Title: The Anachronism

Summary: Itachi Uchiha was a living anachronism: there was seemingly no place he belonged. Though he was a member of Akatsuki, he desired to live in peace; though he desired to live in peace, he was a recognized rogue ninja. When the time finally came for his little brother to enact his revenge on him, Itachi believed he may finally depart somewhere he fit. However, when he awakened in the apartment of a baffled and unusually tenderhearted college girl, he couldn't help but wonder why fate seemed to have such a sick sense of humor.

Language: English

Rating: T

Genre/s: Romance/Humor

Characters/Pairings: Itachi, OC

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters! I do own my characters however!

The Anachronism

Chapter I: The Day He Bled on Her Rug

"This is it… Sasuke."

As Sasuke sat crouched atop a pile of rocks, Itachi breathed heavily some meters away. He knew he didn't have much longer; he could feel it deep within his chest. The illness he'd worked so hard over the years to hide had finally worked its course throughout his body, and his blatant overuse of his Mangekyou Sharingan had only worked against him to quicken his deterioration. However, the elder Uchiha thought as he lifted his head, eyeing the thin white snake as it slithered away from Sasuke. I have accomplished my goal.

"And now," Itachi gasped, staring straight through his little brother with his dark, bleeding eyes. "Your eyes are mine. I'll take my time retrieving them–"

Suddenly, Itachi keeled over in a fit of torturous coughs, blood spewing from deep in his throat passed his cracked lips. Sasuke's eyes widened, not expecting his brother to collapse. Although, neither had Itachi, despite his awareness of his swiftly worsening health. Not yet…! Itachi internally groaned, pressing the back of his hand to his lips. He needed more time, just a few more minutes. He hadn't taken medication for years just to die from hemoptysis.

No. He would die at the hands of his little brother.

In Itachi's distracted and declining state, Sasuke flipped open his pouch and threw explosive kunai, erupting as they made impact. However, as the dust cleared, Itachi was unharmed, the shield held by his Susanoo having blocked the impact.

Steadying himself, Itachi took a shaky step toward Sasuke, causing the little Uchiha to instinctively step backward.

"Damn it!" Sasuke cursed, throwing more kunai desperately at the older Uchiha. However, each were deflected by Susanoo's Yata no Kagami. Gasping, Itachi continued to limp toward his fearful and desperate younger sibling, desperate in his own right to reach him one last time.

"They're my eyes…" Itachi breathed. "They're mine…"

"Tch!" Sasuke gritted his teeth. Unsheathing his katana, he leapt up and prepared to strike Itachi. However, just as every prior attack, he was thrown back into the rubble, tumbling backwards before halting just before a still-standing wall. Itachi slowly inched closer to Sasuke, motivated by his willpower and love alone. He watched as Sasuke pressed himself up against the wall, and Itachi outstretched his arm toward him.

When he reached his trembling little brother, Itachi managed through his immense weakness to smile, confusing the younger Uchiha. In a low, kind voice, Itachi spoke.

"I'm sorry Sasuke. There won't be a next time."

And just as Itachi's fingers made contact with his beloved little brother's forehead, he was gone.

xXxXxXx

"Whew!" Nadeshiko breathed, wiping her forehead as she walked across the parking lot. Despite her weariness, a bright smile painted her lips as she peered up at the bright, full moon looming above her apartment building. I cannot believe it's already dark, the blonde woman mused, taking in the black sky speckled with little white stars, and sarcastically adding, who knew college would take up so much of my time? She giggled softly to herself and swung her book bag lightheartedly as she made her way toward the apartment entrance.

Nadeshiko Yamato was a second year nursing student at the nationally acclaimed Kotohu University. Though the small blonde was passionate about her studies, she was eager to graduate to begin her career helping individuals in need. As it was, she enjoyed her nursing clinical much more than any of her lectures; she could only imagine how wonderful actually working as a nurse would be. Of course, she thought, tapping her finger on the Up elevator button and watching the floor numbers light up, that's still a couple years away. No use worrying about the future!

She continued to smile and smoothed her navy blue scrubs as the elevator pinged and opened. Three dark haired girls she recognized from the third floor stepped out wearing tight skirts and layers of makeup, giggling to themselves and sloshing their drinks. When they caught sight of the blonde, their faces lit up and in slurred voices, they greeted her, "Ohhh my gosh! Hi Nadeshiko!"

"Hi there!" Nadeshiko replied happily, cocking her head to the side. "Off to Izumo's?"

"Uh, yeah!" one of the girls slurred, laughing as if the blonde had just told a joke. "You comin' or what?" Nadeshiko shook her head with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry," she spoke. "I was at clinical all day and I'm really tired. Can I get a rain check?"

The same girl rolled her eyes as the other two stumbled toward the exit. Waving a hand at Nadeshiko, the brunette accused, "You always say that!"

"Next time!" Nadeshiko laughed, stepping onto the elevator. "I promise!"

"Yeah, yeah!" the women replied, running after her stumbling friends. "Have a good night!"

Nadeshiko called back her farewell as she tapped the number 4 on the elevator wall before leaning back tiredly against the opposite wall. She closed her eyes and listened intently to the light beeping sound of the elevator and recapped the events from the hospital that day in her mind. She recalled the sweet old woman who had told her of her childhood and the day she met her husband, the three-year-old boy with the affinity to sweets whom she'd given a flu shot to, and the woman not much older than herself who had just given birth to her first child, a beautiful baby girl.

The blonde sighed and pushed herself off the wall when the elevator stopped at the fourth floor. She grinned happily as she practically skipped down the hall toward her little apartment. I'm really so blessed! Nadeshiko thought happily, unlocking her apartment, throwing open her door, and flicking on the light.

Silence.

Then, a horrified, high-pitched screech pierced through the entire apartment building. Well, more specifically, Nadeshiko's screech.

Immediately, she slammed her door shut and staggered backward to the wall behind her, her brow dripping sweat and her knees wobbling. Bringing a hand to her lips, she whispered almost inaudibly, "W-Was that… Is there… In my room…?"

Before she could finish her thought, the door adjacent to her shaking form flung open, revealing a gasping, sweating black-haired woman, eyes wide in surprise. Her head shook back and forth sharply before landing on Nadeshiko's small, shaking form who was now watching the newly emerged woman in unmasked fear.

"Na…Nadeshiko?" the woman gasped, gripping her doorknob like a lifeline. "What…What the hell was that?"

Nadeshiko gulped and a shiver ran up her spine. She didn't know what to say; for once in her life, she was at a complete loss for words. So, in her abysmal stupor, she laughed awkwardly and threw her arms behind her head to feign a carefree attitude.

"Ah! Megumi! Hi!" Nadeshiko continued to laugh awkwardly, earning a confused and suspicious stare from the aforementioned dark-haired woman. A pregnant pause followed, increasing the awkwardness levels at least seven fold.

Finally, Megumi released her grip on her doorknob and laid back on her door frame, smiling at Nadeshiko though the blonde could clearly see a burst blood vessel throbbing in the beautiful woman's forehead. In a sweet, sing-song-y voice, Megumi asked, "Whatcha up to Nadeshiko?"

"Oh, you know," the blonde replied, rubbing the back of her head. "Just lots of nursing stuff! I had clinical today and you should have seen the clients I had! There was–"

Suddenly, Megumi was up in Nadeshiko's voice, a dark look reflecting in her eyes, causing a shiver to run down Nadeshiko's spine. In a stern, dark voice, she growled, "You know what I mean."

"O-Oh!" Nadeshiko squeaked, sweat pouring off her forehead. "Y-You see… Well, I saw this humongous rat and I…"

Just as suddenly as she'd appeared in Nadeshiko's face, Megumi disappeared. Blinking, Nadeshiko turned to see that the black-haired women had retreated into her apartment, shielding herself with her door. Through the small crack between the door and the frame, Nadeshiko could see the fear in Megumi's dark eyes and the lack of color in her face.

"A…A rat?!" She squealed almost inaudibly. "P-Please tell me you're kidding."

"N-No!" Nadeshiko replied, flailing her arms around wildly. "I was just about to walk into my room when I saw it out of the corner of my eye heading straight for our rooms! I… I'm so sorry I screamed and slammed my door shut to keep it from getting in; I was just frightened is all." The blonde paused for a moment, gaging her neighbor's reaction.

After taking in the information, Megumi nodded and slowly began closing the door. "N-No, I completely understand. Um… If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to call management… Good day, Nadeshiko." And she slammed the door shut. Behind the closed door, Nadeshiko could hear the woman's feet pounding, as if she were sprinting. She let out a relieved sigh before leaning back against the wall again and staring wearily at her door.

Please tell me… She thought nervously, biting her lip. Oh Lord, please tell me I was just imagining things.

Gulping, Nadeshiko slowly approached her door and shakily inserted her key. After it clicked, she grasped the knob and turned it, hesitantly opening the door. The light was still on from the first time she'd opened the door and as she studied what was visible through the cracked door, Nadeshiko was relieved to see that nothing in her living room appeared to be damaged.

Nothing, she thought, pushing the door the rest of the way open and revealing the cause for her screech. Except for him.

There, right in the middle of her new cream-colored area rug, was a bloodied, black-haired man. Nadeshiko pressed her lips together in a firm grimace and furrowed her brows, closing the door behind her and pressing her small, shaking body to its frame. Sliding down into a sitting position, she stared helplessly at the unmoving form before her, blue eyes glistening and heart beating wildly beneath her chest until it hurt.

xXxXxXx

Twenty minutes passed before the little blonde woman was finally able to move from her spot against the door. And even at that, she'd only scooted maybe an inch or two closer to safely observe the man from a distance.

Though she knew the right decision was to call the police or at the very least someone, Nadeshiko's mind had gone completely blank since she'd seen the bloodied man. She knew she had never seen him before, which meant he most likely didn't even live in her apartment building. She wasn't even sure that he attended her university, though he appeared to be around her own age.

For a while, she contemplated that he could be a robber and that he'd broken into her apartment to steal something. However, a quick inspection of the living room made her think otherwise, as nothing appeared broken or meddled with. Not to mention, she lived on the fourth floor; there was no way he'd broken in through a window, and the door was completely in tack and untampered.

Plus, she thought, nibbling on her knuckle as she thought. If he were a robber, why would he be bleeding all over my floor?

Nadeshiko sighed and covered her head in her hands. Sliding them down her face, she stared worriedly at the oddly dressed man. With a shaking sigh, she went on all fours and crawled over to the man's side.

As she stared at the man's bloodied face, the blonde was surprised to notice how peaceful he looked. Despite adorning many deep-set stress lines, scars, bruises, and dried blood marks, the man appeared calm and almost…happy? Nadeshiko furrowed her brow again and cocked her head to the side to get a better look at the man's smiling face.

"Who are you?" she wondered sadly, staring at the man's peaceful smile.

The blonde sighed and stood up. She really should call the police; no doubt, this man had a family somewhere who was probably really worried about him. Turning around, Nadeshiko sauntered toward her landline telephone and began to dial 9-1-1. However, just before she was able to dial the final 1, a deep voice behind caught her attention first.

"Where…am I…?" Nadeshiko spun around, her phone slipping from her fingers and crashing to the floor.

And at that moment, all Nadeshiko could think to do was screech.

New story!

I've had this idea in my head for a while and I'm actually pretty excited for it. It's… AU I supposed? Though he is the Itachi from the show – just throw into a "regular" world. Also, after considering it for a while, I'm going to say that the Naruto series isn't a manga/anime in this world, just because that's not really want I had in mind for this story.

Also! If you read my other story In the Shadows, this Nadeshiko Yamato isn't that same person as the one in that story. I just really, really like the name.

Hope you enjoyed! Favorite/Follow/Review if you would like! :)