Ino opened the door to Itachi's room, she squeezed my hand then let go, moving to tend to Itachi. He smiled and was going to greet me but my eyes were focused solely on the dark haired idiot sitting beside his brother drinking another damned tomato juice. Without wasting a second more, I grabbed hold of Sasuke's collar and slammed him into the wall. He slumped, not even putting up a fight in his exhausted state, but he was looking at me with pure annoyance.

"You selfish asshole, are you shitting me! You compromised everything for vengeance." I pushed him harder into the wall, snarling in anger and disbelief and utter exasperation. "Oh my god, I'm friends with an idiot, you are such a prick, a selfish, shitty, stupid, asshole. I should fucking break both of your arms right now you asshole. Did you really think it was a good idea to tell motherfucking DANZO SHIMURA your brother was home so he would attack during surgery? I got stabbed, Itachi almost died multiple times, you put so many lives at risk including your own. Do you think things through or are you so childish your vengeance for the sake of your clan would blind you and make you so stupid. Huh, how the hell did you plan on stopping Danzo if he attacked when you were under anesthesia, you'd feel like a fucking idiot if you singlehandedly took out the rest of the Uchiha clan in one fail swoop because you can't control your emotions. You selfish, ignorant, blind, little shit."

I slammed my fist into the wall right beside his face, it stung but it was the only thing keeping me sane enough not to slam my fist right into his stupid face. Itachi looked at the scene, his eyes were uncovered and working better than ever, he didn't question it yet knowing I'd tell him everything soon. His mind was still extremely fuzzy and he barely made out any of what I was shouting at his bother but he knew I was mad and it would be better to stay out of it. Ino on the other hand understood everything and pieced together why I was so pissed with them, I didn't have the chance to be mad before the surgery but now that it's over...it made sense. Hell, Ino was just as pissed and if she didn't think I would take care of it she would end up punching her old flame right in his too straight nose.

"Hn. It was worth it, I would do anything to catch that bastard and give him what he deserves...no matter the cost." There was something dangerous in the way Sasuke spoke, he was back to being an angry and aggressive pre-teen that I hadn't seen in a while. In a second that boy was gone and Sasuke was right in front of me, eyes lidded and heavy.

"You goddamned imbecile, not only did you risk your life, you risked everyone else's were you really that willing to let Itachi die?" Sasuke's dark eyes flashed with anger at my accusation but I pressed on. He was so stupid, did he and Tsunade really think that would be a good idea? They are so unbelievably lucky everything went the way it did, if Jiraiya had gotten pulled away a minute earlier or I got stabbed any closer to my spine, or a stray Kunai managed to hit somebody, it would have been a fail in epic portions. As a medic I promised to protect those I'm saving and not endanger them but that is the exact opposite thing Tsunade and Sasuke planned out together.

"He wouldn't have died." It was lowly spoken but there was a fierce truth behind his words, I was confused, what the hell is going on. Did the entire world lose it's fucking mind over the weekend?

"Oh yeah, what the fuck else would have happened if one thing went wrong." I growled, my hand punching the wall again to not hit him, Sasuke didn't even flinch, his stare unwavering.

"You would still be there to save him." I blinked in surprise and then I was even more pissed with him thinking I'm some kind of immortal or something that can't get hurt.

"It's like talking to a brick wall! You are so damn dense. I could have died as well and if I die guess what idiot, Itachi would have died too!" I'd be less mad about my life being at risk if I was able to fight back, I was worthless to fight and I had to keep not one but two unconscious people alive.

"You wouldn't have died." He spoke so certain, I swear I'm surrounded by idiots.

"Do you not know how stabbing people works?" I hissed, why the hell is he being such a hardheaded idiot.

"Hn. You wouldn't have died..." He trailed off and somebody finished the rest for him, their hand wrapping around my arm to still me from moving.

"I was there to protect you the whole time." My head snapped back to the newest figure to enter the room and glared at the cold, bored eyes looking back. Sasori was oh so pleased with himself at the timing, getting a rise out of me was a fun pastime for him I guess. "I can't have you die before our deal is over so just stop being so hotheaded and calm down." Sasori effortlessly forced me to let go of Sasuke's shirt and the Uchiha just slumped back down, smirking like an asshole. I was so unbelievably thankful for the help Sasori gave me. Without him I would have never been able to do even half of the surgery right, and he protected my life the whole time. I even told him so multiple times before the surgery as well as in my slightly inebriated state, I already had my plans to repay him. However, never did I think Sasori and Sasuke would be in cohorts with something like this, granted we found out right beforehand but now I'm assuming Sasori knew as soon as Sasuke learned his role in the surgery.

"Fuck you both." I snapped at the two but made no abrupt movements so Sasori released me from his hold.

"Hn. What time?" I glared at his prideful expression and my fist shot out, slamming right into the side of his face, throwing him back into the wall, small cracks spidering out from the impact. Sasuke groaned, that amplified his headache from the blood loss and he felt dizzy from the hit that was sure to leave a nasty bruise. Ino snickered, both from Sasuke's cheeky retort used solely for the purpose of pissing me off and me sucker punching him.

"As confusing as this is, please refrain from punching Sasuke-kun in my presence." Sasuke smirked arrogantly, he thought he won, "Take it outside."

"Aniki!" Sasuke's smirk dropped and he looked a Itachi in betrayal, I looked dangerously at him. I get the want to take out Danzo, the bastard deserves death for everything he has caused but I can't get on board with the way Tsunade and Sasuek decided to catch him. The whole point of Sasuke joining ROOT was to take care of the issue of getting evidence on Danzo, if it was going to amount to so little, I don't think we would have put him through that torment of working under the man responsible for the massacre of his clan when he stopped Shisui from solving the problem.

"You're lucky I have things to do and am not going to thoroughly kick your ass for almost making my surgery a failure. Though, I'm not the one you have to worry about, Naru was pretty pissed with Tsunade-sama earlier, I wonder how he's going to feel about his so called best friend putting the lives of his teammates at risk for some half-cocked vengeance." Sasuke got up from his indentation and wrapped an arm around me, I wanted to punch him again but he tightened his hold. Sasori wasn't going to step in this time.

"Hn. I'm sorry, I won't scare you again. Who knew the freak was such a crybaby." I stifled a laugh and finally hugged him back, I was mad, he was reckless, but I forgave him. I guess, I shouldn't have expected anything less, but if he did it again I would murder him...Tsunade too if she agreed to another one of his ridiculous, anger induced ideas. At least, Danzo is in custody and me getting stabbed wasn't for naught.

"Duckbutt, Naru is still going to kick your ass." I mumbled before turning to Itachi. I strolled to his side and gave a quick scan of his insides. Everything seemed to be in order...his body was obviously weak but it was functioning and his chakra pathways were no longer having to fight every moment so they were moving at a calm and peaceful pace through his body. His eyes looked less cloudy and there was an obvious light that hadn't been there, like he was less burdened with his existence. The deep bags under his eyes were there but not as prominent, his skin had a healthy flush, and he no longer seemed to struggle with each breath.

"How are you feeling, be honest? Any concerns, pain, does something feel off, is your eyesight better?" I eased his body forward and rested his head in my lap so I could brush out the knots forming in his sleek hair. He sighed contentedly as my fingers grazed against his scalp.

"Hn. It's hard to process thoughts and words sometimes, other than a headache I feel relatively fine." He reached up to touch at his eyes, confused. "My eyesight, it is perfect. Why?"

"It's normal for your brain to be foggy after a such an intense surgery, as long as it gets better in the next few days it is nothing to worry about. You're on morpheme right now so as long as there is no pressing pain, everything is healing well...as for your eyes..." I looked to Sasuke, he would be the best to explain this situation.

"Hn. I gave them permission to switch my eyes with yours. It was a gamble, possibly one or both of us going blind or both of us gaining the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan." Sasuke let his eyes bleed into red and the pattern changed to one much more intricate than his old Mangekyo pattern. Itachi blinked, taking a bit of time to process everything, his brows furrowed and eyes unblinking as they looked at Sasuke's blazing Sharingan. Once he seemed to process everything, he gave me a knowing look and a soft smile to Sasuke.

"Thank you little brother, truly in am in your debt. But please, next time do not take the chance of harming yourself to do anything for me. I would have gladly given you my eyes without the need for yours in replacement. Just being alive would have been enough." Sasuke was shell shocked, no matter what Itachi was always so kind and humble, though he saw himself as selfish, Itachi was selfless. Itachi sat up a bit, giving me better room to start plaiting his hair. He opened his arms and Sasuke, like a small child, rushed into them. Kneeling on the ground and collapsing into his big brother's arms, his alive big brother's arms. Itachi looked over Sasuke's mop of hair to Sasori and gave him a polite nod. "Thank you Sasori-san, I know I would not be here if it weren't for your diligence and calm head during everything." Sasroi's eyes narrowed at Itachi, looking over his peaceful expression in an unreadable look.

"Don't be mushy brat, it doesn't suit you." He huffed towards the younger man, he harbored no ill feeling towards Itachi but didn't want his gratitude either. If Itachi were do have died, his body would be Sasori's, that reason was why Sasori believed he didn't deserve any thanks from the rehabilitating Shinobi. The redhead turned and walked out of the room, Ino following behind him, and I stifled a laugh at how put out he looked after being thanked for doing something good for once. Almost right after Sasori left, Shisui and Kisame came into the room. The former was sporting a dark bruise on his eye and had a cotton patch over what was probably freshly mended skin from being cut. Kisame looked fresh as day, no cuts or bruises whatsoever.

When they both saw with their own eyes that Itachi was up and breathing on his own, relief flooded their expressions, Kisame's more guarded and muted than Shisui's but it was obvious his two closest friends were happy he was alive and well.

"Hello Shisui-kun, Kisame-san." Shisui bounded over and took the left over room on Itachi's bed, looking over Itachi for any signs of injury, grinning brightly as he saw nothing.

"Damn Imouto, you're a goddess, truly! 'Tachi you look so much better!" Shisui was going to pull on Itachi's hair but I stopped him before he could mess up the partially finished fishtail braid.

"Yes little Orokamono, you are truly an impressive medic." He turned to Itachi and let his sharp teeth stretch into a feral yet happy grin. "Good to see you look less like shit, I can't say the same for your mini you, he looks like death." A large blue hand idly gestured to Sasuke who gave him a half hearted glare, still too caught up in Itachi rubbing his head to get angry. "Who punched you in the face?" Sasuke briefly looked at me.

"Hn." Kisame snickered at the knowledge. I laughed at Sasuke's expense, he looked terrible and for once I was glad he looked and felt like shit. Shisui whole heartedly agreed with Kisame's statement, telling 'Sasu-chan how he was going to lose his pretty boy standing if he kept looking like that.'

"Are you feelin' better Tachi-chan? We were really worried when you were comatose." Shisui wrapped an arm Itachi and I, his hand reaching just far enough to ruffle Sasuke's hair. His smile now was less forced, the crinkle in his eyes a bit less strained than it was yesterday, he felt the relief of Itachi living possibly more than the rest of us. Shisui was the undeclared parent of the odd little family. Though he wasn't always seen as the most responsible, he was when need be and took everything to heart, so knowing Itachi was alive and he could finally take care of him, that his closest friend was truly ok, it was a major relief.

"Aa, I feel much better." For the first time, it wasn't a lie. Itachi didn't have to pretend he felt fine just for the sake of keeping to himself and feeling like he deserved being sick, he truly felt better in all shapes and forms.

"What does your recovery look like? I don't know if I can handle anybody lesser to be my teammate, though I might have more fun if I'm with someone who lets loose every once in a while." All eyes shifted to me in looking for an answer.

"He may be cleared from disease now but after all the damage to his system, there was only so much that could heal even with using my seal. His heart is still fragile from how many times it failed and his body still has to find a unity to function at the level he was before so I'd say a month and a half give or take if rehabilitation goes well." Kisame let out a low whistle, in shinobi terms, a month of recovery is long especially now that medical ninjutsu can be so freely utilized and if I didn't use the seal to heal him as well, it would have been at least double that.

"Sounds good enough. You really are a lucky bastard to be alive huh." Kisame slid a box out of his pocket and handed it to Itachi. One look inside it was filled with Tri-colored dango...his favorite. "See you later Itachi." Shisui saw the dango and he formed an unspoken bond of friendship with Kisame. Itachi was always making Kisame didn't go over his head with reckless battles but yet Kisame was older and when it came down to it he would protect Itachi. Shisui felt the same and when he realized the shark man was really a good friend for Itachi while he was gone, it solidified his resolve to befriend the untrusting ex-kiri nin.

"Bye Kisame-san. Thank you for the Dango." That was as good as Itachi giving Kisame a giant hug, the gesture was small but for Itachi it was the best thing he could have gotten from Kisame. For somebody so blood thirsty and wild, the dango was so kind and a perfect symbol of their friendship. Kisame cared and was as loyal as they came if you were deserving and Itachi was.

"Bye Kisame-sempai."

"Bye little Orokamono." The door shut and after a bit of time with just the four of us I got up to let them have their time together, I was going to pick Hanabi up from the academy and take her to the new tea house that had opened up. I left the room but before I could leave the hospital, Sasuke gripped around my wrist and dragged me to an empty room.

***

"Tachi, stick this leaf to your palm and tell me how it feels." I activated my Byakugan to watch how his body worked when he used his chakra for more than just sustaining his life force. With ease he molded his chakra and the leaf stuck to his palm. There was no strain on his chakra, the only problem was how his heart beat slightly off rhythm when his chakra started moving against the natural flow. That was bad and it happened with just the small manipulation of chakra and if he did something on a larger scale like a fire jutsu, it was worrying. That had to be fixed before he could even think to start training again.

"It feels as easy as it did the first time. Is this necessary, I can do more?" Itachi was a patient person but this was annoying, he felt useless and weak. He wanted to be strong to be there to fight with his brother and Kisame, to protect the village and fight towards the new age of peace he believed would come about once the final members of the Akatsuki were no longer a threat.

"You can't do more, your heart needs more time to strengthen itself before going any further. Just be happy you can even mold chakra as perfectly as you can already, that makes this easier. We have to focus more on your muscle rehabilitation and circulatory system healing than fixing your chakra that was damaged." I poked right at his heart and his stern face relaxed in understanding.

"Hn." I sat Itachi against the tree and let my chakra flow into him, his body fought for a second then let me in with more ease than ever before and I focused on healing the scar tissue on his heart as he constantly moved a leaf around his body with his chakra. If we did this enough, he should be fine to start training with his heart healthy enough to not beat erratically when molding chakra.