As soon as he knew Koka was going to be alright, Itachi ran to see her. Quietly, he opened the door to her room and entered, closing it behind him. His eyes were trained on the sight before him.
Laying in the center of the room on her futon was Koka. For a moment, Itachi felt fear rise up. If it were not for Heiwa and Mikoto's words, Itachi would have though his friend was dead. The young Uchiha stumbled forward, falling to his knees beside her bed. It was only close up that he could see and hear her faint breathing. Koka's face, aside from the vivid bruises, was colorless. Even her faint chakra, something he had a hard enough time sensing on a good day, was almost impossible to find.
"Stupid." Itachi muttered, reaching for Koka's still hand. It was cooler than normal as well. It was then he noticed the trembling. His trembling.
"Stupid! Stupid Koka!" Tears welled up in his eyes and fell onto their joined hands.
"You always do this, acting reckless and getting hurt." He had known her visions were getting closer. Itachi blamed himself. He should have kept a closer watch on her. Should have made her talk about her vision of this day. He should have been there.
"Itachi?" With a start, Itachi's eyes flew up to meet Koka's. The blue eyes he had come to care so much for were dull with pain and exhaustion.
"Koka? How are you feeling?" His voice was rough
"Hurts." She whispered and Itachi felt his chest tighten. He soothingly began to rub her head, mindful of her injuries.
"Itachi?"
"Hm?"
"Is Naruto ok?"
"Yeah, you protected him. When you get better you can see him." Koka's eyes began to drop once more, though it was obvious she was trying to fight it.
"Get some rest Koka." The worn out girl nodded slightly, giving in to her tiredness.
Then, "Tachi? Will you cuddle with me?" Itachi froze before nodding. 'Tachi? That was new.
"Alright." Carefully Itachi laid down beside his friend, being sure to not bump her injuries. He stayed on top of the blanket, holding her hand. Blue eyes met his once again. There was a pleading look in her eye.
"Stay with me?"
"Of course." Itachi watched as Koka smiled a rare smile. Really, he mused, there was no way to deny her. He would never be able to deny her, and a part of him was alright with that.
"Forever and always." But his blue eyed friend was already asleep.
It was the next morning when Koka began to stir again. Itachi, who had kept a silent vigil over his friend, sat up. Blue eyes blinked open and looked to him, still hazy with sleep.
"Itachi?"
"I'm here." The young Uchiha said in confirmation. He helped Koka sit up.
"What time is it?"
"A little before ten." Koka made a humming noise in acknowledgement before moving to stand. In a flash, Itachi's hands were on her shoulders, easing her back down firmly.
"What do you think you're doing?" Koka looked up at him, annoyance clear on her face.
"I'm going to see Naruto." Her look sharpened. "Either help me up or get out of my way."
Itachi hesitated for only a second. If he was with her and complied, then the young Uchiha would be able to make sure she did not strain herself. He hated it when Koka was angry with him and Itachi had no desire to face her cold wrath. With a sigh he helped her to her feet before moving to grab her over robe. There were times when he missed the quiet Koka. She rarely got into trouble then.
"Nee-chan!" Naruto shrieked, rushing towards Koka, who had just arrived with Itachi at her elbow. Ever skillful at catching little children, like Sasuke who was prone to launching himself at Koka, Itachi snatched Naruto in mid-jump.
"If you jump on her, you'll hurt her." The young Uchiha reminded Naruto, who silently nodded in surprise. Itachi sat the blond down and Naruto, carefully, latched on to Koka.
"I'm sorry you got hurt, Nee-chan." The boy was crying, hiding his face in Koka's stomach. He cried harder when he felt familiar arms around him.
Koka wrapped her arms around Naruto, the sleeves of her kimono covering his back. Then, releasing one arm, she tipped his head back so Koka could look him in the eye.
"You did nothing wrong. Do you understand, Naruto?" the blond could only nod his head, he was crying so hard.
Koka could feel her heart crumble. Carefully she knelt down in front of the child and took his hands into hers. Blue eyes bore into blue eyes.
"Naruto, I'm going to tell you something very important, alright? You must promise me that no matter what, you will always remember it."
The black haired girl waited for the young blond to give a verbal confirmation before giving a small smile. Later, Itachi would muse that this was the most he had seen Koka smile so often.
"Naruto, to me, family is the most important thing in the world. I would give my life to protect my precious people. I am scared of many, many, many things in this world, but for my family, I will fight to protect them."
The blue eyed girl raised a hand to wipe tears about from Naruto's face, unaware of the look Itachi was giving her, or of the audience that had gathered in the doorway. She continued on speaking.
"Kaede, Heiwa, Mikoto, Shisui, Itachi, Sasuke, and Kakashi are all my precious people. They are my family that I love." She smiled softly as she squeezed his small hands.
"And you too, Naruto. You are a precious person in my family. So I will always be there to help. Alright?"
Like a dam had been opened, Naruto started bawling his eyes out and Koka drew him in, where he clung to her on her lap. Another pair of arms circled Koka, surprising her. She looked up to see Kaede, brown eyes full of tears.
"Koka, I love you." She whined out. The younger girl blinked up at her.
Shisui and Kakashi moved to stand with Itachi. The younger boy was still staring at Koka with an expression akin to awe in his eyes, though he was perplexed as to when Kaede had arrived and started crying. Shisui had a fond grin on his face as he watched the three huddled on the ground. Likewise, across the room, Heiwa and Mikoto were watching the occupants.
Kakashi looked around at them all, a strange feeling in his chest. His family had grown again, thanks to a little blue eyed girl.
Really I could not figure out how to put this chapter into words. I'm not overly happy with it. But soon the story shall be picking up.
ALSO! I'm thinking of going though and reposting the chapters after editing them because I suck apparently with grammar and missing words here and there and you guys (all 332 of you dear followers) are too nice to point out my fails at English. I'm thinking of getting a beta too. Review my lovelies!