Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Notes: Contains mentions of chronic illness, cancer, and hospitals. Contains an OC, but no pairings. Modern Day AU.

He found himself, as he often did, in a state of limbo, his mind flittering about that space between between conscious and not, where you only seem to hover when going in or out of a faint. It was like slowly coming out of the darkness, but not being able to quite reach the lights that danced across his vision regardless of whether his eyes were open or closed. Itachi had been ill for long enough that it didn't really scare him anymore; it meant he was still alive, at least. Unfortunately, it also meant he was in the hospital, and he was entirely sick of those. He couldn't quite remember what happened - he remembered he was training (quite illegally) with Kisame, and he vaguely remembered his eyesight failing, and a lot pain. Then nothing. Itachi, too prideful to just hover in the grayness without a fight, struggled to regain consciousness, and to some extent, he succeeded.

The first thing he became aware of was the pain in his chest and the difficulty of each breath. A collapsed lung was his first thought. Had a weak spot in his lungs burst, or had he failed to dodge a kunai? If it was the latter, he could be in a serious amount of trouble, and Kisame even more so. After a moment of fretting, he became aware of an entirely different sensation. It was warm, almost hot but not enough so to be unpleasant, and it had a faint weight to it. It seemed to be centered over his lungs, and it radiated outwards, filling his head with a faint hum. It was like what you'd imagine being made of light would feel like. After a moment it clicked - this was medical ninjutsu. He was surprised, confused, and somewhat impressed. It wasn't often you found someone who knew how to heal the ninja way. It was just as illegal as any other jutsu, or maybe even more so, for one, and for another, it was very difficult to find information on it unless it was passed down from clan members.

He opened his eyes cautiously, prepared to be painfully blinded by hospital lights, but found they were blocked out by a lean figure bent over his bed. He found himself staring into faintly glowing lavender eyes. Itachi's first thought was I didn't know Pein could use medical ninjutsu. He brushed the thought away quickly. Though his eyesight was blurred and he could only form a very general idea of their appearance, it was clear this figure was too tan and too brunette to be the leader of his rebellious ninja gang. He tried to move, tried to speak, tried to do anything to communicate with them, but he couldn't. His limbs were heavy and tired, his illness and the medications threatening to drag him back into unconsciousness. They seemed to take notice of him anyway, and covered his eyes with their hand. Instead of darkness, he saw purple.

In a voice that was soft and feminine, they reassured him, "It's alright. I can't cure your cancer - not yet - but I can still help you. Just sleep, you'll feel better when you wake up, and I'm sure you won't even remember me."

Itachi didn't really have a choice but to listen to them; he just didn't have the strength to fight against the pull of the medication, and he couldn't move regardless. As he drifted off, his last thoughts were that he would remember them, and he would find them. Pein would want to know of a possible medic - and they would be a fool to turn down an offer.

So, I have this story idea I've been kicking around for a little while, involving this AU. It's a modern day high school au, in a world where jutsu is illegal, ninja are fighting to keep from dying out, and those with Kekkei Genkai are legally required to register with the government, and are subject to a lot of prejudice. There are a small number who, for their own safety, hide their abilities. The Akatsuki are essentially a group of rebellious teenagers who occasionally lash out against anti-ninja laws or groups, or protect or assist ninja in need. Their ultimate goal is to have ninja regain control of the countries and topple the government but that won't come into play until they're older because at the moment they're kind of just damaged kids with too much power. Also, ninja here references any member of the small percentage of the population who can manipulate chakra.

The medic here is a fellow teen, and has a Kekkei Genkai she's hiding. She ends up revealing it to Itachi, and is essentially frightened/guilted into joining up with the Akatsuki to help them out - mostly with medical and defensive things, she's not really a fighter, even though they train her. The whole thing would center around them being a dysfunctional family, mostly, and it would be her sort of working through all the rumors and the stories about the Akatsuki and kind of being surprised by their personalities and realizing that they're not just school gossip and legend - they're just kids, doing what they think is right to defend their own, putting all this weight on their shoulders, and still finding time to laugh with each other at lunch. That was a lot of talking, sorry.

TL;DR - I'm still on the fence about this idea but a I do love family things. Also the story is not intended to be Itachi/OC, to be clear.