WANTED: Itachi Uchiha

Junana

Itachi was quick to learn why when Reina offered him a drink, she didn't move: she refused to leave alone and unattended. He wasn't sure whether to be honoured that she cared enough to ensure he was safe, or mortified that he required babysitting 24/7.

In the day that followed, Sasuke and Reina took shifts who was Itachi's keeper. They stayed by his side, making him cups of tea, occasionally partaking in a cup themselves. They even went as far as waiting outside the bathroom for him. 

They were literally his suicide squad. 

"Nii-san please just tell me why you did it?" Sasuke pleaded, the whites of his eyes visible from across the room. 

Itachi didn't answer. He kept his eyes locked on the wall, his hands folded in his lap. He didn't know what to tell him. How was he supposed to tell Sasuke, the person who idolised him and had put him on a pedestal long ago, that he didn't want to live anymore? That he would rather be dead, aimlessly wandering around Yomi, than have to face another day alive in a world that he detested. 

"For Kami's sake Itachi!" Sasuke shouted. "The least you could do is look at me and give me an answer! I at least deserve that much!" The younger Uchiha was desperate. He needed to know why. He couldn't get his head around it. 

Sasuke took ahold of Itachi by the shoulders and shook him, hard, his head bobbling about. Itachi made no attempt to stop him. He remained passive, silent: dead.

"Sasuke, that's enough!" Reina called from the doorway, her face grave with the hint of a snarl curling on her lips. "Go take a walk or have a nap or something."

"But-"

"Now." 

Sasuke debating standing his ground, fighting his case about wanting answers from his brother. But the look on Reina's face told him not to test what was left of her patience, which was virtually non-existent given that she hadn't slept in over 24 hours. 

He was desperate but not stupid. 

Itachi watched, partly in awe as Sasuke walked out of the room without so much as a smart-arsed reply muttered under his breath. Reina watched him go, her lavender ringed orbs following his every step. Hearing the front door slam, Reina sighed, her shoulders sagging. Now she knew how Mikoto felt, battling an unruly teenager. 

"Here, this is for you." Reina set a fresh cup of tea on the bedside table, another cup steaming in her hands. "Oh and these too." She tossed a small orange tube into Itachi's lap, the content rattling about: pills.

Antidepressants to be exact. 

"Those aren't mine." Itachi stated bluntly, eyeing the bottle in his lap. 

"No, they're not. Your's are likely somewhere in your intestinal tract by now." Reina added casually, taking a pew in the chair beside the bed. "No, those are mine."

Silence. 

Reina sipped at her tea, the wisps of steam billowing in the dying sunlight. "I don't know about you, but when I first started taking them, I felt fucking awful." Reina cringed at the memory. "My head felt as though I'd gone ten rounds with Might Gai and I just about remembered my own name most days. Horrible things, they are."

Reina wrinkled her nose in disgust. Itachi looked at the orange bottle, at the tiny pills inside that glared back at him. "I'm used to them now like, but if I miss a dose, even after years of taking them, I still feel the come down. Hard." She paused. "Did you know that for the first few days of taking them, one of the side effects is increased anxiety and even suicidal tendencies? Strange isn't it? That the thing that is actually meant to help you cope can actually cause more harm than good?" 

"Why are you telling me this?" Itachi asked, his brows knitted together. 

"I'm telling you this because," Reina began, pausing to take the bottle off him and pop one of the tablets in her mouth. "you need to realise that you're not alone. And that what you're experiencing is actually pretty common, especially for those in a profession such as the ANBU or shinobi life in general." Reina took another swig of her tea, washing down the tablet in one mouthful. 

"Are you saying shinobi attempting suicide is common?" He asked dubiously, his brow rising.

"Kakashi's father committed suicide. So did Shisui." Itachi visibly winced. "You're an incredibly intelligent man, Itachi. Do the maths. You've seen some horrific things and have committed some equally as horrible deeds."

"I'm pretty sure you're not meant to say such things to someone who has literally just attempted to take their own life." Itachi interjected bluntly. 

"Probably not, but I'm no professional and you didn't want to go the hospital so here we are." Reina shrugged. "What I'm saying is that witnessing such things is bound to have an impact on how you see the world as well as how you see yourself. Being a shinobi and Death go hand in hand. Sometimes you are the cause of death and inevitably Death will come for you. It's an unholy matrimony and occupational hazard."

"So why do you take them? You're not an ANBU or-" 

"Or a shinobi?" Reina cut in. 

"That's not what I was going to say."

"It's ok. I've had a lot worse said to me. And I may not be an ANBU Buntaichō, that you know of anyway," Reina said pointedly. "but I've seen my fair share of death and destruction. So if those little pills help me make it through the day without the want of throwing myself off a cliff then I'm going to take them. Because at the end of the day we're human. And humans are pretty fucked up creatures."

"You'd make a terrible therapist." Itachi muttered. 

"Perhaps." Reina nodded, pursing her lips in agreement. "But we both know I'd make a great babysitter."