Chapter Text
It was a cold winter evening. Sakuro was on a mission with Itachi. Somehow, Naruto being Naruto, managed to stop the Akatsuki on time and convinced them to work with the Leaf?
...
What?
How did that happen? He didn't know. nobody did, actually. Leave it up to Naruto and his "Imma pull off some impossible crap outta my ass, do some kage-level speech nobody asked for, and hope for the best." With all due honesty, he loved his teammate, he would kill for him, but sometimes he couldn't understand how the man functioned. He was determined and stubborn as a mule, which he could relate to, and it would be a good thing if it weren't for his innocence and ignorance toward how the world of shinobi functioned sometimes. It was cruel, cold, and unforgiving for those who couldn't adjust, and who decided to stay ignorant towards the real problems. He shared the same ideals as Naruto, sure, but they both saw what it was like out there, there was no mercy and you had to make everything work in record time while looking out for one another as a team and from the perspective of a medic, who had been through being on a team with a tailed beast, with a high-risk of him going berserk and hurting everyone around him, his experience on the medical field and through the fourth great shinobi war, he saw that even Naruto couldn't save everyone, even with the newly acquired sage's power.
Countless times he heard people shout, scream, and beg for help on the battlefield that day. countless injured, and thousands of soldiers who needed his aid, yet he could not, due to trying to keep his teammate alive for the boss battle.
But alas, it was worth it. He sighed. He would never be able to figure out Naruto, but in the end, it all worked out, so he guessed he couldn't complain, could he?
He looked at his current partner and captain of this mission, none other than Itachi Uchiha. The two were assigned by Kakashi to infiltrate Kumokagure, under the orders of Raikage. Apparently, a pair of bozos had established a strip club. It wouldn't have been a problem, since Kumokagure was known for their love for parties, good times, and being one of the founders of official sex work legalization that followed the jurisdictions of legal profiting and service policy, if it weren't for the fact that they were was massive exploitation going on behind the closed doors, not to mention It was an adult club, a place, where even with monitoring, someone could slip something into the drinks and whatnot, not to mention that getting certain drugs on the market was fairly easy, considering that they were used for medical treatments or even could could be bought as daily ingredients you would use in your food. If you were a medically trained ninja or were working around such places by inheritance, much like Naras, Tsunade-shishou, or Shizune, a full-fledged poison mistress did in the past, who specialized in drug use and could easily whip up one just by gathering the herbs provided by nature alone, then it was easy money for you. Depending on the value of the drug, you could even put it up on sale for an interested lot in the black market for quite a hefty price.
The Kumo laws and their popular military power would have been able to handle this type of situation within their own lands, if it weren't for the fact that this was a legally running business, and even with intense supervision they had no dirt on them whatsoever. Without evidence, they would not be able to make a move within their jurisdiction to shut down a working business that destroyed their evidence so well, and questioning the potential victims was out of the question because according to the Raikage, they had some seal to prevent them from speaking about the matter and would get their memory erased on the spot, much like Danzo's seal working with the ROOT. This would be evidence, you would say, but then came the physical evidence of the actual exploitation and drug use, which was impossible to acquire, because, well... There were none: The poof of the seal existing on their bodies hadn't been determined and when they tried the toxicology test on one of the possible victims, it came back negative, aside from alcohol intoxication. All in all, it was one hell of a tricky situation for them, and according to the Raikage, minors were rumored to be involved in all this as well, which he hoped to sage not.
That's where the Leaf came in. The Raikage hired the Leaf's assistance to avoid getting directly involved. So Hokage-sama chose him and Itachi for this job. Itachi for his more... flexible appearance and genjutsu, and him for backup, medical attention and to find any illegal substances within the drinks given, since he had developed immunity to many drugs and poisons at this point.
So now they were on their way to Kumokagure.
Well, they were on their way to Kumokagure, having to go over the hills and mountains to get to the village- a shortcut - until the damn Kumo blizzard rolled on them and it started shitting snowstorm all of a sudden. So here they were, henge up and everything, in the middle of god knows where running through the high-mountain area since they were forced to take "the back door" as Hokage called it. Why? He had no idea, since his damned alcoholic teacher gave him little to no explanation on the details of the route, wanting them out of her office as soon as possible.
Talk about luck, right?
Groaning, he sped up his pace, trying to keep in pace with his captain, his cloak around his shoulder, the hood barely sticking onto his head from the heavy wind trying to pull it off each time he jumped. He looked at his(not his) tanned skin and internally growled. What was the point of keeping up a henge and wasting chakra if there was nobody about and watching? it was chakra consuming too. Every time he looked at his hand he jumped from seeing somebody else's hand.
He noticed Itachi slowing down. Itachi looked at him, blonde hair, and brown eyes, shorter than he actually was. "We should find a place to stay until the storm passes. The storm seems to be getting worse and we'll be no good on foot in such weather. Look around and see if you spot any sheltered places about." The man yelled over the loud storm.
The Pink- brunette nodded his head and started looking around. He squinted his eyes as the snow got in the way of his vision. After what seemed like half an hour, the weather seemed to get worse. Itachi was forced to activate his Sharingan due to the snow falling harder from the sky, obstructing their vision. Looking around one last time, he pointed to Sakuro. "Over there, a mile from the east. There seems to be a cave in one of the mountains. It looks stable enough, we'll just have to bar the entrance with Earth Jutsu. Try to look for some dead tree branches until we get there, we'll need firewood." The man instructed loudly over the wind.
Sakuro nodded and dispersed from Itachi. He looked around the clearing and summoned a small amount of chakra into his fist, aiming at one of the tall dead trees he had spotted. 'If I remove the branches from the outside, it will be wet and will take a while to light it on fire, I'll have to grab whatever dry wood I can from the inside., if it hadn't already been seeped with water' He thought.
He jumped from one of the higher branches of the tall spruce trees that were common in the mountain areas and punched the dead tree. He heard a satisfying crack, and then the dead tree split in half and shattered. Landing on his feet with practice, he quickly pulled out a storage scroll from his back pouch and opened it. He quickly gathered more than enough firewood to last them for today and tomorrow, if needed, and sealed it away, leaving only the wet wood on the snowy field. With that, he moved, sensing out Itachi's location by flaring his chakra to notify the man he was finished with the task. He felt Itachi flare his chakra. 'He's already near the cave? ' He blinked and picked up his speed, before pushing more chakra to the soles of his feet and jumped with his chakra-enhanced force, letting his body shoot far up into the sky, causing a sonic boom around him, he kept jumping over the rocky textures of the mountain, doing his best to avoid the snowy areas, to avoid any possible damage to his body from frozen snow and reached the mouth of the cave. He smirked as he watched Itachi struggling to ascend the rocky and snowy obstacle. "One point for me. Taichou." He said loudly over the wind, as Itachi finally managed to reach the top. He extended his hand and effortlessly hauled the man up, setting him down next to himself. "You can be so childish sometimes, Sakuro-kun." The man replied loudly, smiling slightly. Sakuro chuckled. "When you have a teammate like Naruto on your team for years, it's bound to bring out rather unique sides of your personality you never even knew existed." They entered the cave. Itachi chuckled. "That is true. Naruto-kun is rather... An interesting individual. Very special." He replied to the man and did a hand sign, dispelling the henge. Sakuro watched as the man's appearance changed into the polar opposite of what he looked like before, plus ANBU outfit underneath the plain hooded white cloak they usually wore in such weather. "I'll get the firewood, you seal the entrance with the jutsu Tenzo-san taught you." The raven-haired male instructed. The pinkette dispelled the Genjutsu, growing in size, reaching the full height of 6'2 ft, his long, petal pink locks darkened and wet by the melted snow. Slightly shuddering from the cold weather and the wet cloak clinging to his skin, he took out the scroll he used before stepping into the cave and gave it to Itachi. "Yes, sir." He said and turned to the mouth of the cave. He went through a set of hand signs and slammed his hand down onto the ground. "Earth style: Earth wall!". He poured the chakra into the jutsu and felt vibrations from the ground until the earth erupted slowly from the ground. He focused on shaping the wall in the form of the cave's mouth, sealing it, and leaving a few holes here and there for the air to circulate. He sighed and straightened. Even as he used the jutsu quite a few times, it was still foreign to his system. He wasn't used to casting heavy jutsus, but he went to Yamato for help, since he needed a mentor for the upcoming ANBU exams. Sure, he was proud to become a Jonin after the whole Kaguya and near-apocalypse ordeal, but still, somehow, ANBU black-ops operated to this day and they were full of some pretty mentally fucked up people who needed to go through the process of deprogramming(mainly ex-ROOT members who stayed in the black-ops), so he decided he might as well join to aid them through these tough times, bring some sort of closure, teach them about what being human meant. He made a breakthrough with the help of his best friend Ino and his teammates, Naruto and Sai. Plus, the ANBU deaths were much lesser after he joined in, giving them immediate medical treatment, while simultaneously managing to ward off any enemies on the battlefield with the newly taught jutu or simply by his fists when there was no other choice but to fight, but most of the time, he didn't need to cast one, since the four or five-squad team usually backed him up and had some sort of earth-style user for defense purposes. So in short, he asked Yamato to be his sensei, since they shared the same chakra nature and it hadn't been long before he found out that he, in fact, had two chakra natures, naturally. Thank Kakashi for that with his constant struggles with playing favorites. The pinkette shook his head before his viridian eyes traveled over to Itachi.
Itachi, or Weasel, as his codename suggested. Ironically, his name and codename were basically the same thing, but it gave him a fearsome reputation, being Konoha's protege from a young age. Add being an ex-Akatsuki member to the list of accomplishments in his life. His head was worth quite the sum on the bingo book. The man was famous, but despite all that, just like many other Uchiha, he lacked social skills. He was faring better than his sister, Sayuri, though, he'd give him that.
Oh, and he was quite... Handsome holding a feminine grace around him as well at all times.
Well, at least that was the only word that came to Sakuro's mind when he tried to describe Itachi Uchiha: Astoundingly handsome, graceful with a slight feminine touch, yet a man deadlier than many of deities creations. He was blessed, much like the majority of Uchiha, with fair, yet beautiful features, that bordered between feminine and masculine. He didn't even need to question which side of the family it came from, Mikoto's.
Sitting down on the opposite side of the said man, who was picking at the fire with a wooden stick, he got lost in his beauty: High cheekbones, lips that weren't overly plump but not quite bordering on "no lip" zone either, long raven-colored hair and equally dark lashes adorned with very dark grey set of eyes that bordered an abyss black, depending on which light you looked at it through, elegant thin black brows, sharp jawline. His eyes traveled down lower to his neck to the man's collarbone, which popped out in the light the fire provided.
'Thin, frail.'
He frowned. Even though Itachi had recovered from his previous illness after being revived, he seemed to not be eating all that much. He understood the consequences of being used to eating small portions, but still, it had been over enough time for the man to make a full recovery, which he did, but... Then a thought popped into his mind: 'Is the village overworking him again?'
At that thought, he got significantly angry. 'did he not do and sacrifice more than enough? and the stress lines under his eyes...' His eyes traveled up to the sunken skin that gave the man an eternally stressful, yet indifferent look, like he had seen everything at this point, which, unfortunately, he mostly did. Sakuro both looked up and pitied the man. He deserved none of what happened to him in his childhood. His father's actions were borderline gaslighting and abuse, just for that snake, Danzo's stupid whisperings in his ears, then he had to sacrifice his entire clan, people he knew, people he met nearly every day, his cousins, his pride, friends, his own family... 'Such a tragic life he led...' He thought. His expression must have changed because Itachi called out to him with a questioning look in his eyes and that slight tilt in his head when he found something interesting or confusing, much like a cat. "Sakuro-kun? Are you alright? You were staring and you looked concerned..." He asked in his usual monotonous voice.
Sakuro snapped out of his thought and gave a nervous chuckle. "Y-yeah, sorry 'bout that." He replied. "I just got lost in thought, Itachi-san." He brought his knees to his chest and rested his arms on his knees. "Say, Itachi-san?" He looked at the noirette man. "Hm?" He looked away from his gaze on the fire. "Are-... How's your health these days?" viridian eyes stared into the onyx pools, silently pleading for him to tell the truth. The man looked down at the fire and picked at it with his stick. "...Ah..." He breathed out. "I'm presuming you're asking me this because I look like an underfed dog?" He asked with the same damn emotionless tone he nearly always seemed to hold. Sakuro shook his head and waved his hands in front of him defensively. "N-no! nothing of the sort! You don't look like an underfed dog, not at all! You're quite beautiful and handsome I was just wondering, is all!" He rambled on in panic. Itachi blinked and looked at the pink-haired male, his head tilting in question. "You think I'm pretty and handsome...?" he asked. This made Sakuro blush, his face now matched his hair, he was sure. "I-I- No I just- um- I mean-" He stuttered. This made Itachi chuckle and he waved Sakuro off. "I'm just teasing. Thank you for the compliment, though." He gave the taller male one of his rare, small but genuine smiles. "I'm not offended the least. To answer your question: I'll-... Admit I don't have the best diet these days. Too much going on in the village, so I am constantly busy doing something and from the looks I have been receiving these days, it seems to show on my physique as well." He looked down at his hand and shook his head.
This made Sakuro frown. "You didn't come in for monthly check-ups either this year. After we get back, you're getting that checkup, understood? Doctor's orders- scratch that: new head of the hospital kind of doctor's orders!" he pointed his pointy finger in the air. "You had an underlying health issue before, and there's no telling if it comes back, especially with a schedule like yours. You're taking this too lightly, captain. Please consider taking a break from your duties, at least for a bit. i-... I think you have done more than enough for this village, already..." He looked at him with a frown face.
Itachi's eyes widened slightly at Sakruo's last words before he looked down and sighed. "You know I'm not on the best of terms with the hospital and doctors. I dislike it." He explained. This made Sakuro's eye twitch. "Yeah, but what good will you be if you drop dead in the middle of the mission from exhaustion and possibly another health issue? No, I won't have that. I'm sorry Taichou, but I will drag your ass to the hospital if I have to. You may be smarter than most people I've known my entire life, but I'm no dumbass either, and I don't have the tendency to back down from a challenge, it's the Haruno way, so don't test me!" He said with a determined look. This made Itachi's eyes grow wide again before a chuckle escaped his lips, covering his face, and then it slowly turned into that dreadful frown again. "I don't want to go to the hospital. I'm sorry, Sakuro-kun..." He said, then Itachi got an idea. "How about... You do my checkup here?"
This made Sakuro blink and then sputter. "H-here?!" He gestured around the small cave. Itachi shrugged. "Why not? It's private enough and it's not like the storm will pass anytime soon. We have plenty of time on our hands to do so. I can get my check-up out of the way, I can also prove to you I am fully healthy and you can calm your nerves." He offered nonchalantly. "I'd say that's a win-win. I won't have to go to the hospital this way either. I trust you, Sakuro-kun." The noirette looked at Sakuro with trust in his eyes and a small smile gracing his lips. "If you do this favor for me, it would make me very happy." He added.
Sakuro gulped. "I-..." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before he got up. "Fine, but that doesn't mean you will bail on each check-up, got it?" He narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha, who merely laughed slightly. "Alright, Understood~" Itachi replied and motioned him to sit with a small smile. He had always found Sakuro and Naruto to be amusing individuals.
With that he approached the man on the other side, getting the wet bangs out of his face, and sat down next to him. "Shirt, off." He commanded simply, pulling off his medical pouch with a mini first-aid inside. The man complied and started working off the armor off of his body.
Sakuro mentally sighed as he opened the pouch to take out the said first-aid and disposable medical gloves out of the box. 'Boy, this will be... Interesting...' He thought. In the back of his mind, He felt Inner cackling and squealing in delight. 'Interesting indeed. Kyaa!~' This made Sakuro's eye twitch. 'How the fuck are we the same person? Fucking pervert... IT'S JUST A CHECKUP!' He mentally waved his fist at inner, before removing his battle gloves, sanitizing his hands with the medical wipes, and pulling on the disposable ones. 'Let's just get this over with...' He turned to the half-naked Itachi. As soon as he saw the man's frail body, his mind instantly went into its medic mode and his eyes hardened.
TBC...