Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Itachi, or a cool Akatsuki cloak. Life truly IS pain, I guess. Wesley was right all along.
Chapter 1: In Which The Story Begins
It all began when Deidara had first arrived at the hideout. He'd been badly wounded from his fight with Itachi, and there had been no-one to heal him. Pein therefore decided that it would be a prudent investment to… recruit… a medic nin to the cause. However, medic nins were rare, and there were no rumors to be had of A or S class missing medic nin to be had. Also, none of the members of the Akatsuki were dumb enough to allow Orochimaru to patch them up.
The obvious solution was then to claim a medic nin for themselves, one skilled enough in medical jutsu to be of good use, but not skilled enough to be a nuisance or successful resist or escape.
Itachi had stayed silent. He refused to subject a fellow Konoha nin to the horrors of the Akatsuki.
No one else moved. Deidara was still sulking from being recruited, Sasori, Hidan, and Zetsu had no real knowledge of medics, Kakazu was rather out of the loop, Orochimaru could care for himself, and Tobi (who most did not count as a real member) was in the corner, happily singing about dango and turtles and kittens.
No one was expecting it, then, when Kisame grinned. "I think I know someone who fits the bill, then."
Which was why Itachi was here, on the cold, damp, mist-wreathed island in the center of the Land of Water.
Itachi hated the damp.
He hated how it would seep into his bones, and make his lungs itch and feel heavy. He had enough problems with his lungs already without the added discomfort.
I am going to get Kisame for this. He promised himself bitterly. He knows how much I hate the damp.
Wrapping his cloak tighter about himself, he settled against the tree and stared morosely off into the mist. Just two years ago he would have been looking forward to going home, to where his mother would warm him up by fetching dry, comfortable clothes and preparing his favorite tea, and his grumpy mood would be cheered by Sasuke chattering happily about what he was learning and the stupid loser and the pretty girl with pink hair in his class.
But that was two years ago. Sasuke would sooner stab a kunai in his throat than tell him about his day at the Academy, and the comfortable clothes and warm tea and concerned clucking of his mother were all gone
And worst of all, Itachi had no one to blame but himself.
He sighed and let his head fall back against the tree, taking shallow breaths to keep from irritating his lungs. Maybe he'd treat himself once he and Kisame got off this island, and he'd go visit a tea shop. Perhaps he'd even get some dango… or maybe even pocky. It'd been a long time since he'd managed to grab some pocky…
His pleasant musings, however, were interrupted when his rather fishy companion burst into the clearing with a struggling girl slung over his shoulder.
Itachi jumped to his feet, tomoe swirling in his crimson gaze, and watched in astonishment as the girl bit the shark-man's ear. Kisame howled in pain and promptly dropped his prisoner to the ground. The girl—presumably the medic they had been sent to 'recruit'—scrambled awkwardly to her feet, but before she could even move a step Itachi was there, grabbing her arm.
"I would suggest, miss," he said calmly, "That you cease trying to resist. I'm afraid it will merely tire you out."
The girl twisted fiercely in his grasp, trying to stomp on his foot, but the Uchiha easily side-stepped her. "Take this as your final warning, miss. I have no wish to harm you, but I will subdue you if I must." And he would, though his stomach clenched at the idea of subjecting the girl to his Tsukuyomi. She was rather small—not even shoulder height—and her arm felt thin and malnourished. Still, he would do what he must, as he always had.
The girl yanked fiercely against his grip, but to no avail. Suppressing a sigh, he reached out with his free hand and caught her chin, tugging her face around to meet the gaze of his scarlet eyes.
Wide golden eyes met his, framed by her fall of dark, straggly curls, and Itachi stared in astonishment as tears fell down her cheeks. He had been expecting anger, not this—this was pure, unadulterated terror. He stared at the tears for a long moment and felt her arm shake like a leaf in his grasp, and his heart ached.
Itachi knew that the prospect of serving the Akatsuki as a medic would not incite such terror, and with that realization he knew he couldn't bear to put her under a genjutsu.
A sigh slipped past his lips, his hand darted around to the back of her neck, and in the next moment the girl slumped against him as she fell unconscious. Itachi picked her up—she barely weighed more than a feather pillow in his arms—and set her carefully against a nearby tree.
Then he rounded on his partner.
"Kisame." He said. The man looked up from nursing his wounded ear, a scowl still on his face.
"Yeah? What do you want, Itachi?"
Itachi leveled his gaze on the shark-man, trying to suppress the irritation he felt welling up within him. "Did you inform the target as to why we decided to recruit her?"
The Kirigakure missing-nin blinked. "Uh… no? I just told her 'You're coming with me' and grabbed her."
Itachi's mother had always told him to never act on his anger, so, accordingly, he breathed out slowly through his nose. He was too disciplined, he reminded himself, to stab his partner in the gills. "That, I suppose," he said slowly, "Explains why the girl seems to be under the impression you grabbed her for more… unsavory purposes."
Kisame blinked, then laughed. "What, she thinks you and I were gonna rape her? No offense, but she's too small for my tastes. Course, that doesn't mean she safe from the rest."
Itachi processed this information before turning away. Kisame was right, and therefore he had plans to make. His parents hadn't raised to him to stand by and let someone get hurt in that fashion, after all. He stalked over and scooped the girl up, ready to go. Her head lolled against his arm, and Itachi looked down thoughtfully, eyes examining the pale, clammy skin, the dark, stringy curls, and the spattering of freckles across her nose.
"What's her name?" He asked Kisame.
"She's not from a clan, if that's what your asking." The shark-man said as he donned his uniform-regulation hat. "Course, not like they're a lot of clans left in the Mist. Her name's Murakawa Tomino, chunin of the Village Hidden in the Mist."
Murakawa Tomino, Itachi thought as he leaped into the trees. I am sorry I couldn't protect you from this fate, but I will do my best to shield you from now on.
It'll be nice to spare a life for one, after all.
~.~~.~~.~
Author's Note: Hi! If you read my other stories, I am VERY VERY SORRY THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE FOR AMAZEMENT. Life has been pretty crazy, and I haven't been writing fanfiction in order to finish an important project. However, said project is almost complete, and I plan to have another chapter up in a week or so. But today is Itachi's birthday, and I felt I absolutely had to post something for the occasion. I wrote almost all of this months ago, so I quickly finished it and tidied it up a little, and I hope you enjoy it! It's an ItachixOC story, one which I'm very looking forward to writing.
However, it is lower on the priority list than Amazement and The Ramen Shop, my other stories, so it will probably be a bit before this gets an update. Consider this a teaser for something that's still coming down the road!
So, Happy Birthday, Itachi! Your love, unselfishness, nobility, and sacrifice will forever live in our hearts and memories, and will inspire us fanfiction authors for decades to come. I merely hope we can do you justice.
Until next time!