Uchihas don't cry. You can tear them to ribbons, rip a long-time friend apart before their very eyes, even break their little black hearts into pieces on the floor, and it won't matter. An Uchiha simply will not cry.
That was what Itachi was repeating over and over again to himself as he sat in a cold, plastic chair next to the hospital bed Kisame was lying on.
His eyes had been glued to the wall, staring at nothing in particular as his mind wandered about. He shot his partner a look, then quickly turned away as his stomach knotted again. He could barely stand to look at Kisame right now.
Their mission had gone wrong, and the shark had been badly injured. Itachi had been able to escape with nothing more than a dislocated wrist and a cracked rib (which were easily healed up when they returned home) but Kisame…he was another story entirely.
Broken bones, severe blood loss, a punctured lung and a stab to the stomach all took their toll on the shark. How the two of them had even been able to make it back to the base with Kisame still standing would forever remain a mystery to the weasel. If he had to guess, he'd say the only thing that kept the shark going was the fact that they both knew that if he passed out, there would be no way in hell for Itachi to get him back home.
Needless to say, Kisame had passed out upon their arrival back at the base, and was immediately put into their small hospital wing. That had been over a week ago.
A few hours of healing jutsus had mended the broken bones and damaged tissue, and a blood transfusion had taken him out of the immediate danger zone, but the shark was still asleep in the bed, and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon.
Itachi heard the door open and didn't even glance up as he heard footsteps approach him. If the person was Pein, he would have said so as soon as he entered the room, and everyone else could have mattered less to the Uchiha right now. "Itachi, I brought you some food, un."
The weasel looked up to see Deidara beside him, holding a plate of food and a glass of water. "I'm not hungry," he muttered, turning away from the blonde to stare at the wall of the room again.
Deidara rolled his eyes and set the food and the movable tray next to Kisame's bed. "Itachi, you need to eat and sleep sometime, you know, un."
"Since when do I take advice from you?"
"Itachi," the blonde went on, wanting to choose his words carefully. Just because the Uchiha was under strict orders not to use his Sharingan on other Akatsuki members didn't mean he would, after all. "You can't just mope around here all day. You'll end up sick, un."
"Don't you have a puppet to annoy?" Itachi asked, still not looking at the blonde.
That rude remark gave the blonde an idea. "Itachi, you and I are nothing alike, un. But in some ways, Sasori danna is a lot like Kisame, un."
Ok, now the bomber had Itachi's attention.
"I remember this one mission danna and I was sent on, un. Everything was going fine, until one of the enemies got too close to Sasori and stabbed him. I didn't think anything of it, until danna was on the ground, un. The man had managed to knick Sasori's heart container. I got him out of there and back here as quickly as I could-"
You came inside at two in the morning," Itachi whispered, recalling the night. "You screamed loud enough to wake everyone up, and you looked like you were going to faint or be sick."
"I was," Deidara confirmed, continuing. "Sasori ended up in the hospital, and we had to wait until he woke up to do anything, un. I was in a pretty bad mood while I was waiting, un."
"Hn," Itachi said in agreement.
"And then, when Sasori woke up, the first thing danna did…was yell at me. For just sitting there, waiting for him to wake up, instead of taking care of myself, un."
"Ouch," the weasel said.
"It hurt at first, but then I realized that he'd only said those things because he was worried about me. Sasori danna was in the hospital, but my health was still his first priority, un."
"Was there a point to that story?" Itachi asked, tiring of the blonde.
"Kisame and Sasori both value each of us above their own lives, Itachi," Deidara explained. "That's just how they are. If you don't take care of yourself, it'll upset Kisame, un. So please eat or sleep; you really need it, un." With that being said, Deidara walked away from the weasel, exiting the room.
Itachi sat there in complete silence for a few minutes more before he grabbed the food Deidara had left for him. He ate a little (just three bites) before setting the food aside. If he had any more, he'd probably throw it up. "Mmmmm…"
Startled, Itachi jerked his head to look at the bed, just in time to see Kisame scrunch up his face before blinking his eyes open. "Where am I?" he asked, moving to sit up and stretch.
Itachi watched his partner in complete silence, not even daring to move. Kisame stretched and yawned, finally looking around the room. "The hospital, huh? I must've been pretty messed up…Itachi!" The heart monitor showed a quick increase in Kisame's pulse, which soon slowed down. "Geez, you scared me. How long have you been there?!"
"A week. Same as you," Itachi answered, moving to sit on the edge of Kisame's bed.
"I've been out a we-wait, you've been here a week?" Itachi nodded. "Let me guess. You haven't bothered to leave to eat or sleep, have you?"
"Deidara brought me food," Itachi weakly argued, motioning to the half-eaten lunch on the tray beside the bed.
"Why didn't you leave to eat or sleep?" Kisame demanded. "You knew I'd be fine, yet you still insisted on hanging around here. You're going to kill yourself one day if you don't take care of yourself, Itachi."
"I just wanted to be around you."
"You could have at least left to go sleep in our bed-"
"Without you there?"
"or just get something to eat-"
"It would have made me sick to eat without you."
"but why someone like you would just keep abusing their body like this…" Kisame shook his head. "Look, just don't do this again, ok Itachi? I don't want you getting sick because of me."
"You always worry about me. You always protect me. You always take care of me. Do you ever think about yourself?"
"Itachi?...Say something already."
Itachi's hair was hanging loosely around his face, obscuring it from Kisame's view so the shark couldn't see how hard he was biting his lower lip. "Don't cry, don't cry! Uchihas never cry, and you're no exception to that?"
"Angel?" When ever the pet name didn't get a reaction out of Itachi, Kisame knew something was wrong. He wrapped his arms around the weasel and pulled Itachi closer to him, leaning back against the propped up mattress. "You ok?"
"Why...do you…" Itachi's body began trembling in Kisame's arms. The shark gently reached up to grab the Uchiha's chin, and tilted his head back to look up at the shark. Kisame's eyes widened.
Tears were dripping down Itachi's face, as the weasel softly whispered, "always do this?"
"Hmm?"
"Why do you always act like I'm so important? You're the one who's lying in a hospital bed. You're the one who nearly died. But you're yelling at me, just because I missed a few meals and haven't slept and-"
"Easy there, angel," Kisame ordered, pulling the weasel all the way into his lap. "You need to calm down."
"You're doing it again," Itachi snapped, burying his face in Kisame's chest as more tears fell from his eyes.
"What's wrong with taking care of you?" Kisame asked, slightly offended. Itachi didn't answer, so Kisame just sighed and leaned back against the bed. "I swear, one day I'm just gonna crack open your skull and look inside to see what makes you tick."
The words managed to get a brief smile out of Itachi, who wrapped his arms around Kisame in a gentle hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Whoa. Not only had the Uchiha cried, but he was also apologizing for being stubborn. Next thing you'd know, Deidara would cut his hair and declare himself straight.
Still holding the weasel with one arm, Kisame used his free hand to start unplugging all the wires that were stuck to him. "Come on, we're leaving."
When he didn't receive an answer, Kisame looked down and saw that his partner was out like a light. "It figures that the first thing I have to do when I wake up is carry you somewhere," he muttered, smiling. He gave the weasel a chaste kiss before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, standing with Itachi still in his arms. "You're lucky I love you so much, angel."