Where We Belong

Chapter IV

- Good morning, Konan...

Itachi greeted the blue-haired woman, who was sitting in the apartment's small kitchen-dining room eating breakfast. The ebony-haired man thus walked over to the stove and served a cup of tea for himself, joining her at the table. A tray of apparently homemade rolls and some dango sat in the middle of the table. The morning meal went by mostly in silence until Konan suddenly lifted her orange eyes to the Uchiha's onyx ones and said, as an ever so soft blush adorned her face that she had been really worried about him lately. Especially, she clarified, about his physical and mental health. Those last words definitely caught the Uchiha's attention and, as he placed his cup on the table for a moment, he asked as one of his dark eyebrows arched ever so slightly what she was referring to as "mental health". The orange-eyed woman thus replied in a rather accusing tone that she wasn't innocent enough as to ignore the fact that he hadn't slept more than an hour's worth lately due to his still recurrent visions. As a matter of fact, she added, sometimes she even heard him talking in his sleep as though he was suffering from a high fever. Itachi sighed in clear defeat. He didn't recall Konan being so perceptive but she had definitely caught him. A deep sigh escaped his mouth and the onyx-eyed man finally nodded, admitting to having had difficulties to sleep. However, he also explained that he had the feeling that it was due more to anxiety than to his insomnia problems themselves.

- How did you manage anxiety back then? I don't recall that being a problem to you when we were in Akatsuki...

This time Itachi stopped the bite he was about to take from the roll in his hand staring at the blue-haired woman with stern onyx eyes and said after a new sigh that there were many things about him only Madara knew as far as he could tell. He had admittedly confided –albeit indirectly- his health issues in Kisame, but he had never trusted any of them enough to open up about that to the others, herself included. Besides, the only reason why Madara (Tobi) knew the truth was because he had been the man he had turned to at the time of the Uchiha massacre. Konan nodded and the rest of the meal went on in silence. Once they finished, Itachi offered to wash the dishes and asked his companion whether there was something in particular she would like to do next, admitting that, personally, he wanted to visit his niece and sister-in-law before going to the Nanadaime's office to prepare his search mission. Konan shook her head, though she all the same looked at her partner with a curious expression in her orange eyes. Itachi had always been an extremely reserved man in spite of showing deep respect especially towards her while Akatsuki. However, his attitudes towards her those last few months she had noticed an incredible change. She had never considered herself as his friend and she was almost certain that he didn't see her that way either. But their time together seemed to have noticeably changed that. For instance, he seemed to be more attentive and even worried about her needs almost to the extent of adamantly ignoring his.

- Did you often question Nagato about that as well?

The woman looked up to find herself staring at the piercing scarlet orbs of the man in front of her. Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan flashed a more intense reddish hue for a fraction of a second before he reversed it back to its original three-tomoed shape. Konan's thoughts had always been unreadable even to her own partner in Akatsuki, Nagato Uzumaki, thus the ebony-haired man found it too strange that she had allowed him access to them so easily. However, unlike Kisame, he wasn't a curious person, thus he wouldn't question her about what he had seen unless that she decided to open up to him about it. He considered that he had violated Konan's privacy long enough by reading her thoughts. However, he had to admit that he still found it difficult to master the skills of a dōjutsu that obviously did not belong to him, even when it was none less than his own brother's eyes. This time and without the Uchiha expecting it, it was he the one to find scrutinizing eyes of topaz staring straight at his then onyx ones. However, as quickly as their gazes met, Konan diverted hers upon realizing precisely how intensely she was looking at him. It wasn't shame out of being caught by him but, rather, it was the fact that she hadn't really intended to do that. She had noticed the younger man so focused on something she couldn't figure out that she had been unable to supress her curiosity.