Chapter 57: Someone to Blame

Itachi-sama suddenly started coughing really hard. I gasped as he struggled to breathe and sat up to see how I could help but there seemed to be nothing. I rubbed his back nervously and waited a moment to see if he would recover.

"Are you okay?!"

He still struggled to breathe before he coughed once more. My eyes widened to see blood droplets on his arm. I knew something was wrong before now but had brushed it off. Itachi-sama is incredibly ill...

"In...my pants...pocket..." he struggled to say.

I scrambled from the bed to find what it was that he was asking for and grabbed his pants from the floor before reaching into his pockets. I pulled out a medicine bottle and quickly handed it to him before sprinting to the bathroom to retrieve a small cup of water. When I came back, I witnessed him fall into the bed, passed out. The medicine bottle fell to the floor and pills went everywhere. Panic set in and I quickly threw on enough clothes to look decent before frantically creating hand signs. "Shadow clone jutsu!!!" An exact replica of myself appeared. "Go to Shisui and tell him to come quickly!" I unintentionally yelled. My shadow clone darted out of the small window and I returned to Itachi to check his vitals.

His breath was shallow and I could barely make out his pulse. A tear slipped from my eyes. If I could carry him myself I would have. I was forced to wait because I couldn't trust anyone else with Itachi...he was greatly feared by the majority of the village. This would be an opportunity for anyone who was threatened by him to take advantage of the situation. I couldn't carry and protect him at the same time. A soft cry left me before I wiped the tears away and barely pulled myself together. I had to make him decent before Shisui's arrival.

...

Shikara's shadow clone damn near gave Shisui a heart attack when she came in through the open window. He had been getting to know Angel's side a little more when this happened and thought he was caught playing favorites.

"Holy-! Shikara! What are you... wearing...?" His eyebrow raised. She was in Itachi's shirt which hung loosely and barely came down passed her fingertips. Her hair was a mess...

"Itachi-sama is in great peril. You must hurry to the Lotus Hotel, Room 206." The shadow clone said emotionlessly before vanishing.

"Shit...stay here, Angel..." Shisui said, quickly getting up from the loveseat and sprinting to the door. Just as he was shutting it behind him the door was caught and Shisui looked back to see a determined Angel, glaring at him.

"I'm coming, too!"

He sighed, knowing he couldn't stop her. "Fine, get one my back." He crouched down to let her on.

She blushed before doing as he instructed...she had just been explaining to him that she seemed to have taken on the more clumsy side... she knew she would have been holding him back by trying to sprint in his wake.

...

My breathing was becoming more heavy as I struggled to remain calm. We weren't far from the Uchiha residence, so what was taking so damn long!? Just then a few heavy knocks came at the door and I quickly answered it to reveal Shisui and Angel.

"Where is he?" Shisui asked with a cold tone.

I quickly stepped to the side as Shisui let Angel down and quickly went to Itachi. He looked like he was about to loose his cool before he picked Itachi up and slung him over his shoulder.

"I have to get to the hospital, now."

Angel stepped forward. "Let me give him some of my light chakra!"

"No." Shisui's eyes narrowed at her before quickly exiting out the door.

She gasped at the harshness of his voice and I patted her back. "Come on. We must make sure Shisui gets Itachi to the hospital without issue, okay?"

She gave a quick nod and we were out. We were barely able to keep up with Shisui and luckily the hospital was less than a few minutes away.

When we entered the building, the nurse at the front desk noticed Itachi's poor condition and quickly called for assistance. I was left to file some paperwork while Shisui and Angel helped the doctors get Itachi to the ICU. Everything started to become a blur.

Why hadn't he told me about his illness? Is Itachi-sama going to...? The word wouldn't even come to mind, I didn't want to think about it.

My eyes became dull as I finished filling out information and went to the ICU to find the others. When I found them, the doctors had Itachi on IVs and were planning their next steps. The monitor reading Itachi's vitals didn't look good. None of this looked good and a tear slipped. I now understood what it must have been like for Shisui and Itachi to have seen Angel and I teetering between life and death. It was horrible.

Angel stayed at Itachi's side as Shisui came to me. He looked really upset. "Come with me. Now." He demanded, brushing past me.

I took a deep breath. I already knew where this conversation was going to lead and I reluctantly turned to follow. We stepped outside and Shisui guided me away from the hospital doors before turning to me.

His eyes were furious. "What the hell happened!?" His harsh, hushed words lashed out at me, causing me to wince.

"He started to cough uncontrollably and fainted..."

"Did you lose control of your dark chakra?"

My eyebrows creased as I stared at him. "No, I-"

Shisui now had me against the wall. "I swear, Shikara...don't lie to me..." he growled.

Another tear fell and my teeth clenched. "I'd never hurt him, Shisui." I fought back more tears. "You can't say that you didn't notice him struggling before!" My voice cried out and I quickly covered my mouth with both hands.

Shisui was scowling at me like he didn't believe me. "You didn't use your dark chakra...?"

"No..."

His hand planted on the wall beside my head. "You clearly thought he was well enough to have some fun...so what happened...?" His deep voice was chilling. It felt like I had become his worst enemy.

"..."

"If you won't tell me, there are other ways to get answers."

I couldn't believe that Shisui would go this far, with me especially, to press a matter that was obvious from the moment Angel and I had awakened. Itachi was unusually tired and had a strange cough. Did Shisui not see this? No... that's not the case... he needs someone to blame...

I drew in a deep breath and my expression became completely blank. I stared Shisui in the eyes daringly before finally responding. "If you need someone to blame, or to hate, Ill be that person for you, Shisui-sama."

Shisui stood there shocked. After a moment he closed his eyes, shook his head and took a deep breath before crouching down, holding his head in his hands. "I'm sorry...Shikara..."

I slid down the wall and sat upon the cold ground, staring at him. A part of me wanted to place a hand on his shoulder and tell him that it was okay. The other part wanted to punch him in the damn face.

A small sigh escaped my lips as I struggled to remain calm. "I'm going back in..." I stood and took a step before Shisui grabbed my wrist.

"Wait."

My head turned to him. "What is it, Shisui?"

His eyes were filled with remorse. "Please forgive my behavior towards you."

I took in a deep breath and slowly released it. I needed a moment to think before I responded in a way that would have damaging effects. "Itachi-sama needs us...when this is all over you and I will need to talk." My eyes narrowed at him. "Depending on how that conversation goes, I'll decide then if there's anything to forgive." He released me and I quickly made my way back to the ICU. I had no time nor energy to have my thoughts clouded in the obvious issues Shisui and I had.

I saw Angel and she appeared to be focused. No one else was around at this moment and a small smile spread over my lips when I realized what she was doing. I silently took a seat next to her. She was concentrating so hard with her eyes closed that she hadn't noticed me. With a hand gently placed on his arm, she was slowly, carefully giving Itachi light chakra, despite having to break her word. It probably hurt her greatly to do this, however I was enternaly grateful. I kept watch while she continued. Itachi's vitals were slowly improving when I heard foot steps approaching the room. I softly tapped Angel's shoulder to warn her and accidentally caused her to jolt in surprise with a gasp. A mass amount of the chakra flowed into Itachi and he regained consciousness before sitting up and coughing.

Angel's eyes widened at me and I gave her an apologetic look before going to Itachi's bed side to rub his back. Shisui came in looking perplexed as he gazed at the vital machines. His eyes met Angel's for just a split moment before approaching Itachi, opposite from me.

"Man...why didn't you say something...?" He placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "You should rest."

Itachi laid back while catching his breath. It was almost like he had ran a marathon.

Angel leaned forward. "Are you feeling any better?"

Itachi peered at her with one eye and took another deep breath. "I thought...I felt..." Both of his eyes were open now as he gazed from Angel to Shisui then simply shook his head before looking up at Shikara who was sitting at the edge of the bed, only wearing his shirt which barely covered anything past her hips. He sighed before gently pulling her to him. She was careful to not lay on any of the IVs that were attached to him and she snuggled into him silently.

...

Chapter 58: Out of the Bag

The medical ninjas quickly made their way back after much preparation and were shocked to see Itachi awake with improved vitals.

"What...? This is impossible." The lead nin said, dumbfounded.

Shisui shot a look at Angel who nervously stood and went to the edge of the room to give them space.

I tried to sit up so that they could reanylize Itachi but he held me there with him. He clearly was feeling a little better by the way the corner of his mouth turned up.

"How are you feeling?" The head nin asked, still puzzled.

Itachi's eyes never left me as he spoke. "Better now." The smirk that appeared across his lips caused me to blush. Shisui was eying us curiously.

The medical nin's eyebrow arched before he turned to the nurse. "Read me back the stats."

"Sir, his stats say that he is in critical condition...he's had to have had this illness for a long time...the fact that he is still alive is impossible." She looked up from the report in her hands. "This makes no sense. He should have been dead for some time..."

My eyebrows creased with irritation as the head nin eyed Itachi again. "We would like to run some tests on your current status. We want to cover all of our bases before moving you from ICU."

Itachi gave a reluctant nod. I knew he didn't want to be here but I'm sure he already knew that none of us would let him just walk out of here without clearance.

The head nin eyed the rest of us. "The rest of you must give us space. You will be called back when we've finished."

"My wife stays."

Angel gasped and Shisui's mouth popped open in shock. They stared at us with wide eyes. My blush deepened. The cat was out of the bag...

Damn...really, Itachi-sama...?

My eyes narrowed at him. Had he lost all sense of courtesy for Shisui and Angel now that he's practically on his death bed? It's not like I was ashamed of our union, however we could have presented the news a little more gently...

"Wife...?" Shisui echoed. His voice was a murmur.

"Alright, everyone else, out!" The head medical nin appeared to be getting impatient. Shisui and Angel were gently ushered out by the nurses. Their eyes never left us until they were out of sight. "Let's get this going..." the medic said, shaking his head.

They ran their tests twice over before they were convinced that some kind of miracle had been bestowed upon Itachi. They were stumped, however Angel's light chakra hadn't removed or healed Itachi of his sickness. It was still very much present and the doctors were convinced that he had maybe one more year before it would fester to this level again...unless of course he was met with another miracle. Apparently there was no cure for such an illness and when the medic told me this my eyes fell to the floor.

"You will be moved out of ICU but I recommend that you stay over night until we are sure of your condition."

Itachi seemed less than thrilled about this but to my relief, complied. I stayed at his side as he was moved into another section of the hospital. Being relocated to the less at risk section came as a relief to me. I helped Itachi into bed, though he certainly didn't need it. He pulled me with him and covered us with the blanket before wrapping his arms around me.

My eyes narrowed again. "When you're cleared to leave we have some serious communication to tend to."

"Hm." Was all I heard from him before he kissed my forehead and closed his eyes.

Itachi had fallen asleep and I was left wide awake to my thoughts. I was afraid something would happen if I dared to let myself sleep. I saw out of the corner of my eye some movement and turned my head to see Shisui peering into the room. I quietly and slowly removed myself from Itachi's grasp and made my way out of the bed. I tiptoed to the door and met Shisui outside the room.

His voice was a whisper. "How is he doing?"

My eyes veered to the side. "His illness is still present. He has about a year according to the medics..."

I felt Shisui cup my chin and turn my face upwards to look him in the eyes. "Are you okay?" His voice was gentle. He was looking to me with a reserved expression but his eyes held some sadness. It caused me to tear up.

"I-I think so..." my voice was a little shaky.

Shisui sighed. "I'd congratulate you, however this...this took me by surprise...and I don't know how this all ends..."

My tears fell and I tried to avert my eyes. "Please...don't Shisui..."

He released my chin. "I know I failed you by not trying to understand you better. It seems Itachi was better for the job...but where will this lead you? Where will it lead him?"

I glanced back into the room to make sure Itachi still slept soundly before taking Shisui's arm and leading him away. "Where's Angel?"

"The waiting room..."

"Let's go."

When we entered the waiting room, Angel ran to us. "How is he!?" She took my arm into both of hers. She looked like she had been crying as well.

"He's okay for now, Angel." I gave her a weak smile before leaning close to her to whisper in her ear. "Thank you."

When I pulled back more tears fell from her eyes before she embraced me. "Oh, Shikara! I'm so sorry!" She sobbed.

I held her close, soothingly stroking her hair. "Don't apologize...everything is okay." I wasn't sure if it really was but my instincts told me to say this. Angel was really upset and I hated seeing my lighter side this way. It hurt. I pulled back to softly wipe her tears away. "We have to talk." She sniffled and gave a nod. My eyes turned to Shisui who was watching us, unsure of what to say or do but he, too, managed to nod. I motioned for them to sit and when they did I followed suit. I sat across from the two and peered at them, gathering my thoughts.

"Shikara...you and Itachi...?" Angel began and I quickly gave a nod.

"We are unified."

Shisui's head tilted. "This all happened so...fast."

I gave a knowing expression. I couldn't have agreed with him more. "I realized that I love Itachi-sama with everything I am." My eyes met Angel's. "You feel the same for Shisui, don't you?"

She blushed and covered her mouth with both hands, embarrassed. After a moment she looked down and sighed. "I was so worried about how to tell Itachi-sama...I guess I don't have to..."

A small smile spread across my lips before I looked to see Shisui place a hand behind his head. He, too, had a light pink color over his face.

"So you love Itachi...and Angel..." his eyes met her's.

She shyly touched her fingers together. "I l-love you...Shisui-sama..." Angel stuttered.

It was so sweet to witness this moment. I'm no match-maker but the two looked like they were truly made for one-another. If it were just me...Shisui and I, we would have butted heads regularly. His punishments were sexy but it more than likely would have turned into hate sex. I shivered at the thought.

"Are you alright, Shikara?" Angel asked. "I can run home to get you clothes... you're not wearing pants..."

I blushed, embarrassed. "T-that would be very nice if you..."

Angel giggled. "Tomorrow morning I'll bring you clothes, okay? Until then you should go back to Itachi-sama." Her eyebrow raised teasingly. "He'll keep you warm." My blush deepened as I shot her a glare. It caused her to giggle more and Shisui covered his own blush with a hand.

"Okay...I'll see you tomorrow, then." I stood and Angel popped up to give me a quick hug.

"Don't strain him any further." Angel laughed before quickly putting distance between myself and her as I shot her another glare. She took Shisui's arm to pull him with her and she waived bye before hurrying towards the exit.

Calling her Angel was a mistake...