Pompeii
Chapter 32
VesperChan

"You know that our uncle is gonna be pissed if he finds out what you said," Shisui commented, watching as his cousin stalked ahead of him once they touched down.

Talking mid fight was possible but not suitable for when someone wanted to have a serious enough conversation that required reading body language. Shisui didn't need to read Itachi's body language, but his words felt empty without the reaction.

"Which one?" Itachi murmured dully, brushing the dust off his shoulders as his wings slipped out of space, folded into the shadows.

Shisui paused, thought on it, and shivered at the visual image. "Ah, yeah, Izuna is quite fearsome when he wants to be."

It didn't help things that Izuna had so few things he could actually be fearsome for. He cared for his family, but seemed to understand they were all powerful enough to stand on their own. Even when Sasuke had been hurt as a youngling, Izuna had never been moved to defend the boy or coddle him like he would when he was with Sakura during their appointment times. Sakura was the first person who stepped into Izuna's world that he could treat in such a pampering way.

"I still think Madara is the scarier one. He'd chase us down the mountain if he got that angry, but Izuna wouldn't be able to...Madara would just do it for him. Ugh, I'm not looking forward to that," said Shisui.

"Agreed. He need not know."

Shisui flapped his own wings once more before pulling them up and tucking them away. "Hey, yeah, but that doesn't excuse you from, you know, doing the wrong thing. You crossed a line back there, and you still need to apologize for that."

"We were pursuing all possible leads on an open investigation. I need not apologize for doing my job," Itachi answered sharply.

Shisui reached out and grabbed a handful of black fabric and yanked Itachi back. Not expecting it, the younger Uchiha stumbled and Shisui was able to pull Itachi to the wall and pin him there.

"Asking invasive, embarrassing questions in front of others who are not your intimate is not your job! Hurting the girl you like when you're embarrassed and don't know what to say isn't your job either. You got an ego my cousin, I do too. It's an Uchiha thing we all have to deal with, but you don't ever let it become an excuse for hurting others emotionally."

There wasn't a struggle as Itachi allowed himself to stay pinned up against the wall. Both cousins were caught in a stare that hurt to hold too long, and Itachi looked away first, ears going red. He swallowed and ducked his head, shifting on his feet while still remaining pinned by Shisui.

"I-I didn't meant to embarrass."

"Yeah, well you did. That Hyuga brat was watching and everything. I don't care what you've heard from Pein or the others about her being a disenfranchised god that can cast personal barriers, we don't assume anything. There are any number of reasons she could have not been able to defend herself so well."

"My aim was not to imply any form of ...victim blaming," Itachi whispered, face contorting at the words as if they were hard to hear in his own voice.

"Yeah, well you're not the only one who wanted to know more about our cute new doctor, but there are better ways to go about it." Shisui let go of Itachi and stepped back. "And for goodness sake, don't jump to the stuff newlyweds ask."

"I didn't mean for it to come across like that!"

Shisui cracked a secret sort of smile. "Yeah, yeah, you can't fool me. Don't tell me you haven't had your own sort of secret fantasies of our cute little doctor dressed all in white for you, church bells ringing for the service."

Shisui leaned in with his arms crossed and grin wide, eyes flashing in delight as he saw his famously stoic cousin reduced to a simpering mess of red faced embarrassment that couldn't string two words together without a stutter.

"She'd look terrific in white, I think," Shisui pressed.

"Y-you're teasing."

"I'm sorry!" Shisui laughed. "My adorable straight laced cousin is getting this flustered about a fantasy of the girl he likes in a wedding dress. I mean, that's a little too pure for a hot blooded male, don't you think?"

Itachi's flush abated and a look of indignance came over him. "No. Absolutely not."

Shisui fitted his hands over his hips and tilted his head back to stare down his nose at his younger cousin who was also an inch or two shorter. "Hey, hey, we're not hermits anymore. We can indulge our eyes enough to get past such over exaggerated reactions to such little things."

"Sakura in a wedding dress is not a little thing."

Knowing their deep history as an all male family of hermits that used to view the mere sight of a female as an impure thing, it made sense that some of that tradition stuck to Itachi longer than others. But it had been centuries since their transmigration to Pompeii, and it was far too much fun to indulge in the sights and sounds of life among the people, regardless of their sex.

Some birds took to it faster than others, but Shisui liked to think he took to it fastest, even if Sasuke was the youngest to hatch. Sasuke could still be teased into a red faced mumbling mess with a few lewd suggestions easily enough, but for Itachi it was far rarer to see him perturbed.

It made Shisui want to be a little evil and see how far he could push this newly discovered emotional button on the other Uchiha. It wasn't his fault it was this fun to see Itachi lose it over a few ideas and fewer words.

Shisui's grin stretched wider. "Does her wedding dress come with a garter you envision removing?"

Itachi's wings slipped out, Itachi's concentration slipping. The bones from his back shivered and black feathers shook all around Itachi as he fisted both hands and tried to not let his imagination run much further.

"That is indecent to the unmarried lady," Itachi hissed, sounding more like a whine as he glared up at his cousin and folded his wings back, out of sight. "Aside from that, I don't think Sakura herself would appreciate the sentiments." Itachi straightened the front of his uniform and the flush ebbed away and control came back into his face. "Don't repeat that sort of language around our uncles… or Sasuke."

"You're not going to warn me about Obito?"

Itachi's reply was a simmering stare.

"Yeah," Shisui amended. "You're right, I wouldn't."

"Even you are not so dumb," Itachi muttered, pushing ahead and walking into the main hallway ahead of soft footsteps that followed was clue enough that he followed.

"That would be terrible to see," Shisui finally whispered as they passed another rice screen door. "Obito would chew my head off."

"Obito would be right to chew you head off," Itachi corrected with a raised brow.

The screen door to their immediate left rolled back with a smacking loud enough to freeze both boys in their tracks and stand wide eyed as Izuna looked down at the pair of them with dead black eyes.

"You two just got back from below?" Izuna asked coldly.

Shisui just swallowed while Itachi answered for the both of them. "Yes. We just returned."

"What were you doing tonight? My birds have expressed great agitation for my doctor."

Inwardly, Shisui cursed and forced his face to smile and appear as casual as ever while Itachi worked damage control with their uncle.

"She was partially involved, yes. We received a call from the Hyuga residence and were following up on it when we encountered Sakura inside a tree."

"She was inside a tree?" Izuna asked, his black feathered bird flapping in agitation behind him before settling down into a perch on the Uchiha's shoulder.

"Not when we arrived, but she had been inside it at one point, she was covered in its ichor and her wrist had been broken in the struggle. She's well now, and returned home with her friends. We're looking into how this might be connected to Orochimaru."

"That bastard snake doesn't contort the trees though," Izuna hissed, voice dangerously sharp.

Neither male had missed the flash of red once Izuna heard about Sakura's wrist breaking.

"His efforts have been thwarted by her involvement with the Haku boy's curse treatment at one point. He has also been known to tamper with the Senju DNA. This could be a new element to his powers we are seeing tested."

"The Senju are to blame in this," Izuna hissed. "They should have dealt with the brat the day he showed his colors. Maybe then the snake wouldn't have tampered with their damn DNA and created an abomination. The fact that to this day those matters are yet unresolved is appalling."

"We'll be meeting with them in the morning to follow up on this."

Izuna reaching behind and smoothed down the feathers of the bird on his shoulder. " If they're so willing. They've been meaning to share information with us on Orochimaru since before the winter solstice."

"We...did talk with them though," Shisui started to say before catching Itachi's look. "We just ended up agreeing to work separately and stay out of each other's way."

"This is still chiefly their fault. There is no excuse for their incompetence. Keeping Pompeii hidden and their federal bureau work don't amount to much."

Izuna started to turn back into his room and Itachi noticed there were several other birds perched around on various objects and pieces of furniture, all watching the pair oddly.

One bird held something in its beak and Itachi recognized it right away. The pink buds gave it away as a Sakura branch. Izuna paused in front of the bird and held out his hand to receive the twig. Itachi saw his uncle's tight face ease and relax at the sight of the pink buds. It was a broken bit of something larger, but Izuna took it tenderly and treated it with care as he returned to the table set up for flower arranging. He was already working on a larger work, but kept the broken branch in a tray of water to nourish it.

"I'll have this arrangement done in the morning if one of you wouldn't mind depositing it at the clinic for Sakura. She's far too soft for broken bones and this saddens me greatly."

"We'll drop it off in the morning," Itachi said, bowing and excusing himself before Shisui.

Izuna waved them off, but his eyes didn't leave the work he was busy with, picking through stems and stalks of flowers to arrange as beautifully as possible.

Sakura woke up on the edge of Yamato's bed and the first thing she thought was actually how hot her wrist was. Sitting up she reached for the brace and started to unbuckle the different pieces and get a good look at the swollen area, but when she looked down the skin was pale and smooth, bearing no signs of breakage or distress. Sakura poked the area and winced. Still fractured at least, but compared to when she came into the clinic with it, the change was dramatic. She estimated that Shizune's tea accelerated her natural healing by the first couple of weeks at least.

"How's the good doctor feeling?"

Sakura looked up, eyes wide in surprise to see Yamato already awake and grinning down at her. "You're awake! Oh, if I was snoozing on your bed you should have just told me. I didn't mean to-I, ugh, sorry. You could have woken me if I was bothering you."

"In what crazy world is it a bother to wake up and find out a pretty doctor's been at your bedside the whole night because she cared a bit about you?" he joked, smile easy and eyes bright. "'Sides, I thought it was cute."

Sakura flushed easily from the compliment. "You must be feeling better."

"Lots. I'm glad I decided to come in."

"Decided?" Sakura snorted, sitting up straighter. "That was a decision you had to make? You looked terrible, like a snake pin cushion. Anyone in their right mind would have come straight to the medical facilities with injuries like those."

"When did I ever claim to be in the right mind?"

Sakura groaned, rolling her eyes and turning around in the chair she had originally dragged up to the bedside. She started to pull her brace back together and made a note to thank Shizune for talking her out of a cast. If her bones were going to heal at such a rapid rate, it wouldn't be worth it to get out the plaster.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked without looking up from the straps as she pulled the brace back together.

"Fine. I knew I would if I could just sleep it off. It was just a bit uncomfortable for that little bit of time. I was fortunate he didn't have any time to thread curses into his snakes. Regular bites don't scare me."

Sakura looked up and frowned. "You looked scary coming in."

"Yeah, I guess so. There are punctures all over and-"

"Not like that," Sakura interrupted. "You. I mean, your body was a mess and there is that, but it was you that scared me. It was almost like you didn't care if you lived or died, like you decided to hold onto life on a whim or something. Do you remember what you said last night?"

"I said something?" Sakura frowned at his joking tone and his grin slid back into a neutral rest. "No, but I have a pretty good idea. Was it what I was thinking?"

"I don't know, what were you thinking?" she asked.

Yamato shrugged. "I almost didn't do it. I almost had it with the Senju and a part of me wanted to spite them and screw them over by not helping in the way only I could help. They wanted someone to do their dirty work and I was tired of getting my hands ruined in it."

Sakura leaned back in the chair and nodded, listening more. Yamato glanced up at her as if to check she was listening before going on.

"I am not loved by the people of Pompeii. At best I am tolerated. You have a friend, Ino? Her relation Deidara is in a similar situation where he is not looked upon so kindly because of the same evil source. Not because we chose it, but because of bad luck we're the wrong sort of different. I know this. There's no way I couldn't know this."

Sakura felt a painful knot in her gut as the confession came out of Yamato. She wanted to tell him it wasn't true, that it wasn't as bad as he said it was. These were her friends he was talking about. She wanted to defend them, but she couldn't.

"I move well in the dark, it's where I was born. I do the dirty work so the Senju can keep their hands clean. I hate them. I wanted them to...I wanted to hurt them in some way, in a small rebellion. But I didn't. I did as they asked and I hated myself for it in part. I'm still their dog. But I thought to myself after things were finished, that maybe if I just lay in the muck and let these things consume me, I won't have to worry about being a dog anymore."

"Yamato," Sakura breathed, feeling a pain even sharper in her chest. She winced at the feel of it and leaned in towards his bed as if that closeness could help. She felt fear for him and a shard of her mind turned back to the memory of Sai. She wanted to fold him under her arm and keep him safe there until he was emotionally healed.

Yamato grinned at her again and it was less teasing, more somber. "But I didn't. I dragged myself out of there just fine. I made the decision to drag myself here and get better because I think...even if it's small, I think there is still some good I can do for some people still. Not all people, but…" He swallowed and looked at her more fully. "Did I tell you that? That it was because of you that I was able to do it. If the rest of Pompeii went to dust and ash, if you were still here it would still be worth it. It was because of you I found it in myself to finish the job, and then to come back out of the muck."

Sakura felt at a loss for breath. It was hard to get words formed in her mouth when her brain was swimming with thoughts. "I'm so sorry you feel this way. I'm sorry. It's not fair. You've done a lot, probably more than I know, and I'm so proud of you but it's still not fair because it's not enough."

"It's enough for me." He shrugged when she glanced up. "For me at least, it's enough. You said you were proud of me. It's all I need."

Sakura was silent for a long while, reeling in the knowledge that her friend nearly didn't come back to her. As close as she was to losing her life last night, Yamato was just as close, maybe closer.

"Damn," she whispered, shaking her head. "I never knew Pompeii would be this crazy."

"Just don't leave it."

She slouched down across the end of his cot and grinned up at him from the bed sheets. "Not anytime soon. No plans for that."

Shizune came in to check in on them and gave Sakura more of that nasty tea before insisting that the two of them be broken up for proper recovery time. It was early afternoon when the guests came.

"Hashirama," Sakura greeted in surprise as she stood up from behind her desk and tugged on her lab jacket with her good hand. She noted his suit and tie as well as the similar manner of dress his younger brother sported as he stepped through. "And Tobirama. What brings the both of you to the clinic?"

Both tipped their heads in greeting and smiled easily, but it was Hashirama who spoke first.

"Good afternoon, Sakura. We wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing after last night. We were so sorry to hear you were hurt."

Tobirama's eyes were oddly fixated on the brace she tried to keep mostly obscured behind the drape of her lab coat. He blinked once, as if remembering himself and shifted his gaze up to meet hers. "You are doing better, aren't you?" he asked, sounding unsure of himself.

"Oh, of course." She waved her good hand in front of her face. "I'll be just fine in a few weeks I think. Um, is there something else I could help you with, or are you here for something else? Itachi said he would be talking to you."

"We met this morning before coming here. They filled us in on recent events," Hashirama said. "I can't begin to imagine how frightened you must have been, so it was important that we rush over and put you at ease."

"Oh?" Sakura glanced between the two of them. She bit back her sarcasm.

"It's been our goal and aim these past few months to neutralize and deal with the problem that you know as Orochimaru. It wasn't our intention to let knowledge of him spread or come to you until we could be sure we had dealt with him."

"I think I found out well enough on my own, regardless of whether I wanted to or not."

"Yes, I agree." Hashirama chuckled, sounding like he was used to placating.

Hashirama was a bright and kind person, but Sakura had the feeling that while he was kind and good natured, he lacked respect for her, or at least enough respect to be upfront and honest with her.

"But you can rest easy now, it was a last ditch effort for survival that spilled over into last night's events. We were quite busy with a number of other occurrences across Pompeii's boundaries. And there are still a number of other trees that are behaving...oddly, it's been linked to Orochimaru's failed research."

"Are you positive?" Sakura asked.

"Of course."

Sakura's gut told her otherwise.

"Brother, there was that other matter you wished to discuss," Tobirama interjected, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Sakura caught the way Hashirama's smile flinched. The elder Senju whispered something to his brother before glancing sideways at the only closed door in the clinic.

"Shizune informed us we have a patient here. Would you allow us to see him so that we may speak privately with him before leaving?"

Sakura didn't want to, but she nodded. "I'm not discharging anyone today, but I'll check to see if he's awake and up to having visitors. Wait here," she said before slipping away.

She didn't have to say much, since it was clear Yamato had heard everything from his room. His hearing was that much better than hers.

"You can send them in. I knew I would need to talk to them after this. I should tell them I'm leaving after this. I don't know where, but I'm moving out from the Senju lands and their...protection."

"Do you know where you will go?" Sakura asked in a whisper.

When Yamato shrugged her mind was made up.

"There are two other rooms on the second floor of this building. One is locked and neither I nor Shizune have a key to it. The other is filled with junk. You are welcome to the second room. It's yours if you want it."

Sakura walked out before he could protest and waved the two Senju in before returning to her seat behind the desk, where files needed to be read and sorted.

On the threshold Tobirama hung back and turned slightly back. "Sakura." His voice was so light she thought she didn't hear it at first, but looked up regardless to see him staring down at her. "I'm very glad you are well. I was terribly distress when I learned you were injured."

"Thanks for that, and for what you already do. I appreciate it."

Tobirama lingered in the doorway a second longer than a heartbeat before ducking his head and going inside. The door shut behind him and Sakura felt something like a weight slide off her shoulders. It was easier to breath now and she hadn't realized how suffocated she had felt in their presence. Maybe it was the suits.

Sakura made herself some more tea and drank it greedily.

Not five minutes later she heard someone come into the clinic and she stepped out of the workroom to see a beautifully arranged flower piece that looked professionally done. Her heart ached for the bursts of partially opened pink peonies wreathed by white yarrow buds. There were several other types of flowers accenting the peonies but Sakura tore her eyes away from the cluster to the man behind it.

"That's awfully fast, Itachi. Didn't I see you just yesterday."

She looked behind him and saw Shisui hanging out on the steps outside, chilling while leaning against the railing.

Odd.

"Sakura. These are for you. Izuna arranged them and said he was concerned for the wellbeing of his favorite doctor." Itachi lowered the display so that he could look over it. "The peonies are meant to symbolize healing, I believe."

"I must be super popular today. It's not even two in the afternoon and I've been visited this much," she joked. "Thanks for stopping by though. Are you coming from meeting with the Senju brothers?"

"We are. It was helpful to share information and be brought up to speed on their efforts to track down Orochimaru. They appear...competent. As we understand it, Orochimaru has been neutralized and last night's attack was a result of those efforts."

"Yeah, that's what Hashirama said."

Itachi held out the flowers to her and Sakura accepted them with her good hand before setting them down on a table where they would be admired. They really were expertly arranged. It felt nice to be treated.

"Sakura."

She looked up from staring at the flowers and noticed Itachi had moved much closer, less than an arm's reach away now.

He started to dip his head and Sakura took a step back on reflex, only to feel silly as Itachi folded into a deep bow (that wasn't a kiss at all).

"Please forgive me my foolishness in the unkind comment I made. It was not my intention to be callous with my words. I humbly beg your forgiveness."

Sakura reached out and touched his shoulder, urging him to stand up. "It's fine, don't get all bent out of shape for it. I...I understand you have a job to do, you were trying to work. But yeah, thank you for apologizing. I feel better hearing that, and yes, I forgive you. Alright?"

"It's...more than that, we prided ourselves on being protectors and yet we didn't…" Itachi swallowed and Sakura was surprised to see the Uchiha struggle with his words. It seemed difficult for Itachi to say what he wanted, to find the perfect words that fit just right. "We didn't know you were in such danger."

"Yeah, well, that happens. And I don't want to encourage any ideas of maybe you need to be stalkers from here on out, because I do like my privacy. But if you could keep an extra eye on the forest, I still don't trust it."

"Of course." Itachi tugged at his uniform. "I will be returning to patrol with Shisui now. If you need us, the birds will inform us."

Sakura nodded and waved as he made his way out and disappeared with Shisui. She watched them go, but turned back to her tea and sipped at what was left, dreading the time later that day when she would have to drink Shizune's tea for her bones. Lemongrass with honey was far more delightful to drink.

She had finished and was washing out her cup in the sink when she heard the door to Yamato's room open. She stepped out, ready to say goodby to the two Senju brothers, but couldn't catch sight of either of them. They had both left. Turning around she saw Yamato standing in the doorway, looking emotionally worn out and physically tired.

He looked up at her and smiled thinly. "So...you said something about a spare room?"