So it's been a minute since I've posted anything! To anyone who read this because of 'Where Loyalties Lie', thank you. Also an update, I am still working on that story, I promise, I've just been writing a lot of other little things as well, and writers block is a terrible terrible thing.
This is one of the little things, I have a few other Naruto stories, as well as a dragon age, and a few Harry Potter. This is the only one I'll be posting for now, I'd like any new story I post to be as close to done as possible, so that you won't have to go through me and my sporadic writing like fans of 'Where Loyalties Lie' have to go through.
Apologies all around.
Also I do not own Naruto, sadly.
Enjoy!
-UM
Uchiha Sasuke was a lot like his father, he was quiet, calculating, and a touch too cold than what was socially acceptable. Itachi, his older brother, was able to get him out of his shell, but only sometimes, most assumed because the younger boy was trying much too hard to remove himself from his older brother's shadow, not to mention the family name.
Which is why, when he came home grumbling one Monday afternoon, after it had been decided who would be on his Genin team, Shisui, who was training with Itachi, couldn't really understand why he had been placed on Team Seven.
Don't get him wrong, he knew the reasoning behind the placements, as did most Jonin, but he couldn't grasp why his young cousin had been placed on a Team with two girls, something that was literally unheard of. And although he had complete faith in the Yondaime, Shisui couldn't help but question the man's sanity just a little bit.
"Don't be so down, baby brother," Itachi smirked, "Just think, I doubt you'll have too much trouble with them, after all, I'm sure they are both head over heals in love with you!"
Shisui snorted at how red Sasuke was becoming, "Come on, Sasuke, most men would love to have two pretty girls following them around," he wagged his eyebrows suggestively, only to laugh loudly as he dodged Sasuke's fireball justu, "You'll need to be faster than that, kid. Now let me show you this little technique…"
Even though he loved to tease his cousin, Shisui knew when to stop, something he knew Sasuke appreciated, even if he would never say so out loud.
XXX
It was few months and a few tiring missions later, with many Elite Jonin taking Genin Squads Shisui found himself in high demand, that he finally had a bit of time off, and of course, like the good Shinobi he was, Shisui was in the Uchiha's private training ground, with, yet again, Itachi and his younger brother.
Itachi had just started a light spar with Sasuke when a blonde blur shot passed him straight towards Sasuke, effectively tackling him to the ground, after a very, very, brief grapple for dominance, the random blonde girl had the young Uchiha's arm firmly twisted behind his back, and his face planted in the dirt.
Glancing to Itachi, who looked clearly amused, he held back his own smirk, not wanting to draw attention to himself just yet.
"You really need to pay closer attention to your surroundings." she scolded the boy, hopping off his back she dragged him up with her.
"I'm in my family's private training grounds, dobe."
"Well I got in." her whisker-lined cheeks made her smirk more pronounced.
Sasuke leveled her with an unamused stare, "You're only here because my father is oddly fond of you."
"Maybe," she flicked some of her shoulder length hair over her shoulder with an air of superiority, "But a great shinobi is always alert, duck-butt."
Shisui tried to hold it in, he really, really tried, but after hearing his young cousin be called duck-butt by a girl who literally just owned him, the laughter that had been bubbling up during their entire exchange finally escaped.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, used to his antics, but said blonde girl looked intrigued for a second before recognition crossed her features.
"You're Shunshin no Shisui!", she skipped over to him excitedly, over her head Itachi's smirk became wider, "You have to teach me!" she looked up at him expectedly.
"Um…teach you?" he could feel his face burning in embarrassment, something he just knew both Sasuke and Itachi would use against him later.
She nodded vigorously, "I know the hirashin, dad taught me, but what you do is different, if I want to be the fastest Shinobi ever, I need to know your techniques too!"
"You know the hirashin." He really couldn't believe his ears, "You're what, eleven?"
"Twelve," she waved it away as if it were nothing, "Are you going to teach me? Or not?" big blue eyes continued to stare up at him, obviously not thinking for a second that he would say no to her.
"I... well…" he scratched awkwardly behind his head, "I guess I can show you a thing or two."
"Yata!" she screamed as she grabbed his hand, he turned back to his cousins, Itachi, looking like his birthday came early while Sasuke just shrugged, as if he was trying to tell him that there was literally nothing he could do, and with the vice grip she had as she dragged him over to a spot that she deemed acceptable to train in, he couldn't help but think that Sasuke was right.
Nearly seven hours and about 20 clones later, Shisui was exhausted and Naruto had nearly perfected his technique, the one that had taken him years to get exactly right, and this twelve-year-old girl was only a hair length behind him, not that he was bitter or anything.
It was Team Seven's Leader, Kakashi, that had come to retrieve her, briefly he wondered why, until he realized that Kakashi was practically her older brother.
He let the four of them exchange jibes, opting to lay in the grass, hands behind his head staring up at the sky, until his vision was blocked by a curtain of blonde, and a beaming girl, "Thanks for training me Shisui," she said.
"It was nothing." He responded, he internally winced at how tired he sounded.
Her eyes widened a fraction and she stepped away, ringing hands as she stared at her feet, "I'm sorry…I don't know when to stop sometimes…"
Leaning up on his elbows in confusion he regarded the girl whose hair was partially covering her face, "What's wrong, Naru?" he asked clearly concerned.
"You've probably been on a lot of missions, and I just trained you to death…I'm sorry."
Before he could say anything else, tell her that it was okay and that he really didn't mind training her, she all but ran to a waiting Kakashi, dragging him away.
The three Uchiha's stared in shock.
It wasn't until their chakra signatures disappeared that Shisui spoke up, "What was that about?"
Sasuke shrugged again, "She gets like that sometimes."
"But why? He wanted to know, needed to know.
"A lot of people think she's annoying, I guess." Sasuke snorted, "I mean she is, but some people are mean about it, she probably didn't want you to be upset with her. Or something…" he added the bit at the end, probably to sound blasé.
Standing up from his place on the ground, brushing off a few bits of grass he nodded, "I'll remember to tell her that she didn't bother me, next time I see her."
Little did Uchiha Shisui know that it would be years before he got the chance.
XXX
It's odd how, even though the village isn't all that large, and the girl he was thinking about was first his cousin's Genin teammate, later his ANBU partner, and always longtime friend, that he never actually got the opportunity to let her know that everything was indeed okay all those years ago.
It's even more odd that something as insignificant as that single training day would stick in Shisui's mind for the better part of a decade.
A lot had changed in Konoha over the years, it grew a bit larger, both from having more foreigners integrate themselves into the village, as well as having a long-time peace between the major Hidden Villages, causing the life expectancy of Shinobi to skyrocket.
They were still needed of course, it just wasn't uncommon for a ninja to retire as opposed to being killed in the line of duty.
Shisui was one that was still active, he had just celebrated his 31st birthday when he decided that he would really enjoy training the Village's new Shinobi to love the Leaf just as much as he did.
The Godaime, a relative of his, one Uchiha Obito, was quite happy to accept his request of a Genin Squad, sending him with instruction scroll in hand to meet with the Academy Head, Umino Iruka, and later to classroom 7B to meet the instructor where his students would come from.
The women with bright blonde hair that he had only caught glimpses of over the years was leaning against her desk with three other Jonin sitting in front of her in seats much to small for them. Internally Shisui winced at seeing Mitarashi Anko fidgeting under the instructor's inspection.
Four sets of eyes swung to him as the door clicked shut behind him, "Take a seat Shisui." Her eyes sparkled mischievously as she beamed at him.
"Now that you're all here," she took her time looking them over, "I have a test for the lot of you, if you do not pass my exam," she smirked, "You will not be allowed to take a squad."
"What?!" they all said in unison.
"You can't just decide that!" an Inuzuka man who was a few years younger than him looked furious.
"Oh, my little ducklings, but I can," she passed out a packet to each of them, idling in front of Shisui's desk a little longer than necessary, "You see, it had come to my attention that while some Jonin are indeed very knowledgeable and skilled, they have zero experience with children, and even less with teaching, this leads to a poor leader, with the children suffering for it."
She did make sense.
"I now evaluate each Shinobi, making sure that they will be able to handle the responsibility of three, very naïve, very excitable, lives," she gave Anko a smirk, "Don't worry Mitarashi, you will still be allowed to take an apprentice, even if I feel like you should not be given a full squad."
From the corner of his eye he could see that this placated her, even a small bit.
"Now let's get started."
Her smile was welcoming, but Shisui couldn't shake his dread after seeing the tiniest bit of devilish intent that was shimmering in blue.
XXX
Seven hours later, all four Shinobi were exhausted, their chakra was almost completely depleted, their stomach were rumbling from hunger, each of them being in varying states of discomfort due the examination of a very sadistic Namikaze Naruto.
And she was smiling.
Not that that surprised Shisui, not one bit.
"You all pass." Her smiled turned to a hard line, "Now who of you truly wish to be a Jonin-Sensei?"
Three hands raised.
"I'd rather take an apprentice, I think." Came Anko's sheepish reply.
"Thought so," Naruto reached for a scroll on her desk and tossed it to the snake mistress, "She'll be a good fit for you."
Anko nodded, headed for the door, already ripping at the seal.
"Line up you lot."
Shisui was the last to take his scroll, and the last in the room.
"You'll be a good Sensei, Shisui." She said.
"Thank you," he smiled awkwardly, somehow unable to articulate what he had wanted to say for all these years.
Her eyes trailed down his body, taking in his clearly distraught appearance, a pang of sadness, but also recognition shot across her features, she winced, looking away.
"It seems I still don't know when to stop…"
Carefully, as it he was reaching for a feral cat, he lifted her chin up with a lone finger, "It's okay, Naru, your enthusiasm isn't a bad thing, it's never been a bad thing…"
She smiled again, and this time it reached her eyes, "Pretty sure I'm faster than you now, Shunshin no Shisui." She teased.
"I think we should test that, don't you think?"
She cocked her head to the side, clearly confused.
"Last one to Ichiraku's pays?" he asked.
"It's a date." And with that she all but disappeared.
Shisui laughed happily and flickered after her.
XXX
Shisui collapsed on his bed after what seemed to be the longest, most gut-wrenching, anxiety-stricken week of his life.
"Well it's done," He peaked from his pillow at the women that was already in her pajamas, "They're all Chunin now, they don't need me anymore."
His whining made her chuckle, delicate fingers carded through his hair, carefully removing his hitai-ate in the process, "You should be proud, you trained them well."
He rolled over on to his back, putting his hands under his head, sighing loudly, "Of course, I'm proud. I'll just…miss them?"
Gently she intertwined their fingers, "They won't disappear on you, Shisui, you'll always be Sensei, you know."
"I know." he said as he squeezed her hand, a silent thank you for her comfort.
"How would you feel about training one more?" she asked as she guided his hand to her stomach, pressing it down lightly.
His eyes widened at the implication, "Are you serious?" he moved to his side to look at her better, his right hand still caressing her stomach.
She nodded, tears started to build but instead of wiping them away he let them fall, pressing his face to her stomach, her laugh tinkling at his antics.
"How did I get so lucky?" he asked, taking another peak at her.
"Well…" she said slyly, "You safely waited until I was legal to pursue me?"
He gave her the most unimpressed look he could manage, "Your father is going to kill me," he groaned.
"Probably."
"Kakashi is going to kill me."
"Oh, without a doubt." She nodded.
"Sasuke…"
"Will probably be disgusted," she giggled, "I'm going to give him as many details as possible, until he tries to flee or fight me."
Shisui's eyes flashed red briefly, "He won't touch you."
"I'm kidding, Shisui, Sasuke, will be fine, he'll probably be excited at being a godfather." She mused.
"Wait, why does Sasuke get to be the Godfather?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes, "If I weren't for Sasuke and I being friends, we wouldn't have met."
Appeased he nodded, "I love you Uchiha Naruto."
"I love you too, Shisui."
XXX
Just a side note, Shisui is 31 at the end of this while Naruto is 21. I think that is close to their canon age difference.
Well I hope you enjoyed this little thing. Drop a comment if it pleases you.