WANTED: Itachi Uchiha

Ni Ju

Mirrors usually made Reina uneasy. There was something about them that she distrusted. As though something unearthly lurked on the other side of the glass: a partition between a world of monsters and humans. Except she wasn't sure what side she resided on. Staring back at her, her reflection was pale and gaunt, her eyes lifeless and without their usual lustre. 

Her mofuku was pressed, the collar starched and rigid against the sides of her snowy throat. Mikoto stood behind her, combing her mahogany locks and pinning them neatly to her head. Reina could never pin her hair as neatly as Tomo could. Her attempts always resulted in her hair being pinned up with a nearby pen (or several). 

"There, that should do it." Mikoto murmured, more to herself as she admired her handiwork, sliding in a simple silver kanzashi pin into Reina's woven locks. "For protection." Mikoto added, whispering into  Reina's ear and squeezing her shoulders. 

"Arigatou, Mikoto-san." Reina replied with a jerk of her chin, looking at Mikoto through the reflection of the mirror. Mikoto's own raven locks had been pinned at the nape of her neck, accentuating her delicate porcelain features. 

"Are you ready?" Fugaku asked from the doorway, his own mofuku clean and crisp. 

"Hai."

At the bottom of the stairs Itachi and Sasuke stood silently, Reina had barely spoken at breakfast, just about sipping her tea before excusing herself. Gone were the snarky remarks and sly smirks, in their wake was the husk of a woman. An empty shell. Itachi knew that feeling all too well. 

"Reina-sama." Itachi bowed lowly as Reina descended the stairs, Sasuke following suit beside him. 

"Let's get this over with." Reina mumbled, sliding her shoes on at the genkan. The pair nodded, their parents following behind them. 

°°°

The temple had been packed to full capacity. The buzz of chatter and prayers made the room unbearable. Reina's head was filled with static, a whitenoise that made any thought impossible. When people approached her to deliver their condolences, all she heard was a further dull buzz. 

Thankfully, the brigade of Uchiha at her back made the day bearable. Mikoto accepted people's well wishes on her behalf whilst Fugaku ensured that they did not overstay their welcome, ushering them on with the help of his sons. They were her personal army. 

And it was lucky she had one, although not for her sake - for Atsushi's. 

"I see my dear sister has had a wonderful send off, with no thanks to you, our new glorious leader." Atsushi sneered, his mouth practically dripping with venom. Reina had to repress the sigh that wanted to escape her lips. She did not have time for this. 

Atsushi, despite escorted by two young looking jounin, saunted about the Hitori assembly hall as though he owned the place. Much to his dismay he didn't, his bitch of a niece did. 

"Atsushi, always a pleasure." Fugaku droned, his tone coated in sarcasm. Reina didn't rise to the bate, instead she took a sip of her sake, cleaning the china bowl in one mouthful. 

"Oh, Fugaku? I didn't realise the Uchiha police force guarded common whores these days." Atsushi replied gleefully, all from the safety of his escorts. Reina snorted, rolling her eyes. Mikoto however snarled, her eyes flaring up with her Sharingan. 

"Hold your tongue or I'll cut it from your treacherous mouth!" Mikoto hissed, taking a step forward towards Atsushi. The Himura Elder visibly froze, his eyes lingering on each Uchiha as their irises flickered to life one after the other. 

"Don't waste your breath, Mikoto-san." Reina soothed, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. Mikoto looked back, unsettled at what she saw: lethal calmness. "My Uncle is all bark and no bite I'm afraid."

"Why don't you come over here without your bodyguards and let me show you my bite. You of all people know I have tee-" Atsushi did not finish his sentence. He gasped, his breath stuck at the back of his throat as he lifted his hand to his neck, a thin line of crimson trickling down his skin. 

Beside his head, wedged in the wood of the door frame was Reina's silver hair pin, it wobbling from the impact of her throw. He hadn't even see her move. Reina stood in the centre of the Uchiha, her head cocked to one side. "Mikoto-san, can you remember if we poisoned the pin this morning? I can't remember." Reina asked coyly, looking up at Mikoto. 

"Why, I think we did, if memory serves." 

Atsushi's eyes widened, the panic visibly rising in his face. The jounin ushered him out without another word, leaving the room to begin its chatter once again. In canon, the Sharingan of the Uchiha dissipated, like flames extinguished in a single breeze.

"Did you actually poison the pin?" Sasuke asked, watching as the shinobi attempted to quell a panicking Atsushi. 

"The only thing they'll find on that pin or his skin is a shit load of hairspray." Reina replied, casually taking another swig of sake. 

"You're a wicked thing." Sasuke smirked, his eyes lit up with fiendish humour. Even Itachi couldn't help the smirk that bled onto his lips. If it weren't for the gold of her eyes, he could have sworn that Reina was born an Uchiha. 

"Do you want to get a proper drink?" Itachi asked lowly, leaning down to whisper in Reina's ear, noting how the crowds subdued her and extinguished the light from her eyes. Reina glanced towards the Elder Uchiha from beneath her lashes. 

"Will your sidekick need a false I.D?"

"I'm 18, not 12." Sasuke muttered out of his parent's eareach. 

"Let's go numb the pain then." Reina replied casually, hitching the skirts of her kimono. 

The trio said their goodbyes to Mikoto and Fugaku, claiming Reina wanted some fresh air away from the maddening crowds. Before long the three of them, still dressed in their funeral mofuku, wandered down the aisle of the local supermarket, they receiving bizarre looks from local passerbyers. 

"What's your poison, Uchiha? Aside from bulk antidepressants?" Reina asked nonchalantly, her intake of sake already reigniting her sass.

"Whisky." Itachi replied coolly, reaching up for a copper coloured bottle from the top shelf. "I'd ask yours, but you're already poisonous enough." 

Sasuke winced, checking if Reina had more than one hair pin at her disposal. Itachi waited for her to slap him like Izumi had, to shout at him for crossing a line. Instead Reina smirked, pursing her lips together. 

"That's more like it." Reina replied, patting him on the shoulder. "Good to have you back, Itachi."