WANTED: Itachi Uchiha

Sanjuu

Sasuke considered himself a rational person. Despite his sarcastic tongue and tenacious wit, he was usually sound of mind and able to remain calm, if not impassive during times of immense stress. Even during missions (even when Tsunade scraped the shitty ones from the bottom of the barrel) he remained calm and able to navigate through tumultuous peril. Which more often than not included being able to survive sharing a tent with Naruto who is an absolute slob. 

However there are few things that rattle him. The main one being Itachi. It was no secret that Sasuke adored his elder brother. Afterall he was his beloved Nii-san. The one person who he knew he could always rely on to fix whatever problem he lay at his feet, be that lying to their Father about who borrowed his advanced fire technique scroll (and returned it slightly singed) or help him perfect a new kunai combination. 

He was his idol. 

On occasion though, seeing Itachi drenched head to toe in blood, some of which he assumed was his, although the majority was likely his enemy's, Sasuke felt his stomach wrench and his guts turn watery. It wasn't that he feared his brother. It was the fear that maybe one day his precious Nii-san wouldn't come home and in his wake a telegram and brigade of ANBU would announce his death on the field. He had seen it before. He had watched his own Father accept telegrams to announce the death of friends and other clansmen. And it was the thought of Itachi's team being at the door that unnerved him. 

But that day, that god awful day. Even just thinking about it made him queasy. Seeing Itachi's lifeless body on the bathroom floor, his cheeks already pale and lacklustre and the empty pill bottle still clasped in his hand and having to watch Reina Hitori thrust her hand through Itachi's sternum and manually pump his heart. He had never felt so helpless. He felt like a child again. Incapable and useless. 

It set him on edge. 

Sasuke had gone from calm and collected to antsy and paranoid. Anytime Itachi was late for dinner Sasuke suspected the worst, that he was on another bathroom floor with a stomach full of pills, dead. 

So when Sasuke knocked at the Hitori compound expecting to come face to face with Itachi or Reina, his stomach fell through his pants when another clan member told him that they hadn't been there recently. 

"Fuck." Sasuke muttered through gritted teeth. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." Sasuke paced the pathway, stray pebbles and dust rising into the air with each of his steps. "Fucking shitty fuck!" 

He stopped, pinching the bridge of his nose before taking a deep breath, his chest expanding and his shoulders rising before falling. Shisui's. They had to be at Shisui's. They wouldn't have gone anywhere else. Unless Itachi was in fact laying cold in a morgue drawer compartment and Reina was too distraught to tell his parents. 

No. He would be at Shisui's. He had to be. 

Sasuke took off like Rock Lee jacked up on caffeine. He didn't even think his legs were even capable of reaching such a speed until it came to stopping and he nearly ended up face first in the apartment complex's door. People walking by looked at him as though he had just escaped a lunatic asylum, they whispering to each other with frowns etched onto their brows. 

He flung open the front door and bounded up the stairs, jumping steps at a time as he went. Sharingan in full blaze, Sasuke looked more like enraged shinigami then concerned younger brother. When he reached Shisui's apartment he could see Itachi and Reina's chakra residue, it fresh - they had been here recently. Slightly more prepared than last time, Sasuke fumbled with the keys in his hand, they sweaty from a combination of nerves and exertion. He had told Itachi he wanted a spare key in the event that he needed access to the apartment - an event like right now. 

Swallowing hard and slightly panting, Sasuke slid the key into the lock and flung open the door, immediately scanning the apartment for any signs of his brother or the Hitori Leader. What he found caused his legs to give way beneath him, he crumbling to his knees. 

"Sasuke-kun?" Itachi asked groggily, his hair pointing in every possible direction. In his arms Reina too sat up, her own hair matching Itachi's. 

"What's wrong?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and allowing a delicate yawn to escape her lips. 

Sasuke was wide eyed, his breaths ragged and out of sync. He was safe. Itachi was alive and by the looks of him: well. His elder brother was still a tangled mess of blanket and limbs, he now sat up with Reina curved against him, they seemingly unfazed by their close proximity.

"Sasuke, speak to me." Itachi ordered softly, getting off of the couch to kneel before Sasuke and laying a hand on his shoulder. 

"I think he's in shock." Reina added, frowning as she inspected the younger raven's form. "I'll get him some water." Itachi nodded. 

"Sasuke, I need you to explain what's wrong. What's happened?" Itachi repeated, holding Sasuke by his shoulders. "Are Okaa-san and Otou-san ok? Has something happened to them?" 

"I couldn't find you." Sasuke whispered, he looking up at Itachi, his eyes beginning to well up. Reina returned with a glass of water and a damp cloth and began dabbing Sasuke’s forehead. "You weren't at the compound and I…I panicked." Sasuke said, his words getting stuck at the back of his throat. "I thought the worst and-". 

Sasuke flung his arms around the pair, they both locked in an iron like embrace. Itachi's eyes widened, his mouth ajar as he looked at Reina over Sasuke’s head, her face matching his own. Sasuke wept, unable to hold the relief and shock that suddenly had flooded his system. He was ok. He was alive. He was ok. 

"Shhhh it's ok." Reina whispered soothingly despite the shock that was still written on her face. She returned Sasuke’s embrace, rubbing his back gently, Itachi doing the same action on his other side. 

"I'm fine Sasuke, no harm done. I'm alright. There there." Itachi murmured, moving his hand from Sasuke’s side to cradle the back of his head, the three of them innately swaying to soothe him. 

He was safe. Itachi was safe.