Secrets of the Heart

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Chapter 3

Every minute that ticked by only made the crowds more eager for the final bout, and a gentle giant more anxious about what the outcome could be. Particularly with the royal family focused on the final match, and the pressure that would bring to perform. "Are you sure that you want to fight him?" Jugo fusses worriedly over his friend, but tries not to outwardly show his fussing. "That knight seems to be more skilled than most." And though he had shown himself to be honorable thus far, there was no telling what could happen in the next match.

"Jugo, you know that I can't back out now." Suki shakes her head. Maybe she could have gotten away with doing that in the beginning, but certainly not the finals and honestly, she didn't want to. "Besides, you forget that description also applies to me."

True, but it didn't stop Jugo from worrying about his friend. She was certainly a good fighter, but this man was definitely well-trained, no matter how he tried to hide it behind a darkened insignia and what was obviously an alias. "Alright, but be careful, this Hawk person is more skilled than I am, and more skilled than even Suigetsu. He won't be like your regular opponents."

"Your faith in me is really touching." She rolls her eyes as Suki prepares to face her opponent.

From the other side of the sparring field, the black knight approaches, his hand resting on the jeweled pommel of the sword at his hip. He leans on his left leg, appraising his opponent carefully. "I watched you fight, you are admirably agile."

"Thank you." That wasn't good. The element of surprise was just as useful as her sword. This man was less likely to fall for her trademark moves. He'd watched her.

As the two competitors stand face to face, the horn signaling the beginning of the bout sounds, and the black knight draws his sword a few inches from its sheath, but no more. Watching. Waiting.

Suki frowns at that. He wanted her to make the first move. When her opponent was larger than her, Suki knew that nine times out of ten, they'd charge at her first. That wasn't the case here. He'd watched her fight. Whoever Hawk was, one thing was clear. This man was too smart to willingly walk into a trap.

She was tempted to wait for him to attack her on principle, but the crowd wouldn't go for that. She'd just have to take her chances and so that's exactly what she does. Darting at him from a curved angle, slashing her sword through the air in the most unpredictable patterns she could think of. Fast, slow, harsh, a brush, whatever she could think of. The best way to defeat Hawk would be to surprise him and clip his metaphorical wings.

Hawk steps back, parrying the first three blows and knocking away the fourth as he closes the distance and strike back at his opponent's shoulder with a fast, but shallow thrust. Not enough to rend the limb, but a bruising strike, nonetheless.

Suki hisses in pain. He was good. Smart enough to see several blows coming and fast enough to block them all and even hurt her. At least a little.

The young woman knew she'd undoubtedly have a bruise on her shoulder come tomorrow, but today victory would be hers. "You're good, but not good enough." This time she comes at him from the back. Flying with all her speed at him.

Hawk spins about in a whirl of motion, pivoting on one foot as he slides one arm behind his back and blocks the strike with a pose best suited for fencing. He spins his long, thin sword in a circle, rolling his wrist as he strikes deftly at her right elbow.

"Damn it!" She hisses in pain as she instinctively drops her sword. Her elbow was now throbbing, but she had one advantage that Hawk didn't know about. "That was a cheap trick." Suki could fight with either arm almost equally well and deliberately chose to fight with her slightly weaker arm in case of tactics like this. Few people expected someone to be left handed.

She grabs her sword in her good arm and charges back at him. Hoping that his shock would be enough to leave an opening. This time she was going to end this and hope like hell that move hadn't done any permanent damage.

The sheer speed of the strike pierces between the plates of the armored gauntlet of Hawk's right forearm. But instead of making any sounds of pain, he twists his arm, drawing additional blood and tearing the dark cloth covering ivory pale skin. He tosses his sword into his left hand and twists it around the other blade, flicking his good wrist sharply and wrenching the blade in a harsh circle, impaling it in the ground as he raises the sword up to his opponent's throat.

Suki blinks. One second she had been about to grasp victory and the next, there was a sword at her throat. Had that really just happened? Instinctively, she stills. It was never a good idea to move when your opponent had a blade at your jugular.

Hawk still his own body, except for the slow, careful lowering of his sword. "…You've had an excellent teacher, Sasuke. You should be very proud of yourself."

"Thank you." There it was again. That fake politeness. "Enjoy your victory." Losing was never enjoyable, but it was the stilted cheerfulness that irritated her more than anything. It made her want to hit him. Just to draw a real reaction out of him.

Still, she couldn't actually do that. He'd won the fight fair and square and everyone was watching. Perhaps she was overreacting. Between Jugo knowing her secret, Suigetsu losing, and now her own defeat...she was primed for irrationality. She needed to find a private place to collect her thoughts. First things first though, the required niceties. The last thing she needed was for the entire court to believe her to be a poor sport.

"Sasuke…" Hawk slides his sword back into its sheath and reaches out to touch her, only to pull his hand back at the last moment.

Suki frowns at the reaction. Why was the other fighter saying his name like that. It was a cross between reverence and guilt. It didn't make any sense though. This person was a stranger to her. Wasn't he?

Before she could ask, a voice cuts through the confusion. King Hiashi was already playing his part as the intriguing monarch to perfection. "Well fought, the both of you. Though I must admit, I am rather curious to learn the name of our victor. I doubt your parents actually named you after a bird, no matter how noble hawks may be."

Hawk chuckles quietly and shakes his head. "No, they most certainly did not. Forgive me for the deception, Your Majesty, it's simply a precaution, a measure of protection until I made my way here to the safety of your court."

"Your words have me most curious and a bit wary. Who are you stranger?" Hiashi's voice was less amused now.

"I come from the kingdom once known as Valadris, before war, corruption, and violence took the lives of the king and queen." Gauntleted hands reach up to loosen and remove his helmet, revealing ivory skin, wavy spikes of jet-black hair, and deep onyx eyes. "My name is Shisui Uchiha."

It was at that moment, Suki Uchiha's world just tilted on its axis. Could it really be Shisui? The man certainly possessed what she would consider to be 'classical Uchiha looks' and he was about the right age. It had been years though. How could one prove such a thing?

"How is this possible? Weren't all the Uchihas were slaughtered during the rebellion?" Hiashi frowns and he was far from alone in his shock. Gasps and whispers erupt throughout the crowd.

Those were the only sounds being made though. After the initial gasps, everything grew eerily quiet. As quiet as a crypt. Suki had never seen anything like it and it chilled her to the bone. He might or might not be the real Shisui, but everyone else thought he was.

"Most, but not all." Shisui barely resists the urge to glance back at his princess. "Thanks to the sacrifices of several members of our family who had devised a plan for escape, I was able to spirit away two other members of my family, fleeing the kingdom before the usurper, Danzo, took control and declared himself emperor of his ever growing empire with Valadris at its center."

"Well, we welcome you into our fold as a refugee. Danzo's rule has never been recognized as legitimate by our kingdom. Come to my throne room. We have much to discuss." Hiashi rises from his seat and turns back towards the castle with his guards following him.

It wasn't hard to see why the Marisea felt that way. It could have just as easily been Hiashi's beautiful kingdom by the sea that had to levy higher taxes to pay for a war and fell into unrest. It only took one skilled viper to rile up the peasants, Suki frowns at the thought. To recognize Danzo's success would have been inadvertently giving permission for history to repeat itself. the king wouldn't do that. They all knew it.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Shisui reaches into a small bag at his hip and unrolls a bandage, wrapping it carefully between the plates of his armor. He tucks his helmet in the crook of his injured arm and doesn't glance back even once as he strides forward after the king, his expression grim and his face set into a frown.

Suki waits a moment before following. Shisui might have won that fight, but Suki had always bested him at Hide and Seek and she doubted that would change now. She was going to eavesdrop. It might not be very ladylike, but no one had recognized her as a girl for years anyway.


A few minutes later, Suki bites her lower lip to keep from sighing in relief. She'd made it inside the throne room and thus far the guards hadn't spotted her. Now, she was going to find out what had truly happened.

"You said that there are other Uchihas who escaped." Hiashi eyes Shisui carefully, Suki was quite certain the king wasn't sure what to make of this entire situation. Though was that a note of hope she detected in his voice? Probably. "Who were they?"

Shisui remains quiet a moment, evaluating the question carefully. "His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, and Her Royal Highness as well. Both are hidden and in disguise, of course."

"They should be brought here for their safety. They may remain disguised if they like, but if there are only three of you...we cannot risk any of you getting killed." Hiashi frowns at that knowledge. "What are his Royal Highness' plans and are the siblings traveling together?"

"They escaped separately and I have been attending to my cousin's needs, scouting and recruiting what skilled allies we can find as we arrange for the false emperor's assassination. His Highness remains in disguise and away from the capitol for now, awaiting the signal that it is safe to approach." Though Shisui would remain vague, for now. Too much trust could get his cousins killed, after all. Not enough, and they would remain without sufficient allies. "Her Highness has been living safely within your capitol for the past ten years, also in disguise, with an old sparring partner of mine who is capable of whisking her away with less than a moment's notice if it grows unsafe for her here."

"I see. Well, it's quite the grand disguise, if I haven't realized she was here for ten years. That's impressive and a bit disturbing." Hiashi frowns. The thought that such things could happen right under his very nose was unsettling.

"It is." Shisui smiles ruefully. "After all, for the past decade, all who have met her have thought her to be a boy."

Suki couldn't believe it. Shisui had just exposed her secret and now, there was no going back. That bastard!

She reacts on instinct. Almost before she realizes what she was doing, Suki goes racing towards Shisui and tackles him to the ground. "That wasn't your secret to tell! You bastard! Do you have any idea how hard I have worked all these years to go along with the charade that you asked me to perform?!"

Shisui groans as his head and armored back smack against the stone floor. That was going to bruise for days. If he hadn't fought her in the earlier bout, Shisui would never have known just what her voice sounded like. But now, he knew quite well what his little cousin sounded like when she was angry. "…You outed yourself, 'Sasuke'."

"You told him that I was living as a boy. He would have discovered me eventually." She glowers at him. "You will not be granted mercy on a technicality!"

"Clearly…" Shisui sighs and gets a good look at his little cousin's angry face. He raises a hand and runs it through tenderly through her spiky locks. "I've missed you, Little Raven."

Hiashi was gaping and he knew it and yet, he couldn't stop himself. "I suppose that does explain a great deal. Now I understand why Sasuke never seemed interested in courting anyone and why his frame was always on the slighter side."

Suki was torn between the comfort of the endearment, the guilt at hiding her true identity from the king who had treated her well all these years, and fury at Shisui for making her disguise a useless one. Well, at least when it came to the king.

"Yes, now you know." She looks at the king apologetically as she stood up and offers Shisui her hand. Whatever she was feeling, it probably wouldn't be wise to keep him pinned to the floor with King Hiashi watching. God only knows what he thought of her at the moment, but brawling with Shisui wouldn't help matters. "I didn't mean to deceive you, Your Highness. It was just the best way I knew how to survive."

She turns her attention towards Shisui. "You and I have much to discuss later." Not that it had ever really left the 'black knight.' The man had once again turned her entire world upside down and as angry as she was at him for spilling her secret, there was just no getting around the fact that he had saved her life. Disguising herself as a boy had kept her safe all these years. That thought was enough to cause her fury to subside at least a little. "What news do you have of my brother though?" Besides, she needed to focus on what mattered most and that was finding Itachi.

"He is safe and hidden, for now." Shisui had made sure of that. "And if it makes you feel any better, he has been in the same sort of disguise as you." And boy had it annoyed Itachi at times to go out in public dressed like that.

If Suki hadn't been gaping before, now she certainly was. That was supposed to make her feel better?! She was too livid to even speak at the moment, luckily King Hiashi didn't suffer from the same problem.

"I'm going to pretend for the sake of his pride that I didn't hear that. Will the insults to these children never come to an end?" Hiashi shakes his head. How Itachi had managed to masquerade as a woman was utterly beyond him. He wasn't entirely certain he could have done same if their roles were reversed.

"That's probably for the best. He hasn't been very pleased about the disguise, even if it was originally his idea." Shisui had expressed his own doubts, particularly about what Itachi had had to wear, but it had been effective to say the least.

He turns to Suki and embraces her once more. "But I am eternally grateful that you are safe." Shisui didn't know what he would have done if it had turned out that something had happened to her while they were gone.

Of course. Well, you have given me much to think about on this day." Hiashi could feel the fury radiating off the boy, well woman and knew when to leave well enough alone. "Perhaps it would be best if Sasuke were to take you back to his chambers and you can continue the rest of your conversation in private. This conversation now seems to be venturing into some rather personal waters. Ones that I do not believe I am privy to."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shisui nods and takes a step back, raising Suki's hand to his mouth to press a feather-light kiss there. "I'm sure that Kakashi must be wondering where you've gotten off to."

It was a dizzying contrast. The fury racing through her blood mixed with the pleasant tingling sensation that the gallant gesture elicits from her body. So perhaps she could be forgiven for not responding to Shisui's comment immediately.

When she finally finds her tongue, Suki shakes her head. "Kakashi's ears work as well, if not better than the next man's. I'm certain he witnessed the spectacle and knows me well enough to realize I followed the two of you." She tugs her hand away from him as she begins to walk off. "King Hiashi is right. This sort of discussion is best left to the privacy of my bedchambers."

When she finally found her tongue, Suki shakes her head. "Kakashi's ears work as well, if not better than the next man. I'm certain he witnessed the spectacle and knows me well enough to realize I followed the two of you." She tugs her hand away from him as she begins to walk off. "King Hiashi is right. This sort of discussion is best left to the privacy of my bedchambers."

She'd been living as a boy for so long, that Suki was barely aware of how improper it was to invite an unmarried man to her bedchambers seeing as she was an unmarried woman. The thought was a mildly amusing one really. Perhaps this was one of the 'benefits' of being a boy that Shisui had spoken of so long ago.

Shisui's eyes dart about the corridors as Suki leads him through the castle towards the southern tower, where the swordmaster's quarters could be found. Fortunately, the lion's share of the attention was still focused outside, where he had disappeared with the king.

As soon as they arrive, Suki opens her door and pulls Shisui in. She waste no time in locking the door behind them. "How soon can I see my brother and end his humiliation?"

"When he comes after the signal is given." Shisui pretends not to notice how very alone the two of them were. "We couldn't risk both coming at once."

"How soon will that be?" That could mean anything. Days, weeks, months, or even more years. Though she did understand why both of them coming was too great a risk. There were only three Uchihas left and if the mission ended in failure, they'd be down to one.

"A month, provided that I am still alive by then." Shisui smiles grimly, all too aware of the potential consequences of their actions and his appearance here. "If I am not, Kakashi will spirit you away from here to reunite with him."

A month was an eternity with these sorts of stakes, but realistically Suki knew that it was nothing in the grand scheme of things. They'd already spent ten years apart. They could survive another month. "Good. I'll be sure to tell Kakashi of this. And try not to get yourself killed."

"That is the plan." Shisui's smile softens, but this time, he keeps an appropriate distance from his princess. "You've grown very beautiful, Suki, just like I knew you would."

"Shisui, please don't patronize me or lie to spare my feelings. I look ridiculous. I'm a woman wearing a man's armor and I have the hair of a boy." Still it was nothing but a fraction of the humiliation that Itachi had been forced to endure. "And despite that, I still was fortunate in comparison to my brother. I cannot imagine how his pride has suffered all these years."

"I am not patronizing you, merely speaking the truth." Shisui sighs quietly. "There is a grace and a fire about you that greatly resembles your mother's. As for Itachi…his pride may suffer, but it will survive. He made his bed and has been stubborn in following through."

Considering what fate befell her mother, Suki wasn't entirely certain that it boded well for her to resemble the beautiful and very much deceased queen. Still, he was sincere in his praise. "Thank you, but I want to get him out of that bed as swiftly as possible." What was a man really without his pride?

"As do I." Shisui folds his arms across his chest and stares pensively out the nearest window. "We must all do what is necessary to unseat and eliminate Danzo so that Itachi might return to the throne as king."

"I know. In some ways I still can't believe you're here." She looks away from him. "I waited so long. I assumed the both of you were dead, but one way or another...I assure you that we will help Itachi reclaim his throne."

Shisui grows silent for several long moments, then he shakes his head and smiles once more. "Have you enjoyed your time here, Suki? Have you made friends? Perhaps found someone that you're interested in?" She was a young woman, it wouldn't be unusual for a young man to have struck her fancy.

She bit her lower lip at that. They were such simple questions and yet, not one of them had simple answers.

"Compared to Itachi, I've been fortunate. Kakashi has played the role of my father to perfection and I have made a few friends." That didn't mean she liked it here though. That she liked living a lie.

The last question was the one she wouldn't bother to answer for him. Shisui had to know that even if she did have feelings for someone, acting on them would be foolish. Not everyone was as trustworthy as Jugo. At best it would be setting herself up for heartbreak and at worst, seeking out male companionship could get her killed if the wrong person discovered her true identity.

"I see." Shisui's expression saddens. "I'm sorry that we forced you into this life. There was no intention to make you unhappy. We merely wished for you to survive to have another chance at happiness."

"You saved my live and you kept my brother safe. That what matters most and I've been treated exceptionally well here. You have no cause to feel guilty other than spilling my secret to the king." Suki shakes her head.

It had been the lying and fear that she had would be discovered that had kept her from being truly happy here. By all rights, she was living in something akin to a paradise considering her situation. She was a princess who should be dead and yet, she had a wonderful second father and three good friends. She was admired by those in the castle and had a good education that included swordplay.

Perhaps to some degree, it was nothing more than childish sulking and being unrealistic. Suki just longed for the days when she had her family at her side and she didn't have to pretend to be something she wasn't. That she didn't have to worry that at any moment her secret would be discovered and that this time, it would be her execution that everyone watched and jeered at. Just as they had done to her own family. Everyone save for Itachi and Shisui.

Noting the still unhappy expression on her face, Shisui steps towards his cousin and places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Tell me, Suki, do you have a hairbrush?" For such wild hair, he couldn't imagine taming it without one.

Suki shoots him a perplexed look. "Well yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Perhaps she had simply attacked him with too much vigor and he was addled from the fall in King Hiashi's throne room. Asking about hairbrushes at a time like this was...odd.

Shisui smiles and works to take off his armored gauntlets. "Will you bring it here for me?"

"Of course." He was an odd one. Why he was worried about his hair at a time like this, Suki didn't know. Still it was such a simple request, that it was no hardship to bring him the hairbrush he desired. So she did so. "Here you are."

He places the gauntlets down on the small table near the sofa and motions for her to sit. "Do you trust me?"

The question causes her to pause before she nods and sits down. "I do." With her life actually or else, she wouldn't have gone through with the Sasuke Charade as she liked to call it inside her head.

"Okay." Shisui sits behind her and runs gentle, calloused fingers through his princess' hair. Her hair was still so soft, like strands of silk despite the naturally spiky texture. The brush follows close behind as he sweeps the locks back behind her ears.

She flinches at first. Suki washed her hair and cared for it only to the extent that she had to. One's reputation and personal appearance was of paramount importance at the Marisean Court and that extended all the way from the King to the most humble of servants.

Other than that she had tried to avoid touching and looking at it as much as possible. It was an all too real reminder of everything she had lost including her identity and yet, here Shisui was brushing her hair. Attempting to comfort her, she supposed.

"Well, I suppose you are a simple man to understand if all it takes to please you is for a woman to allow you to brush her hair." The strangest aspect of the entire situation was that it was working. Perhaps it was because the action reminded her of her mother's similar attempts. Though even that wasn't a true explanation. She could feel the power behind his strokes. He was being gentle, but there was a physical strength to his movements that Queen Mikoto just hadn't possessed. No, there was no doubt that this was a man who was brushing her hair.

A man who had actually bested her in combat and as much she hated losing, there was something exciting about that. Almost erotic really. He was strong and yet gentle at the same time.

"Perhaps." Shisui ignores the stirring that the princess' words evoked, and merely set about pulling strands out here and there, braiding and weaving them together to form a net of elegant plaits that joined and twisted under one another at the back of her head, securing them with a few small pins that he always kept on her person, usually for Itachi. He allows a few locks to hang down, the spikes kept under control by the woven mesh of braids. All it needed was a few strings of pearls and it would be complete.

He sidles around her, brushing her bangs from her eyes and setting them to curl about her face. The sight brings a smile back to his lips. "Perfect."

Suki had no idea what on Earth Shisui was actually doing to her hair, but she knew it was elaborate. Exceedingly so and it was unlikely she'd be able to leave the room without undoing it.

Curiosity and uncertainty were at war with it. "Should I look? I don't have a mirror." She avoided them like the plague really.

"Hm…" Shisui generally didn't carry a mirror, but… "Here, try this." He unsheathes his sword and turns the silver blade towards her to reflect her image in its surface.

"It's beautiful, Shisui. I almost feel like myself again." She smiles a bit wistfully at the reflection. If she ignored the fact she was still wearing armor, Suki could easily believe that the past decade was nothing more than a dream. That none of it had happened. "Should I take this as your way of auditioning for the part of Royal Hairdresser?"

Shisui snorts and rolls his eyes. "I'm afraid that I have already been relegated to the position as per your brother's orders. But you may borrow my services whenever it pleases you. And whenever I am not listening to your brother silently seethe about being transformed into a woman."

"Your skill with hair is quite impressive, but I'm afraid that we have more important things to worry about. Like how to reclaim my brother's throne." She smiles at him.

"I know." Shisui sheathes his sword and kneels before her. "And I will see to it that the two of you return home."

It was a common gesture for knights, but Suki feels her pulse quicken and her cheeks heat at it all the same. Wonderful, now she was turning into Princess Hinata. "I know that you'll do all you can to assist us, but you don't have to shoulder the burden alone. Just tell me what I must do to help and I shall do it. You need only ask."

Shisui smiles wryly. "For now, be patient. I know it's a lot to ask of you, but until Itachi comes, there is nothing for you to do. While I am here, I will be your guardian, and when he comes, I will be his hand once more."

"There's absolutely nothing that I can do...?" She would have preferred a jousting lance through a heart than to wait around and do nothing while her brother suffered.

The look on his princess' face tugs at Shisui's heart, so he reaches for her hand and brings it to his lips. "You have managed to stay alive, Suki, that's more than anyone could have asked of you. But it is going to grow bloody, and neither of us wish to expose you to more violence. Right now, alliances are what is most important. When your brother takes the throne, those will be more important than anything else in reestablishing the power of our kingdom. Are you truly prepared to step into that arena, not as Sasuke, but as Suki?"

"I find it ironic that you're so determined to shield me from violence, we've already faced each other in combat." As soon as the words leave her mouth, Suki regrets them. Shisui was only being practical. He was doing his best to keep her safe and she was goading him. "I am prepared though."

She didn't need to ask what he meant by that. The answer was obvious. If she wanted to help Itachi, her marrying a 'suitable' match was the easiest way to do that.

Honestly, Shisui had been hoping that she would say no, that she wasn't ready. But this was no longer the little girl who chased puppies in the castle courtyards. She was a young, but fully grown princess. And that meant that she had duties and responsibilities that could not be ignored forever. "You really have grown into a strong and beautiful princess, Little Raven. Any man would be lucky to have you."

"And you've grown into quite the accomplished hairdresser and knight. Any king or queen would be lucky to have you in their service." She smiles at him teasingly.

Shisui's eyes roll and he leans up to press a tender kiss to his little cousin's forehead. "Yes, so I've been told. And I hope to be there to serve the two of you always."

She blushes a regal shade of crimson at the affectionate gesture. "I really am turning into Princess Hinata." Suddenly, she understood all too well why the pretty princess kept fainting.