Utterly Unexpected: It's not really all that shocking if you think about it.
He had no idea what they'd expected him to do with himself, really. It wasn't like he was in a particularly good state to help sort the paperwork he'd handed over, and even if he wanted to, he doubted being able to recite it all word for word would be terribly appreciated.
Instead, he got to sit in the hospital with increasingly worrying levels of attention as people fussed.
Now, he understood that he'd done an excellent thing in getting Sasuke to come home and all, but this surely was a bit much? Over the top in all kinds of ways, really.
By this, he meant that someone seemed to be with him at all times. Almost never was this Sasuke, who had been twice more pulled away from him in the last three days, and once there was a shrill siren of a sound that came from what had three seconds before that been a charming female voice.
He'd been informed in the wake of the Hokage dealing with that that that happened to have been the pink being he was warned about. The upside was that she hadn't tried to kill him.
The downside was that she probably would have if they'd been alone in the room, if her killing intent had anything to say about it.
All in all, the last few days since the fight had been rough, when he'd been awake at least, and sleep had been something to indulge in.
That didn't mean he was any less surprised when Iruka finally poked his head in, having caught wind of... everything.
Because that wasn't awkward at all, really.
Not even slightly.
No, it was very very awkward, and Itachi resisted the urge to squirm as soon as the familiar chakra signature came to a silent halt next to the bed he was sitting in.
The silence stretched.
Itachi didn't try to look that direction, and instead picked at some lint on the blanket.
The silence stretched even further.
Itachi admitted to himself that Iruka had gotten better at this.
The silence hit what he was fairly certain was the fifteen-minute mark.
Itachi gave in. "So, this is about where you expect me to apologize for making you worry, correct?"
If anything, the silence grew heavier, and Itachi felt a frown come to his face.
"...And I'm to explain the situation properly?"
All at once, the air no longer felt oppressive, and he heard the chair at his side shift as the older man settled into it. "I would like that very much Tachi-chan."
The frown immediately moved into a grimace at the revival of the long escaped nickname. "Iruka-san..."
The tone was still light, but with an edge of all too familiar warning. "Tachi-chan."
It was entirely unfair that that still made him wilt. They hadn't been genin together in a very long time. He'd worked with Kisame. That tone of voice should not work on him anymore. He'd been one of the most feared missing-nin in the Elemental Nations! In fact, he should be immune to all sorts of things he was finding himself bewilderingly vulnerable to, and that was unfair on multiple levels.
Perhaps he should talk to someone about that.
Or not. He didn't want Her to feel the urge to come see him again.
"...Iruka-kun. I perhaps found myself in a difficult position some years ago. I'm incredibly sorry that I could not find a way to inform you of my continued sanity."
There was a long pause at this, a sense of appraisal, and then Iruka sighed, exasperated. "Apology accepted. Now you have to clean up your mess. Sasuke was my student you know."
Itachi more visibly grimaced at that.
Oh yes, he had quite a bit of explaining to do before Iruka let him off the hook.
Still better than the alternatives though. Iruka, at least, wouldn't try to smother him in his sleep.
He was far, far too vindictive.