, "KISAME! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT, YOU DUMBASS?!"
He chuckled, "Here I was expecting a 'thank you', and you come at me with that. At least I know you're feeling better, kiddo. Sit down and eat this." A little taiyaki sat in his large palm.
Food was my weakness and he knew how to play it to his advantage every time. I wasn't about to say no either–my stomach was practically eating itself.
"We weren't just going to let you die. We give too many shits about you for that now." He patted my head as I greedily munched away at the delicious fish-shaped pastry.
Blushing, I flipped him off, "I love you guys too." The words were almost intelligible due to the food I was still trying to chew. I swallowed hard, "Then, why was Itachi so depleted? Disease or not, he isn't just usually like that."
The happy glow in Kisame's eyes disappeared like morning dew.
I stopped, dropping the taiyaki from my lips. Closing my eyes, my heart sank into my stomach. "What happened?"
Kisame shrugged. "I'm not sure. Itachi just yeeted off just after Kabuto showed up."
"Well, isn't that just fucking peachy." I groaned and smashed a palm into my forehead.
"There is a piece of news that is good," he faced me, moving my hand away from my face. "Orochimaru is dead. Sasuke killed him after he found out he had gotten you. He's now out searching for Itachi. Partly because he knows you are with him, and also because…"
"Because he wants to kill Itachi, right?" The words tumbled off my tongue utterly devoid of feeling.
"You know about that, huh?"
"Pfft, anyone who knows Sasuke knows that has been his goal since Itachi left all those years ago…" My matter-of-fact tone was fading fast. "But I have a plan. I am not going to let them kill each other."
I did have a plan. A risk one at that, but a plan nonetheless. It worked in theory, but putting it into practice was going to be nothing short of impossible. However, what the two Uchiha brother's failed to understand was that I had accepted death long ago. And I would risk it all to mend the rift between them. They were family. I had no one left. I had nothing left to lose.
After all, they needed a happy ending more than I did.
