I do not own Naruto okay? I don't have much to say here, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
Itachi headed to the kitchen and pulled out some pots and pans and got ready to prepare dinner. He was pleased with how well Konan was interacting with Akari. She's got a real talent for handling children. Itachi thought as he headed over to the refrigerator and pulled out some fish and bean paste to begin to prepare dinner for him and Konan that evening. Akari loved her father's cooking but couldn't eat much because she had been sick. Itachi pulled down a box of rice to make the porridge for her. It was an old recipe his mother had made for him when he and Sasuke were sick as children as well. The water was boiling as he added the rice and he looked into the water. As proud of he was of his own culinary ability, he was even more so of Izumi's. If there was one thing she could make that he could never get the hang of himself it was his favorite food, dango.
"You would never need me to cook for you if you could make this yourself." Izumi teased Itachi as she put her finger in some of the red bean paste and placed it playfully on his nose.
"You know me too well." Itachi said as he wiped the paste off and smiled at her.
"How about this, you can make dinner and I can make dessert." She laughed. " I have never seen anyone do what you can do with red snapper."
"That's a promise I can uphold." Itachi smiled.
At this memory, he sighed and looked around. The house was quiet since Izumi died but attained a new level of quiet since Akari became ill. It's nothing that can't be treated. Measles is a common and very treatable illness. It's rare anyone dies from it. Itachi thought as he put a little chicken broth in the porridge. It added just enough flavor that Akari would eat it without causing a fuss. She did not like bland foods at all and one of the hardest parts of getting her to eat while sick was that most foods "didn't taste like anything" according to her. However, he was still haunted by the idea that Akari would die from the illness like Izumi did in childbirth. Itachi stared out the window overlooking the field and saw the graves for Izumi and the stillborn child. Childbirth was supposed to be something that people commonly didn't die from too. Itachi thought bitterly as he brought the butcher's knife over the fish's head a little harder than he needed to, thinking about the loss of his wife with bitterness. Once an hour had passed, Konan had headed into the dining room adject to the kitchen.
"Itachi?" Konan asked as she sat down.
"Just a minute Konan," Itachi said. "I have to finish a few things and take Akari her porridge. I'll join you soon."
"I can take Akari the porridge if you would like me to," Konan volunteered.
"Thank you, but I will do it." Itachi said. "A little Daddy-daughter time while she is recovering. I am all she has after all."
"I understand." Konan said as she sat down and looked at the wall. The manor house was decorated beautify. It was much better than most the houses she had been in Ame, and as one of the top doctors in the village, she had been sent to treat the richest and most prominent citizens of the village. It was a sign of just how well off Konoha was in comparison to Ame.
Itachi walked past the dining room and knocked on Akari's door. "Akari-chan, are you awake?"
"Yes Papa." She said. Itachi could hear a little improvement in her voice but she still sounded ill and rather raspy.
"Okay, I am bringing you your dinner." Itachi said as he opened the door and placed the tray on her lap. "Sit up so you can eat it properly."
"Yes Papa." Akari smiled. She saw the bowl on her tray and her face fell. "Again?"
"It's to help you get better. You know my mother made me the same thing when I was sick when I was growing up." Itachi smiled.
Akari may have been a well behaved child for her age, but she did have some typical traits for a 5 year old, and dislike of healthy foods or foods that didn't taste very good were high on her list. She took the spoon and filled it up and then poured the rice porridge into the bowl looking as if the porridge had crushed her every dream. "Is there anything else I can have?" She pleaded.
"I am sorry, but until Doctor Konan says better, this is what you will have. If she says you are a little better tomorrow, I will make you a bowl of miso pork ramen." Itachi offered knowing that while she was well mannered, Akari was stubborn when she wanted to be.
"Okay." Akari said as she slurped some of the rice porridge.
"I saw that." Itachi said as he looked at Akari.
"What Papa?" She asked innocently.
"You didn't really eat any of it." Itachi said looking at her sternly. Akari took a spoonful, put it in her mouth and swallowed it. "Open up." He said. Akari rolled her eyes and opened up to show that she had swallowed the rice porridge. "Good. Now I want you to eat this all."
"I will." Akari sighed. "Why didn't you trust me and made me open my mouth up?"
"As weird as it may seem to you," Itachi said as he ruffled Akari's mahogany hair, "I was your age once too. And I did the same thing when I was sick. So I know what to look for."
"I will have to try harder to think of something to outsmart you Papa." Akari said with a smile.
"Oh we'll have to see about that." Itachi said. "I will be back later for your tray."
"Tell Doctor Konan I said 'Hi' too. I like her. She seems nice. Much nicer than the doctors in Konoha." Akari said as she took another spoonful of the porridge and swallowing it with a little disgust.
"I will. I have dinner for her and I prepared and I will tell her what you said. Now eat up. I love you my Akari-chan." Itachi said as he headed to shut the door.
"I will eat this up." Akari said. "I love you too Papa. Also tell Doctor Konan I love her too."
"I will. Now eat. I will see you later." Itachi said as he shut the door and headed back down the hallway to where Konan was sitting. Akari was a very loving child when she was younger and would play with any of the kids on the playground and befriend them all. However, after Izumi died, she became more closed off. Her teachers often reported she would just sit in the corner drawing or playing with her bear Kuma chan. And frankly, Itachi couldn't blame her as he did the same. He would often sit in front of the fireplace and stare at the fire blinking at it, thinking about his life. He blamed Konoha for everything in his mind. If their best doctor couldn't save Izumi and his son from dying, then what could they do? What good were they for? Tsunade had shown up at Izumi's funeral to offer her sympathies but they seemed hollow and prefabricated. She may have been the Hokage but it seemed to have any sympathy as a copy and paste sentiment. As Itachi headed into the dining room, he saw the plates he had prepared placed on the table already.
"I figured you may have had to take some time with Akari, so I brought these out for you." Konan said. "Sit down and eat."
"I have not been told to sit down and eat in my own house in a long time." Itachi said with a slight smile. "Akari told me to tell you that she loves you and thinks you are nice."
"Well that's sweet of her." Konan said.
"I had to make sure I said it. She's serious about the matter and will ask you if I had told you that when you check in on her again." Itachi smiled. "She reminds me so much of her mother."
"If you do not mind me asking you," Konan began, "What did happen to your wife? You said she died in childbirth but what was the reason given?"
"Well, you are a doctor," Itachi said. "When birth began with Itsuki, that was the name we were going to give the baby if he lived, it wasn't easy. The doctors said it was a breech birth and when they checked his fetal heart rate, it was dropping and meconium aspiration." Konan nodded, knowing how serious each of these were alone. "This was when Sakura was summoned to help with the birth. As a student of Lady Tsunade herself, her knowledge was extensive. However, it was not meant to be, or she was too slow but by the time Itsuki was born, he had already died. Yet the sorrow didn't end there. Izumi was crushed and was just staring off into space. However, what was thought to be typical postpartum depression along with typical depression with the loss of a child turned out to be an amniotic fluid embolism and she had died a few hours later." Itachi felt his eyes begin to water as he looked towards the graves of his wife and son. "I have never gotten over it and Akari has a hard time opening up to the other children because of it. They all have Mommies and Daddies, some have little siblings and she feels so sad that she has just me. She has clung onto me because of it and I guess I have her, but no child should have to see that so young."
Konan walked up and handed Itachi a handkerchief and hugged him close. She didn't know why she did it, it was to show that she was sympathetic to what happened to him. "No, no child should have to see that, but you are doing a good job keeping her happy." She said comfortingly.
"If Sakura had gotten here sooner." Itachi growled. "Or better yet if Lady Tsunade had been any proper doctor and come when it was clear how dangerous the birth was becoming. They knew Izumi wanted a home birth and said everything was fine before it happened. I guess they were just trying to get me out of there or just wanted my money."
"So that's why you don't trust the doctors here? You think they neglected their duties." Konan said as she looked into Itachi's eyes.
"Yes." Itachi said regaining his composure. "Let's enjoy this meal and I am sorry for bringing the mood down."
"No, it's my fault for asking such a personal question." Konan said.
"No, you didn't ask anything too personal. I would have stopped you if you had." Itachi said.
"This snapper looks pretty good. You ever think of becoming a chef?" Konan said hoping to try and cheer up Itachi.
"Izumi said the same thing to me many times." Itachi said with a slightly sorrowful smile.
"She would want you to be happy." Konan said as she ate. She knew full well how women thought before they died, some had told her their final wishes for their husbands and that was to move on, be happy and make sure their children were well taken care of. Itachi looked at Konan with a look that said he had heard those words too many times to count. "I know you may think them hollow, but I have heard it many times from the terminal cancer patients in the Ame hospital. They had time to think about things and told me they wanted their families to be happy and find someone who helps them. Not a single woman demanded their husband sit in sorrow for the rest of his life."
Itachi looked up at Konan and smiled at her. She knew what she was talking about in his mind. Konan seemed different than the other women in Konoha who offered their sympathies after Izumi died. They were either formal sorrows or ones from women who wanted Itachi for his money and name. Both were pathetic vultures in his mind. However Konan seemed more real and caring than most people in the village did about the matter. "Well, that is certainly something to think about. I am sure Izumi would agree with you." Itachi said. "Now eat, I didn't put that hard work in for it to get cold."
"I sure will." Konan said smiling at Itachi, "This is delicious."
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? I am not intending this story to be very long but still. I don't see enough of this pairing and I got some steam for this for once. So remember to read (Well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now
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