Blood saturating the thin, paper walls, forever staining them. The screams of terror, interrupted by the sound of blood gurgling. The sickly sound of a sword piercing through flesh and life. Life draining from dark eyes. The Mangekyo Sharingan awakening, the bright red instilling terror into anyone and everyone.

Itachi's eyes shot open, his senses heightened and alert. He sat up in his bed and found that he was breathing heavily. He fluttered his eyes shut and sighed, attempting to calm himself. Lazily slinging his arm over his eyes, he felt moisture being transferred onto his face. Itachi sat up and realised his sheets were soaked in a cold sweat, the sides of his raven black hair sticking to his temples. His heart still thumped violently as the aftermath of that strange dream. Something felt… strange. Paranoid that Itachi was in an enemy's genjutsu, he formed the handsign to release the jutsu but nothing happened.

Could that dream have been a vision of the future?

Itachi shook his head, trying to get the disturbing images out of his mind. He could still hear the screams. With little to no success, the Uchiha sat up and decided to start his morning by changing his sheets and showering.

With a sigh, Itachi laid down on the tatami floor leading to their garden, his silky locks fanning out around him. He gazed at the clouds slowly floating by. Itachi had received strict instructions from the doctor to not overexert himself after their last disastrous mission. Their team had had a close encounter with death because they had underestimated the enemy and their resources. Half of the team, including Itachi himself had ended up almost dead. As a result, Team Ro had a break from missions for a week.

Itachi was at a loss of what to do with himself. He was on missions half of the time and the other half, he would train or spar with Shisui. He didn't really have any hobbies because being a member of the ANBU took up so much of his time. It was silent within the vicinity except for the sound of the bamboo fountain flowing. Time passed painfully slow.

This was torture. Itachi felt restless. Lazing around and relaxing wasn't for him, he hated feeling so idle. His mind drifted back to that strange dream. Something felt… off. Almost as if the balance of the earth had shifted. It was a very subtle difference, but difference nonetheless. Itachi had a weird feeling deep in his gut when he woke with a start, and as soon as he stepped foot onto the floor, his surroundings seemed unfamiliar. Shisui would probably tell him he was just over-analyzing things.

Shisui…

Itachi inwardly groaned. More recently, he had been feeling really nervous around him. Of course, he made sure to maintain his stoic and expressionless demeanor as to not raise any suspicion. It was an impressive feat, really, as Shisui was an expert at reading Itachi and it didn't seem like he had picked up on anything suspicious yet. The Uchiha didn't know the underlying reason behind these feelings of nervousness and he was reluctant to find out. As a result, he had been slightly avoiding Shisui for the past few days, blaming it on chakra exhaustion every time the older Uchiha came to check in on him.

Another melancholic sigh left Itachi's lips. He didn't know how much longer he could abuse that excuse. Lost in thought, he heard a faint knock on the door and instantly sensed Shisui's chakra. Speak of the devil. Itachi quickly stood up and moulded his features into his usual expression before opening the door.

"Yo, 'tachi," Shisui greeted him cheerfully.

"Good morning Shisui."

"How you feeling? Finally up for training with me, princess?" A gleam of mischievousness danced in Shisui's obsidian eyes. Itachi scoffed.

"So-so. And stop calling me that, I don't want the others to misunderstand anything." Shisui wiggled his eyebrows in mock suggestiveness.

"Well then, it's fine if I call you that behind closed doors… just the two of us, princess?" His voice thickened. Itachi tried hard to maintain a bored and unimpressed facade. That same feeling of anxiety pooled into his chest. Shisui grinned.

"If you insist."

"Oh but I do...," he purred. Itachi's resolve collapsed and he slightly blushed. Shisui cackled loudly.

"I love teasing you 'tachi, your face is priceless everytime!" Shisui's laugh was contagious and Itachi found himself chuckling as well.

"You avoided my question though. You up for training today or not?" Itachi sighed. Guess there was no way he could continue dodging Shisui. He tilted his head, indicating for the latter to come in. Shisui ran into Itachi's bedroom and flopped on his bed, glomping his pillow. Itachi shook his head.

"I just changed the sheets, you know. You're worse than Sasuke." Shisui's eyes narrowed and a smirk pulled at his features.

"And why did you have to change the sheets, princess? Perhaps a little… 'accident' occurred? Or... was it an accident at all?" Itachi sputtered indignantly.

"It was nothing of the sort. It was the result of a nightmare." Shisui raised his eyebrows. He couldn't say that he was surprised. After all, Itachi was an elite member of ANBU and he had seen a lot on the battlefield. He hummed in response.

Itachi busied himself by packing his ninja tool pouch and wrapping bandages around his forearms. He felt Shisui's gaze prickling against his back but he tried hard to ignore it. Itachi pulled his night shirt off and searched through his drawer for the more traditional turtleneck style he wore. Shisui stared as every muscle on the Uchiha's back contracted and relaxed against his milky skin. Itachi had several faded scars on his back, none recent. Shisui felt relieved. He knew Itachi was almost untouchable on the battlefield but he still worried for his friend. Shisui realized he had been staring for too long just as Itachi finished gathering his silky hair into his usual ponytail. Itachi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Space out like that on the battlefield and you'll be dead within seconds." Itachi feigned arrogance when in reality he was embarrassed to be scrutinised so hard. Shisui rolled his eyes in mock offence.

"Got it, princess."

The foliage of the Uchiha Forest slowly came into view as the two weightlessly jumped from branch to branch. Itachi and Shisui had been training here together ever since they were children and that had not changed. It was always the place that Itachi came to ponder about his missions and blow off some steam. The trees all had deep indentation marks from the countless shuriken and kunais the two threw. Shisui leaped down to the forest floor, breaking his fall by falling into a squat and Itachi followed suite.

"So… what are we doing today then?" Itachi enquired. Shisui put his finger on his chin and pretended to think.

"Well, since you're still formally on medical leave, how 'bout some light sparring and evasion training?"

"Alright." Shisui grinned mischievously.

"You're going down 'tachi."

"I beg to differ."

And with that, the pair's eyes flashed red. Itachi ran full speed at Shisui but within a flash, he showed up behind him.

"Too slow, princess."

Itachi managed to jump back enough just before Shisui tried kicking his legs out under him. The latter was onto him again and Itachi managed to block a side punch by meeting it with his own. Shisui's movements were ridiculously quick but Itachi managed to block all of his attacks thanks to his Sharingan and quick reflexes. The two drew out kunais and the sound of metal against metal echoed in the forest. Shisui grazed Itachi's arm before crows erupted everywhere with a loud 'caw'. Momentarily stunned, Itachi took advantage of that and flipped Shisui on his back, kunai to the throat. Shisui grunted as his back collided with the forest floor.

"Not bad, especially in your current condition. Guess you're not an elite ANBU for nothing." Itachi offered Shisui his hand and Shisui took it, getting up. He dusted himself off before throwing Itachi on the ground and pinning him down.

"'A shinobi must always see through deception' As old man Hiruzen always said." Shisui grinned. Itachi shot him an unimpressed look but felt himself tense up when Shisui sat down on his hips.

"Now what 'tachi? Your enemy has immobilised you and you're about to die. What do you do?" Shisui shifted on his hips and Itachi struggled to control his expression. The way Shisui was looking down on the younger Uchiha really didn't help. Those deep brown eyes of his were glazed over with an unknown emotion and Itachi swallowed. He tried kicking Shisui off him but he had much more muscle density compared to him and was heavier. Shisui simply pinned the latter's arms down and shifted his weight.

"Ah, ah, ah… You can't win by sheer force here, princess. The enemy is much stronger in this situation." Itachi clenched his jaw.

"Shisui for the love of all that is good in this world, get off me or I'll put you under a genjutsu." Shisui knew that wasn't just an empty threat and he released the younger Uchiha.

"Sorry, sorry." Itachi's heart raced and he dusted himself off.

"You go too far with this whole teasing thing sometimes…" Itachi mumbled.

"What was that? Did you say something?" Itachi bit back the million insults on his tongue.

"Get your ears checked," is all he said before they continued sparring.

Itachi was absolutely exhausted after a day of nothing but sparring with Shisui who was in fact a more than worthy opponent. He sat on a log and drank the remaining water he had. The sun was setting and the two were covered in dirt and scratch marks. Itachi was pretty sure he had a nasty bruise developing on his thigh from where Shisui had hit particularly hard.

"You've gotten better y'know…" Shisui panted. Itachi hummed in response. He couldn't wait to get a mission, he felt antsy. Until then, he'd continue sparring with Shisui.

"So what was that nightmare about?" Shisui sat down in front of Itachi and looked at him. A mixture of worry and endearment was present in his tone and the younger felt a twinge in his heart. He hesitated before continuing softly:

"It was about death. There were a lot of screams of anguish, blood splattering onto walls and I saw the Mangekyo Sharingan." Itachi pulled a strand of silky lock behind his ear as Shisui sat in silence.

"I was thinking that… maybe it was a vision of the future? As soon as I woke up, something felt off. Something about my surroundings felt unfamiliar even though I've had this room since I was 7. It's almost as if the balance of the earth had slightly shifted. I was convinced I was under an enemy's genjutsu and I tried to release it but nothing happened." Shisui chuckled lightly at Itachi's attention to every detail. He stopped laughing as soon as he made eye contact with Itachi who had an iron hard expression.

"You… think this is a sign?" Itachi nodded.

"A sign of what though? As far as I know affairs between Konoha and other villages are benign. A war doesn't seem imminent." A silence filled the air.

"...but what if it's not Konoha that will be attacked? What if it's the Uchiha clan?"

"What? That's ridiculous 'tachi. Why would they?"

"Think about it Shisui. The Konoha hierarchy suspects our clan was the cause of the demon fox attack. There is no other way to control a tailed beast unless the one controlling it wields the Sharingan." Shisui knitted his brows.

"Not only that but majority of the Uchiha become possessed by the curse of the Uchiha, bloodlust and revenge. It wouldn't be a surprise if Konoha wanted to wash their hands of the Uchiha." Itachi continued. Shisui seemed to be deep in thought.

"Well… it's definitely an option… if Konoha is truly plotting against us, you need to tell me 'tachi. I only want what's best for the village…"

"I will try to find out more on the subject while I'm with the ANBU. This is just a baseless theory with no evidence at the moment. If any proof rises to the surface, I will inform the clan about it." Shisui patted his friend's shoulder comfortingly. He knew this was a big burden to carry.

"It's what's best for the village. I only want peace."

Itachi's shoulder burned feverishly where Shisui had touched him.