Chapter 12 - Stress
Itachi was finally heading home after being stuck at ANBU HQ for over 16 hours three days running. With all the fuss regarding the last cell being killed in action, he just hadn't been able to get out of there. Once the second run of scouts had returned, he had only slept about an hour and had gone back to assign the new team. He had barely eaten or drank any water, and knew that he would have to stay awake for a little while longer to make sure that he rehydrated and ate a decent meal before he could sleep. He had found that since his job was mostly a mental strain now, that his body wasn't anywhere near as tired as he would like. Barely having time to train or spar with anyone didn't help that. Even Kakashi had been too busy lately, and they had only been able to meet and train once in the last two weeks. The Copy Nin wouldn't get back from his current mission until next week either. He wasn't really comfortable asking many other people, but maybe he could grab Sakura, or one of the other jonin. Naruto would be happy to oblige but he had been in Kumo for a while and wasn't coming back for a few more weeks.
Once he had entered his apartment, he kicked off his shoes lazily and groaned when one of them flew across the room. He would deal with it later. Heading straight for the fridge, he realised he had absolutely nothing ready to eat, he would have to make some effort to cook something. Resigning himself, he decided that maybe he would have some tea first. That would at least help him to relax a little before he made something to eat. He filled up the kettle and put it on the burner and grabbed out the tin. He lifted down his mug and the handle snapped clean off, causing the rest of the mug to smash all over the counter. Staring blankly as he held the intact handle, he sighed and cleaned up the mess. If he wasn't so tired, he probably would have caught the other half of it. His eyes were sore from using his Sharingan to complete all the paperwork as well, which didn't help.
After that was over, he carefully lifted down another mug, ensuring to hold the whole thing instead of just the handle, and poured himself a cup of tea once the kettle boiled. As it infused, he grabbed out ingredients from the fridge to make a quick stir fry. It was the quickest thing he could make with the least amount of effort and although he didn't have any fresh cuts of meat to have with it, he didn't really care right now. He would get his protein later after he had a decent sleep.
When he opened his cupboard to get out the noodles, he saw that he didn't actually have any. Nor did he have any rice. Closing his eyes tightly, he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he recalled that he used them only a few days ago in a similarly tired state. He had obviously forgotten, and groaned louder at his idiocy. He could sense Hitori was in her apartment just across the hall, and decided to go out on a limb and ask her if she had anything he could use.
After turning down the burner to a low heat, he left his apartment door open as he walked over and knocked on hers, waiting for her to open it. It was only a second later when she did and she gave him a polite smile. She was clearly in her pyjamas still, which was a pair of cropped muted gray trackpants and a faded black baggy t-shirt.
"Uchiha. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" she was cheery as always and it made him feel slightly better about how horribly his day had gone so far.
"Would you happen to have any uncooked noodles or rice I could use? I am slightly…" he trailed off as she disappeared into her kitchen for a moment, leaving the door open for him to come inside.
Awkwardly, he stepped in and peered around the corner as she opened up her fridge and grabbed a small metal bowl that was full of steamed rice. She handed it to him with a bright smile and if he wasn't so composed, his jaw would have dropped.
"I accidentally cooked too much rice yesterday." she grimaced and shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention. All yours." her tone was friendly, but still respectful.
He took the bowl from her outstretched hand and his trance didn't entirely end, but he was a little more with it. Blaming his delayed reaction on his exhaustion, he blinked slowly at the bowl, and then at her before he replied.
"Thank you." he managed to say in his tired state, and gave her a nod before heading back to his own apartment.
She didn't close her door and smiled once he nodded politely and shut his own door. If nothing else, she had been incredibly helpful to him so far. He appreciated how kind she had been, from immediately accepting his role as Commander to helping him find a place to live aside from ANBU HQ. He had no idea if she was this nice to anyone else, since usually ANBU shinobi weren't exactly the most polite and generous people. Especially the veterans who had seen too much in the line of battle.
Heading back to the kitchen, he stirred the rice in with the rest of the ingredients and served himself up a bowl. There was barely enough rice to make it even, but he was thankful nonetheless and ate as quickly as he could without making himself sick. Leaving his dishes in the sink for later, he went in the bathroom and stripped off, and prepared a towel for when he was done. As he turned the shower on, the shower head flew off and landed in the bathtub below with a few loud clunks, and water sprayed everywhere. Within a few seconds he had turned off the stream of water and he was already half soaked, and there was water all over the floor and even on the walls.
Tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling, as if cursing a higher power, he groaned loudly and grabbed his towel, only to find it wet. He left it where it was, and grabbed another and quickly dried himself off. The Uchiha pulled on his pants and shirt, leaving all his other bits and pieces on the bathroom floor, where they too, were wet. His clothes were splattered, but they weren't as bad as he expected.
He spun around and his eyes fell upon the now empty bowl that Hitori had given him on the counter. Since she had no hesitation giving him food, maybe she wouldn't mind if he used her shower too. He hoped anyway, and grabbed the bowl to return to her at the same time. This time, he shut and sealed his apartment door, and kept his towel thrown over his shoulder. He didn't bother putting shoes on as there was no point, and strolled over to her door, knocking softly once more.
It opened with only a few second delay, and he could immediately smell freshly brewed tea.
"Twice in one day? Aren't I lucky?" she chuckled softly as she took in his appearance. "You don't seem to be having the best day, Uchiha." she looked him up and down carefully, and he resisted the urge to groan again.
"May I impose on you and use your shower? Mine is...broken." he spoke softly as always, and tried to keep his voice even to not show his frustration. She could more than likely tell that he had more than enough of today.
"Come on in. It's on the right." she stood back and stretched her arm out towards the doorway and he thanked her with a nod and stepped inside.
"Here is your bowl as well. I haven't had a chance to wash it…" he trailed off, feeling rude that he hadn't even washed it before returning it, but she gave him a smile that told him it didn't matter and took it from him.
"No worries." she headed over and placed it in her sink, clearly leaving it for later like he had too.
She chuckled while she ushered him into the bathroom as he stood near her kitchen counter, feeling a little bit awkward. He found he didn't really mind being the subject of her amusement, since he guessed that he would laugh if their places were reversed. Closing the door behind him, he heard her begin to wash up the dishes and he took a breath and began to strip off once more. Fortunately, her shower did not destroy itself the second he turned it on and he proceeded with no problems.
Itachi realised halfway through that he was going to smell like Hitori as he washed the shampoo from his hair, which she would also find funny and didn't bother stopping the smile that appeared on his face. No one was there to see it, so there wasn't any harm in allowing himself the small display. At least he could find something amusing after the nightmare of a day he had experienced.
Once he was done, he quickly dried himself and dressed before heading out to where Hitori was quietly drinking tea and reading a book. She looked up at him and smiled politely and gestured for him to sit down.
"Want some tea?" she offered sweetly and he sighed softly before nodding and taking a seat across from her.
With all the grace of a shinobi, she tilted her chair back to reach another mug from the kitchen counter and landed back on the floor with no issues. She poured him a cup from the freshly brewed pot, as he suddenly recalled that he had left his tea untouched in the kitchen. Today had not been his day and he was appreciative that Hitori was at least kind enough to try and help.
"Thank you." he said quietly, in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
She had closed her book earlier and he stared at the cover, trying to figure out if he had read it before. He didn't recognise the title or even the author's name, but that didn't surprise him since he had spent so many years off the grid. Itachi couldn't even remember the last time he had read a good book.
"Do you like to read? I mean, aside from mission reports." she piped up, obviously noticing where his gaze was and he nodded silently in reply.
Hitori was quiet for a moment, and he looked up at her to see her expression had fallen from it's usual cheery one, to something much sadder. He wasn't quite sure why, but he stayed quiet and she took a slow deep breath before she became resolved and stood up, walking over to her bookshelf in the corner of the room. He hadn't noticed it consciously before, and took in just how packed full it was. There was piles on top of it, and on the floor beside it, and he was a little surprised at her ravenousness for novels.
She crossed one arm over her chest, and the other rested on it as she tapped her pointer finger to her chin in thought. After a moment, she began pulling out a few different books and lugged them all over to the small table that barely fit them all on there. His eyes were widened slightly as she began organising them in some sort of order and waited for her to finish.
"What do you prefer? Fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, crime?" she asked him with curious eyes and he wasn't exactly sure of the answer.
"I haven't read anything in such a long time. I don't know."
He glanced at the covers and guessed that the majority of these books weren't in his household as a child, or they had come out while he was still a missing nin. When he looked up at her a moment later, her brow was knit tightly together and she seemed to be trying to compose herself. She distracted herself by rifling through the pile once more.
"Mmm, I'm sure your standards are a bit higher than mine. How about I put you onto my favourite series? The third book is coming out shortly, and I've been rereading them. Sakura enjoyed them." she handed him the first book in the series and sipped her tea.
He nodded and she shuffled through a few more books, putting two more aside.
"I know you are super busy, but here is a couple more. If you don't like them, no worries. Let me know and I'll get you something else." she topped up their cups as she spoke, missing the way he watched her with appreciative eyes.
"Thank you, Hitori. That's very kind of you." he managed to get out, feeling slightly overwhelmed at her generosity.
Her expression faltered again like it had earlier, and he waited silently until she explained. He could see her hesitating but simply stayed quiet until she found the right words to say whatever was going through her head.
"It's okay. You said haven't been able to sit down and read a good book in a while…" she chewed her bottom lip and fiddled with her fingers nervously. "I'm sure that being back in Konoha is just as hard as it is good for you. You have a stressful job too. Having a book to zone out with always helps me get through a rough day."
Itachi was surprised by her honesty, and was glad that she had felt comfortable enough to share that with him. She was right, it was both difficult and wonderful being back in the place he loved so much. But of course there was going to be times that weren't so great, and he remembered being able to go home and read a book after a particularly messy mission when he was in Konoha years ago. Being an ANBU captain had been stressful as well. Now that he was the Commander, naturally his stresses had increased with the title. Hitori was right.
When he had finished his tea, he noticed that the sun had gone down. They had only chatted quietly about books for what must have been an hour or so and they had enjoyed two more pots of tea in that time. He was surprised to note that he wasn't feeling very stressed out now, just the tiredness lingered. As lovely as it was, he felt that he had probably overstayed his welcome by now. He had already eaten Hitori's food, used her shower, and now he had drunk about a litre of tea and was borrowing books from her.
Carefully he stood up, making a point to avoid the chair scraping along the wooden floor and decided what to say as Hitori stared at him expectantly.
"Thank you for today, Sokkenai. You are refreshingly kind." He bowed his head in thanks and she just beamed at him.
"Ah, you looked like you needed a friend." He only noticed because he was so close to her, but she pursed her lips for the briefest of moments and something unspoken passed behind her eyes.
"The last few days have been rather stressful." He replied as she stood up to walk him to her door, even though it was only 3 or 4 metres away.
"I can only imagine. Feel free to pop around anytime you'd like some tea and company." She offered politely as they strolled over to the door slowly.
"The offer is appreciated." If it was normal for him to do, he would have smiled. "Ah, I think you'll be on the mission to River next week as well. I still haven't received clearance for Kuzan to go back on active duty."
"Ah, no worries. Well, you'll have to survive without my company while I'm gone. If your shower hasn't been fixed by the time I leave, feel free to use mine." She reached past him to open her door and he stepped just outside the threshold.
"I'm sure it will be sorted. I can always use the showers at HQ." Her eyes went wide with horror for a second.
"Seriously? They are disgusting. As a medic, I advise that you avoid them like the plague." Hitori poked her tongue out in disgust and he huffed in amusement.
"Thank you for the warning." He couldn't resist the tiny smirk that appeared on his face and she laughed.
"Go get some rest, okay?"
She tapped him on the bicep to send him on his way and he was surprised at the physical contact enough to flinch. Pulling her hand back like she'd been burnt, Hitori bit her bottom lip nervously.
"Sorry, I didn't mean…" she trailed off but he shook his head.
"It's alright. I'm simply not used to the contact." Itachi tried to reassure her, but he was certain that he had probably hurt her feelings.
"I'll remember that for next time then." She nodded slowly, averting her eyes from him in the process.
"Please don't…" he sighed softly and tried to figure out the best way to fix this. "I have not been touched in a friendly or affectionate manner in many years. I do not wish for you to be upset because I was surprised."
After a moment, she nodded once more and looked up at him. She didn't seem too upset because he had hurt her feelings but her eyes held concern.
"No, you're right. I just didn't think of it. I'll just have to be more considerate in the future." She explained with a quiet voice.
Itachi was once again surprised. She wasn't upset because he had reacted to her touching him, but because she was worried about him. She had felt bad that she didn't consider his lack of contact with other people and she had startled him. With a soft sigh, he just watched her shift her weight between her feet for a moment. Making a split second decision, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. It felt very odd for him to initiate the contact, but it seemed to make her feel better when she relaxed under his touch.
Her silver-gray eyes stared into his deep brown ones and she waited for him to do whatever it was he had planned. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite sure himself.
"I will adjust with time." He spoke barely loud enough for her to hear but she nodded after his words sunk in.
She gave him a forced smile, and he let his expression soften before he removed his hand and headed back to his place. He hoped that he hadn't made her feel too bad, but he couldn't help it. After all she had done for him today, that was the last thing he wanted. Once he stepped inside and shut his door behind him, he leant back against the wall. He sighed heavily, but smiled despite himself.
Maybe with Hitori next door, things wouldn't be so bad…
