WANTED: Itachi Uchiha

Nijuuhachi

Reina held Itachi until his sobbing subsided and his demons had been temporarily exorcised. For the time being that was. Reina knew this feeling too well. She and grief were well acquainted; in her short lifespan she had buried so many people dear to her. Friends, colleagues, the latest being Baa-chan. 

So when Itachi asked: why did he leave me? 

It felt as though someone had stabbed her directly in the heart. She wished she had the answers for him. That she could logically explain why Shisui left the way he did. But she couldn't. All she could do was pick up the fragments that Itachi was losing day by day, in the hope that he would want to keep himself together. 

But again, it was like gluing broken ceramic with butter. There was a reason kintsugi was done with gold - it could withstand the test of time and did not melt under pressure. 

And in this instance, the pressure was winning the battle. 

"That's it, just breathe it out." Reina said quietly, her words soft and hushed. "You're doing great." She dabbed Itachi's face with a clean cloth, she having managed to summon enough water to dampen it. 

Itachi listened to each of her words, clinging to them as the fuzz of his head threatened to consume him. He concentrated on the feel of the cloth of his skin, the coolness of the fibres anchoring him. He couldn't remember the last time he had had a panic attack. It was likely not long after Shisui's funeral. 

"I'm…" Itachi began, breathing in deeply through his nose to compose himself, his apology on the tip of his tongue despite the shame that gagged him.

"Don't you dare apologise." Reina cut him off, moving his hair out the way to dab the back of his neck. Although curt, her tone was not sharp. "You don't apologise for being human, Itachi. Not to me, not to anyone. Do you hear me? Never."

Itachi opened his eyes expecting the room to still be shrinking in on him. But the only thing that greeted him was Reina's blazen gaze. His lips parted but a 'thank you' never made it over the threshold, it was lodged in the back of his throat. But he knew Reina knew what he was trying to say. It was obvious in the way her eyes softened and her lips puckered ever so briefly. 

Reina knew he was grateful. 

"Do you want to continue with the last room or come back another time?" Reina asked, continuing to dab at his face lightly. "We can do as you please, there's no rush."

Itachi glanced around the room, his eyes drinking in the dusty trinkets and partially discarded clothes that still littered the floor around them. "I'd like to finish cleaning if that's ok? It makes sense to finish what we started."

Reina eyed him closely and nodded. "Then let's get cracking." 

The Hitori Leader stood first and offered out her hand, albeit a small gesture, it had greater meaning to Itachi. This woman had been there through probably his darkest moments, and vice versa. They were kindred spirits, both suffering and trying to survive. But seeing her offer that hand, with no contempt or judgement in her eyes, allowed him to stand with a straight spine. 

Reina knew he was grateful. Because she was too. 

°°°

Cleaning Shisui's room took longer than the rest of his apartment. It was understandable. Some would call piles of clothing and partially read scrolls trivial items, but Reina saw them as insight to Shisui's being - his very essence.

"What was Shisui like?" Reina asked, casually placing the rolled up bedding in the ever growing wash pile. 

"He…" Itachi paused, wiping over a photo frame with the utmost tenderness. "He was so full of life and joy. Nothing ever seemed to bother him, even when you knew he had had a bad day, he just kept laughing and smiling."