I Want You For Myself (Sasuke/Itachi Romance)

40. Saved By a Beautiful Dog

Akira's dash from the hidden Leaf Village had soon turned into a slow hobble. Her face beaded in sweat as her body just begged her for a break. Falling on her own sword was turning out to be one injury her body was just not healing fast enough from. Night had long fallen, and, under the cover of the trees, she allowed herself one brief moment to catch her breath. Sliding to the forest floor, her back braced against the trunk of a tree, she panted shallowly, a painful warmth seeming to accumulate under the very area she thought she had healed.

"Shit," she sighed, attempting to stare up at the night sky through the swaying canopy of forest branches above her.

The light of the moon danced between the openings of the leaves, and the natural night light seemed to be so vibrant she couldn't stare at it for too long. Blinking back the dizzying spell that was coming upon her, she was unable to comprehend that her brief moment of rest was quickly turning into unconsciousness.

"I'm so tired," she muttered weakly, deciding to completely topple over onto her back so she was staring directly up at the trees.

If she had been more alert, she would've caught the cerulean blue eyes staring at her from underneath the cover of the forest darkness. Had she been more alert, she would've recognized that familiar smell in the wind as a scent she had fallen asleep next to most nights of her childhood...and had she not been on the brink of unconsciousness, she sure as hell would've noticed the large, heavenly white wolf emerge from the darkness and make it's way slowly towards her.

It was not until its massive paws stepped right near her head, that she heard it and opened her heavy, blurry eyes to meet its gaze dead on. For a moment her breath caught in her throat, almost in disbelief, and the wolf's eyes sparkled almost in excitement at the thought that Akira had recognized him immediately.

"Wow. You're the most...beautiful...dog I've ever seen," Akira mumbled weakly, reaching up and running her fingers through the wolf's soft, thick fur. She closed her eyes, focusing on the surprisingly soft sensation against her fingertips. The wolf let out a type of snort, seemingly offended by the compliment.

"You have no idea who I am right now, do you?" A deep solemn voice retorted, breaking the lonely silence of the forest.

Akira's eyelids were much too heavy to keep open, but upon hearing that voice, she managed to sneak a peek at who spoke before she went under. Those startling blue eyes no longer belonged to a wolf, but, to a man, and her fingers were no longer running through fur. Instead, her hand was entangled in his long snowy white hair that was equally just as soft.

"K-Kotaro?" Akira whispered.

His strong arms picked her up and cradled her against his chest just as her body went limp.

~~~~~~

"What do you mean she's not with you?"

Hidan and Kakuzu stood before a furious Itachi, having just told him the news about being separated from Akira in the jinchuriki retrieval mission. Although he was not outwardly yelling, his fearsome glare, and the way his words barely seemed to contain his rage, was all the indicator they needed.

Hidan shrugged, laughing almost nervously and clearly irritated, "Look, I get it, you're pissed...but I'm sure Akira's just fine. It's not our fault time was cut short. We needed to get back here as soon as possible to prepare for the extraction of that damn one-tailed beast."

"Why...Why did you send her for the nine-tails by herself?" Itachi pressed, trying to absorb the situation.

"Well, I dunno, she wanted to go ahead of us to be honest. She said it'd be better if we saved time by splitting up. We would go up the mountain for that monk's head and she would scope out the location of the nine-tails. The plan was to meet back up after anywa-," Hidan immediately stopped as Kakuzu hit him in the back of his head, hissing at him to shut up.

Itachi's eyes rested on Kakuzu, "You jeopardized the mission...jeopardized Akira...for a bounty?"

Kakuzu glared right back at the Uchiha clearly not intimidated by him, "What I do to make my money is of no concern to you. If you're so worried, how about you go back out there and search for her?" Kakuzu brushed passed Itachi completely finished with this argument. "Besides, the girl took on the one-tailed basically all on her own. You obviously don't know how strong that nuisance is. She'll be fine."

Just as Kakuzu said that last sentence, Kisame quickly made his way into the room, his blue shark-like face clearly startled. "Itachi. Akira was found..."

Hidan grinned smugly as he gave Itachi the "we told you so" look.

"What do you mean found?"

"The kid was pretty beat up. Had some internal bleeding, but she's being taken care of now. She was found right outside the border of the hideout, and it's pretty clear she didn't walk herself all the way here without some help."

"Lead me to where she is, Kisame." Itachi's voice was still composed, showing not a hint of worry. Kisame left first, but before following him and leaving Kakuzu and Hidan, Itachi paused in the doorway turning slightly to address the two of them, "You self-proclaimed immortals should hope she recovers from this...for both your sakes."

With that Itachi left the common room and Hidan scowled, pissed, "Who the f*ck does he think he is!"

"Leave it alone. As if he could really make good on his "threat". Just be ready to leave by the morning," Kakuzu muttered leaving Hidan alone to himself.

Itachi entered the makeshift medical room, which was just another cold stone room with some medical supplies, equipment, and a hand full of beds. Down at the third bed, lay Akira with a medical nin at her bedside taking one last look at her bandages before pulling the blankets back up to her chin.

He slowly approached taking note of how pale Akira looked even from the distance of the doorway and as he drew closer the medical ninja's soft brown eyes looked up at him, the lower half of her face covered by a medical mask. The medical personnel here wore the masks, not only because they were in a healthcare setting, but for the safety of their identity as well.

"How is she?"

"Stable," the woman's eyes lowered anxiously, knowing she was trained to say as little as possible to the criminals they were contracted to work for, "her body was beginning to heal itself long before she got here, but she wasn't able to handle the sudden large amount of blood lost. She appeared to have healed the wound shut by her own methods, but that amount of blood pooling inside her could've proven just as fatal as bleeding out would've. She truly came to us just in time."

"Thank you. I hope it is alright that I stay with her."

The woman nodded, knowing it was not really a request to begin with, and turned to leave the room to provide them some privacy.

Itachi took a seat along side the hospital bed, his dark eyes carefully watching the rise and fall of her chest as if to ensure she was still breathing. Finally, the knot in his stomach dissipated, knowing that Akira, although hurt, was back here at the Akatsuki hideout with him. Resting his chin atop his fist, he allowed himself to sigh, the tension seeming to flow out his body with one exhale.

"Why do you have to worry me so much, Akira?"

He obviously received no response from his sleeping beauty, her dark, long lashes not even fluttering at the sound of his voice. So there he would sit the rest of the night, just waiting for her to wake.