4 Chapter – 4: Mother

[Third person POV]

'Shit, this is awful!' was Aston's final thought before his body completely disintegrated.

Year 49, Konohagakure, Uchiha Compound. In one of the remote houses.

"Push harder!"

"He is almost out, just a bit more!" shouted the midwife.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Then the loud cry of an infant could be heard.

"Madam Rio, Congratulations! It's a healthy boy!" said the midwife in joy. But all that joy quickly disappeared when she saw the state Uchiha Rio was in. Although the midwife knows a little bit of Medical Ninjutsu it was nothing much.

[Uchiha Rio POV]

**Flashback no Jutsu**

Inside the Uchiha Clan Head's house.

'It has been two months since my husband disappeared. It was supposed to be just a B-Rank escort mission. How could a Special Jonin like my husband just disappear like that? it doesn't make sense. Cousin should know more' I thought.

A few minutes later Uchiha Fugaku, the current head of the Uchiha clan walked in.

"Cousin Rio, You should be resting, why are you walking around like this?" asked Fugaku a little concerned for his distant cousin and a little bit sad too for what happened to her husband.

"Cousin Fugaku, it's been two months, do you have any lead on what happened to my husband?" I asked anxiously.

"Rio, calm down! I have already sent people to investigate, they should be reporting back soon," said Fugaku feeling a bit guilty as he knew nothing will come of it. This is not the first time Uchiha had disappeared when out on simple missions. It has been repeatedly happening in the last couple of years. Each time he tried to investigate, he would soon hit a dead end. Although he could guess someone high up in Konoha might be behind these, there is not a single piece of evidence to this. The perpetrator is very good at what he did.

"Cousin Fugaku, you have to inform me as soon as you get any information," I said.

"Cousin, you do remember that you are pregnant, right? If not for yourself, for your unborn child please take care of yourself," said Fugaku.

I look down and caress softly at my bulging stomach.

"Have you thought of a name?" asked Fugaku.

"Rei. Uchiha Rei," I said with a soft smile.

"What if it's a girl?" asks Fugaku curiously.

"I know it will be a boy. I don't know why, but I just know," I said with the same smile, "Ok cousin, I will be off then."

'I am so weak, I wish I had more power, I wish I could do more for the Uchiha,' Fugaku clenches his fist in anger and self-blame as his eyes turn red and the three tomoes start spinning forming a shuriken with three dots. He unconsciously activates his Mangeko Sharingan when he sees the exhausted back of his cousin. He had already started to change to his emotionless personality.

**End Flashback no Jutsu**

As I remember what happened three months ago, I still feel sad, but I had to do it. After meeting cousin Fugaku, I knew he had some difficulties in investigating my husband's disappearance. So, I took it into my own hands.

I had a couple of my good friends try to get some information. After a month of investigating, the information they found was startling, to say the least. I finally knew the difficulties cousin had. There had been Nine such disappearances that we could find on record. Don't even ask about during wartime.

But that became our undoing. All our snooping around alerted whoever caused this. My friends were all killed off brutally one by one. As I was pregnant and did not leave the house much, I was attacked by a masked man in my own house. Although I could survive, albeit with help from other Uchiha who were close by, I was hurt and the date for the birth of my child was near. That complicated things a lot. I even got suggestions to remove the baby as there was a small chance I would survive the childbirth.

'I know the chances of my husband being alive are almost nonexistent, I would never abandon the last evidence of our love. I was ready to die since the moment I became a Kunoichi, what's more, I am dying for my child. I could not be happier,' I thought as I took my child from the midwife against her protests and concern. I knew I didn't have much time left, I could feel it, death! It was coming closer and closer.

I look into his beautiful pitch-black eyes and start to speak as life starts fading from me, 'Rei, Mom is sorry I can't be there for you anymore. I wasn't strong enough to protect my husband or myself, but I choose to protect you. Never allow that to go to waste. Do everything you want to do, live your life to the fullest when you have the chance, don't leave a single regret. Live! Live for both of us!'

Tears fell like rivers from my eyes. As I was about to close my eyes after taking one long look at my Rei, I saw something that I could hardly believe. 'My Rei will become a great Shinobi' I thought as my eyes went black.