*Modern* Itachi X Reader - Recovery

He has seen her around the workplace. She is beautiful in her own way, but he soon noticed she was married once she started working at the same company a month ago. His relationship with her has never been more than obligatory small-talk and stolen glances from across the wide room divided into offices.

It isn’t only her pleasant appearance that has drawn his attention; there’s something else he has noticed about her over time, something more… troubling. It’s become more and more evident and today as she exchanges pleasantries with him, before briskly making her way past his desk towards her own, Itachi Uchiha at last decides that now shall be the time that he makes what has caused him concern for the woman over all this time known.

“Your face…” You look up from your work in response to these plain words being spoken. The raven haired man looks down upon you with his dark eyes and usual stoic expression. If you hadn’t gotten so used to his personality during your time here you’d wonder if he was even the one to speak these words, with the apparent disinterest he seems to be showing for you now.

“Hm?” You tilt your head slightly, wondering what Itachi is talking about. Then you remember the bruise on your cheek you worked so hard to try and cover up before work this morning. “Oh this?” You smile sheepishly at the realization. “I fell down yesterday; it’s nothing to worry about.” You assure the man, though appreciate the concern he has shown for you. That is until he raises his hand to your face. You instinctively pull away from the anticipated contact, closing your eyes tightly.

“Then why did you flinch?” He asks as he brings his hand to rest delicately on your marred cheek. Slowly you open your eyes at the gentle contact, before snapping out of whatever may have just come over you.

“It’s nothing.” You try telling the man again as you lower his arm. His hand lingers in yours briefly before the contact is broken. After that you continue on with the work that you really need to get finished. Itachi looks at you for a moment longer, and then leaves to complete his own assignments. If this is not something you want to talk about he cannot force you.




You sigh at the unresponsive elevator buttons after you’ve tried pressing them multiple times in your attempts to leave work the next day. Being stuck in this small, confined space now that the office has closed and everyone has gone home is the last thing you need, especially since it’s Itachi, the man who had been questioning you yesterday, that you’re trapped in here with. Reluctantly you leave the door that has no intentions of opening and go to join the Uchiha. He’s been waiting patiently against the metal wall at the back of the elevator with his arms folded. He reasoned before you how futile it would be to keep trying to get the device to work again, without any real cause for it to resume movement.

“… It doesn’t look like we’re getting out of here anytime soon.” You speak up, trying to fill in the awkward silence that has built up between you and Itachi. Who knows? Maybe he’s forgotten about what the two of you were talking about yesterday.

“_______.” Although his eyes remain focused on the elevator door rather than you, the man says your name with such seriousness that your breath catches in your throat. You really don’t like the idea of where this might be going. “I know what is going on.” He tells you, looking at you this time before taking the small amount of steps needed for him to be standing directly before you. Your cheeks heat up at the closeness the two of you are sharing and you really start to worry about what he might do, with the both of you being alone together right now.

Those worries leave you, to be instantly replaced with fresh ones when he removes your winter scarf with such speed, yet also grace. He is not at all rough with you, as it appears the one who has left those familiar grey marks on your neck has been. You reach up to try and hide the signs of attack with your hands instead but Itachi stops you, taking your hands in his own to hold them supportively. You find yourself wanting to let go of him less this time around.

“You may have been intending to leave, but you’ve been wearing that scarf all day.” He informs you of what had added to his aroused suspicions. “This is not something you need to hide _______. If there is anything I want to talk with you about while we are stuck here, for however long, it is who has caused this harm to you.” Itachi squeezes your hands gently once he has said all of this, in his own way showing that he is here for you and also in hopes of encouraging you to speak up about what he is asking. He does release you though when your back starts to slide down the metal behind you, until you are seated on the floor wide-eyed, suddenly not having the strength to stand anymore. Itachi joins you there soon after, so as not to be standing above you as he waits for you to talk.

“It’s always been this way.” You start eventually, hugging your knees to your chest now for comfort as you do so. “My parents… they treated me this way too. I was so happy when I first met him.” You smile fondly at the memory, staring down at your wedding ring. “I thought I’d found my escape from that life but…” Your smile turns to sorrow as tears sting your eyes. You hide your face in your arms to stop Itachi from seeing them fall. “He started doing exactly the same.” Despite how muffled your words are now, Itachi listens to them attentively. He hears them. “I can’t leave him though.” You admit. “I don’t know how I’d ever deal with any other sort of relationship and I don’t want to be alone… This is all I know.” You struggle on through the sobs that cause your body to shake.

“That’s not the way it have to be.” Itachi speaks softly this time as he places a hand on your shoulder. It’s so different from the way you have ever heard him speak to anyone that it coaxes you into looking up at the man. When you do you see that he is smiling subtly, yet the expression holds such warmth. “No matter how others may try to break people, there’s the possibility for them to recover.” He tells you. “Even if you wouldn’t know how to cope with another sort of relationship at first, I would like to be the one to help you do this.” You don’t even register what you’re doing as you and Itachi slowly start to lean into each other.

Still you’re immediately alert when a shadow appears in the elevator doorway you hadn’t even noticed opening. The sudden appearance of your husband stops you just short of kissing Itachi. You jump to your feet instead and quickly try to hide the tell-tale marks on your neck with your coat. Itachi also rises to his feet and hands back the scarf he had taken from you earlier, but he doesn’t look happy about this.

“I came to see why you were so late coming home _______... I worry about you.” The newcomer does sound genuinely concerned for your safety as he enters the elevator  but the way he is only eying Itachi suspiciously, not looking at you at all, betrays his true reasons for being here. “You could have called.” He adds.

“Sorry!” You apologize, getting between the men. Your husband narrows his eyes at you slightly. “I will call next time.” You add more meekly. “Let’s go home.” You lean against the man, hoping that he’ll agree to this. Thankfully he does, but as he leads you away you risk glancing back at Itachi remorsefully. Maybe he’s disappointed in you for what you’re doing now after all that he has said, but you have your reasons…




There’s deathly silence on the drive home and as you and your husband reach the place. You try to go straight to your bedroom, tired after the long day but also wanting to avoid what you know is imminent. The man gripping your shoulder tightly from behind prevents any movements forward however. He turns you around to face him instead. “Who was that?” He asks.

“… Who was who?” You ask, feigning confusion after swallowing the lump in your throat.
“You know who I’m talking about.” He declares, pushing you away from him roughly. “That man back in the elevator.” He presses, advancing towards you as you back away. “What was going on between you two?”

“There was nothing going on.” You tell him as defensively as you can given the current situation you’re in. He glares at you.

“I know you’re lying about that!” He raises his fist and you cower away, covering your face and preparing yourself for the worst.

“_______.” The worst never comes though, and when you slowly open your eyes in answer to this different yet familiar voice, you can see why. Behind your husband stands Itachi in a desperate struggle to hold the man back from you. You stare at the scene in disbelief until Itachi speaks to you again through the other man’s attempts to lash out at him.

“_______, phone the police.” He tells you calmly, despite all of that. Coming to your senses, you nod and quickly grab the phone to do just as the Uchiha has instructed.



You can’t relax as you wait in Itachi’s car as he had told you to once the police had been called. The vehicle isn’t parked far from where you live and the worry over which of the men you left back in that struggle will be the one to find you here won’t stop buzzing around your mind as your eyes dart all around the streets outside.

You gasp in terror before you even see who it is as someone else enters the car. Once you see that it’s Itachi that has joined you inside and he sits back in the driver’s seat, panting to catch his breath, you hug him tightly. When the man’s body stiffens and he groans at the contact you release your grip however.

“Are you okay?” You ask, looking at him with concern instead, hating the idea that he’s been hurt because of you. It takes Itachi a minute but he does sit up straighter and starts to breath normally again.

“I am fine.” He assures you though you really can’t be convinced by his words after what you’ve just seen. Still, Itachi smiles your way with the news he has to give you next. “And he is gone ______. You, we if you would like, do not have to worry about him anymore.” You almost hug the man again when you hear those words but manage to stop yourself, remembering what happened the last time. Your eyes well up with tears again, but they are happy ones this time as you smile blissfully.

“… Why did you choose to be alone with him after he saw us together?” Itachi asks more seriously once he has allowed you to enjoy your happiness. “You must have known what would happen.” You curl up in your seat in the same way you had in the elevator before giving him your answer, knowing how silly it’s going to sound to the man now.

“I wanted to protect you.”You admit what your main concern has been throughout all of this to Itachi. “It is-was okay for him to do those things to me, but anyone else…” You shake your head at the thought, not even wanting to finish that sentence.

“_______. I’m not the one that needed protecting.” Itachi tells you with the same seriousness, but there’s something more behind his words this time. “You were, in this situation at least.” He kisses you, revealing that something more to be added affection for you in the way that it is delivered. “And what that man did to you is never okay.”