So, this is a series of one-shots that I've been thinking about for a while. They are based in an AU, and all reside around the same AU with different self-prompts that come to my head. There will be no regular upload, but each chapter will be a story of its own. Enjoy!
Teach me
A huff of annoyed air escaped the lips of a young man, trying to control the almost murderous feeling that overtook him at this sudden revelation. He understood they were only students and first years at that. But, seriously? He placed his long index finger and thumb on either side of his temples thoroughly to try and erase the growing tension that seemed to be growing.
"What's the matter? You're never usually so stressed after dealing with students for one day." The soft and concerned voice of his fiancé broke him from his thoughts. Dark irises followed the sound and looked up from the glaring brightness of his laptop. Instead, he turned to his beautiful partner who had been flittering around the kitchen with practised ease, humming a quiet tune as they both worked on their own duties. However, now she seemed to sense his annoyance and looked up worried. He was usually such a patient man. But after the day he had, he felt his rope growing far shorter than usual. And by rope, he meant sanity.
"Nothing, love. I've just seemed to raise my expectations too high for first-year students." His voiced carried tired. Annoyance clearly bubbling beneath the calm exterior of his handsome face. The woman hummed and stared at him for a moment. Almost envious that he could be frustrated and still look picture perfect. Meanwhile, whenever she was freaking out over a late cake order, or an employee messing up times, she was a blubbering, hot mess. The world was cruel. Shaking her head, she placed down the large knife she'd been using to cut the vegetables for her stew. Instead walked around the small bench to wrap her arms around her lover's waist and rest her chin against his shoulder as he slouched into the bench. She began to quickly read over the notes he'd made on his current students' file. Itachi was thorough in every piece of his life. Which meant he also took teaching new doctors seriously.
As anyone should, she supposed. Every time he would get a new batch, he would create a folder for that student and write their strengths and weakness in the field within that folder, every day. He'd once said it allowed him to see their progress from the beginning to the end of their placement. If they were really bad or it had just been nerves getting to them originally. Wide pupilless eyes roamed over each word. The column defining what the student lacked clearly beating the benefits in size. Her partner was known for being a harsh teacher. But he was the best, he wouldn't let you get away with half-efforts, because he always gave his all. You were to meet his almost impossible standards, but he was not unfair. Just strict.
"Requires revision of anatomy?" Her slender eyebrows furrowed together in question. Wasn't that supposed to be a something every student in the medical industry knew? Especially a doctor… Another huff escaped the male currently in her hold. This must have been what was bugging him the most. And quite frankly, she wasn't that surprised. Itachi was one of the top surgeons in Japan. He'd worked hard for that title. Naturally, his opinion on anatomy was quite high given his job, and other doctors not knowing it as thoroughly as he did was his pet peeve. He understood that not all doctors required the level of knowledge he did on the subject, but they did need a basic knowledge of where everything was to be an effective doctor. Apparently, that memo had been lost in the new academy curriculum. The corner of his lips tilted down in annoyance once more.
Hinata almost giggled at her partners' current state. He was never quick to anger; it was one of the reasons she loved him so because she didn't like aggressive confrontation. When they fought, it was far more quiet communication than screaming matches she had witnessed some couples have in her bakery. Or maybe wedding planning just brought out the worst in some people… Shaking her head to re-rail her thoughts. The point was, there was only one thing that could tick him off quite this fast. And it wasn't exactly a secret amongst the medical crew. Doctors not knowing their anatomy peeved Itachi, to say the very least. Pressing her dusty pink lips to his cheek, she squeezed his waist reassuringly.
"Well if anyone can teach him, it will be you. And he will never question the relevance of anatomy knowledge again." She giggled beside him, trying to lift his mood rather than make him sourer at her teasing. Luckily, she felt him chuckle beneath her. Smiling, she lifted her arms to wrap around his neck lightly before releasing him to continue her former duties, knowing she'd pulled him out if his little mood.
"I will, but it bothers me schools don't teach anatomy the way they used to. Or students now just don't see the relevance. Even you would know more than this guy." His voice was lighter, almost teasing as he began to type again.
"I mean they teach it in the first year, it's the base foundation to everything we do. He should know where the organs are in the body. It's not like I'm expecting him to tell me the name of each bone… which he should be able to do in all honesty." She almost laughed as his dejected look, almost like a disapproving father would a failing son. She'd gotten that look a few too many times in her life. Shaking the ominous thought from her head, she smiled warmly and began to pour the vegetables into the bubbling broth before turning the flames down low to simmer instead.
"You maybe being a bit too harsh, dear. He probably knows more than the average person does." She muttered as she began to add spices to the broth, sniffing and tasting along the way to make sure it was perfect. She made an approving sound as she scooped some broth into a teaspoon and blew on it gently as to not send it everywhere. Cupping a hand beneath to stop the excess from dripping onto the floor, she made her way slowly in front of Itachi, raising the spoon to his lips. He reached up to grab her hand, bring her closer as he wrapped his lips around the spoon and swallowed the flavourful liquid before pressing his lips to the back of her hand and releasing her. Pale cheeks instantly flushed pink at the act and she pouted at his ability to make her flush over the littlest of gestures.
"Beautiful." His charming smirk did little to answer her question of whether he meant the broth or her. Probably both. She giggled and placed the lid on the pot and left it to simmer. Drying off her hands, she began to walk to the living room to lay down for what seemed like the first time all day. Her feet aching from a long day at work while she cuddled up on the longer section of her pillowy, cream, L-shaped sofa. She fell in love with it as soon as she had sat down at the store. Her eyes instantly turning to Itachi's in an instant and he laughed, turning to the dealer, nodding that this would be the one. A grin slipped onto her lips. He spoilt her far too often, and she was so lucky to have found him. In her dazed state, she vaguely felt the pressure of the sofa shift as Itachi sat beside her head, placing his laptop on the arm of the sofa. Lifting her head up, she allowed him to settle behind her and laid her head on his lap, in her favourite position. She smiling and turned to him, still typing away at his computer.
"So how do you plan on teaching them?" She always liked to hear how her fiancé taught things. He had such an interesting mind being a genius, and he understood the different ways people learnt things. Maybe that's why he never accused her of being stupid like her father had when she struggled slightly in culinary school. He once told her that she needed a mixture of theory and practical work. That she learnt easier by trial and error. It may have taken longer than being able to pick it up from a book but ultimately had the same effect. She smiled. He would have made a wonderful teacher had he not loved medicine so much. Although he would probably be hated due to his strict methods. She chuckled lightly, imagining kids trying to throw paper balls at him, only to have him catch them and peg them back in an instant, declaring detention to a grumbling kid and a laughing classroom.
"I was thinking maybe just sending them to an autopsy. They'll be able to get first-hand experience where things should be and why." Hinata almost grimaced at the thought of cutting open a dead body. She knew it had to be done, but she couldn't understand how people could stomach it. Itachi often had to leave gruesome details of his job when telling her about his day because she used to almost faint when he mentioned them initially. She was a baby, but she didn't care. She would stick to cake decorating while her genius of a future husband would continue his work with blood and guts. Feeling slightly queasy at the thought, she tried to think of something else.
"I remember doing that in high school. Dissecting frogs and having to tell the teacher what organ was what." Hinata shuddered at the memory. She had fainted at that. Itachi chuckled from above her. Suddenly a thoughtful expression passed over his face. She looked up at him with a tilted head. He began to move to close his laptop and place it on the couch beside them where it wouldn't fall and shifted so he could look down at her better, his hands beginning to massage her scalp. Hinata hummed in approval as his deviously good hands eased away the days' tension.
"What's this?" His sudden question confused her. She opened her eyes and looked at his oddly, her mind trying to process what he was asking before it hit her.
"…Brain?" She muttering in a hesitant answer. She almost gleamed as he nodded with a smirk. Getting his approval was always worth learning. He suddenly leant down over her, pressing his lips to her closed eyelids. She giggled and looked up at his once he leant back.
"Eyes." She grinned up at him. Nodding once more, he moved his hands and gently rubbed them over the shell of her ear, causing a shudder to run down her body. She pouted up at him, witnessing the teasing in his eyes, knowing he'd done it on purpose.
"Ears." The pout didn't dissolve until he leant down once more and kissed her button nose and then her pouting lips. As he pulled away, she followed him subconsciously and blushed as he chuckled once more.
"Nose and mouth." She hummed, quite enjoying their little game, as mundane as it was. His hands suddenly dipped down further, tracing over her chest just slightly to the left in a medium-sized circle.
"Heart." She mutters as her cheeks began to flush once more at the sensation of his finger tracing over the thin fabric of her basic white shirt. He began to trace a small circle just above the heart shape, before trailing it off somewhere near her neck. Her eyebrows furrowed in frustration. She had no idea what he was trying to tell her. Something to do with the heart? She looked up at him in question.
"I don't know…" She almost felt bad saying it. She felt like she should know even thought that was ridiculous. Itachi smiled from above her.
"Superior Vena Cava." She loved it when he got technical. He sounds just as smart as he was, but she didn't approve of him putting it into her test. She wasn't a doctor, how was she supposed to know that? A pout formed on her lips. She wanted to do well. This time both of his hands lift to trace large, oddly angled triangles over her entire chest, this fingers tracing through the valley between her breasts, causing her to turn a deeper shade of red. Knowing he was doing it on purpose.
"L-Lungs." She stuttered out as she tried to suppress some of the heat in her face. His hands suddenly stopped and began an odd motion where his index finger and thumb spaced apart a couple inches and slowly dragged from the top of her throat all the way down to her sternum repeatedly. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"Windpipe?" He made a sound, clearly not what he was expecting her to say.
"Well, technically half correct. But what travels lower than the windpipe?" His voice was turning into one he used on his students, and she wasn't exactly unhappy about it. She found it lowered slightly, deepened as he took a more authoritative tone when teaching. She thought harder for a moment before gasping as she realised, suddenly feeling like she was practising for a very important test. Well… she was. Itachi's anatomy approval. A very difficult test indeed. Giggling slightly, she answered.
"Oesophagus." She too had loved the idea of anatomy. In books, that is. Anything squishy in real life sent her running. He nodded his approval once more and lowered his hands passed her breasts, this time tugging up her shirt to sit under her well-endowed chest as he began to trace a similar shape as he had previously. Except below the heart this time. Thinking, she tried to remember what he had said earlier.
"Superior Vana Cava?" She knew it was wrong, it sounded wrong, but she couldn't remember exactly how he had said it. Chuckling, he corrected her.
"Vena Cava. And close. It's opposite." She thought for a moment, tilting her head as she looked away from him. His pretty face distracting her from thinking. Opposite…
"Inferior." She looked up at him, peering through one eye as she tried to lessen the blow of his disapproval. But it never came; instead, she felt a gentle squeeze around her waist and knew she was correct. Once again, she beamed up at him. She could totally be a doctor, what was she thinking. She giggled as she imagined herself in a white jacket and fainting the minute someone came rushing through, covered in blood from bad accident… Maybe not. She would end up needing assistance more than the patient. He began tracing a large triangle around her sternum, his finger grazing just below her bosom and around again.
"Liver." At least for her. She questioned whether Kiba's was still there after how much he would drink at parties. Even Ino at-work celebrations. He began to trace an orb on the opposite side of her sternum, overlapping her liver slightly.
"Stomach." She grinned at her impeccable anatomy knowledge. She was doing better than she thought she would. However, his next motion reminded her, she still wasn't as good as her love. A small oval right next to the stomach. She furrowed her eyebrows in question once more.
"Spleen." Came the voice of her love and she blanched slightly.
"I… didn't think it was there… I didn't know where it was but certainly not there." She giggled as she motioned for him to continue. She was enjoying this far more than she should, and she could tell Itachi was too by the smirk on his face and the hint of determination in his eyes. He liked to teach. He motioned a small circle over her liver but to the bottom.
"Gallbladder." With a nod, he continued. This time making the shape of a banana beneath everything he had already drawn on her.
"Pancreas." Maybe all those weird study sessions on biology her father forced her to do growing up actually helped. If only her biology class test actually covered human anatomy. Clearly, she would have gotten better grades. Following on, he traced a large rectangle in a square around her belly, followed by gradually thinning the rectangle as he moved further inward to her belly button.
"Intestines." She giggled slightly as he traced her bare stomach, she was remarkably ticklish, and he knew this. He stopped and circled her lower right belly. She lit up at this.
"Appendix!" She almost shouted at knowing something more complicated. She only knew because her little sister had moaned for days about it hurting right there and Hinata had grown so worried she called up Itachi before they had officially started dating and asked if she should be worried. Of course, he immediately said yes and told her to go to the hospital immediately when she described the pain. Itachi's thoughts were somewhere similar as he glanced down at the woman beneath him, so eager to please as she played his little game, admiring just how smart she really was, even though many thought otherwise. She just wasn't one to show it off. He supposed after so many years of being told otherwise, it would affect her belief in her abilities. His eyes narrowed very slightly. He hated that man for that. She hadn't deserved it then, and he was glad she didn't deal with it now. He was proud it was half thanks to him. He helped her grow that little backbone. He turned back to her and smirked at the determination in her eyes.
"Okay, final test." His hands began to draw two identical, rather beanie shapes in her opinion, on either side of her body, just on the edge of her ribcage.
"Kidneys." She giggled at her childish idea of two large kidney beans in her stomach. He nodded once more and drew lines gradually getting closer together as they came to her bladder. That one was obvious. She had felt it numerous times when she held off going to the bathroom when she was almost finished decorating a cake or finishing piping a batch of pastries. But she wasn't sure what the lines were.
"Urethra?" She remembered the word and vaguely that it had to do with her bladder. She had been too embarrassed to go this far when she was learning and had skipped over it. Itachi shook his head and explained.
"Ureter. They're similar, but their positions are different. Ureter travels urine from the kidneys to the bladder, and Urethra carries the urine out of the body." It was weird to hear him sound so serious when talking about peeing. She giggled and sat up, turning to him as her shirt fell back over her exposed belly.
"How did I go?" She thought she had done okay, although it was the very basics of anatomy. He smiled at her, which caused her to melt in her spot. This was why she always wanted to make him happy. His smile could lighten her darkest days. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a firm kiss, nipping at her bottom lip before pulling away to smirk at her bright red face.
"You did very well. Even better than that damned student." She laughed at his answer and crawled her way into his lap, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he did the same to her waist.
"Well, now you know how they can teach themselves." She giggled at the idea of Itachi telling his students to go practice on a lover. Those poor souls. But that's what you get when you don't study anatomy before being a student of a very accomplished anatomy lover. And she was very aware, just how much Itachi loved her anatomy.