Reflections of Eternity

Silver's Author's Note: This is a collaboration between myself and celesteia193. It's also a yaoi story. That means it features a male x male romantic pairing. In this case it's Itachi x Shisui. If any of that bothers you, you might want to leave now. For those of you still here, we hope you enjoy this story and reviews are always appreciated.

celestia193's Author's Note: Wow, it's been a while since we've posted anything (school really bites at the end of the semester). But, lately I've been obsessed with the beauty of the deep, emotional relationship between Itachi and Shisui. Shisui really got the short end of the stick and I really can't find enough Shisui love out there. So, I thought why not write our own? This isn't the only story for these two that we've got in the works, but it's definitely going to be the lightest and fluffiest of the bunch. And some of it is inspired by the episode in which Shisui flips up Itachi's hair when they're kids. The amount of art involving Shisui playing with Itachi's hair is astounding. But to be fair, who wouldn't want to play with it?

Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto and make no profit off of any of our fanfics.

Chapter 1

Many people had the mistaken impression that Itachi's job was 'boring,' but he didn't see it that way. No, there was something exciting about constantly striving to produce the best issue to date. There was also comfort in controlling little details and fixing mistakes.

So, here he was with Konan trying to choose the next leading story for their magazine. Although he was 'only' an assistant editor, Itachi was in charge of this issue because the editor was on vacation. The fact that the eccentric's vacations always coincided with 'bikini season' hadn't escaped Itachi's notice, but who was he to argue if the silver haired editor wanted time off and had provided Itachi with the chance for his big break?

"These photos are stunning." Some in particular. "Of course, we'll need to see them properly developed, but if they're this exceptional already...I can't foresee not using them."

Konan laughs softly and scrolls down to the next images, including an inukshuk against a backdrop of a fading sunset already filling with the dim sparkling of stars. The timing on the photo had been perfect. Not that she had expected any less of their most talented young photographer. "Coverage of the arctic circle as summer melts away the snow covering the frozen tundras. It's a project that we've been wanting to do for a while now." So long, in fact, that they'd been planning the trips and what the themes and attempted photo captures would be since last year. And they'd had one of their photographers step up to the plate for the intense month of travel leading up to the publication of this issue.

"I can see why. This might very well be our best edition yet." Itachi smiles at the beautiful photos. Their magazine was known for their breathtaking images, but these had to be its crowned jewels.

"I agree. Shisui's been on a tour of the Arctic Circle to gather this collection for us. He's been gone two months now, but his flight landed a couple of days ago." Konan was honestly glad to have Shisui finally coming back. He had a way of lightening up the office like no one else. "I imagine that he'll wander into the office soon with the developed photos."

She clicks to a photo of ice floes in the ocean, taken from the shore at dawn. And among them, flippers curve out of the water, setting a small and graceful spray of water into the air. "I can't wait to see all of the other gems he collected for us while he was running around polar bear country."

"I hope so, but I certainly wouldn't blame him if he wanted take take a few days off." Itachi smiles again at the photos, marveling at the intricacy of them. "That was both the trip of a lifetime and quite the exhausting expedition to embark on."

"It was, but I'm sure that you'll be sending me off on another one just as soon as Kakashi comes up with a theme for the next major issue." A tall figure in a dark blue, high collared shirt leans against the door of the spacious office with a soft, brilliant smile on his face. He holds up a thick folder filled to the brim with freshly developed photographs.

"Shisui." Konan laughs and shakes her head. Her eyes gleam as she takes in the slightly disheveled appearance of his tousled ebony locks. "So you've finally crawled out of bed." It was hardly a new occurrence. Despite his adventurous nature, Shisui was sensitive to jet lag right after the end of a long trip.

Itachi tilts his head. The man had fantastic timing. It was almost as if he had been summoned by the mere use of his name. If one was going to summon someone, they might as well summon a gorgeous photographer. "I'll admit that's likely true. So, you're Shisui. I've hard so much about you." Itachi smiles at him, reaching for the photos. "I'm Itachi. We've corresponded a few times over email, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you face to face before." It was probably best to ignore Konan's gentle ribbing over Shisui's nocturnal habits.

"Yeah. So, you're Itachi." Shisui's eyes glitter mischievously as he crosses the room and hands over the folder like a precious artifact. "Konan and Kakashi rave about you behind your back. You're apparently the greatest assistant editor to drop into their laps right out of college."

"Of course we've been raving." Konan rises to her feet and shoots Shisui an indulgent smile as she strides past him towards the door. "And now that you're here, I think I'll go to check on the status of our other roving photographers. I'm sure that you can walk Itachi through your pictures and which ones would work for the stories we're running."

Itachi could only hope that he wasn't actually blushing at Shisui's secondhand praise. "Yes, I'm Itachi and according to what Konan just said, the rest of that is accurate."

She glances back at Itachi over her shoulder and her lips curve into a sly smirk. "Play nicely."

Itachi shoots the bluenette a dirty look for that gems of a comment. "I always play nicely." What was that supposed to mean? Hadn't he been courteous to all his coworkers? Why would Shisui be any different?

Konan chuckles under her breath as she steps out of the room and Shisui's gaze follows her for a moment until the door closes. Then his dark, jet black gaze flicks back towards the assistant editor and he steps forward to occupy Konan's vacated chair. "Don't mind her too much, she likes to tease."

"Yes, you're right about that." Itachi shakes his head. Right. He was a professional. A little lighthearted banter was nothing. "So which of these would you say are your favorite? Which best capture the heart of the Arctic?" It would be almost impossible for him to pick from among the best at first glance. They were all so enchanting. It was almost as if he was looking at another world.

"Well, I took most of the pictures according to the stories that you're running." He'd gotten the list from Konan before leaving, then a revised list halfway through his trip with the specifics of the articles. "I focused on scenic destinations, but I got some photos of festival preparations while I was there as well." Shisui opens the folder and lays out a number of pictures. One of people drumming and dancing, another of the aurora borealis stretching across the sky, a mountainside with lights strung along the treetops, and a man and woman looking up underneath a dark and starry sky. "I'll take a picture of anything if I think it's beautiful. And I think that the photos that best capture the heart of the Arctic are the ones that draw you in the most."

"They're all beautiful, Shisui." Itachi smiles in wonder at the festivals, the mountains, his eyes trail over the Northern Lights in wonder, but it was the picture of the man and the woman looking up at the sky that captured his attention the most. "It seems as though your strategy is working for you."

Speaking of working, his hair tie most decidedly was not, stubbornly deciding to come loose again. Itachi shrugs, deciding to just take it out. He could just redo it. The man standing next to him had survived the beauty and terror of the frozen north. It was highly unlikely he was going to raise an eyebrow at Itachi fixing his ponytail.

He pulls the tie from his hair and the raven colored tresses cascade down nearly the entire of the length of his back. He should probably consider trimming it, but he had always liked it long even if that style was somewhat out of favor. Most didn't fuss over the length of his hair though as long as it was tied up.

But before the Itachi has the chance to pull it all away, pale fingers weave into the silky soft tresses as jet black eyes gaze at the sheet of raven black, entranced by the sight and unable to resist the urge to run his fingers through it. "Have you ever considered being a model instead of an editor?"

This time, Itachi knew there was no point in hoping he wasn't blushing. He could feel his cheeks growing ever hotter. Both because of Shisui's words and the way the man was touching him. Never before had someone touching his hair felt that...intimate. "No, I'm too much of introvert really..."

Itachi wasn't entirely sure what he should do in this situation. Putting his hair up seemed like the logical thing to do, but it also seemed rude to indirectly 'smack' Shisui away. Then again, it was irrational to be worried about seeming impolite. He wasn't the one who had just grabbed a stranger's hair and started running their fingers through it with the intimacy that only a lover should be able to accomplish.

Shisui takes the choice from him as he slides the hair tie from Itachi's fingers and gathers up each beautiful lock of Itachi's hair and pulls them back behind Itachi's shoulders. His fingers work easily but slowly, knowing each way to layer the soft strands together. "That's too bad, you've got the most beautiful hair I've ever seen." He wraps the tie around Itachi's hair, leaving it loose until just above the line of his shoulders. Then he twirls the ponytail around his fingers and lets the bulk of it rest in the palm of his hand.

For reasons, he didn't entirely understand, Itachi finds himself swallowing hard. "Thank you? As much as I adore your photos, it appears you may have missed your calling as a hair stylist?"

"Maybe." Shisui feels the comfortable weight in his hand, then smirks and lets it start to slip from his fingers, only to flip the end up almost to the back of Itachi's head. "But I like the adventure that photography brings."

"Well, I can't really argue with the quality of your work and I'm glad you enjoy it." His cheeks were still burning and Itachi tries his best to look at the photos, not Shisui's face. "Your insight has been very helpful."

"Good." There was an ethereal beauty to Itachi that drew Shisui's gaze, and unlike Itachi, he wasn't afraid to show it. "You can pick whichever photos call to you, I took enough that you should have enough to fill up the entire magazine with nothing but photo-spreads." Shisui leans back and stretches his arms, then puts a hand on the desk as he stands up. He shoots the assistant editor a winning smile. "And if you need any more help before the issue goes out, email me and I'll come back in."

"I'll keep that in mind." Itachi could scarcely recall the last time that someone had made him feel this way. Like some schoolboy with his first crush. "You can take the rest of the day off if you like. I know that jet lag can be...annoying."

"Yeah, jet lag after hiking thirty kilometers through Norway isn't fun, but I should be fine by tomorrow." Shisui stretches again, feeling his joints cracking a little as his shirt pulls across his back. "I'll take a bath with salts, then drop dead for about fifteen hours."

"Thirty kilometers?" Itachi blinks. That was downright insane. "Your stamina is incredible. You've definitely earned your sleep and hot bath."

"I definitely have." Shisui steps away and places his hand on the doorknob to pull open the door to Itachi's office. "Enjoy the pictures, Itachi." Shisui's eyes glitter mischievously. "Maybe one of these days, I'll add some new pictures to my personal collection."

He feels his blush return with a vengeance. "P-personal collection?" Damn it. Itachi hadn't blushed in years. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Blushing is a good look for you, Itachi." A smirk curves Shisui's lips and his curly ebony locks bounce slightly as he steps out of the office and closes the door behind him.

"Damn it." Itachi groans as Shisui leaves. The other man was likely never going to let him live the blushing down.

One of Shisui's favorite things to do was nap after getting home from a trip. He loved his trips, but there was nothing quite like soaking in the tub, then sleeping the rest of the day and night away while snuggled up in his comfortable blankets.

But even he could only sleep for so long, and out of a burning itch to do more than just laze around his room, he'd been foolish enough to complain about his boredom to one of the few people aggressively intent on relieving it in all the most mentally painful ways possible. Maybe the fact that he had a weapon in his hands would convince her to exercise mercy on him.

A fourth arrow punches into the target at the end of the range and Shisui pulls another from the case sitting next to him. He raises the bow up to eye level and peers down the range, draws, and looses another arrow into the target's second ring, creating a perfect pentagon.

"You are such a show off. Drawing with your arrows." Anko laughs as she watches Shisui's latest creation take shape. "I'm curious why you created a pentagon and who put that bounce in your step?" Someone must have. Shisui was cheerful by nature, but even he rarely skipped places.

It seemed that karma had finally acted to spare him from the great wrath of Anko's interrogations today. This approach barely qualified as gentle prodding. Shisui smiles softly as he draws two more arrows and fits one against the string of his bow. "I met the assistant editor yesterday when I dropped off the photos I took. I've only shot business emails back and forth with him, but yesterday was my first time sitting in with him and going over some of the photos in person." The two arrows punch triangles into the shape and Shisui reaches for three more. He holds two between his fingers as he draws again.

Anko laughs. Oh this was perfect. Shisui should know better than to give her an opening like that. "So did you get a raise or get laid because you look pretty perky."

Shisui laughs and punches a couple more holes in the target. "You got me. I'm sorry for keeping it a secret." He shoots her a mischievous smirk. "We're planning a honeymoon in Italy, somewhere on the coast, plenty of fresh air and sunshine and people to peel grapes for us while I ravish him in a villa belonging to an ancient emperor."

"Sounds perfect. Must have been lust at first sight." Anko grins, Shisui was nothing if not...creative. "Quite erotic honeymoon you have planned. In all seriousness though, tell me more about this cute little assistant."

"The only thing cute about him is the way he blushed." After all, Itachi was so much more than just…cute. Shisui takes up the last arrow and shoots it directly into the middle of the star he'd created, a perfect bulls-eye. "His name is Itachi, a couple of years younger than us, I think. Not long out of college, but Kakashi brought him on about six months ago to serve as the assistant editor. He does a good job, he's responsible and prompt, polite and respectful." Shisui sighs softly. "And impossibly beautiful."

Oh Shisui had it bad then. "Well, if he's already blushing around you the first day you met him, that means he either likes you or he's naturally shy. I suppose both is an option." Anko readies her own arrows, releasing her bow and allowing a single arrow to sail through the sky towards its intended target. "Gotta say, I'm impressed that he's that young and already in management. Well, kinda anyway. So, what you're saying is you were only half joking about that little villa fantasy of yours?"

"Maybe." It was just a fantasy, but…there was something about Itachi's small, gentle smile and the pink hue of his cheeks that made Shisui want to wrap him all up and hide him away. There was a softness about Itachi that was just…almost too good, too innocent. "Though I might have made him blush by accident." Well, maybe half by accident.

"Shisui Uchiha what did you do to that poor innocent assistant editor?" Anko raises an eyebrow. This sounded like it was going to be particularly juicy.

Shisui puts his bow down and rakes a hand through his hair, vividly reminded of what he'd done to Itachi, and what he'd been tempted to do as well. "It was…his ponytail had gotten a little messy, so he'd pulled out the tie to fix it. But when he did, I couldn't stop myself from running my fingers through it. He didn't stop me." It had looked so soft, so warm. "It was even softer than I thought it would be."

"That's pretty bold, Shisui. I mean you just meet the guy and you grabbed his hair out of nowhere?" Anko chuckles and shakes her head. "Then again, I suppose it's classier than grabbing something located further south...below the belt."

"It's not like I grabbed it and used it to drag him over to the desk and bend him over it." Honestly, Anko should give Shisui a little more credit than that. "I smoothed it out for him and tied it back up properly."

"How gallant. You said his hair was in a ponytail?" She tilts her hair, playing with her own spiky locks that were done up in an unconventional version of the same hairstyle. "How long is it anyway?"

"It stops almost halfway down his back." Sure, it wasn't something Shisui was used to seeing on a man, but on Itachi it was just…natural, and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't conjure an image of it any other way. "If you're ever looking for tips, I would definitely go ask him."

"Mmm hard for a guy to pull that off, but you seem pretty smitten. Guess he's doing something right." She launches some more arrows, her smile turning smug as they hit her target. "So, are you going to make a move or admire the scenery?"

Shisui rolls his eyes and crosses the field once it's free of flying arrows. He could play dumb and assume that she was talking about their archery practice, but then she would just pry even more. "I'm fine with admiring the scenery if he's not open to more. He might have blushed, and that might mean what you think it does, but I'd rather be sure before risking getting nailed for workplace harassment."

She frowns, but nods in understanding. That did make sense. "A good archer always familiarizes themselves with the target before drawing their bow. That's true on and off the field."

"Exactly." Shisui pulls the last arrow from the target and flips it over in his hand. Then he smiles. "But somehow, I do get the feeling that Itachi won't mind that much." There was a draw to Itachi that Shisui had never felt before. And he looked forward to feeling it again the next time he was in the office. "I hope that he'll let me take photos of him." He could see them now. Dressed casually in dark pants and a high-collared shirt, curled up in the grass with his hair askew, a soft smile on his lips and a sheen of red in his eyes as the sun passes overhead.

"Sexy photos are always fun, but they're very risky in this day and age." She shrugs at his suggestion. "I doubt someone who works for a newspaper would risk it, but who knows?"

Shisui shakes his head and strides back to his case to deposit his arrows. "I wasn't talking about sexy pictures." Though he wouldn't be adverse to having a few of those as well. "There's just something about him that makes me want to bring out everything that he's hiding with his introversion. I bet that I could make a picture of him reading a book look even better than models on magazine covers."

"I gotta admit I'm curious to see what this guy actually looks like." Anko's eyes flicker with mischief. "Still, I'm happy that you're so smitten with someone. You make for such an adorable lovesick puppy."

A lovesick puppy…is that really what he looked like right now? Young and adventurous, Shisui had fooled around a few times, had a steady girlfriend in high school, but no one had ever called him a lovesick puppy before. Not even Anko. But Shisui shoots her his bright grin and takes up his bow again. "If this is what love feels like, then I don't ever want to be sick of it."

"Yep. You're adorable. If the man is even the slightest bit interested in men and he doesn't jump you for saying something like that, there is something wrong." She pauses. Well, there might be one exception. "Unless of course, he's already with someone. Otherwise, assuming he's not straight, he'll probably be putty in your hands."

"I hope so." More and more, Shisui fancied the idea of charming and courting Itachi. The idea of being able to hold that man in his arms was intoxicating. "Alright, let's go on a one for one round this time." Shisui nocks an arrow and gazes along the length of the shaft, his eye on the prize, the small red bulls-eye right in the center. "Loser covers drinks?"

She smirks at the offer. "Sure, I never turn down free drinks."

Shisui chuckles and shakes his head, then closes his right eye. Maybe he wouldn't let her win this time.