"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I couldn't make it at the most crucial moment that day, couldn't be there beside you. I failed to protect you. I'm sorry!"
In the dim warehouse, Uchiha Senmon knelt halfway to the ground and buried himself in Mikoto's embrace, his hands clutching her clothes as he sobbed uncontrollably:
"We promised we'd always be together, but I couldn't keep that promise! I'm sorry! Forgive me! Forgive me!"
Between sobs, Uchiha Senmon haltingly poured out everything from the past twenty years to his beloved, holding nothing back.
Mikoto wrapped her arms around Uchiha Senmon, gently stroked his hair, and listened in silence.
"Mikoto... do you believe what I'm saying? Do you... think I've lost my mind..."
Uchiha Senmon raised his head, his eyes red and swollen, his voice hoarse.
Just then, a soft hand slipped into Uchiha Senmon's palm. Their fingers interlocked, and warmth flowed through.
"You've cried far more tears today than you did in your entire life before."
Cupping Senmon's face, Mikoto gently pressed her lips together and said softly:
"As your wife, of course I believe you."
Even so, Uchiha Senmon could feel the hand holding his trembling slightly, and her body had tensed as well.
"If that's the case, you can't stay here too long."
Slowly but firmly, she withdrew her hand from Senmon's grasp, picked up the Gunbai from the floor, and held it out to Uchiha Senmon:
"You still have to save the world, and more importantly, save Naruto and me, don't you?"
Glancing at the glowing Gunbai, then looking up at his wife's face, Uchiha Senmon hesitated.
A slender hand took Senmon's right hand, and together their hands tightly gripped the Gunbai's handle. Tears streaming down her face, Mikoto hugged her husband tightly and whispered into his ear:
"I'll always