Fic: "A Million Little Pieces"
kalliel's birthday present! Hope you enjoy =D
Title: A Mother's Job
Rating: K
Summary: Mikoto just wants to help her son. Itachi, Mikoto, pre-massacre.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 820-ish
Author's Note: Written, like, a year and a half ago (ie. right before the big Uchiha brothers fight and Madara's Big Reveal).
"Itachi, let me see your arm, please."
The boy looked up from where he had been unwrapping the bandages around his legs and stared at his mother with something that was not quite suspicion as she sat down next to him, first aid kit in hand. "It's no big deal, Mom- just a few scrapes and burns from training."
"I know, I know," Mikoto said, still pulling things from the small white box, "but I still want to clean it up for you; we don't want you getting an infection, after all." Itachi rolled his eyes (they both knew that the wounds would heal up fine on their own) but shrugged and proffered the arm anyway. She dampened a large pad of gauze in alcohol before gently taking his wrist. "Now this may sting a little..." She chuckled a little as his eyebrow twitched the slightest bit. He must have forgotten that when she said "sting a little" she really meant "make you feel like your whole arm is on fire." Of course, he had to be the little tough guy and act like it didn't hurt...
"Itachi, son" she started, still wiping at the scraped up skin, "are you alright?" Out of the corner of her eye, he saw him glance at her as if she had just asked whether or not the sky was blue.
"Mom, I'm not going to die from first-degree burns, I promise."
"You know what I mean, Itachi." She paused in her work, letting the disinfectant soak the cuts as she looked him in the eye. He didn't look well, she noticed. His face looked drawn, pinched- like he wasn't getting enough food or rest. That made no sense, since she personally made sure that he ate and slept as much as any boy his age needed to. Maybe she should request that he be sent on missions with some of the older, more responsible jounin; somehow she didn't think that those young, hot-headed ANBU that he worked with were very concerned about his health...
He broke her train of thought by ending their abrupt stare-down. "I'm fine," he muttered, looking down at his toes. "I'm just... my missions have gotten tougher and more frequent lately."
"You could always ask Hokage-sama to ease up on you for a while," she suggested lightly as she wiped away the residue of the alcohol with a clean cloth.
Itachi let out something between a scoff and a snort. "It's fine- I need the challenge. I was getting bored with B-ranks, anyway." His thought of and you know that Father would never allow it, went unspoken, but clearly understood.
She began gently applying salve to the burns. "So, besides your missions, is everything else okay?"
"...Yeah, it's fine. I'm just a little tired, is all."
He still had not looked her in the eye.
Mikoto placed her hand in his, giving it the tiniest of squeezes. "Itachi, son," she tilted her head to better see his face behind the curtain of his bangs, "if you ever need to talk, you can come to me." He glanced at her briefly out of the corner of his eye, before looking back to the dirt. She bit her lip, deciding on whether or not she should gamble and mention... "If you ever- I don't tell your father everything, you know."
His eyes shot to hers, and she bit back a relieved sigh. So there was something wrong, something that he didn't want Fugaku to know about... His hand tightened around hers, the only sign of whatever internal argument he was having. She gave him a small, encouraging smile- come on, baby, you can talk to me. You can trust your mama. Something in his face changed, and suddenly he was not Uchiha Itachi, renowned genius, Sharingan prodigy, the pride of his clan- he was just a barely-teenage boy with a big problem who had grown so used to not needing help that he had forgotten how to ask for it.
She ran her thumb over his wrist, trying to coax him without scaring him away. Finally, she would find out what had been bothering her boy; for once, she'd be able to help-
A door slammed, and Fugaku's voice rang through the house. "Itachi, are you here?"
The boy's face shifted again, and the stoic prodigy was back. "No, Mom, there's nothing," he said, looking her in the eye this time.
It worried her that he could lie to her like that.
Still, she faked a smile as she released his hand and went back to work. Fugaku did not appear as she bandaged the arm from elbow to fingertip; he must have been waiting semi-patiently for his son to come to him.
As Itachi thanked her and rose to go see what Fugaku needed, she hoped that the boy now knew that he could come to her, too.
ff.net link here.
And in other news...
Guess who got Valedictorian.
MEEEE!!~
< / end conceited moment>
♥
Title: A Mother's Job
Rating: K
Summary: Mikoto just wants to help her son. Itachi, Mikoto, pre-massacre.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 820-ish
Author's Note: Written, like, a year and a half ago (ie. right before the big Uchiha brothers fight and Madara's Big Reveal).
"Itachi, let me see your arm, please."
The boy looked up from where he had been unwrapping the bandages around his legs and stared at his mother with something that was not quite suspicion as she sat down next to him, first aid kit in hand. "It's no big deal, Mom- just a few scrapes and burns from training."
"I know, I know," Mikoto said, still pulling things from the small white box, "but I still want to clean it up for you; we don't want you getting an infection, after all." Itachi rolled his eyes (they both knew that the wounds would heal up fine on their own) but shrugged and proffered the arm anyway. She dampened a large pad of gauze in alcohol before gently taking his wrist. "Now this may sting a little..." She chuckled a little as his eyebrow twitched the slightest bit. He must have forgotten that when she said "sting a little" she really meant "make you feel like your whole arm is on fire." Of course, he had to be the little tough guy and act like it didn't hurt...
"Itachi, son" she started, still wiping at the scraped up skin, "are you alright?" Out of the corner of her eye, he saw him glance at her as if she had just asked whether or not the sky was blue.
"Mom, I'm not going to die from first-degree burns, I promise."
"You know what I mean, Itachi." She paused in her work, letting the disinfectant soak the cuts as she looked him in the eye. He didn't look well, she noticed. His face looked drawn, pinched- like he wasn't getting enough food or rest. That made no sense, since she personally made sure that he ate and slept as much as any boy his age needed to. Maybe she should request that he be sent on missions with some of the older, more responsible jounin; somehow she didn't think that those young, hot-headed ANBU that he worked with were very concerned about his health...
He broke her train of thought by ending their abrupt stare-down. "I'm fine," he muttered, looking down at his toes. "I'm just... my missions have gotten tougher and more frequent lately."
"You could always ask Hokage-sama to ease up on you for a while," she suggested lightly as she wiped away the residue of the alcohol with a clean cloth.
Itachi let out something between a scoff and a snort. "It's fine- I need the challenge. I was getting bored with B-ranks, anyway." His thought of and you know that Father would never allow it, went unspoken, but clearly understood.
She began gently applying salve to the burns. "So, besides your missions, is everything else okay?"
"...Yeah, it's fine. I'm just a little tired, is all."
He still had not looked her in the eye.
Mikoto placed her hand in his, giving it the tiniest of squeezes. "Itachi, son," she tilted her head to better see his face behind the curtain of his bangs, "if you ever need to talk, you can come to me." He glanced at her briefly out of the corner of his eye, before looking back to the dirt. She bit her lip, deciding on whether or not she should gamble and mention... "If you ever- I don't tell your father everything, you know."
His eyes shot to hers, and she bit back a relieved sigh. So there was something wrong, something that he didn't want Fugaku to know about... His hand tightened around hers, the only sign of whatever internal argument he was having. She gave him a small, encouraging smile- come on, baby, you can talk to me. You can trust your mama. Something in his face changed, and suddenly he was not Uchiha Itachi, renowned genius, Sharingan prodigy, the pride of his clan- he was just a barely-teenage boy with a big problem who had grown so used to not needing help that he had forgotten how to ask for it.
She ran her thumb over his wrist, trying to coax him without scaring him away. Finally, she would find out what had been bothering her boy; for once, she'd be able to help-
A door slammed, and Fugaku's voice rang through the house. "Itachi, are you here?"
The boy's face shifted again, and the stoic prodigy was back. "No, Mom, there's nothing," he said, looking her in the eye this time.
It worried her that he could lie to her like that.
Still, she faked a smile as she released his hand and went back to work. Fugaku did not appear as she bandaged the arm from elbow to fingertip; he must have been waiting semi-patiently for his son to come to him.
As Itachi thanked her and rose to go see what Fugaku needed, she hoped that the boy now knew that he could come to her, too.
ff.net link here.
And in other news...
Guess who got Valedictorian.
MEEEE!!~
< / end conceited moment>
♥