MindbodySwitch

But, in Itachi's medical opinion, she should stay in hospital for overnight observation. Unfortunately, the only other eventful thing that happened at the hospital was the ugly gown they gave her in the hospital. It opened at the back - gross!

“Ah, but your heart seems fine, it looks like you'll be discharged in the morning and can wear your own clothes again,” one of the nurses reassured her.

Unfortunately, when Itachi arrived again to discharge her- he couldn't. He looked so cute in his white coat and was wearing his hair in a ponytail today... that her heart monitor started jumping all over again.

“I think another night might be best,” he added cautiously, and then smiled kindly at Ino. “But you seem healthy, so we won't need to give you any drugs. Just observation.”

Ino's heart fluttered inside her chest and she returned his smile with her own.

“Okay, Doctor-San~” she complied happily.

Ino wandered about the ward, chattering with a few patients- especially the sickly girl beside her own bed. Yakumo appeared to be cheered up that Ino would be staying another night.

-x-

Unfortunately, this occurrence happened, without fail, with each arrival the doctor made. He would read through her notes, satisfied that her condition was stabilised, but as soon as he stepped into view, her monitor would jump in all different directions. 

“It’s not a symptom of white coat hypertension either,” Itachi shook his head, discussing Ino’s notes with another colleague, Tsunade, who was suddenly looking bemused.

“Itachi, have you ever considered that her heart only palpitates irregularly when you are around?” Tsunade informed him with a knowing smile.

The man in question looked puzzled, but the busty doctor didn’t elaborate and tapped Ino’s files. 

“She’s to be discharged tonight. There’s nothing wrong with her that this hospital can cure. Let her know she’s free,” were Tsunade’s final words before clicking away.

-x-

Itachi strode over to his patient, and sure enough, the girl whose heart monitor had displayed a healthy number started jumping into overdrive when her blue eyes landed on his. This was a very bizarre case in deed- but if Tsunade was happy to discharge her, then he would as well. 

“Ah, Ino-San, how are you doing today?” he asked with his usual, polite smile, stethoscope wrapped around his neck. “I have some good news for you.”

The girl returned his smile with a cheerier one of her own and grinned. “I’m feeling great now that I’ve seen you!”

He felt prickles of warmth flood his cheeks, but continued smiling as he informed her she could go home.

“Aha! Great! You’re a fab doctor!” Ino told him, jumping over to throw her arms around him. “But you don’t know that much about the heart.”

A ridiculous thing to say. He was a very well-known cardiologist.

But he humoured her. “Ah, how did I disappoint you?”

 “Even though you listened to my heart, you didn’t understand a thing!” She told him with a disappointed look, cheek puffing out in anger. “You didn’t say yes once to when I asked you out for some tea or coffee!”

... Ah.

Now he understood. When she put it so plainly for him to understand. All the nurses were grinning and pretended not to hear, but the patients clearly wanted him to say something. 

Itachi closed his eyes and shook his head. Really... this girl.

For the thick hair that draped over his neck and around his pillow was a very light colour. But no… Deidara’s hands weren’t that soft. Moreover the terrorist bomber wouldn’t be sleeping with his arms around him like that. The Uchiha rubbed more sleep from his eyes and tried to stem the flutter of nervousness that had crept up. Just… just what had happened?

It’s certainly my tent… but this person… it’s a girl. And judging by her chakra signature: A kunoichi… from where?

His dark eyes narrowed, tracing the lack of scars on her form and saw a small bundle of purple clothes. Those sandals… they were made in Konoha. His gaze settled back to her face. It was dark and hard to make out her features, but they were that of a youthful female.

A konoha kunoichi was lying next to him, arms draped around him like a lover- but when she would wake from her slumber, he knew that she would be ready to murder him. He did not want to fight… certainly not in his condition right now. And his head was throbbing. He needed her to go away and hopefully not-

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!” was the high pitched shriek that followed as soon as she woke up to find herself half sprawled all over a man.

-Scream.

Itachi placed a single finger over her lips, far too tired to ask her to calm down- but he was grateful when the scream died.

Instead, it was replaced with her, staring at him with a small ‘o’ expression. She was a strange kunoichi, he thought. Itachi hoped she did not recognise him. Her eyes, now opened, looked like malachite. She stared at him with such a soft expression- should kunoichi look at their enemies like that?

“I’m sorry, this is your tent, isn’t it?” For Ino had realised her mistake, now that she had become marginally dry and less tired.

Was she apologising? A flicker of relief was seen on his face before it died away, replaced with an inscrutable expression. He lowered his gaze, accepting her apology with a wordless nod. But even that movement was painful. She had moved one of her hands away from his body and rested it over his cheek and then his forehead.

What…? Now he was confused.

“You have a really high temperature!” There was more of that soft expression on her face and he would have smiled, but the tension of finding the stranger, as well as the recent bout of sickness, had left him weak to explain anything. He was supposed to take tablets to manage the headache, but he would need them with food. And the thought of eating anything had him vomiting. His illness was getting worse and so were his fevers… but he had to continue.

His mission wasn’t over yet.

“I’ll be okay, I have some medicine,” he finally said, hoping she would not drag him to a doctor. Instead, she was curiously checking his vital signs on her own. Ah… so she is trained in medical jutsu. But as far as she knows, I am not a ninja from her village…?

He had a lot of questions to ask, but not enough strength to muster up the words. Thankfully, he needn’t say anything as cool, green fingers rested over his forehead. He drifted back into sleep, only able to make out the shafts of moon light that had filtered through the small opening of the flap she had made. It made her her hair appear silvery.

When she saw him awake, she managed a smile. “I’m Yamanaka Ino. Sorry for using your tent! Ahahaha, guess I couldn’t tell the difference in the rain!”

And she laughed. The kind of earthy, girlish laugh that would add a little warmth to any day. Certainly not heard by his ears in a long time.

“Its fine,” he replied, his lips lifting up ever so slightly. He missed Konoha.

“My name is… Itachi.”

Over the next few hours, or days… he wasn’t entirely sure of the passage of time, he saw a lot of that fair hair. During the day, gold and straight, spilling all around her as she pumped healing chakra into him, stitching his inflamed tissue bit by bit, and then at night, it would transform. Gleaming like a silver mirror behind her.

“There! All done, Itachi-San,” she would smile at him and smooth the fringe out of his eyes. He didn’t have the energy to tell her that her healing was all in vain. There was no cure to the disease he had.

This transition from gold to silver, from hot to cold… he couldn’t put it into words, but he did not mind the presence. After she had felt his temperature and known that he was sick, she had refused to leave his side. She urged him to eat little spoonfuls, aided him with medicine and even though she slept on the far side of the tent (her own had mysteriously blown away), she’d end up with her arms around him by the morning.

Warmth spread to his cheeks when her arm draped over him again that night. He had never had a female companion sharing his camp grounds, and judging by first night’s scream, he decided it best to shift his bedroll away from the Yamanaka female.

Unfortunately, Ino was like a moth to a flame and simply reeled herself closer towards him not a moment later.

“Nn…” she sighed dreamily, unaware to her companion’s growing mortification.

There’s no more room! He was actually pinned right to the edge of the tent and her arms still found him. He dare not move her either, because she would wake up. She had spent the better portion of the day healing him and so he eventually gave up trying to get away from her at night.

***

Ino was scooping out breakfast for him again, rice, berries and a hot, cup of tea.

“You need to eat!” she scolded him, staring at the pieces of meat she had so kindly left for him, only to find them mostly untouched on his plate.

Itachi almost pouted, or as much as he could form one in his condition. Miserable, he picked up the chopsticks and forced himself to swallow the lumps of flesh because she was waiting for him to finish his meal up like a hawk. This nosy girl…

He just looked so gaunt. Hair limp and skin dull… He could also do with a good wash, now that he was recovering a little better. The fair-haired girl would wait for him to finish before suggesting that. When he ate his fill and drained his cup, the florist decisively pushed a basin of warm water at him.

“You need to bathe. It will help remove your lethargy and freshen you up. Let’s head down to the stream and quickly clean you up,” her voice had taken on a clinical tone, but he could tell that this embarrassed her from the way her ears were stained red.

“I would prefer to do that on my own,” he added. He wasn’t embarrassed, but he wasn’t going to agree to her suggestions either.

He was ill, not incapable.

Even so, she had set up a little box with all the essentials to help him get clean and she was surprised to see him finish so quickly. Or was it… disappointment?

“Waah, you look amazing!” She blurted out before she could stop herself. Little patches of pink splashed her cheeks.

The dregs of his illness had been scoured away, leaving a man with high cheekbones and large, serious black eyes and inky hair. He was incredibly handsome, but she tried to keep her staring to a minimum. And tragically failed. He was her type.

“Why, thank you,” he smiled, feeling a lot better than he had been.

Itachi reached for another towel to dry his hair, the same time Ino reached to hand it to him and her blush only darkened when their fingers brushed past each other.

“Gah!” Ino jumped back, yelping as if she had been struck. “I-I NEED TO GATHER SUPPLIES!”

Itachi raised an eyebrow and watched her almost bolt out of the tent. Weird.

Meanwhile, Ino was on the other side of the grounds, out of sight, and trying not to bash her head against a tree because she could not stop imagining her ‘patient’ shirtless. Wrong, wrong, wrooong!! I’m not supposed to find this needy, helpless ninja a hottie!

***

And yet… he found himself welcoming her weirdness. He was grateful for her gentle care, even if the way her attentive eyes made him a little self-conscious at times. She really needn’t worry about every struggling intake of breath or count every morsel of food.

“Ino-San, I’m fine,” he found himself repeating that a lot.

“I know you’re fine but you still haven’t got your appetite back!” she insisted stubbornly, forgetting that she was used to the appetite of an Akimichi, and Naruto back in the village. Most boys she knew ate five times more than Itachi did.

“And don’t you dare say it’s my cooking. This is premium stuff, this!”

Her eyes were narrowed and he coaxed a few more bites into his mouth, if only to flatten some of the lines over her forehead. When he cleared his plate, she was all smiles and happily chattered with him about her friends and the places she liked around her village.

“Where are you from? Fire Country, ne?” She was still offering him a gentle smile, which widened when he nodded. “I knew it! You have the chakra of someone from Fire Country… but I’ve never seen you in Konoha. Ahh… you should come visit it some time, Itachi-San. I’ll show you my favourite place there!”

His heart twisted painfully in his ribs. For a long time, he had only wanted one thing, to die by Sasuke’s hand. She did not have a clue about who he was, how far he had sank into a life of crime and disrepute, the dark shinobi he surrounded himself with… he was supposed to be her enemy for all appearance’s sake. But a part of himself would have liked to be able to see those places in his beloved village. To see them with Sasuke and Ino. To reveal that he was also a shinobi from Konoha…

But those things were simply wistful little dreams, like the dying embers of the campfire they shared.

Ino watched the fire reflected in his eyes, wondering why he had gone quiet again. Itachi was an enigma- polite and nice one moment, but then he would withdraw into himself. There was something about him that drew her to him, a certain sadness that she still hadn’t managed to remove with her jutsu. Perhaps that was why she could not leave him, even when he had stopped coughing up blood.

He was well on his way to a recovery, and there was going to be a time when they would have to continue on their separate ways… but she didn’t want her time to end. His calm answers, his rare, mysterious smiles… she was already attached. Ino would make excuses to stay for as long as she could.

"Itachi," she began, eyes turning away from the fire and then towards him. She took in the entire sight of him; his long dark hair, his serious eyes and that melancholy smile.

"I really... admire you."

He turned to her, quizzical at first, and then his smile widened just a touch. "Ah... I do as well. Thank you for all the care you have provided for me."

Ino swallowed hard, brows furrowing at his dismissive response. Was this... a rejection? No, it couldn't be one. Certainly not with the sincerity reflected in his eyes.

Itachi glanced in the direction of the voice and offered her a mild smile. It was a chuunin level kunoichi and she had taken it upon herself to decorate his office with... what looked like balloons and streamers. He wasn't entirely sure that was appropriate, but she was only here for the day so he wouldn't really say anything. At least she had brought him breakfast and snacks for the morning.

“Thank you, ah-”

“Yamanaka Ino!” She supplied promptly, a winning smile on her face.

The man nodded and stepped inside his office, opening the files he had set aside for just this morning. He was engrossed in the middle of a document when he heard a cough to his far right- that girl- Yamanaka- she was still there?

He was sure he had dismissed her. But she continued to stare at him with the most peculiar expression on her face...

Itachi glanced over, feeling just a little uncomfortable. Was there something on his face? She hadn't taken her eyes off him for a long time now.

“I think it would be prudent to check if the ninja organising missions need your assistance,” he suggested.

Ino looked sheepish and almost like she would argue against the point, but she bowed and left. The Hokage's word was law.

However, he was forced to remember her as a series of rather bizarre events occurred that day.. A loud series of bangs had gone off as soon as some ninja came to see him for a meeting and then tinny music filled the room in the theme of 'happy birthday to you'. He didn't know what was more mortifying, watching Shisui join in or staring at the disgruntled looks on the old ninja's faces.

And then, at lunch time, he actually spent the full hour eating lunch. That had never happened before. His lunch breaks were usually rushed or even taken during a meeting. It was certainly very... noisy around his office today, too. He heard more people burst into song, a lot of laughter and someone had called in about a missing pig.

Thankfully, he could get back into work once the search was over (the pig was unharmed). As sunlight dwindled outside his window, so too did the files surrounding him. There were still a few more that he needed to check. They were not urgent so he allowed himself a small break. Itachi rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms, exhaustion lining his face. It had been an especially busy day, considering the chuunin exams were coming up, along with his well-wishers dropping gifts and other items to his office.

Another knock was at his door, but it was not the smart rap of someone wanting to speak with him over an official matter. This knock was... a little insistent. Itachi had barely finished giving the knocker permission when in danced the fair-haired girl from the morning. Eyes bright, cheeks rosy and holding an enormous bouquet of flowers in her hands, as well as shiny gift bag.

“Yamanaka-San...?” He was surprised. It was not what he had been expecting- and was it really eight o' clock already? He had assumed she had gone home hours ago.

“Happy birthday again!” She had closed the distance between them, almost leaning over his desk as she handed him the pleasant smelling bouquet with a large smile. “For you!”

He accepted the flowers and the gift bag, blinking when she drew in closer. She had that same peculiar expression on her face. The dark-haired man found himself almost inching backwards.

"Did you like my singing card?" Ino asked after a moment.

...

So that had been her? He had slammed it somewhere shut in his desk drawer. He wasn't quite quick enough to hide the disgruntled look on his face- but thankfully she didn't seem too worried.

"A-ah... yes. Well, it was interesting. Yamanaka-San, why haven't you gone home yet?" He asked, curious despite wanting her to sit back a little. She was far too close, he could detect the faint smell of flowers on her.

And whilst he did not hold a strong opinion on other people's hair... he wished he could push the other half of her hair away from her face. How did she see anything with it obscuring it?

For lack of anything else to do, he opened the gift bag and pulled out her present. It was a set of weighted kunai.

"These are lovely, thank you," Itachi answered graciously. "But next time, please do not get such expensive presents."

"Nonsense! You are our beloved Hokage," she insisted, eyes bursting into flames of passion. "If we don't get you nice things, how will you know the extent of our feelings?"

Itachi looked taken aback by the praise. Beloved? He was capable... but beloved? There were still a lot of Senju that did not trust him very much and... He could feel heat creep up his neck.

Whilst he offered her a smile and awkward pat on the head, he couldn't quite shake off the praise. Nobody had ever described him as beloved. Brilliant, prodigious, clever, handsome even... but not beloved. 

"Is this why you were waiting until this late? To give me a present?" He sighed wearily. She could have left it with all the others.

Ino shook her head. "Ah, there is something else, Hokage-Sama..." She suddenly looked away, inspecting a little speck on his desk.

"Yes?"

The girl's face had taken on an unusual hue and then she looked up, studying his face. "I- lost my nerve."

She stood up and excused herself, closing the door behind her, probably unaware how many questions she had left Itachi with. As if he didn't have enough as a hokage to worry about!

Her nerve? She sent me a singing birthday card, set up explosives in my office and she lost her nerve?

That girl.