Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! bakayaro, konoyaro!
A/N: Special thanks to Taenify! I really have a deep love for the ItachixReya combo, but at the time I just honestly didn't think people liked the story, so I took a break from it. This chapter (and probably future chapters) are here because of them. Doozo; enjoy!
Few people know about the mountain ranges outside Yugakure, or about its grassy valleys that soak overnight in the steam from the village springs. Before dawn, the air outside is cold and dewy, and it almost feels like it could rain for the next few days, but it doesn't. It never does at this time of year.
Itachi was never a man of the land, but there was something about this area that felt magical. As if it were its own little bubble that existed outside the boundaries of time. A memory, or something like it. This place would probably be here forever, and if he were to ever consider settling down, he could imagine building a life here where Reya could be safe and happy. He would be at his happiest as well if he could live alongside her in relative peace for - well, any length of time before his illness killed him.
He tore his eyes from the sky. It was a suffocating blue. A suffocating, mesmerizing blue.
On his second day back, he had ventured into town to spend some time at one of his favorite tea houses. After that he skimmed through some of the stalls along the village market, only to come back with more preservable food for the house as well as a bag of soil and some more seeds to plant for Reya's garden. He buried them all the following day, making sure to water the seeds she had placed there herself, against his rules as usual.
There were only two things Reya was allowed to do outside in the garden, and those things were watering and harvesting because they were relatively simple and didn't take too long. Even though she never listened (or learned, for that matter) he'd made it very clear on multiple occasions that he would do all the planting for her, which was her least favorite part of gardening anyway. He thought she would be fine with it; she probably was, initially, but feelings change all the time when there's nothing around you to do except eat, sleep, draw, and sew. In his own down time, Itachi often found himself wondering what kinds of things she found to do while he was away, especially at night when there was a limited amount of light to use for most of her leisure activities. He could never get an accurate read on her while he was here since 99.9 percent of the time she stayed super glued to his side, afraid that if she took her eyes off of him he would disappear without her knowing.
It bothered him. Probably more than it should.
Sometimes, while he reminisced over their days in Konoha, his thoughts would bleed into his present worries and prevent him from sleeping. She was always on his mind, in one way or another - In the same way that he knew Shisui was always on her mind - but even that was his fault since he'd never figured out a delicate way to tell her the truth about what happened to him.
The patio floor creaked softly as he leaned back onto his arms, releasing a breath that he'd been holding in for so long it had become strained and caused his chest to quiver. There was another light creak that he assumed was his weight shifting the floorboards, and then another, though it seemed to be getting louder.
"Itachi!"
He turned to find her standing there on the other side of the sliding door, eyes wide and glazed over with tears.
"You're here!" she shouted and proceeded to walk face first into the glass.
"Nngh, it stings when you touch it." She had a bump on the side of her forehead that felt like it was the size of a planet.
"One day," he said. "You'll learn there's a door there."
She winced as he covered it with the damp cloth, taking her hand and directing her to hold it there herself. "The pain will go away soon. Keep that cloth on it for a while."
Reya watched him in relative interest, following him with her eyes as he disappeared into the kitchen.
"Is there seriously a bump?" she asked, hoping to draw him back into the room.
"Yes," he responded tonelessly through the curtain divider.
She dropped her gaze, brows meeting in a small scowl. "Hn."
The sliding door had been left open to the cool, mid-morning breeze in an attempt to alleviate the stuffiness. She heard him stirring in the kitchen - knowing Itachi, he was probably going to make her eat something - but before she could act on the urge to follow him, the mountains in the distance caught her eye.
There were very many things in Reya's world that she found beautiful; this included dogs, fresh rain, her plants whenever they were ready to harvest, Itachi's sleeping face, and much more, but the mountains had an effect on her that was akin to a gravitational pull. They looked different every season, but she'd gazed at them for so long that at some point, they began to form the background of what she considered home. If she ever had to leave this place, the view from the back porch would always be what she remembered most of all. For all the sleepless nights she spent gazing out at them, she wished she could keep the image of it in her back pocket forever, but something screamed to her that they would be separated at some point.
No matter what, wherever Itachi decided to go was where she would follow. There was no hesitation in her mind about that, except on the days he left to go back to Akatsuki, because deep down she only grew more and more insecure that at some point, he would never return.
She expelled a breath and got up from the couch, still holding the warm cloth to the side of her forehead where he'd placed it before.
Perhaps it was just a side effect of her attachment to Itachi, or perhaps it had something to do with the sense of fear that had been instilled in her for most of her life due to her condition. Either way, she just didn't want to be alone. Growing up without a family was hard, but Reya actually felt that it hadn't been that bad with Shisui and Itachi there to fill the void. Because of them, outside of her obvious quirks, she learned how to be a productive and well-rounded person who cares for others without thinking.
Before Shisui's disappearance, she had never even seen a sad Christmas... Losing that had been the hardest part of her life so far, and it was because of that that she felt an overwhelming urge to hold onto Itachi, the last remaining leg of her makeshift family. Sometimes she held on too tight, but most of the time she did it out of a mixture of need and instinct. No matter what, they were meant to be a package deal, and she wasn't planning on losing sight of him any time soon.
"What are you making?" she asked, wincing as she removed the cloth from her head in front of one of the wall mirrors.
"Food," he taunted, the edge of his lip curving upward as he felt her dull glare pierce him through the mirror.
"What food?" she specified. There was a tinge of irritation to her voice, indicating she'd fallen straight into the trap, as usual. She turned from the mirror and stared at the dividing curtain.
Itachi had lived with her long enough to memorize every single reaction she had and even more so, how to elicit them. It was a little game they played to pass the time that only he knew about. She was hilariously predictable, but he supposed that was what made her so funny to him. The real question was: how could he not mess with her?
She waited no more than five seconds before making a bee line straight for the kitchen. If he hadn't replied by then, he wasn't going to.
"knew it!" she shouted. There was a steaming pot on the stove filled with what looked like miso soup. The rice maker was on as well with four minutes left on the timer. "What about the other thing?"
She was trying to say the main course.
Itachi raised an eyebrow.
"And where's your apron, young man!"
He couldn't not smile. "Are you referring to the pink one with the ruffles?" he said, turning back to the pot to give it a stir. "I threw it away."
Her mouth fell open, but she quickly closed it.
"You never wore it," he reasoned, obviously lying.
"It's yours, you liar," she said, making a face at him. "I want chicken nuggets."
He turned the burner off. "The chicken nuggets weren't on sale," he said evenly.
At that, she couldn't help but laugh. "Fine, can I guess what it is then?"
He turned his head only slightly, giving her a perfect view of the small smile on his face. It made her smile herself. "Fish," she said.
"Mackerel."
"knew it," she mumbled, a little more docile now that their little spat was over.
Itachi chuckled, bracing against the counter as she pushed her head into the top of his shoulder, wrapping her arms loosely around his torso; one of her lazy hugs.
"I'm glad you came back," she muttered, voice muffled in the fabric of his gray t-shirt. "I missed you."
It was a few lengthy seconds before he relaxed enough to look at her. Even with how close they were, he had never managed to train his body to react normally to physical contact. He always just automatically stiffened, as if he were being stabbed in the gut.
He didn't know what to say at that moment, but the sleeve of his shirt began to feel wet, indicating that she was crying.
"I always come back, do I not?" he said.
Reya nodded slowly, still hiding her face in his arm. Had she not rammed into the door earlier, she wouldn't have had to hug him this awkwardly. Exchanges like this between them were not that common - usually masked by special events like him coming home or perhaps the odd lapse of excitement on her part - but as embarrassing as it made her feel to go for one, she looked forward to them. He was soft and warm, despite his cold exterior, and perhaps most importantly, he was the only one there she could hug. Even if he didn't really care for it...
The timer to the rice cooker went off in seconds, puffs of steam wafting out of the closed top. She let go of him reluctantly, wiping roughly over her eyes with the sleeve of her right arm.
"Better now?" she heard him say. Before she could get a look at him, she felt her hair being ruffled. Not so rough that it hurt, but rough enough to where she couldn't see anything. In terms of affection, that was probably the only thing he felt comfortable offering her in return.
"Go set the table," he said as she attempted to brush her hair out of her eyes. "You need to eat."
Though he did have his moments, the Itachi she lived with now was a far cry from the Itachi she knew as a child.
The Itachi Reya knew as a child was near silent and a little more rough around the edges as he and Shisui battled to find their place among the ninja ranks. Even though they were the same in many ways, when it came to Reya, the two of them couldn't have been more different.
"I'm not going to bed," she said. "I'm just gonna brush out my hair."
Reya turned the bathroom light off and moved next door to her bedroom, slipping into the futon beside his chair to admire the flames in the fireplace as she brushed through her freshly washed hair. He had been staring into the quivering flames for several minutes now, the novel in his hand bookmarked with his finger.
She glanced at him and then back at the flames.
Back then there wasn't much that Reya could do to avoid annoying him. Even when she tried staying quiet she ended up talking, inevitably throwing off some of the many kunai throwing exercises Shisui had taught him and told him to practice. Usually he would just ignore her, but she could tell he was stressed whenever he responded by throwing a kunai at whatever was next to her head. That alone could silence her for the rest of the day, much to his relief.
If she could have spent all her time following Shisui around, she would have. He took her places like Ichiraku, the ice cream shop, and even the Konoha academy training grounds where he taught her how to hold the blade and which direction to slice. Looking back, he must have known all along that it was food that motivated her.
It still is, usually.
She missed him desperately...
"What are you thinking about?" she asked, cutting through the silence.
"Things."
She sighed, the brush still woven in her hair. How many times were they gonna play this game today? "What things?"
He flicked his eyes over her, a playful fire reflected them, with a faint smile. "I can't tell you," he said simply. "It's confidential."
"Confidential my ass!"
He chuckled. "I was just wondering if I bought everything you needed from the store."
That was a lie.
She decided not to push it.
"Yeah, I think so," she said quietly and turned to stretch her feet closer to the fire. "I can't believe you got actually got me tampons, though."
She was never going to get a reply to that one.
The Itachi she knew now was known for the same quiet intensity when he was mad, but he hardly ever got mad anymore when she was around. He was better known for his playful prodding and whenever she could draw him far enough out of his shell, his deep conversations. He could be very nurturing as well, like this morning when she had her accident. There were angles to him that not even she was allowed to explore, but they were there. Some of them left with Shisui whenever he disappeared, but some were simply hidden too far down for her to reach.
The man was an enigma, what more could she say?
After brushing her hair out, she disappeared back into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. Nothing killed her mood more than the thought of going back to sleep after several days stuck in that bed, but she figured she had nothing better to do all night. She couldn't sit and stare at Itachi for all that time without coming off as a total creep, and she didn't want that.
Teeth freshly brushed, she shut off the light and stepped back into the room, kneeling silently towards her bed when she noticed his eyes were closed.
She blinked, barely resisting the urge to call his name, knowing that if she did that he would snap himself awake instantly.
It took all she had in her not to kiss the side of his head as she tucked a blanket over him, but if she tried to do anything, even move the book, he would wake up, so she left it at that. It would be another three hours before she was finally able to drift off herself, but when she closed her eyes for the final time she felt the comforting pull of slumber clawing at her, eventually nestling her into a deep sleep that could only be described as much more comfortable than her usual coma.
A/N: Let me know if you have any ideas for plot! Should I make her get captured by Akatsuki?! I'm feeling pretty evil rn. :)