Requested by and written for SkywardShadow. I don't own Naruto.

Uchiha Itachi was a prodigy. Even at the fragile age of seven, there was nothing he couldn't do. Ass-kicking? No problem. Life-saving? He'd do that blindfold. Throat-slicing? With a bit of reluctance, but still without the slightest trouble. Dutiful, efficient, thorough and quiet like the shadows. The perfect shinobi.

But when Uchiha Shisui came along, all soft lines and exuberant smiles and radiating life, and clung to him like a leech, Itachi was at a loss. No matter how often he subtly – or not so subtly, after realizing that subtlety was a concept Shisui was unfamiliar with - hinted that he preferred to be alone, Shisui would still refuse to leave his side, following him everywhere.

It might not have been so bad, Itachi mused, if Shisui had at least known the concept of personal space. The incessant talking he could deal with – in fact, he had gotten quite good at ignoring his asinine babbling – but Itachi did not like to be touched. He would not even let his mother kiss him good-night anymore, and yet Shisui would completely disregard his pleas and threats, always taking his hand to drag him to some place Itachi didn't want to go or wrapping his arm around Itachi's shoulder, entirely oblivious to how Itachi would always tense up and adopt a startlingly striking resemblance to a marble statue.

At first, Itachi had tried to pry Shisui's fingers off his arm or shoulder or whatever other part of his body they were lying on, but his cousin would have made a very good spider-monkey. The way he seemed to be glued to everything he got hold onto made Itachi think of extremely persistent blood- and dirt stains on white shirts, which would not go away no matter how often you washed them. It was irritating. Especially because there was a simple solution to the bloodstains-on-white-shirts issue (wear black ones instead), but there was no such thing for Shisui. If there was one thing Uchiha Itachi did not like, it was not having solutions for problems that arose, and things that did not fit into his logical way of thinking. Therefore, Shisui was the epitome of all the things he did not like and consequently, he decided he did not like Shisui very much at all.

He had always been a patient child, but even he snapped one day. He didn't remember the details of what had caused this particular outburst, but he was pretty sure it had had something to do with Shisui playing with his hair and asking him whether he was allowed to braid it.

"Why must you always ignore my request to leave me alone? Why are you always following me around, although I clearly do not wish your company?" Itachi's hands were balled to fists, and his small body was trembling. "This is very rude. Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Shisui cocked his head to the side, and Itachi had to somewhat admire that he was looking perfectly unfazed. "Because," he said slowly, "I'm here to look after you."

"I don't need anyone to look after me," Itachi replied indignantly.

"Everyone needs someone to look after them," Shisui stated matter-of-factly.

"Fine then, let me rephrase it: I don't want anyone to look after me."

Shisui merely raised his eyebrows. "Well, tough luck, because I'm sticking around."

"But why?"

"Well, since no one else seems to be overly eager to do the job, I figured I'd volunteer," Shisui shrugged. "Not that I blame them – you're not very funny to be around. But I think with a bit of practice you might just still turn out alright."

"But-"

"Humans are gregarious animals. We aren't meant to be alone. So just suck it up and learn to deal with it? There are good sides to it, you know?" Shisui continued when he saw Itachi's shoulders dropping in defeat. "I'll always watch your back, and you'll watch mine. You look after me, I look after you. Simple as that."

Itachi hung his head. "I don't think I'm good at that. Caring for others, that is."

Shisui snorted softly, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, I kinda figured. But it's not something that cannot be learnt. I could show you – if you'd let me." He reached out his hand and Itachi stared at it, torn between utter horror and mild curiosity. "I should warn you, though," Shisui went on. "Once you take my hand, there's no turning back. You'll never get rid of me."

"And if I refuse? Will you leave me alone?"

"No."

"That is not much of a choice you are offering me, then."

Shisui shrugged. "It's a choice of either being constantly annoyed by me and sulking in dark corner, or accepting things and having the best time of your life. For what it's worth, I don't even know why you're still hesitating."

Itachi tilted his head, regarding the still outstretched hand, and then, after a few moments of pondering, took an unassertive step towards his cousin and intertwined his fingers with Shisui's.

...Reviews would be appreciated ;)