Send me a "Stay" and I'll write a drabble about one character making the other promise that they will stay with them (ItaIno~)
He was a young man with eyesabout a century old.
She could not tear her gazeaway. Not from the large, black eyeswith their picket fence lashes, not from the red of his eyes, which werecurrently pooling with blood… or the red that was dribbling down his lips andchin.
She should have left. Afterall, before his eyes, before his face, she had seen his headband. A Konoha leafsymbol etched upon his forehead protector- - and then cut in a deliberate half.The mark of the forsaken shinobi. The traitor.
And yet… InoYamanaka was not traitor enough to simply leave him to his fate.
She hadbeen in the body of a bird when she had spotted him. A private moment betweenman and medicine as he attempted to dry swallow some type of medicine. However,he was coughing- and then coughing upblood -when he finally let go of the vial of tablets. They rolled out ofhis hand as he slumped against a tree, legs giving way to exhaustion.
She had nothesitated a moment longer before swooping down at his side.
Itachi’svision swam, blurry and incoherent with fever as he could only make out softoutlines of a sheet of silvery hair, the smell of flowers mingling with thecoppery scent of blood and the cool touch of healing hands. After that, hecould see only black.
When herose, it was in alarm. Itachi was supposed to be untouchable to all, except forthe cut of his younger brother. He would welcome that reprieve and would endureanything for it - - yet his body had other ideas.
And so didthe young woman beside him.
Long fairhair, thigh holster- - kunoichi. Activatinghis sharingan, he tensed at once. Withdrew the vulnerability from his face toprepare for a fight… except he was only met by a concerned gaze.
“You needrest,” the kunoichi informed him, trying to maintain a clinical sort ofdetachment, but he could sense the tremor of fear in her voice.
Good, he thought. She should have the good sense tofear him and stay far away from him. Hewas poison. But he was also faintly… embarrassed(?) by the relief he felt. The pressure in his lungs had faded, as well as thedryness of his throat and she had even gone so far as to clean his clothes.
“Why wouldyou go this far for a stranger?” Oh, Itachi had said that out loud. Perhaps theafter effects of his fever.
She turnedto him, a familiar sort of smile on her face. Did he know her? He was sure hehad never met this kunoichi in his life. She did have a bizarre resemblance toDeidara, but she was no Iwagakure Kunoichi. In fact… her bearing and stance… Konoha…
But thatdid not make sense.
“I couldn’tjust leave you to die,” she replied simply. “All alone… when I could have donesomething about it. Nobody deserves that.”
“But Icould have killed you…” Itachi hissed, eyes narrowed in anger. What an insanelyreckless and foolish young girl! Ashe made his way to get up, his vision swam again.
“In yourstate?” A confident hand was upon her hip and she muttered something about ‘boys’under her breath. She was apparently no longer afraid of him. “Stay here- promise me! I need to replenish yourtablets.”
He couldonly manage an imperceptible nod, which was good enough for her, and returned.
He must havespent a day or more with her; regaining his strength, listening to her inanechatter… being privileged to receive care that he did not deserve… until shesaid it again.
“You’llpromise to stay here whilst I get more medicine for you, right? I know I’llhave to arrest you but please, promisethat you’ll stay-”
She slumpedmid-sentence, eyes rolling to the back of her head as she fell forwards. Hecaught her gently.
“Forgive me,”he had the courtesy to apologise when he deactivated his sharingan.
Itachi had never been good at keepingpromises. Not to his parents, his team mates, to Shisui… not even to Sasuke.Hers was just one more promise he would break.
He lay heragainst the tree, covering her up with an illusionary jutsu so that nobodywould be tempted to attack her. He may not know the name of this foolish and soft-hearted kunoichi, but he would not forget her generosity.
