As the World Falls Down

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor lay claim to any of the characters. I recieve no monetary gain for any fanfictions dipicting any Naruto characters.

5-12-08 A/N ~ Some minor revisions as I prepare to update further chapters.

Chapter 2


Sakura looked at Itachi in dismay, he was worse than usual. Of course her face didn’t show her thoughts; she had become good at hiding most of her reactions. ‘Damn it all, I am not here to patch Itachi back together just so Sasuke can bloody him up over and over!’

She never thought the little prickle of irritation she felt towards Sasuke at the moment was something she would ever feel. But then again, things had changed a lot since they were thirteen year old children. He had changed a lot since they were thirteen year old children.

Itachi’s left eye was swelled shut, and his already parched and cracked lips were swollen, she had a feeling his cheekbone was broken again. It was a pain in the ass to heal too. Several fingers lay at odd angles, obviously bent back until they snapped, probably methodically. Bloody gashes and bruised littered the rest of his body.

She began to probe his body with chakra, looking for internal injuries, and set about the painstaking task of healing him. Of course there was only so much she could do with her chakra, especially since she could not see inside his body. She had learned how to “feel” and sometimes it was hard because each person was different. While their basic make-up was the same, as with the outside, the inside also varied, so delving into someone with your chakra was tricky business.

After assessing the worst of the damage, she took notes on her clip board, and diagnosed which problems were in immediate need of repair, while glancing back at her previous notes verifying which treatments were most effective for Itachi. While she had healed him several times, with the amount of people she healed on a regular basis, it was impossible to be sure without her notes.

Setting her clipboard aside, she frowned as she began healing him. Did Itachi bother to resist or just lay there and allow Sasuke to use him as a punching bag? Did he have the strength to resist? She doubted it. She wondered how soon it would be before she walked in to find a corpse.

She really needed to talk with Sasuke about this. Itachi had been captive for several months now, and after a full days work or training, her chakra was low enough as it was. If Sasuke could simply show a little restraint, it could make her life a hell of a lot easier.

Itachi stirred slightly under her ministrations, and she carefully schooled her features into the blank mask she wore for him. He flinched slightly away from the ice pack she placed on his battered face. It was barely perceptible, and quickly controlled, but her keen eyes saw it nonetheless. She was beginning to learn to read his body language; his mask wasn’t as perfect as she had previously thought.

Pressing some pills into his mouth, he obediently swallowed them with the water she offered. He gulped at the water, so she refilled the flask, giving him more. She was careful not to let him drink too much, so he wouldn't vomit. A part of her felt renewed anger toward Sasuke. She smoothed some balm over his cracked lips to promote healing.

She was torn about whether to collect a sample from him today or wait a few days to allow him to heal. But knowing Sasuke, if she waited it wouldn’t do any good, because he would just beat Itachi again.

It was harder to collect samples on days like this. His body tended to be less than cooperative, and she understood why. She had learned that if she stimulated the blood flow to his genitals with her chakra, his member would get hard, making the task slightly easier.

He fell into a light, fitful sleep as soon as she finished. He hadn’t even bothered with the usual baleful glare. It angered her that she felt bad for Itachi. She hated Itachi. She did not want to feel bad for that man. Sasuke was the cause, and as soon as she finished with her lab work, he was going to hear it from her.

~*~*~*~

Sakura braced herself before entering Sasuke’s study getting her anger under control; she had worked herself into a ripe frenzy. Never in her life had she spoken a cross word to Sasuke, and she was finding that she was a little nervous.

Knocking firmly on the door, she waited for him to call out for her to enter. He was seated behind his desk, busy with some form of paperwork. Probably plans to further his goal of reviving the Uchiha clan, and how many other people he could step on.

Down girl, she told herself, reminding herself of the rough childhood he had survived.

Sasuke’s gaze riveted on her when she didn’t speak immediately, and Sakura cleared her throat. “It is a little difficult for me to accomplish what I need to when I have to heal the patient each time I need to collect a sample. I would appreciate it if you would stop beating him within an inch of his life. He kind of has to be in the mood to cooperate for me to get what I need.” She pinned him with an accusatory glare.

“Besides that, the agreement we made had to do with procreative medical skills, not healing. A-and I don’t have the spare reserves you or Naruto have, healing him over and over is a waste of my chakra,” she bit out, berating him as only a disciple of Tsunade could.

Sasuke’s glare turned frosty for a moment, Sakura knew he didn’t like being told what to do, especially when it came to his brother. But if he had any sense, he knew that she had a valid point, which probably further aggravated him.

“Which is it going to be Sasuke? Do you want to torture him or use him to further your goals? Right now you can’t have both.”

“I will restrain myself until our deal is over,” his deep voice betrayed more than a small amount of irritation.

“Thank you,” she bowed her head slightly to show that she appreciated it and wearily walked out of his office.

~*~*~*~

Another collection day came and Itachi’s bruises were fading. It was obvious that Sasuke had stayed true to his word, not touching his brother. She wrinkled her nose slightly in distaste as she neared the bedside. The smell of Itachi’s body odor was becoming stronger each time she entered the room.

She looked over his injuries, and promoted healing in some parts, adding chakra. His eyes silently followed all her actions, but he didn’t speak. He never spoke. Which was probably better, she was having enough feelings of guilt towards the man without dealing with words to complicate the situation.

She noticed that Itachi was becoming seriously dehydrated. She wouldn’t doubt if he was feeling weak and dizzy. Finishing her exam, she allowed him to drink from the flask before going to get an IV.

Sasuke didn’t seem to understand that if he wanted her to be able to get the sperm he wanted to further the Uchiha clan, then Itachi needed to be in top physical health. Sakura sighed.

It looked like she would need to have another confrontation with Sasuke. After the look he had given her last week, she was not relishing the idea of it. Why did Sasuke keep putting her in a position where she had to defend a hated criminal? Did he not understand that she didn’t want to be defending him?

Actually, she was getting a bad taste in her mouth toward Uchiha men in general. Itachi watched as she neared with the IV and didn’t resist and she stuck him with the needle. She sat down to wait while he was infused, being who he was, she couldn’t leave the room. There was a chance, no matter how minute, that he could use the needle to pick the lock, or as a potential weapon. Put nothing past an S class criminal.

They stared at each other for several seconds before Sakura looked away. Let him stare if he wanted, he was probably bored with staring at the wall, and she was something different to look at. At least her death wasn’t in his eyes this time.

~*~*~*~

“If you expect me to be able to collect healthy samples from your brother, then you will need to care for him better than you are. And another thing, he smells foul, have you bathed him at all?” Sakura berated Sasuke.

“I am beginning to think that you are becoming attached to him, Sakura,” Sasuke sneered.

A spike of anger filled Sakura. She fixed Sasuke with an exasperated glare, which had left many an unruly patient squirming, but not Sasuke, nothing except Itachi ruffled his feathers. “You do understand that semen is a fluid, right? And when the donor is dehydrated, it is more difficult for the body to produce fluids, don’t you?” she offered in a condescending tone. “I can assure you it has nothing to do with affection, and everything to do with making sure that the donor is producing at maximum potential. The more he produces, the quicker I am finished with this task,” she sneered the last word. “And about his stench, I don’t like it, why should I have to suffer along with him?”

“Fine, fine, see to it,” Sasuke waved her off, unable to refute her logic and having lost interest in fighting a losing battle.

‘Great!’ She thought sarcastically, ‘my taking care of it was not what I had in mind. As if I am not taking enough time out of my busy schedule to help you as it is!’ Inner Sakura flipped Sasuke the bird, while Sakura bowed slightly, excusing herself.

~*~*~*~

Itachi looked up, somewhat surprised at the appearance of the pink haired woman. He had expected Sasuke; his brother had not come in and used him to beat out some pent up aggression on for over a week now. His body immediately reacted to the sight of her wearing a short simple white yakuta.

After months of captivity, she was still nameless to him. She had just “collected a sample” yesterday, so he didn’t understand why she would be there today. She walked up to him and pressed a few pressure points rendering his arms and legs from the knee down temporarily useless before releasing his shackles.

This was new.

It was his first time since being held in captivity that he had been unbound. He had been tethered in those damn chains for months with only enough freedom to be able to stand up and use the toilet next to the bed.

She lifted him from the bed with an ease that contradicted his solid weight. Itachi quickly filed the information in the back of his brain, as well as her medical know-how, her strength was above average.

She carried him into a bathroom, and proceeded to strip the once white robe from him. She wrinkled her nose in obvious disdain before depositing his only clothing into a trash can. He would have been slightly miffed if it weren’t for the fact that he knew the robe was nasty. He had become almost immune to his own stench, but realized that it must have bothered the woman.

He watched as she turned on the tap in the tub, running a bath. Steam began to fill the room, and she turned back to him. He knew the reason they were not allowing him to bathe himself, yet he still felt the helpless anger at being treated in such a way. It was almost better to wallow in his own stink, almost.

She set him into the steaming tub, to allow his skin to soften before she scrubbed him. The heat penetrated into his too long unused muscles, and he allowed himself to relax. He was becoming used to her presence and knew that he was relatively safe around her.

After about a half an hour, she reached into the now scummy water, and pulled the drain. She lifted him from the tub, setting him on a small stool in front of the shower head.

When the warm spray from the shower head contacted with his skin, he almost let out a sigh of contentment. Itachi didn’t need the comforts of home; he had never luxuriated in all the little extras which made life easier. But, as a ninja, bathing regularly so that your body odor didn’t give away your presence was a must.

He relished the feeling of the scratchy brush she used to exfoliate his skin, especially on his back, which was always itching lately. She pulled the band from his ratted hair, and began to methodically work shampoo into his scalp, her nails scraping it, sending pleasurable sensations down his neck and spine.

He allowed his head to roll back as she rinsed the shampoo thoroughly from his hair. She applied conditioner in the same fashion, allowing it to sit for a few minutes before rinsing it out.

When his skin glowed from her thorough scrubbing, she rinsed him. She grabbed a towel and began drying his hair. Itachi noticed that her white robe had gotten wet while she was bathing him, probably the reason she was wearing it in the first place. He began to think she was deliberately teasing him when she began drying his hair, her breasts close to his face. He noted the lack of bra, and wished he had use of his arms. He gave in to her teasing, his hot mouth closing over her covered breast.

She jumped back as if burned and her face flamed. A look of outrage and anger covered her features; ‘maybe she hadn’t been teasing after all.’

For the first time since he had met her, she spoke to him, “if you attempt something like that again, I will flatten your ass, defenseless or not. Understood?”

‘Definitely hadn’t been teasing.’ Her glower was still firmly in place, so Itachi decided not to push his luck instead inclining his head to acknowledge he had understood.

~*~*~*~

His obsidian eyes glittered with lust at her while she finished drying him. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she was hard pressed to keep her threatening scowl in place. Especially since she could still feel the ghost of his hot mouth on her breast. She was careful to stay behind him as much as possible while she finished drying him. It wouldn’t do to allow him to see that he had flustered her so much.

Finished, she wrapped him in a towel and lifted him into the outer room, meant for dressing. She grabbed the boxers and loose white sleeping pants stolen from Sasuke. They were very close in size; a part of her wondered how close those similarities ran. She found that her gaze had strayed to his still erect member, and she forced herself to remain clinical, squashing those thoughts quickly.

Before putting a shirt on him, she worked the tangles from his hair, and tied it back into his customary pony tail. His eyes regarded her in the mirror the whole time, but she was used to his unwavering stare. She could only imagine how many deaths she had suffered in that unwavering glare. She would never know that it was only rivaled by the amount of times that he had fucked her senseless in his mind.

Swiping the excess water from his back, she rubbed some medical salve into some of his healing cuts and put one of Sasuke’s shirts on him. She was sure both males would be affronted in they knew Itachi was now wearing Sasuke’s clothes. It was one of her small acts of rebellion against them.

~*~*~*~

She had changed his bed, and chained him before restoring the use of his arms and legs to him. Itachi felt sure that he had seen the last of her for a few days, but was surprised when she returned shortly. She had changed clothes, and had a steaming bowl of food.

His stomach rumbled in appreciation, but he tried not to get his hopes up. Sasuke had already pulled this one on him more than once. Bring the food in; allow the scent to fill the room, only to eat it himself, allowing Itachi the smell of the food as sustenance for the day.

When she placed the food on a medical table and pulled it along to his bedside, he kept his expression impassive. When she gestured that he should eat, he finally allowed his gaze to fall on the bowl before him. He did not have much mobility with the chains attached to his arms, and it would be even more difficult with several broken fingers, but he would be damned if he wouldn’t find a way.

His first bite was slightly untrusting. When the taste washed over his tongue in a burst of savory home cooked flavor, the like of which he had not had in many years, he quickly dug in, finishing the bowl in record time, all the while retaining his flawless manners. Sakura watched him with an almost bemused expression on her face. When he presented the empty bowl to her she asked him, “seconds?”

He nodded slightly. Always the wary ninja, she moved all potential weapons out of his reach before exiting the room to get him more. She returned with a second heaping bowl. After he finished, she gave him some water, noting that the parched, puckered look around his mouth had substantially gotten better. She still reapplied some medicinal balm; the cuts there would be healed within another day or two.

Grabbing his chin, she turned his face to the side to examine his broken cheekbone. It appeared to be healing nicely, and she probed it slightly with her chakra. He was completely still under her ministrations, and she opened the blood flow here to promote healing, while slowing it there to prevent further swelling. It was delicate work, but she had done a good job the first day, so there was not a whole lot that she could do other than wait for his body to mend itself.

Releasing his chin, she jotted a few notes on her ever handy notebook, before flipping it closed. She cleaned up the mess from his dinner and exited the room.