Make-out tactics
A ColdHiddenBlade Oneshot
Their target was oblivious to their intense planning. The four youthful ANBU knelt on their respective branches while keeping their voices lower than a whisper. "Do you think it's true?" Asked the youngest of them in an almost shy voice, that was Itachi at age 10.
His fifteen-year-old cousin chuckled at such an innocent question. Shisui looked to where the object of their conversation stood without knowing about their plans, humming to some folk tune as he peed gleefully on one of the massive trees common to the Land of Fire without a care. "Itachi will make the terms this time."
Itachi hummed while also staring at the peeing man's back to come up with an answer, "Kakashi says it is true, and Shisui disagrees. If it is true, then all of us have to kiss him. Right here." He gestured at his lips. Tenzo and Shisui grimaced under their masks while Kakashi chuckled.
"And if it is not true?" Asked the sixteen-year-old Tenzo hopefully.
"Hm..." Itachi thought about it (but the others knew what he was going to say), "Then Kakashi has to pay for dango for the next month..."
"Month!?" Kakashi sighed when he got a sharingan-laced glare and agreed in a soft voice. Never deny Itachi his precious dango they all learnt this when the current target had bitten off more than he could chew -literally- and found himself bedridden for three days.
"Fine. A whole month..." Shisui and Kakashi shook hands to confirm the bet. "Pucker those lips up boys."
"No. You are going to have an empty wallet for a while, Captain." Opposed Shisui. He was going to win this time.
"What are you all doing?" Asked their target as he zipped up his fly and joined Itachi on a wobbly branch and almost went face-forward as he momentarily lost balance, "You girls gossiping about me?" He laughed heartily at his own joke after righting his footing.
He didn't know that he was the target for Team Ro's newest bet.
The others let nothing on. They were all ANBU specialists after all... All with their talents and genius minds. Kakashi, Shisui and Itachi had all started really young in the ANBU, and Tenzo had been part of ROOT for years before joining Kakashi. Joining ANBU was a more recent development thanks to Kakashi.
And then there was Ryuu (14) was their demolition expert... as they dubbed him. Due to his... destructive nature. Subpar intelligence, terrible timing with his humour, bad sense of balance, and the inability to be subtle during conversations. How he became jounin, let alone an ANBU was a mystery to anyone who wasn't part of Team Ro.
Man couldn't swat a fly on a wall without bringing down a building around them... (true story). ANBU put his strength to use, and it could be impressive to watch him bring down years of work in a manner of seconds.
"Ready to go?" Asked Kakashi and everyone nodded silently. They sprinted off their branches, heading home after a long day of death and mayhem. The rubble that was once a stronghold -curtesy of Ryuu- was far behind them now and they were making quick, and silent progress…
"Anyone want ramen after this? I can really do with food…" Scratch out the silent part…
Four sighs answered him.
Outside of their uniforms, the four snuck around on their personal 'operation' while Ryuu was still oblivious. He lumbered around Konoha like usual. Eating, avoiding his sister, eat, run, train with Shisui and Itachi. Maybe go for a sprint around Konoha's walls with Gai before the sun rose…
Kakashi visited Shiro along with Shisui, between Ryuu's slightly older twin flirting with them, they managed to gather bits and pieces about their comrades' relations. Without raising suspicion. They hoped.
Tenzo snuck into the young man's apartment to dig through his cupboards along with Itachi, who made sure everything was exactly as they found it. Ryuu was distracted by a sudden challenge from Gai to run on his hands along with Kakashi… Gai won that round. No suspicion here. Maybe.
In three days after making the bet, all four of them gathered at the pier overlooking the lake in the Uchiha district. "What's the word on Operation Hanya?" Asked Shisui while skipping stones.
Rolling his visible eye at the ridiculous name that the older Uchiha had dubbed their bet, Kakashi replied with a whispered, "His sister is constantly hooking him up with girls, but all have been unsuccessful."
"Every single girl has run away during his dates, crying…" Added Shisui while searching for another stone.
"That's not enough to prove the rumour." Said Tenzo with a long sigh, he pushed his brown hair from his almond eyes. "And we could find anything at his apartment. I wouldn't know where to look for… answers."
Kakashi rubbed his masked chin, "I can do another search with Shisui today. If you two distract Ryuu long..."
"Target's coming." Cut in Itachi drawing their eyes to their red-headed friend, the young teen looked more like a bean-sprout out of his ANBU uniform. They broke into a less suspicious conversation.
"Hey, why no invite?" Ryuu asked cheerfully, Izumi followed him with a bag of dango for them. "Talking about girls?"
Izumi giggled as she passed out the dango to her favourite boy's and sat on the edge of the pier to run her feet in the water, extra for Itachi.
"Actually, we were discussing boys." Replied Kakashi in his lazy drawl making the new arrivals raise their brows in surprise and the others pretended not to be shaken by his flippant comment, "But not important… what are you doing today?"
"Uh…?" Ryuu rubbed his chin and tried to think… he seemed distracted at the thought of their 'boy' conversation.
"Good, can you spend some time with Tenzo and Itachi. We have somewhere to be but will be back shortly." Both Kakashi and Shisui stood up and began to make their way out of the district. Ryuu shrugged. Completely senseless towards the truth.
Inside the younger teenager's home, Kakashi utilized all his knowledge and attention to detail to scour the apartment with a fine-toothed comb. Nothing escaped from his sharingan or wandering hands. Unlike Itachi and Tenzo, both Kakashi and Shisui had no sense of privacy towards their comrade and opened every single book in hopes to find a hidden secret.
"Aha!" Kakashi pulled a book out from the small gap between the bookshelf and roof, he examined the title but all he could tell it was a romance book, "This might be good…"
"What is it?" Asked Shisui while leaning over to try and spy some lines, "Why would he hide a book up there?"
Kakashi opened the well-worn book half-way through, read for a mere second then slammed it shut making Shisui jump. "It's porn…"
"Oh?" Shisui chuckled at discovering this secret side of Ryuu, "Does this mean I won?"
"Gay porn… badly written too." Kakashi gave a sly smile while holding it lazily out to Shisui, "Want to make sure?"
"No!" He exclaimed both because he didn't want to see the contents of the book his closest-friend (Itachi not counting) clearly enjoyed, and because he didn't want to lose the bet. Because his first kiss was at stake here… "T-This doesn't prove anything. Maybe he was just curious?"
"Oh look, more books." Said Kakashi lazily as he pulled out more books from the gap and waved them in Shisui's face with a proud expression, "He must have studied his curiosity REALLY thoroughly."
Shisui put his head between his hands and groaned, "I don't wanna kiss, Suga!"
"Why? He might be good at it…" Laughing, Kakashi returned the books to their hiding place and the two tidied up. They have been here long enough and should save Ryuu from whatever Itachi and Tenzo were doing to the teenager.
Babysitting. Apparently, that's the torture they were putting him through… again.
Ryuu glared at Kakashi and Shisui the second they re-joined the others up at Itachi's house. "Finish your little 'thing' finally?" In his lap Sasuke slept on along with Itachi and Tenzo snoring at his sides, leaning on the taller teenage. It was quite the image and Kakashi had a feeling that Mikoto already got her camera out before taking her husband out for a stroll.
If not, Izumi definitely would have before she went home.
With a smile Kakashi nodded, "All done…" He whispered while kneeling beside Tenzo so he could lift the younger teen up bridal-style gently, "I'll take him home. See ya."
In a cloud of white smoke, the two were gone. Itachi shifted in his sleep as he subconsciously sensed the jutsu but didn't wake. Shisui smiled at his sleeping cousin while bending over to gently push some hair from his eyes. Ryuu watched as Shisui treated his cousin with care, "Would it be better to take the boys to bed? I don't know my way around the house, and didn't want to wake them."
"Aw, didn't realise you were such a softy." (Nah, he knew) Shisui chuckled while Ryuu blushed faintly, inside the Uchiha was going wild as he spoke to his best-friend. Speaking to Ryuu, after knowing what his literature was and the possibility that the rumour-mill was true, made him just a little nervous. "Here… let me take Itachi."
He scooped up his younger cousin just as Kakashi had to Tenzo and took him into his room. Shisui lay Itachi down without jostling him awake, and Ryuu put Sasuke down beside him at a snail's pace (worried to break the boy). They left the brothers alone to snuggle together in their sleep and left the household.
They passed Fugaku and Mikoto outside as they walked by the small lake and Shisui felt himself tense as images of coup flashed behind his eyes, "Hello sir." Shisui bowed politely with an equally polite smile, "The brothers are asleep."
"Sorry to intrude, again." Added Ryuu with an awkward bow of his own and rubbed at his scalp, Fugaku seemed to scoff silently at the teenager's habit but Mikoto smiled. As the clan's head-lady, she was meant to be graceful, and the perfect host. And the kind-hearted woman was a master at this.
"Thank you for looking after my boys," She gave a delicate bow back in thanks with her smile never changing, "please stay safe out there."
"Thank you." Shisui dragged Ryuu away before he could embarrass them both in front of his clan heads (again) and led him to the Uchiha gate. They stopped at the entrance and Shisui faced Ryuu, "Sorry to leave you to babysit the boys again…"
"Ugh…" Ryuu rubbed his head in that nervous tick of his, "It is fine. Sasuke seems to like me, and it's better to play ninja with him than being harassed by my sister. Which reminded me…" Ryuu looked at the sky and estimated the time.
"Have somewhere to be?" Asked Shisui with pure curiosity.
"Yeah, Shiro has me set up with another date. Some girl called Himeko…" Ryuu gave a long, pained sigh while lifting his head to look at the sky as they walked for a moment.
"What? Don't like her?" They two teenagers walked through the streets of Konoha, Ryuu's family home as the destination and the older teen sent him a smile. Shisui blinked…
This had to be the first time that the happy sparkles in Ryuu's eyes were missing, and his smile was weary rather than the innocent enthusiasm. It was like Shisui was speaking to an imposter.
"She seems nice," Ryuu said with a dull voice while dragging his feet, as if trying to drag their walk out longer. Typically, he walked with an excited bounce in his steps.
Shisui tilted his head, "But…?"
"I have told Shiro many times, I have no interest in dating. It might be a common thing for her, but I am a shinobi, not a civilian. We can die at any time and I won't put someone through that."
"That's… I would not have thought you would be so-" Shisui struggled for words while Ryuu frowned at him, "- responsible…?"
Now Ryuu gave a sharp laugh and the imposter-illusion evaporated, "Hey! I can be responsible, rude!"
When he separated from Ryuu, Shisui quickly found Kakashi. "Hey!"
"Ma~… yo?" Kakashi blinked up at the younger teen, "You look like you have something good…"
"Ryuu is about to go on a date with a girl today." At his reply Kakashi stood up eagerly, they shared a sly look before hunting down their comrade. It wasn't difficult to find him.
A young woman was hanging off his arm, she looked shy and quiet with her short hair braided like a crown and dotted delicately with flowers. Shiro's handy-work most likely.
Ryuu had a smile, and to the outside eye he was enjoying himself. Shisui and Kakashi were experts at reading through false facades, Ryuu's eyes were dulled with sadness. He followed the woman into the typical dating locations. Neither he or Himeko looked like they knew what they were doing and were just going where others went.
The two ANBU stuck to the shadows, tailing the pair. Taking notes on Ryuu's actions.
He didn't touch the woman unless she initiated it, and only offered his arm for curtesy's sake. No kisses, no romantic gestures. If it had been Shisui with that woman, he would have added his own hand-picked flowers to the woman's crown, and brush his thumb across her fingers as they held hands.
Ryuu was almost clinical with the way he interacted with the woman, and the two ANBU could now understand why women were upset… but not why they run away crying. Did he say something to them?
The 'date' lasted for three hours until night began to fall, Himeko was giving no signs of crying but she was glancing at Ryuu with an emotion neither Shisui or Kakashi could see at their distance. As far as the two knew, Himeko was the first to last the forced-date all the way to the point where Ryuu walked her home. They seemed to be sharing a whispered conversation, but at the ANBU's position behind them, the two couldn't read their lips with their sharingan's.
They came to the young girl's house and Ryuu actually went inside with her. Was this going to prove Shisui right?
Shisui took up one angle so he could look through a window and Kakashi hid on the other side of the apartment with his own to watch. Both Ryuu and Himeko sat at the coffee-table to share a drink and talk, it seemed friendly enough… at their angles both ANBU could activate their sharingan and read their lips. Shisui could see Ryuu's face while Kakashi had his eye on Himeko.
"I am sorry for my sister." Ryuu was saying, "She doesn't understand that the life of a shinobi doesn't leave room for long relationships."
"I feel like that's not your only issue," Said Himeko shily for Kakashi's eye. "What is wrong?"
Ryuu shifted nervously at being caught out like that and sighed, "I… please don't cry," when Himeko nodded he added so swiftly that Shisui almost missed it, "Iamgay."
He covered his face and blushed. Himeko went vibrant red as his words took root in the back of her mind, "Oh! D-Does Shiro know?"
Whatever the man said next was unreadable with his hands in the way, but Shisui 'heard' enough. He appeared next to Kakashi with grim lips and the silver-haired man gave him a smile, "So…?"
"You win…" Shisui stared sullenly at the floor and pouted, "I still don't wanna kiss him…"
Kakashi fist-pumped in success, "You should have believed me." They leapt down to the road and walked towards the Uchiha compound, "Tomorrow we will tell the others. Go get sleep, and remember… pucker them lips."
"I bloody hate you."
Itachi took the news in stride like the little champ he was, and Tenzo shut off the emotions on his face but Shisui and Kakashi knew his mind was racing over this embarrassing news.
"So… how do we do this?" Asked Shisui as the four knelt at the end of the pier again, "Can it be something quick and painless?"
"Kissing doesn't hurt." Kakashi chuckled at Shisui's choice of words, "Yes it can be quick as long as it's on the lips."
A series of scowls went around but they had agreed to the terms for the bet, and one could not back out on a Team Ro bet unless they wanted to suffer the 'consequential' punishment… which was far more embarrassing then a simple kiss. It was a tradition that Ryuu and Kakashi started, and it will be a lasting one even after their team parts ways.
"Shisui goes first, then after that it is fair game." Said Kakashi and raised his hand to silence Shisui's disagreement, "You were the losing party in this."
Itachi gestured behind him and Shisui felt his heart race with sudden anxiety, he was Shisui! He shouldn't feel anxious towards his friend. "Here comes Suga. Might be a good time to do it when it's just us."
"Hey guys! Gossiping about boys again, or is it girls today?" He slid up beside Shisui and sent his bright smile to everyone present. He followed everyone's eyes to Shisui, "Did I miss something?"
Shisui rubbed his brow and growled in annoyance as all eyes didn't waver from him, his ears flushed before he put his hands either side of Ryuu's face, which filled with a pure confusion. "This is for the bet, ok?"
Before Ryuu could question what that meant, Shisui dragged his head down and planted his lips directly on the others. The teenager's brown eyes widened and his face went as crimson as his hair, his entire body seized up. It only lasted no more then five-seconds before Shisui leapt away and wiped his mouth, nose crinkled in forlorn and ears still pink.
"W-W-What-" Ryuu looked panicked, "-the hell was the bet for?"
"Don't ask…" Snapped Shisui.
"That you are gay." Said Kakashi at the same time. That had Ryuu covering his flushed face and appeared to be screaming internally.
"I hate you all!"
"What are you doing?" Asked Sasuke as he appeared behind Ryuu's legs, "Why was cousin Shisui kissing Red-kun, are you boyfriends?"
Now Shisui went red and cried out, "It's a bet! Damn it!"
"I'm not his boyfriend!" Said Ryuu shortly after.
Now that he knew what was going on, Ryuu treaded carefully around the others. Each time one got within a foot of him he eyed them with suspicious glares. The others were yet to follow up on the bet, but at any moment they could catch him off guard as Shisui had.
Speaking of the older Uchiha… it was awkward between them. He and Ryuu were probably considered the closest if you took Itachi out of the equation, so locking lips with each other was beyond weird. Even more-so when Sasuke now thought they were dating…
The five went on a picnic together in a private location beside the river at the Third training ground. Unfortunately, Izumi couldn't make it but promised to buy them all a round of ramen when she next saw them. Ryuu lay back with his hands over his full belly and was staring at the sky with his eyes hooded by his lids.
Kakashi sent the other's silent gestures. If they wanted to get it off their chests, now was the perfect time as Ryuu was lethargic thanks to the sun.
Tenzo tightened his lips and looked away, but Itachi (who was sitting directly beside Ryuu) frowned and glanced at Ryuu. Behind his intelligent black eyes, the boy gathered his wits and tallied up how he should act while all (but one) pairs of eyes watched him.
Summoning his big-boy pants, the genius Uchiha made his move and bent over the others face. All Ryuu had as warning was the raven-bangs brushing softly against his face like grass in the wind before Itachi gave him a soft kiss that bordered the corner of his mouth and lasted a little longer than Shisui's.
Ryuu's whole body flinched and his eyes snapped wide as his drowsy drifting came to a roaring awareness, he glanced at Itachi as he realised what the young boy just did while the young ANBU sat back up with a blank expression, unlike Shisui he didn't flush completely red. Only went a little pink in the cheeks and ears, "Does that mean two are down?"
"Yep, just Tenzo and me remaining." Kakashi chuckled while sipping his sake, and Tenzo tried to look anywhere BUT Ryuu.
It was Tenzo that got in his kiss before Kakashi.
Ryuu was spending the day with him and Shisui only, while the other two did a secret 'clean up' mission for the Third. They sat on top of the stone head of the first Hokage in peaceful silence, enjoying the sunlight and avoiding Shiro (who was trying to get Ryuu to date Himeko again).
Their red-headed comrade and friend sat with his legs crossed while reading a book on Earth Release. Ninjutsu wasn't his speciality but he wanted to learn how to incorporate his earth-shattering punches with earth moulding jutsu, Tenzo promised to help show him a few amateur moves when they next duel.
Tenzo sent him a couple of glances while Shisui shot him the thumbs up. He tapped Ryuu on the shoulder, and when the younger teenager turned his head Tenzo firmly kissed him. As if fearing a light peck wouldn't count. There was a loud rip making Tenzo jump back in fright.
The three teens looked down at Ryuu's tight hands.
That poor book…
Only Kakashi left now.
Ryuu didn't know what to expect from his masked captain. It had been over a month since Kakashi won the bet and the nineteen-year-old hadn't made a move to end it. They couldn't make a new one until he finalized the terms of the last one. He had to kiss Ryuu at some point…
They had returned today from their recent mission with Tenzo, Itachi, and a couple of other ANBU members. When they passed the gate, Itachi rushed off to have a private discussion with Shisui at their typical training ground, it seemed important to the two Uchiha's so Kakashi let him go the second they got home.
Ryuu finished a shower and stepped out after pulling on a pair of slacks. He jumped when he felt the second presence inside his kitchen and went out to find the source, he blinked at his captain as he took position at his kitchen counter. "Captain… what's going on?" He recognised that dark look in Kakashi's mismatched eyes and felt his stomach drop into a dark pit, who was it this time? "Kakashi… Who-?"
"Shisui."
The single name hit Ryuu in the stomach harder than any punch could making the air rush from his lungs, his legs began to tremble and tears sprung to his eyes. He repeated the code of shinobi in his head like a mantra to try and distract himself from the feeling of being ripped apart, but even the words of 'a shinobi must not show emotion' couldn't stop the tears from flowing freely.
Damn it… "Damn it!" He slammed his hand down on the marble table top and Kakashi flinched as the marble cracked, the cracks became more prominent as Ryuu repeated the motion. "Damn it!"
Before he could slam his fist down a third (harder) time, Kakashi's pale hand wrapped around his wrist and the other own gently cupped his tear-streaked face. In a soft voice, Kakashi hushed the other and didn't release Ryuu's arm even when he felt the taunt muscles relax and the others body erupt into sobbing trembles.
Ryuu met Kakashi's eyes and his expression made Kakashi feel sick to the core, "Why Shisui…?"
Clenching his teeth, Kakashi pulled down his mask so it rested on his chin beneath the beauty mark beneath his lips. Even seeing his captain's uncovered face didn't shock Ryuu, nor did the feeling of soft lips on his get registered properly until he felt teeth gently brush warily on his bottom lip. Ryuu sucked in a heavy breath as his heart missed a beat and closed his crying eyes as a warm tongue filled his mouth and he kissed back. The muscles in his back loosened in time.
The kiss was sloppy, but passionate enough that it left both men basically breathless. Kakashi seemed to be practicing moves he read from a book, rather than actual experience and Ryuu just followed his lead. He was too emotionally drained to put his all into it.
His legs gave out as waves of boneless-exhaustion filled him. Kakashi chased his lips as Ryuu landed on his knees with soft kisses, "I'm here Suga… deep breaths."
"Captain…" Ryuu sobbed and wrapped his arms around his taller comrade with trembling arms, seeking something to ground himself to sanity, "It hurts."
"I know." Said Kakashi with heavy emotion while placing his forehead on the others shoulder. He knew all too well how it felt to lose one of your best-friends. It felt like a massive chunk of your heart was taken away too.
Ryuu closed his eyes and cried, his heart broke into tiny pieces. And what remained went out to Itachi.