I do not own Naruto okay? I know I haven't updated in awhile but I do intend to finish this one and so far this seems to be a shorter story. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
Itachi woke up early, the first beams of the sunrise breaking into his bedroom when he got up, put on a bathrobe over his pajamas and headed out to the kitchen where he heard the whistle of a teapot on the stove. He looked over and saw Konan, fully dressed making a cup of tea. If there was one thing he and Izumi never really agreed on, was when it was appropriate to get up. Izumi was a late riser while Itachi would often rise before the sun. With this memory, he turned to Konan who had poured herself a cup of tea and looked over at him.
"Itachi-san, tea?" She asked as she poured him a cup. "I find it helps me to start the day."
"Thank you." He looked at her and then to his dress, which was very relaxed. "Forgive my appearance,"
"Oh it's nothing." Konan said as she took a sip of her tea. "You forget as a doctor I am used to seeing much, much worse."
"Yes, but I summoned you here as a guest of my household." Itachi said trying to convince Konan there was something to apologize for. "I should be presenting my best for you."
"Relax, I am comfortable with this." Konan said with a slight giggle. With this, she turned to her tea and stared into it. That giggle seemed a little more girlish than I am used to. She thought with an almost panic. But as she looked at the tea, she had to admit, she was starting to care about Itachi more than just as the father of her patient. Here was a classy, intelligent man who had suffered greatly at the loss of his wife and son and was left with a daughter. He seemed to be managing okay, but he was also the type of man who could bury his pain deep and well. Noticing an awkward silence forming in the room, she spoke up, "When it gets a little later, I will check on Akari and see how she's progressing. It seems she is doing well and will make a full recovery soon."
"That's excellent news to hear. I love Akari with all my being." Itachi said with the slightest of smiles that Konan noticed. She smiled and looked back at him.
"Do you have any plans today?" She asked, trying to keep the conversation casual.
"I actually have some affairs to take care of in the village. With the Uchihas being as important a clan as we are, I need to handle some legal affairs from time to time that involve the family holdings." Itachi explained.
"What about your brother Sasuke?" Konan asked. "Or did it fall all to you?"
"I was the firstborn male, so I am the one who has to handle the affairs, I was the heir to the clan." Itachi explained.
"Do you need any help?" Konan said in earnest.
"No. This is typical of my duties that I have to handle now and again. I do appreciate your concern. You seem to care more than the others who have stopped by." Itachi said as he got up. " Now if you will excuse me, I have to change and get some eggs for breakfast. There is a coop on this property with a few laying hens."
"You collect your own eggs?" Konan asked in surprise.
"Yes. Izumi swore they tasted better than the ones we got at the market and it was one of her favorite things on the manor. I kept it up for her after she died. Seemed a real shame to give it all up." Itachi said.
Once he dressed, he headed to the coop and gathered a basket full of eggs for the household. Looking at the hens as they clucked frantically as the sun moved in and they began their laying, he smiled. This was something he had that was something of Izumi's that didn't make him feel bad. He had locked away most of her other possessions out of the pain of their sight. He would cry at her memory and not wanting to upset Akari any more than she would be already, he wanted to refrain from crying as much as possible. However, with Konan treating Akari and taking a genuine concern in his own life, he was conflicted on how to feel. He knew Izumi did not want him to be alone and Akari seemed to like her, but yet he couldn't admit what he was feeling. As he finished gathering the eggs, he threw a few handfuls of feed out to the hens who jumped down from their nest boxes and pecked at the ground with a furiously enthusiastic clucking and ate the feed.
Itachi took the basket of eggs into the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast. He noticed Konan was sitting at the table still, reading over some papers. "Have you eaten yet?" He asked.
"No I haven't and I should be-" she started when her stomach gave a growl.
"Hungry. You should be hungry. I will make you some as well. We can eat then you can head to Akari's room to give her her check up and some medicine. I have to head into the Village early so I trust you can handle it on your own. If I wasn't so needed I would wait until after the check up."
"I can handle it." Konan said as Itachi turned to the stove and began to prepare some rice to make tamago-kake-gohan.
Itachi went to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of soy sauce and set it on the table and placed a bowl of peaches in the center of the table while he waited for the rice to finish cooking. He noticed Konan still reading and turned to her. "What are you reading if you mind me asking?"
"A paper on some of the latest treatments of combat injuries and secondary infections. Many hospitals have become breeding grounds for some nasty opportunistic infections. These often happen without proper care for sanitization during treatment of combat injuries that because of the urgent nature is often partially overlooked." Konan explained as Itachi looked intrigued. "I shouldn't be talking about things like that after your loss and with Akari sick herself."
"No, I am genuinely interested." Itachi said. The nations often fought each other and being in a prominent clan himself, he knew of many members who had died in battle upholding the name and honor they had.
"Well it's a fine line to walk when time is of the essence. Many injuries we see require the utmost and urgent care to stop bleeding and make it so they have the blood to heal in the first place. If the jugular vein, corraded artery or femoral vein are cut then there is little time to waste and some doctors see the recommended time washing hands as a waste when you can use a little hand sanitizer and be nearly as effective. Not to mention some of these super-bugs have become immune to traditional antibiotics and sanitizer." Konan explained.
"Wow." Itachi said.
"Yes. So there are some new ideas on ways to have hand washing be effective and quicker and to make sanitizer stronger but not so strong that it could poison the patient as well." Konan said.
"It's good to see you keep up with the latest developments in medicine." Itachi said as he placed a bowl of tamago-kake-gohan in front of Konan and mixed his with a little soy sauce while she did the same.
"It's imperative that we do so. Research is constant and we are to treat people with the best of our abilities." Konan said.
"Yes. Any good doctor would keep perfecting her craft and not ride her sensei's name..." Itachi growled to himself thinking of Sakura when Izumi died in childbirth.
"Sorry?" Konan asked.
"Nothing." Itachi said as he finished his breakfast. "I should be back sometime this afternoon. If I am running late, don't worry, just keep Akari safe and happy. I can handle myself pretty well."
"I will do so Itachi-san." Konan said with a slight bow. "I think I will go check on her now."
"Good." Itachi said as he headed towards the door, putting an overcoat on and walking down to the village. Because of the nature of the dealings that had to be done, both Uchiha brothers were required in the Hokage's office. Itachi had arranged to meet up with Sasuke at a tea house in town and then they would head to the office to negotiate the new rulings for some development that came very close to Uchiha property. As Itachi approached the tea house, he saw Sasuke sitting down, poking at a few rice balls and sipping a cup of tea.
"Ni-san." Sasuke said simply as he got up. He knew that Itachi did not hold much for many people after Izumi's death and wanted to keep things as cool as possible. "Ready to work out these dealings?"
"I guess so, Ototo." Itachi said as they got up and headed towards the Hokage's office. They walked in silence looking sternly ahead when Sasuke spoke up.
"Look Ni-san, I know you're upset about Izumi," Itachi scoffed slightly. "But it wasn't anyone's fault! Sakura-chan did the best she could." Itachi remained silent. Sasuke knew that he could not change Itachi's view on that matter any time soon. So he tried to keep conversation going by asking about his niece. "So, how's Akari doing? Heard she got the measles."
"You heard correct. However she is under the great care of a doctor from Ame. Akari seems to really like her and she is great to have around. Great for discussion and is constantly learning her craft as a doctor." Itachi said with a slight note of pride.
"But why did you call a foreign doctor in? Was none of Konoha's good enough for something like measles?" Sasuke asked, slightly offended his brother wouldn't let Sakura treat her own niece. "I mean I totally get why you wouldn't be trusting of many after what happened with Izumi but still, are you like what, falling in love with this Konan chick?" Sasuke asked.
Itachi blinked. Was it that obvious from what he said? Itachi thought he was just emphasizing why he thought she would be better than Sakura to treat Akari. He knew that as her uncle, Sasuke cared about Akari too, but also cared a lot about his wife's career and the name of the village. Was it like when they were teenagers again and one could pick up on the other's crushes? Itachi recalled how Sasuke, even though he was only 12 at the time when Itachi first started dating Izumi, could tell he was in love with her and he could tell Sasuke loved Sakura even though he would come home from school and assignments saying how annoying and useless he thought she was when they were younger. Maybe ototo, maybe I am... Itachi thought, not giving a care to what scandal that would cause, the head of one of Konoha's prominent clans falling in love, dating and possibly marrying a foreigner. "Let's just take care of the negotiations, ototo..."
"Whatever you say ni-san..." Sasuke said as they turned into the Hokage's office.
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Talky? Let me know in a review. I know this had no Akari in it, but there will be some in the next chapter. I also had to add a few issues besides the illness and loss of Izumi. I know there isn't a lot of ItaKon fics out there so I figured I would work on this one. Once again, sorry for taking a while to update and remember to read, well you just did and to review. Ciao for now,
otherrealmwriter
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