The old woman was dying.

If you wanted to be technical, then hey, all of us were dying. But she was closer than you'd think. It wasn't just her liver anymore. I could feel her body give way. My chakra could barely move past her system without giving out warning signs. All in all, if anybody asked me seriously, I'd say it was a useless effort to do anything at all - mostly because her estimated lifespan would be a month more, at best. But the sight of Suzu's wide eyes and hopeful expression had me swallowing my words before they could pour out.

I gritted my teeth, wrapping a hefty bandage around the lower half of my face.

The sad thing about healing is that people think it's easy. Even now, I knew Hiro and Suzu both expected a miracle. 'Oh, hey, she can manipulate chakra! Surely she can save anyone.'

Yeah, that kind of thinking gets us medics in trouble more often than not. I cannot count the number of hysterical people in the hospital who had approached me, screaming about my incompetence. I knew grief brought out the worst in people. Seriously, I empathized. But well, it still wasn't easy.

Anyway, healing didn't merely entail shoving your chakra into some poor, unsuspecting sod's body. Healing was molding chakra, and forcing it to reconnect pathways and join torn muscles. It was rumored that the medics of the Senju clan could once jumpstart a heart for a period of time. Well, frankly, I was of the opinion that the whole exercise was worthless - why restart a heart when the brain was already gone?

Suzu handed me a another smaller scalpel, and after ensuring once again that my impromptu mask didn't allow any unwanted smell to wander through, I began working.

It was tedious and annoying, and above all, sweaty. By the end of it, I was on my haunches, leaning against the bed as I tried to catch my breath. My forehead felt hot and my fingers were twitchy. I tiredly untied the cloth from my face, letting it fall to the ground with a soft thump. Suzu leaned over me to check on the old woman, and tittered happily when she realized that the swelling on her body had reduced significantly.

"Oh, thank you so much, medic-san!" She all but cooed, fluttering across the room to fetch me a glass of water. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her discreetly wipe the bloodstains off the edge of the bed and felt a tiny fountain of gratitude well up in me. Clearly, she had noticed my… difficulties regarding blood.

"Not a problem," I mumbled, accepting the glass with a tired smile, "It's my job."

"Nonetheless, we are grateful," Hiro said, opening the door. He'd turned away during the operation, looking a little green, but he seemed loads better after Suzu opened the windows. "It is -,"

The rest of his sentence trailed off on its own when a very significant presence walked in, all but caked in blood.

My eyes snapped up as my nostrils flared at the offending scent, meeting spinning red. I was suddenly very aware that Itachi was covered in red, the sharp color contrasting against his black vest. His long, sleek hair was pulled to the side, the angle of his head hiding most of it from view, but nothing could mask the pervading scent of blood in the atmosphere.

Honestly, I hated being that person - the one who gets hysterical at the mere sight of blood. And on most days, I was fine. I swear I could control my reactions better than this. Even as I stumbled upright to my feet, clutching my stomach, I was very aware of the fact that it was perhaps Itachi covered in it that had brought about such a strong reaction.

As I swept past him, I could feel him turn to follow me, even as I mentally willed him to stay where he was. Suzu cried out after us, but Hiro had the sense to remain quiet.

The outside air calmed me somewhat, but since the object of my dissatisfaction was currently following me through the street, it was significantly harder than one would think to forget the image of redredred coating the air, fouling the room! -

"Haruno! Stop this nonsense at once!"

There was a pale hand holding my arm.

I struggled against it, trying to push it away. There were drops of blood on his skin, some dried and crusted beneath his nails. The metallic tang was sharp enough to combat the open air, sweeping against the wind to hit my nose. And. It. Was. Too. Strong.

Itachi let go of me suddenly, and I stumbled back, eyes wide. The next few seconds were a blur. For one insane moment, I could feel the hard wall behind me, the rough stone digging into my skin, and in the next, I could feel a stiff chest behind my back, someone's hand holding me firmly across my waist.

From the corner of my eyes, I spied the dreaded red color again.

I renewed my struggle, pushing against the warm figure. "Itachi, please -!"

"I am not your weak-willed Konoha shinobi, Kunoichi."

I could almost feel the blood in my veins crystallize in shock.

"Let her go."

My eyes snapped up, only to see Itachi standing across from us, his stance purely offensive. The hand across my waist loosened, and I barely had time to shift back, catch a glimpse of red hair before something else - something not human - grabbed hold of my hand and threw me across the road and straight into a wooden cart. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that I had the presence of mind to smash the cart before I hit it, I would've gone splat against it.

"So they were your men," Itachi continued, barely sparing me a glance beyond checking that I was okay - "I should've known it would be you who would rally the Oto again." He looked, as usual, far too calm in a situation like the one we were in. I had the absurd urge to laugh out loud - whether it was harassing unsuspecting females or dealing with rogue nins, one could always trust Uchiha Itachi to have a poker face during both situations.

"I didn't rally anyone, Uchiha," Came the retort, and I had my first, proper look at our enemy. He was young - younger than I had believed possible from his voice - with red hair and greyish-brown eyes. My eyes moved to his face, and I realized with no uncertain amount of shock that he was looking right at me.

"Interesting."

I was too engrossed in the foreign nin to see how Itachi's grip around his kunai tightened fiercely at the benign comment.

Pop.

Another Itachi materialized behind me, and I spun around in surprise. I hadn't even seen him make any seals.

Even as I stood with my jaw open, clone-Itachi grabbed my hand, drawing me closer to him. I could barely squeak in surprise before he buried my head into his chest, and then…

Chakra flooded the area. Malicious, killing intent corroded the environment around us. It all but obliterated my fright of blood, creating another one in its place. If it wasn't for the fact that he was holding me upright, I would've long since fallen to my knees.

This, I thought weakly, was the strength of an ANBU Captain.

"Focus, Shiyako," He muttered into my ear, bringing me back. The Intent was still strong in the air, but somehow, the feeling of his warm hands wrapped around my back pushed it back. It helped that I could smell him again - the familiar scent pushing me into ease. Adrenaline pumped through my body.

And then I felt it.

There was a strong, retaliating spike in chakra from somewhere to our left, and I looked up, noticing Itachi's eyes narrow in recognition of the threat. His fingers loosened, and I stumbled back, narrowly avoiding a fall. Meanwhile, the real Itachi unleashed huge fireball at the foreign ninja, who deftly jumped aside to avoid it.

The clone turned around to face the vast army of puppets that were descending on us, but not before commanding me to stay out of the fight. Of course, I completely tuned him out.

I'd like to say that like any good medic, I followed the commandments Tsunade-sama had created for us. Second clause: No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines.

But even as I called my flickering chakra to life, I was aware that I was already in the front lines, and when I saw clone Itachi rush forward into battle, and the real Itachi on my left, sparring against the owner of those creepy puppets, I smashed my palm into the ground, grinning macabrely at the splinters when a few puppets fell through.

"Haruno -!"

Itachi's voice was cut-off when the other ninja attacked, but I could hazard a guess as to what he wanted to say. The corner of his mouth was slanted, and there was a dangerous gleam in his eyes I'd only seen once before. It had my heart thumping where I stood.

I'd forgotten he was just as dangerous as anyone else around us, if not more.

Then there was a hand that connected against my waist, and my vision spun for a long, agonizing moment. When it did settle, I realized that clone-Itachi (or real Itachi?) had picked me up, and all but thrown me across the clearing, where yet another one of him caught me half in the air. The resulting slam was more painful than I thought it'd be, and I found myself panting against his chest, very aware of the throbbing pain in my head.

Of course, that was forgotten when Itachi leaned down, his onyx black eyes meeting startled blue, and scowled "What do you think you're doing?" His voice was very, very tight and controlled.

I'd always maintained that everything Itachi did was… intense. But this was pushing the limits of even that. There was this look in his eyes, and I couldn't stop the shivers from running down my spine.

"I…" I gulped nervously, unconsciously tightening my grip against his bicep, "I wanted to help, and -,"

"You're going against my command, Haruno… And I expressly dislike people - ," He interrupted, and then stopped, his eyes flickering upwards. For a second, they gleamed red. "I see you've managed to dispel my clones then, Sasori."

Sasori.

Sasori of… Suna?

I didn't realize I'd said it out loud until I felt a sharp inhale near my forehead. Itachi looked down at me, eyes indecipherable.

"I'm insulted, Uchiha. If you can find time to play with your little girlfriend, then you clearly aren't taking me seriously." Pause. "If you'd like… I can ensure she lasts forever. A body that does not decay… a puppet body can be rebuilt over and over… unfettered by a mortal life span."

And Itachi reacted.

There was a sudden blur ahead of me that moved, even as I felt hot puffs of breath against my forehead. The air shifted, turned darker, and belatedly, I realized that his eyes were bleeding.

I gasped. "Itachi -,"

"Your fire techniques are useless against me, Uchiha! I have long since -,"

Suddenly, I was shoved aside (again!) and felt the air brush past me as Itachi ran forward. Then there was a huge blast that had my ears ringing for a long, long while. Dust swirled around me, and the terrain was unrecognizable. I couldn't even see beyond a few inches. Warily, I rose to my feet, curling my fists into something vaguely offensive. This wasn't part of the mission parameters. Sasori was an S-class missing-nin, right on par with Orochimaru himself. For him to be lying in wait for us…

Hesitantly, I took a step forward, casting my senses out. There was brief moment of blissful nothingness, and then the sheer amount of chakra coating the air had me wincing in pain at the assault. Truthfully speaking, when two S-class nins collide, I should've had the sense to retreat a long, long time ago.

But nothing was ever so simple, I thought a moment later, when I spied a vaguely jerky movement through the dust. The puppet was missing half of its green hair, and the eyes were blank enough to warn me off even if the sheer lack of life radiating from it didn't. Then it threw a sharp circle of kunai straight at me, and there was no time to think anymore.

I promptly jumped aside, calling chakra to my fists and ran forward, smashing my fist at the side of his head. The wood cracked, and the puppet fell to the ground. I gave a brief, wan smile. Clearly, my skills weren't that lacking.

Yet.

Of course, that was also when I realized that during my moment of bravado, seven other puppets I hadn't even noticed had formed a circle around me.

It had been easy to jump into battle with Itachi around, knowing and believing that he wouldn't let anything hurt me. But now that he was nowhere to be found, and I was surrounded by creepy looking things that had most likely once been real people - because truly, the blonde hair on one of them was just too realistic to be anything but - I was panicking.

I was going to die.

I knew I couldn't do nothing, but my fingers refused to move. Vaguely, I was aware of the fact that what I was experiencing had some medical name, but my limbs simply refused to cooperate.

I wasreally going to die. Here. In this nameless, faceless village.

One of the puppets - ironically, the blonde one - jumped forward, and I could feel the air move as it lifted its sword into the air and -

"Caw!"

The sudden flutter of black feathers blinded the puppet for a moment, and even as I jumped aside, I was aware of the others behind me, and the fact that my strength was flagging, and that moving was becoming significantly harder -

"How…" The black blur in front of me attacked, and through fluttering eyes, I could see the puppets fall to the ground - one by one - like their strings were being cut off, and suddenly, I could feel my knees give way, and the feeling of soft fingers pressing into the underside of my thighs as I was lifted up - "...Do you always manage to utterly disregard everything I say, Haruno?"

I sniffed delicately, aware of the faint sheen of tears in my eyes - because goddammit yes, I was crying, and closer to death than I'd ever been - and clutched his vest tightly, burying my face into his chest.

Before I fainted properly like the stupidly delicate flower I was, knowing that when I woke up I'd want to kill myself for being so weak and so, so idiotic, if Itachi didn't kill me first of course, I forced my head up in order to look at him properly, even if the edges were blurry.

If nothing, the sheer force of his gaze made me want to crawl into a hole and just die.

"...Thank you, Captain."

{X}

My head was pounding. It had never been so painful before, and my fingers rushed to my forehead, sending a wave of soothing chakra through. Then I lifted myself upright, somehow crawling up to take stock of my surroundings.

Itachi sat a little way off, his face trained towards me. His expression was indecipherable - a constant mix between blank and tumultuous. I hadn't forgotten the sheer fury in his eyes when I'd ignored his orders, obviously.

So I looked away. In my own way, I could be a coward sometimes.

There was a glass of water sitting on the bedside, and with shaky hands, I lifted it. I pointedly ignored the soft rustle in front of me until the glass was snatched away from my grasp and the bed springs moved due to the extra weight.

This close, his eyes were smoldering.

"Haruno."

His voice was like steel.

I shut my eyes. To be fair, I'd been reprimanded by superior officers, yes, but it was something I hadn't faced in a long, long time. Also, to have Itachi doing this… Itachi, who I disliked. Itachi, who had once asked me to be his friend. Itachi, who had been rude to me.

And Itachi, who had saved my life.

The last thought cinched it. My eyes flew open, and I pressed my fingers together firmly. "I'm sorry," I whispered, not meeting his gaze, "I should have listened to you, and I'm sorry."

The air above me shifted again, and then something cold hit my lips. Unbidden, my mouth opened, and water - cool, soothing water went pouring in.

Of course he'd treat me like an invalid.

My cheeks burned, and I curled my own fingers around the glass, pulling it from his grasp. I'm quite ashamed to say that I still couldn't meet his eyes. There was something really off-putting in knowing that the person in front of you had the full right to scold you whenever and wherever he wished.

"Why did you run away?" Itachi asked softly.

Yes, of course he'd ask that question too. I almost sighed again. "Tsunade-sama should've told you. I… Well, I and blood don't really mix. Usually, I'm fine, but today was just…"

"You've had bad experiences with it."

It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I said, keeping the glass back on the table. "That's why I don't… I mean, that's why I became a medic. I don't think I can ever kill anyone, and blood makes me queasy. I'd be a horrible combat kunoichi."

The silence I faced forced me to blather on. "I'm a pacifist, Uchiha-san. I don't… condone killing. But I'm also part of a Hidden Village, so I offered my services in any way I could.. I…"

Cool, soft fingers suddenly pressed against my chin, forcing my head upwards and all my words drifted away. This close, I could perhaps even count the number of eyelashes that framed his eyes, the deep black of it suddenly soft and understanding. There was something in them that had my heart thudding where I sat - some sort of urgency and some sort of peace I had never seen before. Even as I watched, another hand lifted, slightly, and brushed a few of my bangs aside.

The whole action left me breathless.

Itachi's head tilted to the side as he watched my changing expressions with lidded eyes.

"You don't need to be embarrassed about not being able to kill, Haruno." An almost smile graced his lips… But the undertone was… mocking? "Lesser men than you live and die without admitting the truth so freely."

What…?

He was no longer touching me. The fingers had fallen away to rest on his lap and his head was bowed downwards. The air between us thrummed with tension, and I laughed awkwardly to dispel it.

When that didn't quite work, I attempted to get up.

Instantly, he was at my side and pressing me down. I scowled pointedly, crossing my arms together. "You have to let me get up at some point."

"Perhaps," Came the winning reply, accompanied by an equally astonishing winning smile, "But probably not today." It transformed his face, banishing the sudden darkness our conversation had conjured.

Really, what an odious man.

I scowled even more. "I'm not the one who hasn't slept for two nights."

"I'm also ANBU, as you may have forgotten," Itachi replied just as cheerfully as before.

"You're also human," I parroted back, and had the favor of seeing his lips twitch briefly again as he swallowed yet another smile. Clearly, my belligerence amused him.

"My enemies don't quite consider me human."

The familiar feeling of smacking him into the floor welled up in me again. "Honestly Itachi! Don't be so difficult! My chakra reserves are - what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

An almost thoughtful flicker passed over his eyes before he suppressed it. "Nothing."

"That wasn't nothing."

Like before, the familiar cheery smile lightened his face. "Perhaps not." And then: "And perhaps you're right. I'm more tired than I thought I was."

I barely had time to widen my eyes before he dropped on the bed right next to me, muscles stretching as he propped his head beneath his hands. The bed springs creaked under his weight.

"I know you're trying to distract me from something," I warned petulantly, almost pouting.

Itachi ignored me. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes, but I -,"

"Excellent. I shall see you in the morning then."

With that, he shut his eyes and seemed to fall asleep just as quickly. Maybe I had misjudged him. He clearly had some faith in me.

I gaped at him for a few moments before cautiously sliding out of bed. It was then that the loud, obnoxious caw rent the air.

Oh, was I being optimistic. He'd left his personal guard dog behind.

{X}

A/N: Hello, readers. Whoever is left anyway? *peers suspiciously at the follower count* It took me longer than it should have, but the new chapter is here.

Secondly, to all my reviewers and followers and favorite-ers. Much love. And to my beta, Tigerowl, who is a Godsend and must be showered with praise and blessing. If anyone has an appetite for more OC stories, I'd really request you to look through my favorites. I'm generally very picky, so assuredly, they're all really nice. (Also, I write mostly OC stories. I like to think of myself as sort of an expert now. Not that I am. But oh well.)

Not too big a reveal in this. I've been forced to slightly alter the timeline. These chapters. *hides face*

A few points I wanted to address (mostly to the Guest reviewer who brought up that Shiyako's pandering to her family shows that she isn't always as independent as she'd like to think.)

Ultimately, I'd like to point out that this story is entirely from her point of view. And much like Elizabeth (from P&P), she has her moments of hypocrisy. Again, you might also chalk up her ineffectiveness in the face of her family to the fact that she doesn't like fighting with them a lot. There's a lot more to this I don't really want to add here. I wish I could reply to you personally, Guest. If you have an account, perhaps? Or you can review with an email ID, if you want. I'll get back to you.

Happy reading!