New World (Akatsuki)

Ch 11

I do not own Naruto or the Akatsuki, but I do own a large collection of rap music.

Fight me.

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Itachi flips the light switch, encasing the room in darkness. It's just him and Chaos tonight because Kisame passed out on the couch. Brise glared at anyone who tried to wake him up because he looks so cute, why would they want to ruin that?

Chaos doesn't want to admit that she feels sick right now. For the past four hours she's been feeling miserable, waving off Itachi's worrisome glances by telling him she just had a head ache. She didn't want to worry him, or Brise for that matter, especially now that it's well past three a.m., but the pain in her stomach is causing her head to spin and her eyes to water.

She hasn't felt this sick in months, but now she feels like someone's sticking a knife in her gut. A few tears slip down her cheeks and she chokes back a sob, wiping them away. Her knees curl up to her chest, the boot the last thing that matters to her right now. It's like a cramp mixed with being shot, and she doubts that she'll be able to brush this off if the pain keeps up.

Itachi's already occupied the spot next to her, back facing her. The blankets covering his body move with every slow breath, and she's jealous of how relaxed he looks right now. Her nails dig into her arms and she clenches her jaw, swallowing thickly.

"'Tachi," she croaks and instantly cringes. You can literally hear the pain in her voice, and she regrets speaking because God, is this embarrassing.

Itachi turns towards her instantly, looking at her carefully. He reaches over her and turns on the lamp on her night stand, the yellow light illuminating her face. He's taken aback by her pained expression, quickly recovering from his shock.

"What's wrong?" He asks, hand resting on her shoulder and the other on her cheek. Softly, like his fingers could make her break apart. She feels an onslaught of tears and squeezes her eyes shut, curling up tighter and hugging her knees. Her sobs are leaving her short of breath, gasping like a miserable fish.

She feels Itachi lift her up, sliding her into his lap carefully. His hand runs through her hair soothingly, her face resting against his collar bone. His other hand runs up and down her thigh reassuringly, something that would normally seem sexual if it wasn't for the fact that it was Itachi, and his mind wasn't on anything other than finding out what was wrong.

She buries her face in the curve of his neck, wrapping her arms around him because if she doesn't hold onto something, she's going to break. She sobs freely, no longer worried of him seeing her gross crying face.

"Shhhh. It's okay. It's going to be okay," he says calmly into her ear, rocking back and forth. "What's wrong?"

She can't even make out the word ibuprofen and now she has to tell him what's wrong? God, she thinks, I'm going to die.

After catching her breath, she able to say, "My stomach...is killing...me," before breaking off into an ugly sob. He nods slowly, probably thinking of what he should do.

"Do I need to get Brise?" He asks, only to be responded with her shaking her head furiously.

"Don't wake her...Medicine in the bathroom," she said, sniffling. He nodded.

Carefully, Itachi stands, taking Chaos with him. He walks to her bathroom and nudges the door open with his foot, setting her on the counter before turning on the light. She instantly curls into herself, burying her face in her knees in some desperate attempt to fight off the pain.

He opened her medicine cabinet, eyes staring at the various names of random prescriptions, antibiotics, and pain relievers. He picks up a random orange container, reading that it's for Strep Throat, and puts it back. His eyes narrow as he reads over the brief descriptions on the bottles, looking for anything that has to do with stomach aches or pain relievers. Finally, he picks up a bottle of Ibuprofen, reading the uses and deciding that it's worth a try. He fills one of the small paper cups Chaos keeps stacks of (she uses them to rinse after she brushes her teeth) with water and dumps two of the pills into his palm, closing the bottle and setting it back into the cabinet.