WANTED: Itachi Uchiha

Nijuugo

Reina sat in the bath, the water as hot as she could bear. It reddened her usually pale skin, blotches of crimson appearing all over her body in random patches. The steam rose up in slender wisps, curling and skimming above the water. Beneath the cloudy water and mountains of bubbles she spied her too thin thighs, and hip bones that could poke an eye out. 

She had tried to eat the other night during her drink fuelled bender. By Kami she had enjoyed it, but her stomach had had other ideas the following morning. She had had to unfurl herself from the Uchiha sandwich, earning her a foul remark from Sasuke, before running to the bathroom to chuck her guts up. 

So here she was. Underweight, malnourished and past caring. 

"Reina?" Sasuke called from behind the door. 

"I'll be out in a minute." She replied, sinking further into the water, her hair floating about in inky swirls. 

"Reina, we need to talk." Sasuke said, his tone firm and stoic. Reina didn't reply, she barely heard him over the din of the water in her ears. She toed at the tap at the end of the bathtub, almost drowning herself in the process. 

"Right." Sasuke muttered, opening the door and barging into the bathroom. 

"Sasuke - WHAT THE FUCK?!" Reina shrieked, instantly sitting up and attempting to cover herself up. 

"Well, you weren't answering me and you didn't even come down for breakfast, so here I am." The younger Uchiha stated bluntly, taking a perch on the toilet after lowering the lid. 

"That doesn't mean you can just walk on in whilst I'm having a bath!" Reina spat, crossing her arms over herself and bringing her knees to her chest. 

"It does if you're going to carry on the way you are." He retorted. "Anyway, you're not my type so." Reina narrowed her eyes, as though his answer justified him sitting there whilst she was as naked as the day she was born. 

"Carry on like what, exactly?" Reina asked, leaning against the bathtub to keep herself from sliding under the water. 

"Like this." Sasuke motioned to her, going up and down her boney form, he spying her all too present collar bones and spindly arms. "You're not looking after yourself properly and it needs to stop now."

Reina didn't have a smart remark for that. 

"Ne, Itachi." Sasuke called, spying his brother walk past the doorway. "Come here."

"What?! No-" Reina called, her eyes wide and her skin reddening even more if that was possible. 

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked, stepping into the bathroom, Reina blocked by the door. 

"Come in and shut the door behind you before Otou-san or Okaa-san walks past." Sasuke ordered from his self-appointed throne. Itachi did as he was told, curious as to his brother's intentions.

"What's- Reina!" Itachi froze, instantly turning away, his own cheeks flushing. "Sasuke why are you in here whilst Reina's in the bath?! And why on earth did you call me in here?!" 

"My thoughts exactly." Reina muttered under her breath. 

"Because this is an intervention. For the both of you." Sasuke started, crossing his arms. "Reina isn't looking after herself physically and you're not looking after yourself mentally or emotionally. And we need to fix that." 

"And how exactly do you propose we do that? Oh great and wise Sasuke-kun?" Reina drawled, throwing a wet sponge at him which he deflected easily now that he wasn't completely inebriated and seeing double. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, Itachi looking at him without looking at Reina in the reflection of the mirror, through the steam. "Itachi and I will train you, help your body regain its muscle and fitness. You'll start eating proper meals and we will go back to basics: runnings, katas and work our way up to sparring so your body can recuperate." 

Reina listened intently, momentarily forgetting that she was naked, in a bathtub, and the Uchiha  brothers were also present. He cared. Sasuke cared. That's why he was doing what he was. 

"And what about him?" Reina asked, eager to deflect the conversation from herself. Sasuke nodded, swivelling a little to face his brother. 

"Itachi, will take his tablets as they're prescribed," He drawled for emphasis. "I'm sorry Nii-san, but you need to see the psychiatrist that the ANBU assigned and be honest with them. You can't lie and ignore how you feel, otherwise we'll end up back in a bathroom as well as the morgue."

Silence.

It appeared the three of them spent a lot of time in bathrooms and hospitals. 

"Sasuke’s right." Reina replied quietly. Itachi blinked, turning to face the Heiress, his eyes never straying from hers. "We're broken, Itachi." Reina whispered her eyes brimming with tears. "We can't go on like this. It needs to stop now." Coal lingered with gold, both silent with a quiet understanding. 

"Alright." Itachi murmured, blinking away his own tears and nodding towards Sasuke. "We'll do as we're told."

"And in return, we'll help you train for the ANBU exams." Reina offered, wiping her cheek on the back of her hand. Sasuke quirked a brow, intrigued. 

"No disrespect Reina, but what do you know about the ANBU exams? Aren't you a jounin?" Sasuke asked, throwing the sponge back at her. Reina moved her head, allowing the sponge to fall to the wayside with a soft SPLOSH. 

"She's already passed them." Itachi answered for her, his gaze now focused back on her, his eyes alight with intrigue. Sasuke stared at his brother then at Reina, his brows furrowed. Reina nodded, gathering a pile of bubbles and strategically placing them over her body as she lay back down in the bath, unaware of Itachi following her every delicate move. 

"Itachi is correct." Reina began, blowing stray bubbles from her palm. "I passed the exams first time. And done low priority missions with each squadron to decipher where my talents would be best suited."

"And what did they decide?" Sasuke asked, his curiosity piquing. 

"Oh, if I told you that, I'd have to kill you."