Nevermore

Itachi blinked once, twice, watching as the white hospital walls cleared into view. It hadn’t occurred to him that he would wake up here, after passing out in the forest though it made more sense. He focused on the ceiling and willed himself to remember everything after having fully awakened. First Hinamei and then Shisui, could he have done more? A slight pain in his side hustled him from his thoughts and he softly lifted his fingers to probe his discomfort. Bandages wrapped around his center and from the feel of it, they were still tender wounds. He quirked a brow not remembering having injured himself at all. A sudden intruding sound captured his attention, from his left came the sound of soft, subtle beeping of a hospital machine. He was almost afraid to look. Slowly, he directed his eyes to the bed next to him. His mouth tilted open in shock. Shisui lay under the beige colored covers, his eyes were closed and surrounded with the touches of light bruises. Both his arm and leg were fully bandaged. To his right was a silver dish full of soiled, bloodied bandages. “Shisui…” Itachi whispered, letting his eyes catch every minor detail that marred his friend’s skin. Itachi shut his eyes almost painfully. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, leaning back against his pillow with a sigh.

“You have no reason to apologize, Itachi-kun.” The young Uchiha snapped his head at the disembodied voice and frowned. It was the masked man that saved them that night. His mask was off now and replaced with another. His entire lower face was covered with a dark blue mask, shielding his features from view. Itachi wondered how long he had been standing against the door, after all he hadn’t noticed until now. “Without you he probably would have been a lot worse off.” Through narrow eyes, Itachi stared shamelessly, almost in disgust. The man’s left eye was that of his clan’s Kekkei Genkai and clearly this man was not an Uchiha.

“Who are you?” Itachi asked sharply, never letting his eyes stray from the stranger’s face. The man strutted in front of the bed and bent over. He was obviously within the ANBU ranks, he held a stern look in his eye and at the same time seemed almost inwardly sad. The boy couldn’t put a finger on it but none-the-less he remained concerned.

“Hatake Kakashi, any more questions?” His fingers tapped restlessly against the base board and Itachi looked away feeling oddly uncomfortable.

“Where did you get that sharingan?”

“That’s a story for another time. Anything else?” Itachi sighed and shook his head, it was obvious he would get nowhere with this man. “Good, now I’m not going to stay long. In fact, I just wanted to say a few things and I’ll be gone.” Kakashi stood back up and peered down at Itachi with crossed arms. “For a brief moment last night, my troupe and I saw your battle skill. As we’ve heard, you haven’t even graduated yet, but even still, it’s obvious you’re a true gifted prodigy. According to your teachers you have an innate aptitude for the ninja arts, and that would take you really far among the ANBU ranks.”

“You came here to win me over?” Kakashi let out a low laugh and focused his eyes directly on the small boy. Staring into that sharingan made Itachi feel exposed, he had to look away.

“Not at all, I came to offer you a chance not many will have. It’s your choice Itachi-kun, no pressure. Anyways, I’ve said what I needed to. I’ll leave now and let you have your space.” Itachi watched as Kakashi stalked towards the door, suddenly the man stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Are you feeling better?” For a slight second Itachi froze, a random question like that was something he had not expected.

“Well enough,” he replied. His eyes searched the man and he shrugged. Kakashi nodded and turned back around.

“That’s good to hear, she’ll be happy to know.” And with that being said he left the room. Itachi stared at the blank wall before glancing at Shisui once again. Part of him wished Shisui would just wake up. As much as Itachi liked his space at this moment he didn’t feel like being so alone. Where was his family? Where were the hospital staff? He groaned and leaned back against the pillow, careful to not agitate his tender injury. A small knock on the door snapped his eyes back open.

“Come in.” He said loudly, watching to door to see who was intruding. At first he was irritated she had come, it wasn’t the type of company he needed at the moment. Then she smiled and suddenly he didn’t feel the need to rush her out. “Your head.” Itachi said dumbly, looking at her temple with a slight smirk. She had a single band-aid pressed against her head, it was nice to know she got away with only that. Her tiny fingers tapped the cut and she grinned broadly.

“It felt worse at the time.” Her eyes lingered over to Shisui and her smile faltered slightly, “he’s looking better than he did this morning.” Gently, her fingers ran along the length of his hand. It twitched under her touch. “You were really brave back there Ita-chan.”

“You weren’t even conscious, how would you know?” He responded, snorting at her blank stare. If only she knew how stupid she looked right now. A sudden blush tinted her cheeks and she lowered her eyes.

“Everyone told me so. And thanks to you, I really doubt either of us would have gotten off so easy. It’s my fault anyway.” Itachi watched her retreat into her shy shell, he never liked that side of her. “If I hadn’t gotten caught neither you or Shisui would have gotten hurt.” His hands wandered over his side and he quirked a brow at the small girl.

“How did I get hurt anyway?” Her eyes shot open and she tapped her two fingers together nervously, it was obvious she would have rather done anything but tell him.

“Well, Shisui said I fell from the tree…and you tried to catch me, do you remember that?” He nodded slowly, unaware of where she was headed. “I guess I broke two of your ribs on accident, sorry.” Hinamei furrowed her brow and looked at the frowning boy through her lashes. “I didn’t mean to Ita-chan.” He sighed and shook his head. Only she would apologize for something like that. How long would that put him out of commission? As it was he had some training he desperately needed to work on, having broken ribs was the worst thing that could of happened. Then he remembered.

“Hinamei, look at me, do I look any different?” He asked hurriedly, she stepped back in surprise before narrowing her eyes and scrutinizing his face. To his disappointment she shook her head.

“You still look like normal Itachi to me, are you supposed to look different?”

“When I was fighting that man I felt something. It’s hard to explain but everything seemed so much clearer. I was kind of hoping that maybe I had…no, nevermind. I must have just been seeing things.” Hinamei looked away guiltily suddenly and began poking at her fingers once more.

“Well, I did hear something earlier today. That nice ANBU man was talking to your Tou-san about something…I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you though.” Itachi cast a stern glance at her and she stood up straight suddenly. “Fine! They said you had developed your sharingan last night. And I guess that’s my fault too!” But Itachi wasn’t listening, he was staring intently at his hands with a small smirk plastered on his face. Already, his sharingan had appeared and that put him miles ahead of everyone around him. Even his older counterpart, Shisui, hadn’t awakened his sharingan yet. The amount of skill he could attain was nearly unfathomable now, years and years of limitless techniques awaited him now. And he wondered if that’s how every Uchiha felt their first time. No wonder they felt so superior, he could feel it coursing through his blood like poison. “Ita-chan?” Hinamei cut in and he glared at her for interrupting his thoughts.

“What?”

“I know I’m not going back to the academy,” Itachi rolled his eyes, nodding her on to continue. “Well, I know you’ll be busy and I know Shisui-san will be preparing for the Chuunin exams and all but I was wondering if maybe you would help me train. Personally.” She gave a weak smile and Itachi found himself biting at his tongue. Hinamei never had good timing. Itachi gave her a knowing look, fully aware the onslaught of tears he was about to bring.

“Hinamei, go away. You know I won’t have the time. It’s your own fault your not going back to the academy anyway.” She frowned and clenched her tiny fists inwards to her chests. Here they came, her face got pink.

“Itachi why do you talk to me like that, you jerk!” She wiped a hand across her eye, smearing her cheek wet with tears. “I’m always so nice to you but no matter what you have to find a reason to be mean to me! You’re nice to Shisui-san, why can’t you like me too!?” Hinamei wailed and Itachi found himself grating his teeth together. How anyone expected them to grow up and wed was beyond him, they were polar opposites. And he figured they always would be.

“Itachi, she’s right. You should be nicer to the poor girl.” A frail voice caught both kid’s attention at once. Shisui opened one eye and managed a toothy grin, even sparing a small wink for Hinamei. He tried to sit up using his good arm, groaning in the process. “If Itachi won’t help you out, I will.” Her charcoal eyes lit up like morning and she nearly jumped on Shisui. Blushing deeply as he winced in pain at her clutch. From the corner of his eye Shisui watched as Itachi stared at Hinamei, his eyes a question of doubt. Itachi scowled and turned away from the other two, leaning further back against his pillow.

“You really mean it? But what about your exams?” Shisui brushed it off with a wave of his hand.

“I’ve still got around six months. I’ll need a training partner anyway.” Her smile widened and she gently wrapped her hand around Shisui’s wrist. She opened her mouth to ask what they would be learning when Itachi spoke up, still refusing to look at them.

“Fine. I’ll do it. But only because I’d hate to see someone of Shisui’s caliber get dragged down by someone with absolutely no potential.” Shisui stifled a laugh while Hinamei stared blankly at the brooding boy.

“If you don’t want to you don’t have to. “ She replied quietly, lowering her eyes down to the floor. Itachi turned back around and raised a slender brow at her. She never gave up so easily, was it possible his words were actually getting to her? Itachi hardly ever felt guilty. It wasn’t in his blood, Uchiha’s did everything with every intention of giving pain and delivering justice. They didn’t feel bad for making little girls cry or anything like that. At least that’s what he wanted to believe. Hinamei slid off the bed and landed with a small thud on the floor, without saying another word she walked towards the door.

“I didn’t mean it.” Itachi said quietly, watching as Hinamei stiffened. It was funny how he always found himself in these situations. She turned around partly and blinked at him.

“What?”

“You heard me, I’m not going to repeat myself Hinamei. If you want my help you better start listening.” But his words slipped right past her. Her eyes gradually got wider and she sprinted out towards Itachi with her mouth wide open in an ecstatic squeal.

“I knew it! I knew you liked me deep down there!” She said as she wrapped her arms gently around his neck. The Uchiha boy bit back on his lip and whimpered as she leaned into his ribs. She pulled away quickly with a sheepish smile on her lips. “Sorry, Ita-chan. I promise I’ll be more careful from now on!” She pulled her hand up and a mock salute and giggled as she did so. Even Shisui couldn’t resist laughing along at that one.

And for the first time since that night, Itachi was thankful he risked everything he had for those two.