Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep. Itachi's head felt achy and heavy as his mind wandered in his own memories. The images of his past were foggy, as though he were floating in a cloudy haze while trying to make sense of each picture before he was whisked off to another.
A man's pale face flickered against his closed eyelids, his mouth moving as though he were trying to speak to him, but the sound just wasn't there. Itachi tried to move his body, but the weight of the world seemed to have been set right on top of him. For a moment, his high school Ancient Greece class came to mind and he deliriously swore that if Atlas had decided to drop his burden of the sky on him he was going to kill the Titan with his bare hands. No matter what he tried, Itachi's body wouldn't cooperate with him, and the pressure holding him down refused to budge. Even through the blanket the weight seemed to put on his senses, he could still feel a painful throbbing in his left leg.
Time passed differently in the maze of memories, and as he floated along, he soon found himself able to hear instead of see clearly. The fog in his eyes got thicker and he relied on his ears as he deciphered a muffled mixture of sirens and voices. A man spoke wearily, but Itachi could only pick a few words out of the garbled memory. "...Car accident... Kenshin... Don't move..." His eyelids felt as though sandbags were pinning them down, keeping them closed even as he struggled. Another memory came, this one of white lights above him and voices calling his name... No, not just his name. Shisui's as well. Shisui, blood, a code blue- whatever that meant. The memory was chaotic and he couldn't make much more out of it.
Then suddenly something shifted. All of his struggling started to make a difference, as he began to hear the sounds of machines and he sensed that he wasn't alone wherever he was. A gentle caressing of his hair and someone's warm hand delicately moving his right arm. He mentally melted into the comforting touch as he briefly told himself that it, along with the growing pain in his leg, meant that he was still alive. Then a soft voice broke gently into his reverie.
"Uchiha Itachi, can you open your eyes for me?" The male voice was rough, not deep, but still somehow soothing.
Itachi struggled to comply to the simple request, his eyes fluttering open to show a blurry image of the figure hovering over him. He blinked, forcing his onyx eyes to regain clear vision and focus. A delicately framed face finally came into focus with sympathetic cerulean eyes and wispy layers of crazy blonde hair that was haphazardly swept to the side and out of the angel's face so that he could stare into Itachi's soul. His tan skin looked so soft, the raven almost reached out to prove that theory, but then continued to blink as the pain in his leg grew and he realized that the man in front of him was, in all actuality, not an angel... Probably.
He pressed himself into the soft bed and focused on the periodic beeps coming from the monitor behind him to reassure himself that he had in fact, not passed into the next life. The strangely beautiful man squeezed Itachi's right hand as his other hand continued to brush through his raven locks. Continuing to speak softly, the blonde continued, "Hey, there you are." He smiled as though the fact that Itachi existed was a miracle in and of itself. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Hatake, and I'll be your nurse for the duration of your stay here. Do you know where you are? Does anything hurt?" Itachi weakly squeezed Naruto's fingers before swallowing thickly, wincing while closing his eyes tightly and gritting out in a deep, raspy voice bringing his dry throat to the attention of both men.
"I am in a hospital in Tokyo, Japan, and yeah, my hip and leg hurt the worst." With that, Naruto removed his hand from his patients, leaned over the bed and pushed the button on the PAC (patient controlled analgesic) to release a dosage of morphine, the narcotic they were using to ease his pain. Itachi could feel the cold liquid travel into his veins from the IV that was taped to the back of his hand. It quickly warmed and numbed him as it mixed with his blood and the desired affect took hold. He closed his eyes and sighed as his body slowly began to feel heavy yet almost ethereal, the narcotic doing its job. His mind returned to the situation he was in and an annoyed groan ripped its way up his throat right before a straw was pressed to his lips. He opened his obsidian orbs to see Naruto holding a yellow cup, the white straw in it bent and ready. He grinned appreciatively and drank his fill before the blonde returned the cup to its place on the bedside table. "Shisui..." Itachi sighed the name as though he didn't really want to ask the obvious question. And maybe he didn't. He didn't truly want to find out that his friend was dead all because he had to return to the country during a damn snowstorm.
Naruto reached over and adjusted the man's pillow while informing him that Shisui was, in fact, alive in another one of the ICU rooms under the care of a different nurse. He didn't know much, but said that he would ask about his status and give the raven a report after informing the doctor that Itachi was awake. The Uchiha groaned in pain and gripped the blanket until the blonde was done with his pillow, which was now in a much more comfortable position, then sighed in relief as the blonde went to the foot of his bed to write on the clipboard that was hooked there. Slowly turning his head, he gazed down at where the bulk of his pain had been and saw that his leg had been propped up on pillows with a cast on it that went way past his thigh.
"The morphine should take care of the pain, but you suffered fractures to your left femoral shaft and femur, which is why it hurts so bad. You also have two broken ribs and a concussion. I'll let the doctor know you're awake and be right back." Naruto said with a soft smile that almost made Itachi forget the severity of his situation. Before the blonde took his leave though, he walked over to Kakashi, who had nodded off in one of the chairs by the table in the corner of the room. "Dad, he's awake." He whispered as he lightly shook the older man's shoulder, who in turn reluctantly opened his eyes and raked his fingers through his silver hair. Even though Kakashi was well trimmed and fit for being in his fifties, his body frequently reminded him of the onslaught of aging which he refused to accept with grace. He wouldn't be able to easily sleep in chairs for very much longer.
Acknowledging Naruto, he stood and stretched his aching muscles as the blonde left the room, then moved his chair to the right side of Itachi's bed. "Hey kid, you gave us quite a fright. You're already CEO, no need to try and scare me to death." They both gave a small chuckle at that, though Itachi's quickly became a small coughing fit that ended with both men looking grim. "How do you feel?" Kakashi rested his hand on the raven's arm as he spoke.
"Like someone tried to put me through a wood chipper but wimped out halfway through." Kakashi smiled, but then took a deep breath, which was Itachi's signal that he wasn't going to like what the man said next.
"Your father is trying to get a flight out, but the airports have all closed due to the storm." He squeezed the Uchiha's arm gently before removing his hand and pouring more water from the plastic pitcher on the bedside table into the cup next to it. Itachi smiled in thanks before the man held the straw to his lips and he had another long drink. The raven moved all thoughts of his father to the back of his mind, because that was not a headache he felt the need to deal with at the moment. When he was done, Kakashi returned the half-full cup to its place and the Uchiha thanked him with a heavy sigh. His hand returned to Itachi's as he continued speaking. "You two are lucky to be alive." The stress suddenly became very apparent on his face and for once Kakashi actually looked his age as he squeezed his student's hand. Sensing something more was wrong he looked to his sensei, afraid to ask. "Shisui's suffered internal injuries and lost a lot of blood... He's in a coma." The room was suddenly without air and Itachi had to focus to breath. All he could think was that it was all his own damn fault. His struggle for oxygen was hidden well and Kakashi continued. "I thought it would be best if you heard it from me first, he's in critical condition, Itachi." The older man began rubbing his temple with his free hand, trying to work through the headache he'd had ever since he'd received the phone call informing him that he needed to get his ass down to the hospital.
Itachi's attention turned to the window as he concentrated all his efforts on not having a panic attack. His eyes focused on the still falling snow outside that turned the night a dim white and caused frost to form over the glass. His best friend was clinging to life and he still couldn't recall everything that had happened. Shisui and him had become good friends over the years since he had been working for his father which, due to Itachi's regimented schedule, any kinds of friends were rare. They would hangout on occasions and attend social events, but because Shisui worked for the Uchiha Corporation they saw each other more often than they saw anyone else, even traveling abroad together on business trips.
"You both are under the best care here, my son and his colleagues are award winning physicians. You two are in excellent care." Kakashi tried to reassure Itachi, feeling accomplished when the heart monitor, which had been speeding up, began to slow back down.
Remembering Naruto addressing Kakashi as Dad before leaving the room, Itachi suddenly looked at the man weirdly, "You're son is the nurse taking care of me?"
"Yes, Naruto is one of the best nurses in the ICU ward, so your father called and insisted he be assigned to personally care for you during your recovery and physical therapy." Kakashi spoke, but it was difficult for Itachi to stay focused while the morphine began to make him unbelievably drowsy. The older man noticed and sat back saying, "Go ahead and rest, I'll be here when the doctor arrives to check on you." And with that, Itachi slipped into the darkness of sleep once again.
Itachi had only drifted off for about twenty minutes when the doctor came to check him over and explained, in depth, his condition. Kakashi had many questions about his recovery and rehabilitation, and they informed him that he could expect a minimum six months before he would even be able to feel somewhat back to his normal self. Itachi asked if he could see Shisui but that was out of the question because he had to stay immobilized so as not to disturb the healing process of his leg and pelvis. Soon after the doctor left, Itachi drifted back off to sleep, his mind lingering on his fathers impending visit. The man wouldn't be happy with that timetable.
It was close to lunch time the following day when Kakashi finally went home, though he promised to come back that evening. Naruto had gotten in a good six hour nap in the break room, while his father refused to join him and slept in the chair at Itachi's bedside. The blonde was placing a tray of food in front of Itachi, who looked at it disdainfully, "Don't worry, I personally ordered this dish for you, and the chefs here are actually pretty good. You need to eat something healthy, it will help the healing process."
Itachi sighed, but thanked Naruto gratefully and started slowly eating. "Do you know how Shisui is today?" The raven spoke softly, still only half wanting to know the answer. If it was bad news he'd rather remain ignorant.
"He's the same, but it's to be expected considering his injuries. We promise to do all we can for him, so just relax, okay?" Naruto assured him, and Itachi nodded in acceptance of his helplessness on the matter. He couldn't do anything for his friend, so he'd just have to trust the blonde. His eyes lingered on Naruto. The man had changed out of his teal scrubs and was now wearing powder blue ones. The Uchiha recalled how the teal had highlighted the brilliance of Naruto's eyes, while the powder blue he was wearing now made them shine more like the sky, and Itachi couldn't help but stare.
"Are you feeling alright?" Naruto asked while placing his warm hand on top of Itachi's forehead to check for a fever.
Realizing it was because he was staring, Itachi looked away and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine."
The blonde looked concerned, "Are you sure? You were spacing out a little just now." Itachi removed Naruto's hand from his forehead and squeezed it gently.
"Has anyone ever told you how captivating your eyes are?" He chuckled, amused by the various expressions the man made. Like the slightly embarrassed one marring his cheeks with a small blush now.
"Actually, you're the first." His smile was bright and Itachi got the feeling this man never stayed embarrassed for long.
And with that, despite everything that had happened to him, Itachi had hope that this would be the start of something special.