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Noon, Rin's house
Rin glanced over at Itachi again. Why did she have that itching desire to heal him? She hadn't used her healing chakras in years! Besides, Itachi was a criminal. With his sight back, he could do some serious damage to Konoha.
Itachi heard Rin sigh. Absently, he wondered what she was thinking about.
Itachi also had reason to sigh. He wished fervently that he still had his sight, for being blind was a sore inconvenience. It meant that the former medic-nin could order him around.
That was the reason for Itachi's current predicament: laundry.
"A penny for your thoughts," Itachi murmured.
Rin was jolted out of her reverie with an audible gasp. Itachi smirked slightly at her reaction.
"Oh… I was… Actually, I was wondering if I could take a look at your eyes," Rin said quickly, surprising herself.
Itachi raised one eyebrow. "Why would you want to do that?"
Rin threw a searching look at him. "Truthfully? I want… to heal you."
Itachi was stunned. She wanted to heal him? When had this bizarre urge developed?
"Are you being serious?" he asked tentatively.
Rin fiddled with the hem of her shirt, chewing on her lip. "Yes."
Itachi shrugged. "Well, it's not like I really mind getting my sight back."
Rin blinked. Again, she wondered at how he had been before he had met Kakashi's former student. Rin knew he was dangerous, but somehow she just could not seem to believe that this man killed his entire clan.
"Well, hold still then." Rin experimentally summoned her chakra. She marveled at the alien feeling. How long had it been since she had done this?
Rin steadied herself and sat down next to Itachi. She reached out and put her slightly shaking hands on Itachi's temples.
Itachi sent out his chakra, sensing her nervousness. He could tell she was out of practice. He realized now that the medic instinct she had carefully honed when she was younger was now acting up. If he had been the type, he might have smiled.
Carefully, not wanting to damage anything further, Rin sent out chakra to explore the vessels that went to Itachi's eyes. Immediately, she found the problem.
Taking her fingers away from Itachi's temples, she sat back on her knees.
Itachi raised an eyebrow. "So? What did you find?"
Rin chewed on her lip. "Your optic nerves are completely shot. It looks like you were using Mangekyu Sharingan, and you sent a large amount of chakra to your eyes. I think that's what burst your optic nerves, since the chakra you send to your eyes follows these nerves. I could probably repair it, but it looked like there had already been a lot of damage to your optic nerves, so I'm not sure what good it would do."
Itachi nodded. "Yes, using my Mangekyu is very stressful on my eyes. Do you think you could heal the damage also?"
Rin considered carefully. "Well, as I'm sure you now know, I haven't done a proper healing in… at least ten years. You could end up blind for the rest of your life. If I thought you were ever going to see that girl, Sakura, again, I might say that you should let her heal you. She's certainly more in shape."
Itachi's blind eyes closed sadly. "I don't really want to talk about her."
Rin frowned. "I'm just stating the facts. You must have realized that the chances of seeing her again are very slim."
"If I know Sakura at all, she's already trying to find me." Itachi pursed his lips slightly. He didn't say 'or she thinks I'm dead' but he didn't have to.
Rin felt a pang of sympathy, but stopped herself. Sympathy? For a criminal? What was wrong with her?
"Look, I'll try to heal your eyes, but I just can't guarantee it'll work."
Itachi shrugged. "I don't have anything to lose."
Same Time, Sakura Haruno's Apartment
"Please, Sakura. You're making a big mistake." Kakashi had flinched when Kisame slashed at Naruto with his sword, but all the blue man had done was drain his chakra.
Sakura narrowed her eyes. Somewhere deep inside of her, Sakura marveled at how cold she was being. Ordinarily, she'd be the hostage, crying for someone to save her. But not anymore. Now, she was standing up for herself. Even if her reasons were on the other side of the law, she felt a certain confidence in taking charge of the situation, the likes of which she hadn't in a long time.
"Listen, Kakashi," Sakura said quietly. "I love Itachi with all my heart. I can't go on without him, now that I know what it's like to be with him. I'm desperate. So desperate that I'd sacrifice Naruto for him. So if you won't give Itachi up, I will take Naruto to the Akatsuki."
Kakashi nodded solemnly. "I understand Sakura." Then, he turned to Tsunade, who stood next to him, pinch-faced and hands clenched.
Tsunade tensed, as if bracing herself for a blow, and then nodded to Kakashi. "Go get him, then."
Same Time, Rin's House
Rin took a deep breath to steady herself. Then, she leaned over to Itachi and again placed her fingers on his temples. Just as she was about to send her chakra in his eyes, a knock sounded on her door.
Rin started, jumping up with wide eyes.
"Hold on!" Rin glanced at Itachi, who nodded at her, silently conveying that he would not move. Assured that Itachi would not run off, Rin dashed to the front door.
To her surprise, Rin was greeted by Shino Aburame.
"Shino-san. What's wrong?" Rin asked the jonin. It could only be Akito, since Shino was Akito's sensei.
"Ami-san. You son…" He trailed off.
Rin gripped Shino's arm. "What? What is it?"
"Akito is in the hospital."
Rin gasped. "How? What happened?"
Shino looked down at his sandaled feet. "He got into a fight with his teammate and we had to injure him to detain him."
Rin clenched her teeth. "What happened to his teammate?" she asked quietly.
"He's dead," Shino said curtly. "We're not sure if your son will survive. Do you want to come down to the hospital?"
"I'll be there soon. There's someone I need to see first." Rin nodded as Shino waved at her, and gently shut the door.
"I can't believe him…" Rin whispered.
Itachi saw gazed at her blankly. "I was more right than I thought. And for some reason, that doesn't give me the satisfaction I thought it would."
Rin shook her head at him and sighed. "We have to go. I have to get to Akito, but I can't leave you here."
Itachi frowned. "Someone will recognize me."
"Not if you use a genjutsu." Rin looked grim.
Itachi sighed. "Not like I have a choice."
Same Time, Sakura Haruno's Apartment
Kakashi sighed, and, with one last glance at Sakura, turned tail and left the apartment. He couldn't believe he was doing this. He was setting a criminal free. Sure, they were saving Naruto, but still. It seemed so weird.
Kakashi was half-way to Rin's house when he saw her. Rin was walking towards him, not appearing to see him. The curious thing was, a small girl was hanging onto her arm. Kakashi rubbed his eye. The girl looked suspiciously like Sakura.
"Ami?" Kakashi called, using her public name.
Rin looked up, and so did the Sakura-look-a-like. "Kakashi! Akito's in the hospital!"
Kakashi forgot all about Naruto for a split second. "What?"
Rin bit her lip. "I have to go to him. Will you take It- uh, my niece?"
Realization dawned in Kakashi's eyes. The Sakura-look-a-like was Itachi under a genjutsu! Perfect.
Kakashi nodded. "Of course." He grabbed Itachi's arm and nodded to Rin as she bustled away.
"Kakashi," a small, girly voice said. Kakashi looked down.
"Are you taking me to Sakura?" Itachi asked.
Kakashi sighed. "Unfortunately, I am."
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Oh, my god, you guys. If I EVER take even REMOTELY that long to update, you have my permission to bug me until I do. I swear.
I feel so bad for taking so long to update, but I promise I'll update again THIS WEEK. Promise!
So keep reading, and pretty-please review!!!