About time I finally got this out after WEEKS of construction. It was so hard I have no idea why. I was also tackling "Mummy Lover" (about halfway done now) along with a couple new ones. Finally a brand new ItaIzu. :D

A fic which inspired me was a Star Wars story, "Sexual Healing" by Amethyst Crow. I love Star Wars as much as I love Naruto, and as my best friend who changed my life with this fandom grew up with it, I grew up with Star Wars which also changed our lives even before we met in middle school. Anyhoo...

Long story short: Itachi comes home injured but successful - and more dramatic events to come when news regarding his health, which involves overuse of the Mangekyo. A certain loving lady takes matters into her own hands. ;D With uses of mild BDSM and a dominant streak.

If anyone remembered my story "His Chosen Bride", this has some elements but is NOT directly connected.

Naruto and its characters all belong to Kishi-sensei.

The second she heard that he was back, from the mouth of his younger brother, there also came grievous news in that he was very much injured, but would make it through. The medical center at ANBU headquarters, established after Danzo and his Root foundation were dissolved, had done everything they could, and released him immediately.

Sasuke was one of them, but because the law of classification on pain of treason and death still stood, he only told her that Itachi would need more help, and it might not be something that the ANBU hospital could handle. Something the Uchiha had to know, but he was going to ask for Sakura's aid since she surpassed her mentor, the Fifth Hokage.

Izumi knew just what he was thinking and it scared her as someone who cared about Itachi more than anything.

He should leave if he's going to just die before his time this way. This happens to a Shinobi one too many times, but not him...not after everything...

What Izumi Uchiha meant was that she loved him so much that she was afraid of losing him because of the Black Ops consuming him. She heard far too many rumors about what the operations did to the men and women inside, what they often turned into far worse than they were before. Psychological care was required within, but Itachi never displayed such issues. Or rather: he never spoke about it to her. How could he tell her without giving away mission information? This was why she never joined the Black Ops, mostly because he insisted that she deserved better than what he endured.

Sometimes she thought he went too far in wanting what was best for her. Like when they were children and he told her that because of her father's death that made her awake her Sharingan, she was too kind and tender for the Shinobi life. Coming from the mouth of someone who saw war more than she ever had.

But she showed him wrong. She showed him she was capable.

Look at them together now, both at twenty-three years of age. She was a Jounin and a member of Shisui's team; he was still captain of ANBU since the age of thirteen. He did so much, but it was mostly because of their clan. And their clan considered her low compared to their heir. Her father, who sacrificed himself to protect his wife and daughter the night the Kyuubi attacked the village, wasn't an Uchiha unlike her mother. So, when they met and married, they were labeled as "bad blood", and so was she. As a consequence of her mixed blood, Izumi later on struggled with using her Sharingan, therefore causing her to faint multiple times. Her peers laughed at her, and the clan scorned her, telling her that she wasn't capable of being a true Uchiha if she couldn't use their visual prowess.

Her mother and great-aunt Kazue, however, insisted she not listen to "those simpletons" and just follow her heart.

The best day of her life was beating Itachi at his own game before their kinsmen, showing her worth. Showing all her moves and her jutsu with or without the genjutsu.

She was at home, her mother out shopping and her great-aunt was off doing whatever she wanted for the day since she was well-pensioned and a widow of one of the most respected members of the old clan council. Hazuki the cat, adopted when she was twelve and named after her mother, was curled in sleep on the couch, but when the arrival announced himself, she burst to awareness and yowled, hissing and arching her back at him.

"Sasuke, what's going on?" Izumi demanded, going to him in her black shorts and purple tank. He was still in his ANBU uniform, mask absent, as it was required that no masks be seen outside to protect not only their identities but also any friends and loved ones they had.

"Itachi," was all he could say, but beneath that mask of indifference was the twinkle in his eyes that wasn't positive but said everything: Itachi had been injured. "He's been at the ANBU med center, but they've only done so much. They won't release him until at least two hours before the sun sets. But what's been untreated...it's something Sakura ought to handle for his sake, since I trust her, but after that..."

Hazuki's ears twitched as she relaxed and became rapt with attention, but her body resumed its tension as she listened to the conversation.

~o~

ANBU be damned, she was going to talk to him whether he wanted to or not. If things were as bad as they appeared, then her man's life was more important than him always putting it on the line the way the dark side that was the Black Ops would.

The Uchiha had the history that was as dark as the Ops - or tripled worse. Not only the arrogance, recklessness and Curse of Hatred, but their ancestor waging war against the First Hokage and the village. It was his fault this even happened, with his clan being separated from the governing body and the rest of the village.

There were only a few Uchiha in history who transcended the boundaries of that hatred. Itachi and Shisui were among. She was only half, but she was right with her boys.

When her mother and great-aunt came home, she told them she was going to the main Uchiha compound, and when Hazuki demanded to know what was going to keep her before dinner, she answered honestly that her boyfriend was coming home - and it was a grievous medical condition that only the Uchiha should know about. That was enough for Aunt Kazue's eyes to widen before they returned to normal, and she huffed.

"That boy - if only he wasn't in the Black Ops under his father's order! And to have that curse activated when he saw his own mother killed in front of him!" You took the words out of my mouth, oba-san.

Itachi had been sixteen years old when he saw his mother die before his eyes. The trauma was terrible on Fugaku, even though he wasn't there when it happened. And it didn't look like her man's father obtained the Mangekyo, because according to legend, it was awakened specifically by the death of your best friend or even a loved one.

If it had been Shisui or Sasuke...or me. Izumi couldn't think about it if she saw it happen to HIM, before her eyes, or if her mother and great-aunt were taken in front of her. She wasn't sure she would tolerate such horrible power; if fainting multiple times in youth wasn't bad enough, this would kill her.

Hazuki scowled as she and her daughter were unloading the groceries she brought home after being gone much of the day. "Girl, you should do what I told you a long time ago and put your foot down about him being in that spot."

"I've been thinking about it, Mom," she answered strongly. "That's why I'm going now to check up on him."

~o~

"Izumi."

Fugaku Uchiha looked her over without even a smile, but he was somehow glad she'd come here. He was a man who didn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, but who could blame him? He, like many, was born and lived through the last two great wars and therefore, the habit was hard to let go. And it was also this man who saw her half-blooded like the rest, but he accepted her when he saw she was more than he thought - and it made her day to see his face when she had his eldest son and heir down flat!

"He's just returned, but it's wise to not stay for long. We're going to contact the physician to have the cross-transplant scheduled and Haruno-san to perform it."

She nodded. "That's wonderful to hear." She narrowed her eyes then and there. Even if they were on cordial terms, he was the one who made Itachi enter the Black Ops to spy on the elders, for the plot that would have brought the people of Konoha who weren't involved into more bloodshed, and triggered a Fourth World War. That was why she had to be wary about the man who might become her father-in-law if Itachi ever had his balls ready to ask her...

"Izumi?"

There he was standing there, but she sharply noticed the slight mist of his eyes, telling her of imminent blindness approaching. The Mangekyo carried that great risk of overuse, even if the number of times weren't counted upon and the special circumstances were no excuse. "Itachi Uchiha," she said coolly, being sweet and loving not reserved in front of his father but only between them in private. She stalked over to him and threw her arms around his shoulders, kissing him long and hard. His arms came around her waist, pulling her close.

At the scene, Fugaku cleared his voice and said he was heading out for the night rounds. "Be sure to not overdo yourself, Itachi," was all he said. "And Izumi, make sure of it."

Now they were alone which was just what she wanted of them both.

"Finally!" Just as she was thinking, he pulled her closer into him, dipped her and laid a heavy one on her mouth. She burst forth with immediate fire which only he could do to her. "Izumi," he rasped when he ended the brief but searing kiss, leaving her lips tingling, "I waited all day to see you again. Before..."

Before your eyes were gone for good. And that was her cue to reach up and slap him in the face, because she felt like it. He pulled back, releasing her to stand, rubbing his face where she'd hit him, but it wasn't enough to leave a reddening mark. "Before you go completely blind!" she burst. "Itachi, the longer you are in this damnable Black Ops, the more you lose not only your eyes, but your entire self if you haven't already!" She turned her back to him and started to head for the liquor cabinet where Fugaku kept the sake. She needed something now, but not enough to get drunk and spoil her appetite. Her mother was going to have her head if she missed out, but Izumi was also a grown woman.

"Izumi, I come home after nearly losing my life, and this is what I am greeted with," he stated bluntly, his piercing eyes burning holes into the backs of her shoulders and her head. "I'm going to have the surgery so that there is nothing to fear anymore, and Sasuke has agreed to it. We are both going to be fine."

"That's not the only thing that bothers me," she said, turning around to face him, bottle in hand which she was still opening. "The fact that I worry so much for you more than I should, the fact you can't tell me whatever troubles you. I don't care about the extensive care at HQ; I don't want us to spend the rest of our lives living like this! Itachi -" She paused to wipe the sides of her eyes, removing the tears that slid down her cheeks. "- I want you to retire from ANBU. Lady Hokage won't object to that, and I don't care what your father thinks either."

His eyes widened at that. "Izumi, I can't just up and leave the Black Ops in a heartbeat, but you think I haven't considered that?" he asked vehemently, wincing and reaching up to rub his eyes which had to be throbbing; she could see it well.

Heatedly, Izumi responded whilst being very happy that he had been considering, but why did it have to be at a time like this? When circumstances were severe? "I know you just as well as Shisui does, and you spent your entire life giving up everything for the village, for us - but I think you need to be away from it now, especially in the ANBU. Fugaku might resent you for doing this without his say, but I think he'll forgive you one day. Make the call not on me or him, but for yourself. I'm saying this now because I love you, and if I were to hear that somehow you didn't come back, I don't think I could very well continue on living without you..."

Breathing harshly, Itachi was on her again. This passionate side of him she only saw. He towered over her without touching her again, but the heat enflamed again. Both pairs of black eyes from their clan burned upon contact. Something was going to happen that was going to make her late for dinner for sure, but she had to fess and halt before it could happen.

"I have to go home now. Mom will kill me if I am late."

He nodded, but before she could leave, he placed his hand on her shoulder, the exposed end tingling at his touch.

"Father will be gone tomorrow night as well. Come by as soon as the hour is late." He then placed a tender kiss on her cheek.

~o~

Following night she was back here, when her mother, aunt and the cat were fast asleep. And she was in a loose garment that was shielding every inch of her body whilst letting her speed her way to the main Uchiha compound in the dead of night: an ivory yukata covered with pink and plum blossoms, her hair twisted and clipped up behind her head. Beneath she had her weapons belt. Who is going to attack a lady at this hour of the night?

When she reached the place, there was only one light on, and that was in Itachi's room. Sasuke must be sleeping, she mused. She tiptoed her way inside after opening the screen door and closing it behind her. She drew forth a kunai and held it in hand, then turned on her eyes to scan if there were any chakra signatures in the area. His was upstairs, but she didn't detect his brother's anywhere. She automatically assumed Sasuke was out with his friends or whatever.

To be creeping around the home of the man she loved wasn't enemy territory, but it thrilled her as if it really were. Anyone who pounced her would get what was coming to him. And not only was it going to be a kunai to the throat or the heart.

And just like that, Izumi took off on her bare feet throughout the house, stopping when she reached his room.

She paused outside the door, and it was opened in a crack; he still heard her no matter her efforts to be stealth. "Ah, Izumi...perfect timing. And just when the midnight hour is at hand..."

That seductive, darkly rich depth made her spinal nerves tingle and her lower belly tighten, drawing the liquid heat in the regions. She put down the kunai while keeping it in hand and pushing the door open with the other, stepping inside - and there Itachi was when he sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, watching her intently and without a change in expression. A smile was out of the question for him because he was purposefully leading her on a road that was thrilling without knowing what was ahead.

An idea was born in her brain like a light bulb switching on.

"A kunai - did you think that you would walk into a trap while you were here, kunoichi?" he drawled. "That's very exciting, now that I think about it. I am thinking of different ways you can use that tonight..."

"Just what I was thinking," she answered, reaching for the sash around her hips and untying it. She let the silk fall off her shoulders and down her hips, ending around her ankles. She was wearing absolutely nothing beneath it - except her weapons belt which was a major turn-on. Keeping the knife close to the middle of her abdomen, she used her other hand to reach behind her head, pulling the clip out and letting chocolate curls fall down her back.

Itachi chuckled darkly. "I'm seeing what I like, but what are you going to use THAT for?" He asked of the kunai she had plans for, but nothing worth cutting and spilling blood. Starting with herself in painfully slow motion that was normally unfitting of her.

The dangerously sharp tip ghosted over her navel and then down, over the obstacle that was her belt, pausing above the thin strip of dark hair resting between her thighs. She brought it back up her body at the same time her free hand was massaging the undersides of the globes of her breasts, the dagger coming around to gently press around the outsides and then down to circle each nipple, her every action causing that smolder in his irises to increase. If only this simple solution would heal those eyes of his!

"Izumi, this is unlike you to be such a masochist," her man purred, keeping his gaze glued on her. "What are you trying to do to me?"

That simple question further stirred up the primal side of her she was letting out because of him and his actions lately. Snorting, Izumi bent down to pick up her sash, ignoring the throbbing moisture between her legs, and tossed it over to Itachi. "Put this over your eyes, then stand up and stay still."

He obeyed her, tying the separate fabric around his eyes and then standing up, doing exactly as she instructed. "Okay, now remove all those clothes and then get back on all fours like a good boy," Izumi ordered, enjoying being the dominant female. Now a grin broke out on his face when he realized what her intentions were - or the best they could be.

Itachi Uchiha was gloriously nude in no time, and then he was on all fours like an obedient dog, his toned rear end facing her. Giggling at the sight of the globes and a hint of his firm sac, she crossed over, the feel of her breasts bouncing a little a familiar but mild discomfort, and knelt right behind him, reaching out with the kunai and elevating herself as she did the deed with tracing every line of his muscles: back of the shoulders, the plains of the back and spine, the raised surface of his ass which made him jump a little, and down the middle of the outsides of his thighs.

She couldn't resist gently poking each little ball, making him yelp and jerk his head so he was "looking" ahead. "Izumi Uchiha, that is off-limits!"

"Well, if you don't like me drawing blood and your own sperm against your will, then do me a favor and spread those legs and make me some room," Izumi growled, being bold and slapping the right side of his ass, making him do just that. Now she saw the mini globes down there in their glory, lightly covered with black hairs. She could only see a hint of his erection pointing north in the opposite direction. She reversed positions, laying down on her back and sliding beneath his body, in that space between his knees so her face was in contact with his groin. Itachi's manhood was a dripping temptation and crowned with midnight glory - and it was all hers for the taking.

It was so exciting to feel his body tremble over her when she licked him down and then took him into her mouth to deep-throat and suck him off. He was a feast without words, not too foul or too good, but a nice combination that she wouldn't do all the time, but when it was called for. This was a special kind of healing she was giving him before Sakura would do the final trick that would make all their worries go away. He released his load into her mouth like a geyser that she swallowed down with a little getting out the corners of her mouth. She wiped it away only to lick it off her fingers, sliding out from beneath him and watching as he wobbled, trying to sit up straight. He had turned into jelly, the powerful Itachi Uchiha!

"I underestimated you, as always," he purred, turning his face in her direction, reaching up to pull the blindfold from his eyes to look at her. His cheeks were flushed heavily. His eyes said this without leaving his lips: that was the best you've done for me...and in my condition.

To follow was him on his back, his arms spread out on either side of him, his legs high and bent at the knees, as she rode him off like he was a horse and into the night - her belt removed to not accidentally injure each other - all the while making enough noise to break through the walls.

Hopefully we don't wake anyone up. If Mom and Aunt Kazue learn of this, they'll just be on me like hormonal teenage girls asking for details! And that was something she was sure they'd never let her live down.

~o~

It was a week later that the surgery took place within the Uchiha district. It was a success, and both brothers had two weeks of recovery, but it was also in that time a big surprise was revealed which came in the form of the great ring now around her finger he gave her the day he was released, which he'd asked Shisui to bring for him.

He never told her until then that on the day he was diagnosed at ANBU HQ and then by the Uchiha physician that he was released earlier than Sasuke said only for him to have time to look for the one thing he was one hundred percent certain was her and would never tire out on his watch: a large emerald-cut diamond on a split band of tinier ones. She was so happy that day it wasn't funny, and her mom and great-aunt could not shut up for days afterwards. Even stern Fugaku managed a small smile of his own; Sasuke even broke out of his shell just to tell all his friends he was looking forward to having a sister after all these years.

She and Itachi set the wedding date on the first day of winter that year.

Rereading it over at the end, I realize how it's a tad similar to "Bamboo Woods", the third story in my Night Flowers saga, with Itachi and his beloved Hanaru when she makes him retire following the latest incident involving his Mangekyo and resulting him and Sasuke to switch eyes. But it also has its differences.

Never in my life did I ever thought of sweet Izumi as the dominant female, nor did I ever see her in another's work. XD It was so fun it ain't funny.

Anyhoo, REVIEWS. :D And please give me more detail besides you simply love it. Plus this is all there's gonna be of this shot.