one_long_mission | [open] a way to beat the cold

"...yes... I am glad for my life here, even though my occupation limits my travels within the village. I try and remain within reach of those who need me."
"Wow!" Sasuke exclaimed. "So we got a medic in the family!"
Renji gave a chuckle, reaching out to pet the boy's hair. "You certainly don't look like you'll need a medic, boy."
"Nu-huh! Cause niisan needs all the medics he can get. He's better off than he was months ago! "

"I am certain what you meant was 'medications'. The number of medics will never change anything. In a few cases they may even complicate matters. Some may have ways to deal with the issues that others would frown upon even though perfectly valid, but--- ah. I digress." he shook his head and slid his glasses back up his nose. "You must wish to rest soon as well, right?" he lifted Sasuke up to another bed.

"Niisan's gonna be okay?"
"I promise he will be better tomorrow." he gave a nod before stepping back, near Itachi's bed. "I do wish to run a few tests overnight... if you would give me permission."

Sasuke was so healthy and happy. It made Itachi smile to watch their interactions. He knew his little brother had hopes of learning medical ninjutsu. Perhaps this could be someone who could help make that dream come true.

Itachi gave his permission, but it wasn't until the middle of the night, when both kids were sound asleep (Sasuke surprisingly asleep in his own bed and not draped over his niisan) that they began to speak of more serious topics.

"There's... something about what's wrong with me... that interests you..." he whispered. It was less of an observation, more of a probing question.

"Yes. There is." the medic admitted. "Both my father and grandfather died of this." he murmured. "The same degenerative condition. My father was reportedly affected first on his kidneys. My grandfather had respiratory problems that were unable to be properly diagnosed and yet from the records were frighteningly similar to yours."

Madara gave another light whimper in his sleep, murmuring out his brother's name occasionally.

"I have noticed your heart is failing. It is a big operation, but within a week, if you wish, I could be able to take it on." Renji offered.

Itachi gasped. There were others, other Uchiha that had the same condition, even if they were originally from another universe. The fact that he was offering solutions to the other things that had been plaguing him paled in comparison to that.

"Are... are you sure?" he stuttered in surprise, trying his best to still keep his voice down. "They really had... something like this?"

A similar condition that affected the small blood vessels of the body, an autoimmune disorder with such a widespread inflammatory response... Could there really have been some kind of genetic predisposition to it? It certainly couldn't have affected all Uchiha, or his disease wouldn't have been such a mystery, especially after encountering dozens of Uchiha from other timelines. It had to be only a small handful... but that alone was frightening. More importantly, was Sasuke at risk? Were any of the Sasukes at risk? And what of Madara?

"What do you know... about it so far?"

Renji gave a light sigh. "I cannot be certain, but perhaps a few individuals have predisposition it it. Our inbreeding may actually have irremediably doomed a few individuals and their subsequent progeny." he shook his head slowly. "I am not certain if we were all simply unlucky, but with my grandfather having this, as well as my father, and..." there was an awkward pause. "... I wish to improve the current treatments and drug that are used. I wish to find a cure... someday."

"I understand..."

Itachi did understand. There was no doubt about that.

"If I can help... I will. I can share... what the medics who have treated me have done... It's not a cure. But it is a treatment. If it wasn't for that... well..."

There was little need to say they wouldn't be running tests right now. Itachi probably wouldn't have even been alive.

"Yes. I can continue the treatments if you wish. I hope I can also be able to improve, even if a little..."

Madara whimpered again, shifting and calling out Izuna's name.
Renji moved to Madara's bed, gently placing a hand upon his shoulder. When the boy all but clung to his entire arm, he simply sat on the nearby chair, letting him do so.

"..ah... don't hesitate if you wish for a drink, or feel hungry." he seemed available at any hour of the day or night, even though it was unclear how many hours he had been up.

Itachi was rarely hungry. Whether it was due to disease, his own body gradually approaching its end or a learned fear of side effects from treatment, he didn't know anymore. Without separate medicine to deal with the nausea at first, he often found himself having to choose between treatment and food. Or having that choice unpleasantly made for him.

He admitted as much to Renji.

The medic could probably have guessed as much. Itachi was very thin. Too thin, really, for his own good.

"I'd normally ask for a little tea... but I don't want anything that warm right now. Thank you, though..."

Renji inquired about the medecine he used to cover the nauseous waves, intending to procure it in all haste, and listed off a few simple foods that he thought may not be so terrible to digest while being still highly nutritious in value.

Since Madara was still clinging to his arm, he was trying to gently detach him, and hoping he would stop rolling and whimpering.

"I can bring a few sample pills tomorrow..." he insisted, apologizing that he wasn't entirely sure how Sakumo made some of the remedies. It was always trial and error before they found something that had more benefits than ills. The current combination certainly helped.

He heard Madara's cries, and slowly made his way over. He shouldn't have been out of bed, but he knew the sounds of nightmares when he heard them. He knew what the boy went through.

"Would you like me... to sit with him... for a while?" he offered. "Madara was brought here... from a much earlier time. A time of war. He's... had a lot of hardship... Too much too soon."

"If you require me to move, I may need you to look out for him, yes." after all, he could try a generic remedy.
"...time of war, has he? Poor boy..." he shook his head, running his fingers through those short dark spikes of hair. "We have never known war here. He is... in good hands."

As soon as Renji was off to fetch something to help with nausea and an appropriate, small meal, Madara whimpered and clung to the nearest source of body heat.

Something was better than nothing, and Itachi knew he had to eat to keep his strength up.

So he moved a chair close to Madara's bed and sat down, letting the boy find temporary security in his arm. It was the least he could do, and he would gladly do it too.

By the time Renji came back, though, Itachi was slumped over the edge of the bed, sound asleep. It was a perfect portrait of a kind and gentle older brother, too sick and weak to be everything he wanted to be for those kids, but having his heart in the right place. He was a man worth saving.

There was a light, but sad smile at the medic's lip, and he left the medecine and food on the small table nearby. These three did look like a family, in a way, with Itachi being that older, sick but still loving and caring brother.

He claimed a deep breath and sat down on another chair, determined to wait for the other's waking. After all, he did have to see how this food would pass.

Unfortunately, it was going to be a long wait. There were days where Itachi would be up, out and about. But there were also days where he barely woke up at all, and if he did, he didn't have the energy to get out of bed. Such was life.

He didn't stir again until dawn broke through the window and Madara freed himself from his arm.

"Guess... I... fell asleep there..." he admitted with a little embarrassment as he rubbed the sand from his eyes. Had they finished running tests before that? Itachi wasn't sure.

Madara gave a light hum, seemingly disoriented as he inquired which day it was, muttering something about seeing that doctor in a dream, then thinking he looked way too familiar.
Once the day was revealed, however, he gave a near-screeched. "I'm gonna be late for those classes!" and he found that he just would have to use the clothes he wore yesterday. He called out to Sasuke before leaving that he could take the day off if he liked, and that he would cover for him.

Renji meanwhile approached Itachi, having ran a few more tests, gotten results and made at least one medication he thought could be a successful even if microscopic improvement.

Itachi sat up with a stretch and a groan. He was pretty sure Madara hopped right over his head, but was already out the door before he could decide for sure.

There was still food on the little table, and a few pills. Itachi was wary of new medication, tough. It had nothing to do with the skill of the doctor. He'd just had enough bad reactions to various powders and poisons, that he was always skeptical.

"That's... to settle my stomach?"

Food was rarely an appealing sight in the morning. Even though he'd hardly eaten anything the day before, this was no exception.

"These will take a few minutes to settle, yes... if you wish to have them, that is." he would not force people to take anything. They were masters of their own choices, after all. He had only lost one patient this way, but it was their choice to let themselves waste away. The treatment was there, but they never took it.

Guilt would forever fester within him, but then... it would perhaps have consumed him even more had the treatment been forced and the man continuously berated him.

"I did prepare something else... once your body has energy. Even with the current treatments, I believe that there is no way a body can heal without having the energy to."

That certainly was true. At one point, Itachi would have been satisfied to let himself waste away like that - an escape from the pain, the guilt and the never-ending side effects. It almost happened too. Had it not been for the crow and its genjutsu... And Sasuke, of course. Sasuke was that tiny sun in a vast sky of dark, suffocating clouds. But Itachi couldn't even find hope in that until the kotoamatsukami had been cast.

Since then, Itachi's recovery had been slow. He was happier, at least. He found pleasures in simple things, in loving family and in new friends. Physically, there were strides as well as setbacks. But his body never seemed to have enough energy to go around, and Itachi honestly couldn't keep up with that kind of demand.

"All right..." he swallowed the pills with a little water. "Perhaps it would be... a good idea to come back with us. So you can get a better idea... of the treatments I do have."

With luck, he'd manage to eat a little something before they left.

"I have no appointments until later in the afternoon. I will be glad to assess what your set-up had been." he gave a slow nod. "I believe the most important progress that can be made would be to be able for you to ingest and process more food... while getting rid of the need for help not to reject it."

And if this was possible, he vowed he would achieve it.
If it could be done...

That was certainly the ultimate struggle.

The horrible nausea, the vomiting and the overall lack of appetite were all side effects of the medicine used to keep his condition under control. What Sasori had originally given him wasn't as bad, he explained. But everything since then had been much, much worse. Sakumo had at least taken the time to find something to take the edge off. Kabuto couldn't have cared less.

"When I stopped treatment the last time... I was actually hungry. I could keep food down." he admitted, along with the tradeoff. "I almost died, though..."

He also described a period of about twelve hours when a Hyuuga did something to his chakra network, blocking a lot of the signals that caused the effects of nausea. Unfortunately, even a trained shinobi couldn't replicate what this one Hyuuga girl could do, and she disappeared from the world as quickly as she came.

Renji took a few notes, a thoughtful expression upon his features. "You are the one that stopped the treatment, however. This is important to note. I am hoping to find the best compromise I can, here." he assured him.
He explained that first he hoped to find a way to stabilize the side-effects enough that his condition would allow him to at least eat. From then on, things could fall in place more smoothly.

He had a few choices of drinkable supplements that were entirely natural. He seemed to not use any chemicals unless he really did need to.

"I stopped it... because I couldn't stand it any longer." he added. That spoke volumes of how terrible the side effects (and the sadistic medic) had been. "Another medic created another treatment... that was better, at least..."

Relatively speaking, of course.

"He said if I stopped this one... I... I would die for sure..."

There was a quick glance in Sasuke's direction. He didn't want to leave his little brother, that much was obvious.

"I don't want to die..."

Renji stretched out a hand, running his fingers through black spikes of hair, the boy laughing lightly. "I saw niisan come back from death once. Nothing can take niisan away if he doesn't wanna!" he stated.

The medic gave a smile, but it turned to a frown as he looked back to Itachi. "I doubt death would happen. There would be much deterioration for certain if treatment was cut, but blowing it out of proportion and making threats is quite bad taste. I can certainly adapt this treatment to suit my needs... and yours."

A pause and he bowed his head. "That is, if you will alkow me, Itachi-san."

Itachi was really starting to like this medic.

He had a few bites of the rice porridge before they left the clinic. It wasn't much, but by the look on his face, it probably was all that he could stomach before making himself sick. The medicine may have done a little, but it still didn't take the edge off completely.

They went by the onsen only to reclaim the wheelchair, Renji content to let Sasuke push his brother through the streets.
On the way, Renji expanded more upon his on approach, which he had developed while caring for different patients of all ages and many illnesses. He explained his plan of action once more, Ssauke seemingly slightly confused all the while, and finally asking him why chakra wasn't in his plans, to which he answered that chakra was only something he meant to use if any imbalances needed quick restoration that could not be done slowly with nutrients.

He felt using chakra, as helpful as it was, was detrimental to one's body and prevented it from doing healing work on its own.

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