WANTED: Itachi Uchiha

Juyon

Reina was unnerved. In the times Reina had looked into Itachi's eyes, she saw a little piece of him wither away before her. His eyes, although dark, usually held a small spark, one that despite being faint, was simmering away. But that slap. The one that was that hard Reina's own teeth ached, she was sure Izumi knocked any remaining light out of Itachi's eyes. 

Because when she looked at him, all she saw was Death. A deep void that was  consuming him silently. 

And she was afraid he was going to allow it to finish him off.

"Sasuke, I need to know where Itachi would go - worse case scenario." Reina asked pulling on her shoes and adjusting her braid. 

Sasuke stood at the edge of the genkan, his arms crossed and a sour look still simmering on his lips. He was beyond seething. 

"Worst case scenario is that he's thrown himself off a cliff like Shisui did."

Reina froze. 

"What?" 

"Shisui was everything to Itachi. It wouldn't surprise me if it came down to it that Itachi would want to go the same way he did." Reina felt ill. Her stomach lurching with dread. 

"Sasuke," Reina whispered. "we need to find him." Her eyes were wide with a mixture of fear and determination. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

Sasuke stared at Reina, unfolding his arms and sliding on his own sandals. "We'll start at Shisui's old apartment and go from there." 

Running through the village made Reina realise how far she had let herself go these past weeks. Her throat burned and a stitch was beginning to take form in her side. She really needed to start training again once Baa-chan's funeral was over. 

She just hoped she didn't need to attend another one. 

"How much further is it?" Reina asked in between pants. Sasuke was fairly surprised she had kept up. Her body was still in an abysmal condition but she didn't complain, she just kept pace beside him, matching him step for step. 

"Shisui's apartment is on the top floor. Do you need a minute?" Sasuke eyed Reina, she was suppressing her breathing in an attempt to look less breathless, but he could practically hear her pulse hammering in his ears. 

"No no," Reina panted, swallowing what little spit she could accumulate. "I'm fine. Let's go."

Outside Shisui's apartment the pair crept towards the door, they could sense the faintest of chakra residues from inside. Sasuke jiggled the handle, the lock jiggling back in response. 

"Do you have a key?" 

"No…Itachi has the only spare." Reina sighed. Her insides were screaming in alarm and her calves felt as though they were about to explode. 

"Give me your hand." Reina instructed, offering her hand. At first Sasuke just stared at her, unsure what she was going to do. Yet the moment their palms touched, he felt it. The surge of chakra that set his entire body alight as though his chidori had surged through every vein. 

This was the Soujuu bloodline. 

Reina pressed her hand against the wood of the door, the wood more like water as she began to sift through the closed door. Sasuke felt his body react to Reina's chakra as each individual cell made itself permeable to pass through the solid object the way wind moved through the grass. Inside, the first that Reina smelled was dust. It hung in the air in boughs and clung to the furniture in sheets. It was a literal time capsule. 

Or mausoleum. 

"His chakra is coming from the bathroom.But it's faint." 

Sasuke led Reina down the hall, Itachi's chakra barely recognisable despite their close proximity. The pair exchanged a nod before entering the bathroom, it was then that Reina wanted to be sick. 

"Nii-san!" Sasuke scrambled on the floor where Itachi lay, an empty pill bottle laying beside him. 

"Itachi!?" Reina pleaded, checking his throat for a pulse. Nothing. "Shit, shit, shit, SHIT!" Reina checked the pill bottle to see what he had swallowed. Antidepressants. 

"Nii-san, please wake up!" Sasuke cradled his head, tears already streaming down his face. 

"Sasuke, you need to start compressions now." Reina instructed, her hands beginning to glow the palest jade. 

"What are you doing?" 

"I'm going to neutralise the tablets so they don't cause any more damage to his body. Now get pumping!" 

Sasuke wasted no time. He positioned Itachi's head up, checking his airways before interlocking his fingers on his chest and pumping, his ribs immediately bending in response. Reina knelt on the opposite side, her hands already placed on his abdomen. 22 tablets. That's how many she could sense in his stomach. 

How long had he felt like this? How long had he been suffering all by himself? How long had he wanted everything to just stop? 

Slowly, the components of the tablets turned into nothing more than solid water, his stomach able to dissolve them without causing any more damage to his internal organs. 

"Reina it's not working, he still isn't breathing." Sasuke was white with panic, his hands shaking with shock and adrenaline. 

"Sasuke, look away."

"What?" 

"I said look away now." With no second warning, Reina put her hand through Itachi's chest the same way she had the door. Her hand moved through skin, sinew and bone effortlessly until she found what she was looking for: his heart. Ever so delicately, Reina began manually pumping Itachi's heart with her hand, the organ roughly the same size as her fist. 

Sasuke couldn't look away. He was wide eyed with fear and shock. This was Itachi they were talking about. His fearless brother. The one who would always make everything better for him. If he died. He didn't know what he would do. 

"Please wake up, Nii-san." Sasuke muttered through his tears, holding onto Itachi's limp hand. "Please."

"Goddammit Itachi, don't you dare die on me." Reina hissed, tears occupying her own cheeks. "I have lost too much without losing you too." She continued to pump, only briefly stopping to blow air into his mouth. 

"For fuck's sake Itachi, wake up!" Reina screamed, her hand still protruding from his chest. 

It was as those words left her lips that Itachi gasped.