how did this even happen...

[mooneye]

It wasn't a bad sort of place. Lots of things to do and people to see. Plenty of freedom to dart over the rooftops and down the alleys--or out of the village and into the woods and rocky wild places beyond. Obito liked Michi no Sato.

He had stopped for lunch and was eating at a table outside the restaurant, watching people walk past. The food was good. The cold breeze was nice. Ah, yes. Years and years trapped in a cave with a crazy old man and a bunch of plant monsters--it had left him really able to appreciate the little things.

[ooc: here is an AU Obito in his twenties. Got through the time with Madara, and Rin's death, but didn't go completely evil after all of it...]

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[itachi_san]

Itachi nodded weakly. It didn't take very long for him to pass out again.

[soveryhelpful]

Kabuto emerges from a corner of the room, tsking quietly as he primes a syringe. "He has pushed himself too far again, Mikoto-san," he observes blandly, making his way around her to press his fingers to the side of his throat, checking his pulse. "Next time, please permit me to check him first."

[itachi_san]

Itachi, in the grips of exhaustion and chakra depletion, didn't hear any of the conversation.

His pulse had slowed since he laid back down, and he was breathing all right (considering his condition). But his face was still pale, and he was sweating. Fevers weren't an uncommon occurrence for Itachi. Widespread systemic inflammation is bound to raise body temperature. But under Kabuto's harsh treatment, it was just as possible that he had picked up a secondary infection of some kind.

But that's what medics like Kabuto were there for.

[soveryhelpful]

In the syringe is a muscle relaxant, something to keep the other from attempting to get up and exert himself again. If the Uchiha woman's scolding wasn't enough to keep him down the first time, he had no reason to believe that it would do so now. This would help, without outright sedating him.

With that, he tilts his head and runs his hands over the other man's body, fingers mere centimeters from cloth as he 'feels' less with his touch, and more with his Chakra, then presses two fingertips to his throat to check his pulse.

"He should not be permitted outside," he adds mildly, focusing his energy over the other's core, seeking the source of what appeared to be an infection; something minor by most standards, but not something the Uchiha could survive for long if he tried to continue on, as his body would not fight it off for him. "What on earth have you done to yourself this time, Uchiha-san?"

[itachi_san]

Itachi moaned quietly, as if answering Kabuto's obviously rhetorical question.

[soveryhelpful]

It would be so very easy to take his Sharingan for himself. Kabuto can't help but regard the way his eyes move beneath his eyelids, those all-powerful eyes. Forget the Byakugan; the boy who was so determined to watch everything would sooner destroy his own eyes than let someone like Kabuto have them. But this one... as near-blinded as he seemed to be sometimes, Kabuto was certain he could find a way to reverse it. Even implanting just one...

Take the Sharingan for himself, and defeat Orochimaru-sama. Now there was a thought. His lips curve slightly in what might be a grin as he lightly touches the other man's temple, just gently providing enough stimulant to wake him without alarming him overmuch, even as his other hand traces the lines of infection within his body. "Uchiha-san, can you hear me?"

[itachi_san]

The groan was louder this time, and black eyes opened slowly. The muscle relaxant really did work well. Itachi tilted his head drowsily, but otherwise, didn't try to get up.

"...yes."

[soveryhelpful]

"Good. Now please, tell me what you think you were doing wandering around outside, hm?" His hand stays near his temple, almost in a caress. "Your vision has deteriorated yet again, and you've somehow managed to weaken yourself even further."

[itachi_san]

"...Taking a walk... getting some fresh air..." he slurred a bit. Those were perfectly reasonable things to do outside. And when he had the energy, he liked to do that. "Had an unpleasant encounter... Almost ended up fighting Obi... Madara... No, Obito... Had to show Sasuke what I couldn't tell her... just a little genjutsu..."

[soveryhelpful]

Obito... there was a familiar name, one he would have to check his cards for, later. Madara was of course Uchiha Madara, who was dead -- so the other was delirious, and had thought this 'Obito' was the former leader of the Uchiha clan.

"Genjutsu?" There's no hiding the almost indulgent tone in his voice as Kabuto gently threads Chakra through the other's skin, bringing his other hand up to at once temporarily numb the area around his eyes and test the extent of the damage to the ocular nerves. "Oh I'm afraid you shan't be doing any more of that, Uchiha-san."

[itachi_san]

"Had to do it..." he added softly. He knew Kabuto's image was blurry. With his sharingan deactivated, his vision really wasn't very good. But that didn't seem to bother him as much as it should have. Probably because he had grown so accustomed to it. "Just need to rest my eyes... That's all..."

[soveryhelpful]

"Is that so?" Really, the other didn't deserve these eyes of his. He certainly wasn't maintaining them properly. Kabuto is certain that he himself could make far better use of them. "At this rate, you will lose your sight, and I do not believe there is anything at all I can do to stop that."

[itachi_san]

"... How long?" he asked after a long pause. "until..."

[soveryhelpful]

"Until you lose your sight completely?" He tsks quietly and removes his hands from the other's eyes, hands starting to glow with the familiar hue of healing Chakra as he moves on to the secondary infection again, trying to clear it out. "That depends entirely on you, Uchiha-san. Your Sharingan is the only thing permitting you to see clearly, but any jutsu will only do further damage. Is there something you would like to share, about your eyes?"

[itachi_san]

"... No."

There were things, of course, that were kept within the clan. Medic or not, Kabuto was not Uchiha. Nor did Itachi trust him with those kind of secrets. (Truth be told, if he had the chakra to keep his sharingan active right now, they would be.)

He could feel Kabuto's chakra in his chest.

"... What are you doing?"

[soveryhelpful]

"I am merely trying to help, Uchiha-san." Kabuto shakes his head at the obvious lie and concentrates his Chakra. The other should be feeling the strain, shakes and chills as he neutralizes bacteria, forcing cells to work harder to keep themselves active. A fine line between immobilizing his immune system enough to keep from damaging his lungs and enough to remove the infection. Perhaps the use of a medium to physically remove the bacteria...? No, far too small. It would be impossible.

"I am removing the infection you contracted while you were... how did you put it? Taking a walk."

[itachi_san]

So heavily medicated, he didn't feel the strain as much as he normally would have. But that didn't mean it wasn't there. His fever spiked. His body shivered. Sweat clung to limp black hair. He let out an instinctual groan.

[soveryhelpful]

This was controllable. He couldn't eradicate the infection completely without risking the strain being too much for the other's heart, but Kabuto's Chakra could function in lieu of an immune system, at least for now. The medic pulls back after a moment, letting the other's body calm now that he's not forcing it to heal itself, and wipes a drop of sweat from his brow. "There."

[itachi_san]

Itachi let out the breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

His chest was tight, and it ached. But it was far more tolerable than some of the earlier things Kabuto had done to him. That was clear.

"...I'll... have to be more careful..."

[soveryhelpful]

"Allow me to make this perfectly clear, Uchiha-san." Kabuto moves to the side to rinse his hands in a bowl of water. "At the moment, there is nothing I can do for your eyesight. Whatever misguided sense of purpose you have about what you must do with your jutsu, consider carefully just what you will do once you are blinded from overuse."

[itachi_san]

Itachi seemed to take this thoughtfully under consideration. He hadn't planned on living long enough for this to pose any kind of problem. But now, death wasn't an answer. His unspoken conclusion was, as it always was, he'd do what he had to do for Sasuke. One way or another.

He turned his head, watching Kabuto blur more as he moved out of the way.

"... and... the infection?"

[soveryhelpful]

"If you do as I say and remain in bed? I can combat the infection." Hands now as clean as they'd ever be, Kabuto moves over to a nearby table he'd commandeered as a workstation, starting to pull some herbs together and make a poultice. "I can act in place of your immune system, for a time, but only if you do not persist in trying to kill yourself for no reason."

[itachi_san]

It wasn't like he could argue the first point, but the second.

"I'm not... Death... my death would be meaningless now..." he slurred tiredly. "Sasuke... doesn't want me weak..."

[soveryhelpful]

"So you only wish to regain your health to allow your brother to kill you?" He shakes his head. "Such a terrible waste."

[itachi_san]

"I... I think..." he replied slowly. "That they want me... alive..."