Chpt 7:
*I didn't realize it's been five days since I've written anything, I'm terrible. Anyways, I appreciate the reviews, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Also, if anyone would like to see anything, I'm not against adding it in here. Anyways, heres the next chapter!*
Itachis POV:
A week had passed since the first checkup with Shizune, I could honestly say my chest felt a little bit lighter. I knew my illness wasn't going away but at least with her healing me everyday, I could pretend I was getting better.
Another brighter note to all of this though, I might not have to pretend anymore soon. Tsunade approved the operation of clearing my pathways with herself and Hinata. Two more days and my fate might become different. I was starting to get used to the idea of having a home and feeling cared for, even if a few of Hinatas friends weren't to sure of me anymore.
A knock on the door broke me of my thoughts and I moved off the couch, I was home alone due to the fact of Hinata having to help train a few of the academy students.
I opened the door and was faced with Kakashi.
"Is Hinata home?" he asked with no emotion.
"Not at the moment, she's at the academy" I answered.
"Ah, well, let her know I was looking for her?" he asked.
"She shouldn't be to much longer, she comes home around this time. Would you like to come in and wait?" I asked, uncomfortably. I wasn't sure how to speak to my old friend.
"Why not, I have nothing better to do today" he said, his face mask slightly moved and I knew he smirked. I stepped aside to let him in, he took his sandals off and walked in.
"We have stuff in the kitchen if you would like anything" I offered.
"Do you have any sake or did Hinata hide it?" he asked, curiously.
"I believe we have some but why would she hide it?" I asked, curious myself now.
"We got really drunk one night, we made a mess of the house. We bothered a lot of our friends that night, we woke Neji up out of a dead sleep, the night before a important mission. He wasn't happy so Hinata deemed sake for special occasions only and started hiding it on me" he said, slighting laughing towards the end.
"Sounds like a interesting night" I said as I moved towards the cupboards to look for some.
"It was, it was also the same night that her and I-" he was interrupted by the front door slamming closed, making us both look as we waited for whomever to come into the kitchen.
"I swear to kami, if Neji tries to butt into a lesson once more time. I'm going to lock up his chakra points and he won't move for a week!" Hinata yelled from the front door all the way into the kitchen, her anger radiating off of her. I couldn't help but smile and try not to laugh. Kakashi however, did laugh.
"Do you think this is funny?" Hinata asked seriously, turning towards him.
"Extremely" he spoke with lightness in his voice.
"I'm glad you find amusement in this" she said, continuing to walk toward the cabinet I was going to open.
"Today's a special occasion" she said, gently moving me out of the way and then continued to storm around. She grabbed a smaller cup, slamming it on the counter and filling it with the sake, also slamming that on the counter. She took a few sips and then turned toward the both of us.
"So, how was your day?" Kakashi asked, smirking. Hinata took the last sip out of the cup and threw her cup at him, luckily he caught it so we didn't have to clean it up afterwards.
"Is this your way of telling me I can have some sake?" he asked, eyebrow raised. They seemed rather comfortable around each other. I must of missed a lot, being away from the village.
"Itachi, would you like some?" Hinata asked me sweetly, ignoring him.
"I guess, a little bit though" I said, making my way to the table where I sat. Kakashi followed my movements and also sat down. Hinata got out two more cups, grabbed the sake and walked to the table to sit with us. She poured herself and I some and rested the bottle on the table, continuing to ignore Kakashi. I moved my hand toward the bottle, so I could pass it to him and Hinata flicked my hand away.
"Don't you dare. If he wants it, he'll have to get it himself" she hissed at me.
"Well just because you're mad doesn't mean I'm going to treat our houseguest poorly" I spoke bluntly and moved the bottle towards him anyways.
We sat in silence for a few until our froot door opened again.
"Hinata-chan!" a male voice yelled, Neji.
"I wouldn't come in here, she might try and hurt you" Kakashi spoke out loud so nonchalantly. The sound of footsteps coming closer obviously meant he didn't care about Kakashi's warning.
"Why must you act like a child?" Neji spat as he entered the kitchen.
"I'm a child? You kept interrupting my lessons with the children when you didn't like the way I was teaching them!" Hinata shouted, standing up and making her chair scoot back across the wooden floor.
"That's not the case, I was further helping" he said, his face tightening from becoming more angry.
"I feel like it was be best if you two went outside and fought about it. Get some emotions out" I spoke up, hoping it would help.
"I think you're right. It's been awhile" Neji said turning around and headed towards the door. Hinata followed quickly.
"Should we go watch?" Kakashi asked me, I nodded in agreement. We moved from the table and walked towards the outside onto the porch.
"Let us know when to begin Kakashi" Neji spoke, getting into a fighting stance. Hinata mirroring him.
"Three… two… one… fight!" Kakashi yelled and they both dashed forward towards each other, kunais in hand. I smiled slightly, remembering sparring matches. Granted I was always ahead of everyone my age but it brought back memories. Memories of training flooded my mind and all the times telling Sasuke their would be a next time, my heart sank slightly. Sasuke. I wondered if he even knew anything about what had been happening.
I knew I was protecting him and I knew he hated me but I wondered if he knew I was in the village or if he was still tracking me. I wondered if he would forgive me if he knew the truth or if he would try and burn the village down for what had really conspired behind closed doors. I sighed out loud knowing I couldn't go look for him.
"You alright?" Kakashi asked me, he must of heard me over the sound of Hinata and Neji fighting.
"Do you think Sasuke knows I'm here?" I asked, looking at him. His face grew stone cold and didn't speak for a minute.
"More than likely, your brother is as smart as you are" he sighed. I didn't want to push the conversation, the same day I lost my little brother was the same day he lost his student. I imagine the toll it took on Sasuke not to have any family left. I had similar feelings but I was able to run from it, he had to remain here for a while and face it every day.
"You never finished your story from earlier before Hinata came storming in the house" I spoke again, hoping to change the mood.
"Oh, it's nothing really important now" he said sceptically. Now I wanted to know, anything to get my mind off of my little brother.
"You sure? You looked pretty happy with whatever story you were trying to tell" I said, pushing just a little bit.
"For me, it's a happy story but I was going to say it was the first night Hinata and I kissed. Pushing the envelope on our relationship" he spoke lightly, a glint of sadness in his eyes now. Their what? They dated? Damn, I was hoping whatever he had to say would improve my mood, not make it worse. Now it makes sense of why they were so comfortable with each other.
"Oh" was all I said and focused on them fighting, but mainly to focus on Hinata.
"Sorry to rain on your parade more, I wasn't aware you didn't know" he said regretful for saying it in the first place.
"It's okay, I was gone for two years, I just didn't think you two would end of being together" I spoke and became quieter as I was finishing my sentence.
"A lot of things happened while you were gone. Just know, you're lucky" he said with a serious tone.
"Lucky?" I questioned him.
"When she loves someone, she will stop at nothing for them. I was on the receiving end for a bit but I would never get the full amount. Her feelings for you are strong, she would die for you" he said sternly, looking me in the eyes. A flair of emotions were on his face and in his eye. I could only detect sadness though. How much did she mean to him? How long were they even together?
"How do you know of her feelings for me?" I asked.
"Because they're the reason why we aren't together anymore" he sounded hurt now, go me, I picked an even worse topic to talk about. Have my social skills really just vanished so quickly? So quickly that I don't even know how to pick something good to talk about.
"I'm not sure what to say, I didn't know I was the reason you guys aren't together" I said honestly.
"It's not anyone's fault. She fell in love with you. She can't control her emotions" he spoke half-heartedly. I moved my vision back to the front yard, not even noticing they destroyed the front yard and were fighting in the woods now.
"Should we go stop them?" I asked, hoping no one would kill each other.
"As mad as they are, they know when to stop" he spoke, well that's good. Just some injuries to deal with.
"Shizune is here, I'll be back with them" Kakashi said jumping over the porch railing and jumping into the tree line of the woods, I turned to see a smiling Shizune.
"Good morning, Itachi-sama" she spoke cheerfully. Glad to see someone in a good mood today. I smiled back at her and opened my front door for her, letting her go first.
"How are you feeling today?" she asked me as she walked towards the living room so she could set up her couple of items.
"Physically, I feel normal, although my chest feels lighter. It's nice" I slightly smiled and started to remove my top layers of clothing, preparing myself before she asks me.
"Great, the healing of your lungs seems to be helping some. Are you taking your pills everyday?" she asked.
"Yes, I've been taking my pain pills less though, haven't felt the need to take them" I spoke honestly.
"That's good but don't completely stop taking them, if you have a bad coughing fit it's only going to hurt you more to recover" she said, reminding me of the side effects of things.
I remained quiet until she had her gloves on and I knew to take my position on the coffee table.
"Where is Hinata?" Shizune asked as she walked behind me to start treatment on my back. I slightly flinched at her name, I mentally slapped myself because I was sure Shizune caught that.
"She's in the woods fighting with Neji and Kakashi went to go get them" I said bluntly.
"They need to work on their anger sometimes" Shizune sighed and I slightly laughed, agreeing.
The next thing I knew I felt her cool hands on my back and small static like feeling of her healing jutsu penetrate my skin but in a gentle manor. The hairs on the base of my neck stood up as she moved very slowly, this part was fine. I could handle almost the entire treatment until she touched the middle of my spine, where the thickest part of my lungs were.
They always burned during a coughing fit and I could feel that's where most of the damage was from my illness. I felt her hands moving towards the area and I braced myself, it felt good for about ten seconds and then the searing pain kicked in. It got worse every time we did this.
Her hands reached the spot and I bit my tongue, clenching my fists, the burning got worse and then it started causing everything around the area to hurt more but I held on just a bit longer. What made me open my eyes was the feeling of wet warm liquid splashing my right arm, blood.
"I'm bleeding?" I whispered to myself, Shizune stopped moving her hands and moved to the front of me, probably to see where the blood was coming from.
"Your nose is bleeding, do you feel okay?" Shizune asked me, taking a rag out from her bag and handing it to me.
"I tried to push myself to tolerate the pain of the area you were working on" I said meekly, rag under my nose.
"If it hurts, you have to say something right away. Pushing your body past limits is only going to further hurt you" Shizune said sternly. I nodded my head, moving the rag away to see the blood stopped.
"I'm moving onto the front, tell me to stop if need be" she said, her hands glowing in mere seconds and placing them on my skin. The front part didn't hurt as much anymore like the back did. I was grateful for that because these treatments were working and they felt good.
As she was moved her hands, she was moving upwards towards my throat and I felt a coughing fit coming on.
"You need to move" I told her, putting one hand over my mouth and one hand on my chest, the fit came and it was the most painful it had been in a long time.
I could feel the blood coming up my throat, little specks of it hitting my hand the more I coughed. The coughing got heavier, making me fall forward onto the living room floor, the pain in my chest getting more intense. Breathing became harder too, I moved both of my hands forward so I balancing on my hands and knees letting my body run its course.
"Itachi, have you had a fit this bad before?" Shizune asked, I shook my head in a no direction, my cough became more violent, the blood splattering on the floor in front of me.
"Help.. me" I said in between breaths, I wasn't sure what was happening but I knew this episode was bad. I felt deep in my core, a twisting feeling and my coughing stopped for a just a second to let my stomach send whatever was coming out, up.
The floor in front of me became splattered in blood, I held my hand over my mouth. My coughing subsided, leaving pain in my chest and slight wheezing behind.
"This isn't good, are you okay at the moment?" Shizune asked, I nodded my head in a yes and moved to lay on my back on the floor. Hopefully this was help with the wheeze.
"I'm going to get Tsunade, I need her to see this. Don't touch anything" she said, running out of the front door.
I remained on the floor, breathing. I didn't want to move, I was scared to. I moved my arm to go over my face, blocking out any sunlight that could possibly get in. What was happening to me?
The house remained silent and I kept dozing in and out, waiting. What felt like an eternity passed before I could hear footsteps again.
"Itachi, are you awake?" a female asked me but I was a little out of it. I moved my right hand to wave at whoever it was.
"Oh, this isn't good" she spoke again, that must be Tsunade.
"I wasn't sure what to do and I didn't want to move or clean anything" Shizune spoke sounding worried.
"Start cleaning this up" Tsunade demanded and I could hear feet moving around, probably shizune starting to cleaning my blood up.
"He started having a coughing fit in the middle of doing light healing to his front. Not to mention he pushed passed the pain when I was working on his back. It started with a nose bleed" Shizune spoke admitly.
"His body probably rejected the healing because he overdid it. He's supposed to speak when he's in pain" Tsunade said violently poking my thigh, I groaned slightly.
"Is that it though? Nothing serious?" Shizune asked, the worry still in her voice.
"I'm going to have to stay overnight to just to make sure it doesn't happen again. If it happens again we're pushing the operation to the morning, just to be on the safe side" Tsunade spoke, the serious tone she had in her voice made a shiver go up my spine. Why was the most scary and violent person the best healer you could get in the five great nations? Her personality didn't match her gift, a contradiction at best.
"For now I suggest you be on bed rest for the rest of the evening, Uchiha" Tsunade spoke and I nodded my head in agreement.
"Can you get off the floor or do you need help?" she asked, gently.
"I think I need help" my voice barely above a whisper as I moved my arm to open my eyes. She was standing directly over me, Shizune was scrubbing the floor.
I moved slowly, bracing myself to get dizzy when I stood up. I wobbled a little bit when I stood only losing my balance for a second but Tsunade caught me.
"How about we sit you on the couch until Hinata returns and she cane help you to bed?" Tsunade asked with a kind smile. She helped me onto the couch and stood up to look at me some more.
"You're a hot mess, kid. Don't worry though, hopefully in the next day or two we can fix all your problems" she said patting my head and turning towards Shizune. I glared at her for a split second, did she just pat my head? Am I a child?
"What time should I report back in the morning?" Shizune asked, looking up from the mess she was cleaning.
"Come back to me around the same time you would leave to come here" Tsunade answered. The sound of approaching footsteps grabbed my attention and I turned the open front door, I could see Hinata and Neji holding each other up as they limped back towards the porch. Kakashi walking behind them. They all entered the house, the two of them looked pretty beat up.
"Hokage-sama" Neji said, trying to bow.
"Don't both Hyuga, if you lean forward you might fall over" Tsunade said with a mocking tone, witholding a laugh.
Hinata looked up and made eye contact with me and then looked around the room and saw the faint blood still on the floor.
"What happened?" she was, her facing twisting with worry and sadness.
"The healing process had a slight backfire in the plan today, he'll be okay. He is on bed rest for the day, I was going to suggest you bring him to his bedroom but it looks like you need help also" Tsunade said smugly, a slight smile appeared on her face that time.
"I'll take everyone to their respected areas" Kakashi said, sighing. He removed Hinata fom Neji and picked her up bridal style and started walking up the stairs, jealousy serged within my body. I shut it down quickly, now isn't the time. Why was I even getting jealous, he's a friend helping a friend and I know Hinata wants me, not him.
"Neji, you're more than welcome to stay in the bedroom that isn't preoccupied" I managed to choke out, my throat was so damn dry.
"I'll be okay in a little bit but thank you" he said kindly, taking a seat on the other side of the couch.
Kakashi came back down the stairs and started walking towards me.
"Your turn" he said chuckling, I lightly groaned and stood up slowly, becoming dizzy again. Kakashi caught my shoulders and held me still for a moment and we made our way to my bedroom.
"Thank you" I said as he opened the door for me.
"No need to thank me" he helped me toward my bed so I could sit on it.
"No, I mean thank you. Thank you for being there for her when I wasn't. I'm sorry things turned out the way the did" I spoke whole heartedly, looking him in the eyes. He didn't say anything, just nodded his head to leave the room. I saw on my bed in silence and laid down slowly. This operation couldn't come fast enough, I was ready to feel normal again.