Moi-Moi: I actually posted this a few days ago on Ao3 for Itachi's birthday and COMPLETELY forgot to post it here. Whoops.

This update was totally unexpected but a very welcome way to include some plot points I was struggling with figuring out how to slip in. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy the minor break from Sasuke and join me in wishing my favorite Uchiha a happy (belated) birthday. 😁
Don't worry. It's back to Sasuke for the next chapter.

~:~

Despite no longer being in ANBU, Itachi remained unmoving as he took stock of his surroundings after he awoke. Only after verifying that nothing was out of place or unusual did he open his eyes. It was early, hints of the sun's rays barely lightening the sky. Itachi let himself enjoy the tranquility of the morning before looking over to the softly snoring body next to him. Izumi had spent the night again.

She had been spending more time in his place as of late. Not because of any shift in the dynamics of their relationship, but because it was easier on her to distance herself from their clan. Several of their clansmen had started to treat Izumi with suspicion and contempt for her relationship with him. She never complained, hesitant to worry him about the slowly worsening situation with the clan.

Itachi watched her peaceful face as she slept. Her snores were soft, and she had a case of light bedhead already brewing. A rare look of fondness and love covered his face as he brushed a lock of hair out of her face.

A pang of guilt suddenly hit him. His issues with the clan were his own. He'd never intended for those around him to suffer for his decisions, but honestly, he should have seen it coming. Not for the first time and definitely not the last, Itachi wondered how best to proceed. It was too late to go back on his decision now. It would only make matters worse by setting the wrong precedent- that he could be manipulated by his clan. But to keep going…

Itachi sat up and untangled his legs from the sheets before rising from the bed. After using the bathroom, Itachi quickly dressed in some loose clothing and tied his hair back in a low ponytail. Despite Sasuke and Shisui's teasing, he was still very strict with his training regimen.

The early morning hours in Konoha were the perfect time to train, in his opinion. The training grounds were all empty and the chances of running into someone (other than Might Guy or his students) was very slim. Itachi started with a run through the forest, doing his best to keep his mind blank as he settled into the repetitive motions. He'd kept up the same regimen even after leaving ANBU, with the addition of spontaneous sparring session with Shisui or Sasuke.

By the time he'd finished his run, target practice, and katas, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Shirt slightly damp with sweat, Itachi disengaged the wards around his home and entered. He found Izumi in the exact spot he'd left her in, this time with a small pool of drool collecting on the pillow under her head. He smiled softly in amusement before starting the process of cleaning up.

"I didn't miss it," a sleepy voice croaked behind him.

Peering over his shoulder, Itachi spotted Izumi smiling sleepily at him. "I'm afraid you did. Sorry I didn't wake you. You looked so peaceful, I doubted you would have appreciated being woken for training," Itachi replied and pulled his shirt over his head.

"Training? I meant the show," she said and stretched, long and deep.

Itachi was momentarily distracted by the curve of her body in one of his too large shirts- the way her back arched off the bed and her breasts lifted. "Show?" he parroted.

"Yeah," she said and gestured to him.

Itachi blinked twice before smirking and looking away. "I doubt that it's very entertaining. I'm sweaty and don't smell exactly pleasant."

"You don't actually smell bad. It's both unfair and attractive," Izumi said and rested her cheek on her palm. "But yes, it's very entertaining," Izumi said with a pointed look at his exposed body.

Itachi could feel the flush gathering on his cheeks- just a light one- so he turned his back to Izumi with a light chuckle. He was no stranger to intimacy, especially not with Izumi. But even after nearly ten years of dating, he still felt slightly embarrassed whenever she was more blatant in her attraction to him. Even so, Itachi didn't hesitate to remove his pants and toss the soiled clothes in the hamper. When he chanced another glance backwards, Izumi had moved onto her stomach, now fully facing him with her chin resting on both palms and her feet lazily kicking in the air.

With an amused look, he said, "I'm afraid I have to cut your entertainment short. I have a morning appointment at the hospital today."

Izumi let out a loud sigh before sitting up with a pout. "Fine. I'm guessing you'll be showering alone then?"

"I'm sorry," Itachi replied, actually sounding slightly apologetic. "You can be a bit distracting, and it defeats the purpose unfortunately."

Izumi finally got up from the bed, her shuffling causing his shirt to ride up enough to flash a glimpse of her underwear. "Just a bit?" Izumi asked with a knowing smirk as she approached.

"Yes," Itachi said and let her reach up to remove the tie in his hair. "Despite my best efforts to remain on task."

"What can I say? I guess my will is stronger than yours," Izumi said with a careless shrug before cupping his cheeks in her hands and pulling his face towards hers for a kiss. Itachi didn't hesitate to comply with her wishes, quickly being drawn in by her charms. He could feel her hands move from his neck to slowly slide down his front, her fingers dipping beneath the band on his underwear. Truthfully, he hadn't expected her to stop there in her exploration. "Don't worry. Maybe one day you'll catch up," she teased and quickly stepped away.

Itachi hadn't fully registered what she'd done until her back had already disappeared from the room, and he was left standing semi-erect in his underwear. He could hear her in the kitchen, busying herself with preparing breakfast. Itachi sighed softly with a shake of his head. He'd let her have this small victory now- one battle in exchange for the war.

~:~

Because Tsunade-sama had left the village with Jiraiya-sama, it was Haruno Sakura that attended to him when he arrived. Officially, Haruno-san was Tsunade-sama's second apprentice, but she was the one running the hospital in Tsunade's absence. It was quite the accomplishment for one so young and Itachi was mildly impressed.

"Good morning, Uchiha-san," Sakura greeted when she entered his room.

"Haruno-san," Itachi returned with a nod of his head. He watched her read through the papers in his file, her lips pursed in consideration.

"How have you been feeling lately?" she asked, a pen already drawn to take notes.

"I still take my medication and I haven't noticed any negative changes within the past few weeks. If anything, I do feel better compared to a few months ago," Itachi reported.

Sakura nodded a few times while making some notes to his file. "That's to be expected. You're not on missions anymore so there's less stress being put on your body."

"I still train regularly. Nothing too strenuous," Itachi said.

Sakura hummed once and wrote some more. "That should be fine. I'll just take a look at your current vitals," she said and rested the file down on the bed next to him before approaching him with a glowing hand.

Itachi was more than used to the feel of medical ninjutsu. He'd spent the last few years regularly seeing Tsunade-sama in an effort to manage the disease that threatened to ravage his body. Fortunately, Tsunade had been able to catch the illness in its early stages and provide care. She hadn't been able to cure him (she'd made it clear that healing autoimmune diseases was beyond her abilities), but she had been able to help him manage so well that his career in ANBU hadn't been impacted too greatly. Now, he was on a steady treatment of immunosuppressants while visiting the hospital once a week to monitor his progression. He'd spend the rest of his life with his body fighting itself, but at least he many years to look forward to.

"Everything looks fine, but I'll still have one of the nurses drawn some blood from you to measure your blood cell count," Sakura said when she withdrew from him.

"Of course," Itachi agreed with a nod.

"I have to admit, you're a lot easier to treat than Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, seemingly without thinking. Immediately, she realized what she'd said, and a blush colored her cheeks. "I mean-"

"I understand. Sasuke can be…difficult. He's never liked doctors," Itachi said with a small smile.

Sakura blinked in surprise before biting at her lip to hide a smile. "I never would have guessed."

Because Sasuke wasn't in the village to object, Itachi continued on, "He used to be afraid of needles. Fortunately for his shinobi career, he's outgrown the fear, but there's still some discomfort with hospitals."

Itachi could tell that Sakura was quickly becoming at ease around him because she didn't hesitate to say, "I thought it was something he picked up from Kakashi-sensei."

Itachi didn't consider himself to be a popular person by any means. Sure, he had admirers. But the amount of people that truly knew him or called him "friend" was very limited. He was by no means an open or social person, but Itachi had learned to accept the friends that fell into his lap.

Itachi hadn't cared for Sakura's obvious (and mildly concerning in its intensity) crush on his brother when they were children. But she seemed to have an amicable relationship with him now as well as genuinely wanting his brother to be happy. "Thank you, Sakura-san," Itachi said, voice full of gratitude.

The friendly smile she had dipped slightly as a confused look covered her face. "For doing my job?"

"For being a good friend to my brother. I'm grateful that he has so many people in his life that care about him."

Sakura blinked in surprise again before scoffing slightly. "Tell him that. He tends to call me annoying more than anything," Sakura said with a roll of her green eyes.

"My brother is complicated. I'm sure that he doesn't mean anything by it," Itachi soothed.

"I figured as much. He only calls me annoying when I meddle. He says I'm as annoying as you are," Sakura said with an easygoing shrug.

That gave Itachi pause. Sasuke must care for Sakura's friendship more than he thought if Sasuke was equating their relationship to the one he shared with his little brother. Despite the insult to his person (annoying? Really?), Itachi couldn't help but feel pleased. "He brings it on himself. I wouldn't be so annoying if he'd only listen to me," Itachi said dryly.

"You're preaching to the choir, Itachi-san."

~:~

"So, what did Sasuke say when he found out about his mission with Fugaku-sama?" Shisui asked over a lunch of sushi. They had claimed a booth with relative privacy near the back of the establishment, but Itachi could still feel stares at the back of his head.

"Seeing as he found out at the same time that he was being assigned the mission, he didn't say much. But I got the impression that he was very suspicious of my intentions," Itachi replied and took a sip of his green tea. "Sasuke overthinks things. I'm sure that he thinks I'm punishing him by sending him on a mission with Naho-san."

Shisui smiled and shook his head. "You're one to talk about overthinking things," Shisui replied. Itachi shot Shisui a mild glare. With his hands raised in defense, Shisui chuckled. "I'm just saying. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. The Hokage needs to be prepared for anything and how else can you do that without considering every option."

"Nonetheless, I hope neither of them let this opportunity go to waste," Itachi said with a small frown.

Shisui sat back in his seat with a heavy sigh. "I don't think it'll be a waste. Sasuke has no problem telling people when they do something that upsets him."

"Not our father. Sasuke is very willing to suffer our father's judgement and criticisms. I worry about how much longer he can continue on like that, however."

"Well, he has to learn sometime that parents aren't always right. But maybe I'm not the best authority on parents," Shisui mused.

Itachi barely held back a frown at Shisui's words. Very rarely did Shisui ever bring up his parents. Shisui had been an orphan for most of his life but had hid any pain or hurt over the fact very well behind easy laughter and wide grins.

Just as Shisui was about to say something else, their waitress approached their table with a bashful smile in place. Whatever Shisui was about to say quickly left his mind as he turned a charming smile on the poor girl. Itachi held back from rolling his eyes at Shisui's blatant flirting, more than used to his cousin's habits.

"Are you sure? Is there anything I can do to change your mind?" Shisui asked with a smile on his face as he leaned towards the waitress. The young woman's face flamed as she giggled lightly and twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "Please?" Shisui earnestly asked.

Itachi watched the girl essentially melt into a puddle on the spot before softly agreeing to whatever Shisui had asked of her before eagerly scurrying away. 'So much for being interested in Sakura-san.' Not even bothering to hide his judgement, Itachi shot Shisui a look. Shisui met Itachi's gaze with a shrug. "What? I just got you free dessert."

Itachi rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to criticize Shisui's actions, Itachi felt the stares on him intensify. Just then, Itachi noticed some people slow down to glare at him through the window as they walked by. Itachi met their harsh gazes with an even stare until the three men sneered and continued on. Itachi watched the Uchiha clan crests on their backs disappear into the crowd of the busy street.

"Things are getting worse," Shisui whispered. Itachi hummed once and returned to his food. "I imagine that they'll get bolder with you now that Fugaku-sama is out of the village."

"Let them. They won't try anything too obvious," Itachi said.

"It's a good thing Sasuke is away as well," Shisui said over his tea. Immediately, Itachi's blood ran cold. "Sasuke's relationship with Naruko-chan might be beneficial to the clan should they plan to gain footing over the Hokage."

'Over my dead body,' Itachi thought.

"You weren't at the last clan meeting. Things are getting out of hand. There were talks of following in Madara's example of using the Kyuubi," Shisui whispered so softly Itachi almost had to strain to hear him.

Itachi frowned deeply. "What did my father say?"

"He didn't say anything. It was just wild ideas being thrown out by people grasping at straws."

"He may not have directly encouraged them, but he didn't stop them. His inaction is just as exacerbating," Itachi replied.

"I want to give Fugaku-sama some credit. He wouldn't let them use Sasuke or Naruko-chan like that," Shisui mused.

Itachi rested his chopsticks over his half-empty plate. He wanted to take solace in Shisui's words but couldn't. His father wasn't a power-hungry fool, but he allowed himself to be swayed too easily by public opinion. "Sasuke is aware of the situation and he's more than capable of deciding for himself what he'll do," Itachi said. He was sure that Sasuke wouldn't allow himself to be used as a way for the clan to manipulate the Kyuubi and, more importantly, Naruko.

"But you won't let it come to that," Shisui guessed.

"I'd die first before I let my brother pay the price for the clan's mistakes," Itachi vowed.

~:~

Itachi had tried his best to keep the ire off his face when he returned to the Hokage Tower after lunch with Shisui. But despite his best efforts, Minato had seen right through him. The older man had been deeply troubled by what Itachi had shared. So troubled, in fact, that he had to restrain himself from heading to the Uchiha district to sniff out the would-be traitors. Itachi didn't blame him. The thought of his little brother being dragged into this mess that he had no part in made Itachi consider paying the compound a visit.

Minato was staring off into space, deep in thought. After a few minutes of this, he sighed deeply and seemed to age ten years all at once. "What a mess. The troubling news seems to be never ending today," Minato said and drew a scroll out of a desk drawer. He handed the scroll over to Itachi before rubbing at his tired eyes.

Itachi took it with a concerned expression and quickly read over the contents. As he read, the pit that had formed in his stomach at lunch grew. "The two, three, and four tails are missing? The Akatsuki is escalating."

"They were silent for three years after capturing the five and seven tails. Had the other villages started sharing information back then, this could have been prevented," Minato mused. "But it's too late to dwell on what should have been done. Only three tailed beasts are left."

Itachi didn't need to voice the question on his mind. From the way Minato's eyes lit up in resolute determination, he was already contemplating what he would do to protect their jinchuuriki. "The Raikage most likely won't accept aid from Konoha with defending their jinchuuriki," Itachi pointed out.

"A is a proud man. I'm afraid his feelings towards me might prevent him from seeing reason," Minato replied.

"With most of the tailed beasts already in their possession, it begs the question why we haven't seen them," Itachi said. Why take the tailed beasts if there was no intention to use their power?

"They most likely sealed them away to prevent them from roaming free. Whether the Akatsuki is creating new jinchuuriki is up for debate," Minato said and turned to look out the window at the village. "Itachi, I wonder if I'm putting too much on your shoulders by asking you to oversee the Uchiha situation for a bit longer."

"It's fine. I'll handle it, Minato-san," Itachi promised, despite not knowing where to begin tackling the issue. 'What a mess.'

~:~

Despite spending most of the day at his desk, Itachi felt exhausted by the time he made it home. From the other side of his door, he could sense Izumi's chakra moving in the kitchen. Itachi took a few seconds to breathe deeply, doing his best to push all thoughts of the Uchiha and the Akatsuki to the back of his mind. Once he felt a bit more at peace, he pushed his way inside.

"I'm home," he greeted while slipping off his shoes.

"Welcome home," Izumi said with a smile, pausing in her vegetable chopping. But the second she spotted him, the smile fell. "Hard day?"

He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that she could read him so well. Itachi smiled softly as he approached her and Izumi met him halfway, her arms wrapping around him in a warm embrace. "I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Don't apologize, Itachi. It's not your fault that things are hard. That's just life. But I'm sure that you'll handle it. If anyone can, it's you," Izumi said with a smile.

"You shouldn't feel alienated from the clan for me. My actions shouldn't have affected you so deeply," Itachi replied.

"You can't blame yourself for how the clan reacts. Besides, you're right. We can't go to war with the village. It won't end well," Izumi said. "The elders don't want to believe it. They've grown accustomed to their security within the village."

"Biting the hand that feeds them," Itachi scoffed.

"Speaking of feeding, we won't have anything to eat if these vegetables don't get chopped," Izumi said, effectively changing the topic.

He could tell that she was doing her best to distract him. And while it wasn't very effective, he still appreciated the effort. "How can I help?" he asked and began washing his hands.

"Start the miso," Izumi suggested and went back to the vegetables.

As he worked, Itachi couldn't help but feel his shoulders slowly relax and the knot of worry in his chest ease. This was a familiar setting as of late- Izumi at his back, humming softly as she helped prepare a meal or perform some other domestic task. The more he thought about it, the more Itachi came to realize just how much of a staple she had become in his daily life. Perhaps the situation with his clan had brought on at least one good thing?

"Izumi, would you like to move in with me?" Itachi asked, breaking the silence between them.

Izumi paused with a confused hum. She blinked at him, looked towards the direction of the bedroom, and looked back at him before saying, "I thought I already did. Most of my things are here."

Itachi took a second to think about it and came to the same conclusion. Most of the space in his closet was dominated by her clothes. His bathroom was stocked with her toiletries and makeup. Bit by bit, she had moved her things in without him realizing. "True. But I should still officially ask," Itachi said with a small smile.

"Well then, I officially accept," Izumi smiled back before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

The familiarity of their position jogged his memory, flashes of this morning coming back to him. Suddenly pulling away, Itachi summoned a shadow clone to finish preparing dinner. Izumi looked ready to question him, but he cut her off. "I just realized that I need to correct an error. You underestimated the strength of my will."

He watched her brown eyes widen in surprise just before her sharingan subconsciously activated. Her cheeks blossomed in a full on blush and she tried to duck her head to hide her embarrassment, but Itachi was faster. "I-Itachi!" Izumi objected as he lifted her over his shoulder. He wouldn't normally do this kind of thing, but (for once) he was in a playful mood. Leaving his shadow clone alone, Itachi carried the now giggling Izumi to their bedroom, kicking the door closed behind them.