Rare pairings are a bet. There's the chance to make something original and cool out of it, and the risk of making a confusing OOC mess.
Some rare pairings are quite popular, ShisuixSasuke is not one of them, despite not being the most absurd. Sure, it can only work in a non-massacre AU and even there, it can only work under certain circumstances. Characters are influenced by the environment, after all, just like their choices and actions. Which is the reason why it took 6 chapters to get to to the main pairing.
In short: this is a ShisuixSasuke fanfiction. there is also Shiita and Itasasu and both pairings are relevant. But there are no love triangles or threesomes. Shiita is a thing of the past and Itasasu is...complicated. It's everywhere even though it shouldn't, so to speak.
Thanks to the guest reviewer Meghan, you can't imagine how happy your review made me.
More notes at the end, because I feel the urge to explain stuff a lot. Even though this chapter is very long.
"You will be all the things in the world you've never been
See all the things in the world you've never seen
Dream all the things in the world you've never dreamed... "
But I think I get a bit confused...
Am I seducing or being seduced?
Oh I know that tomorrow I'll feel bad
But I really couldn't care about that (The Cure, The 13th)
Not wearing a mask special jounin are more exposed than Anbu. Their missions are usually longer than those assigned to jounin, yet it's a widely known fact amongst Konoha ranks, that even if given a substantial raise or a promotion, not a single one of them would change position. They are a bridge between jounin and Anbu: they are supposed to act like regular shinobi but if the situation requires it, they are authorized to use Black Ops procedures.
They have to improvise and that requires a certain freedom of interpretation of both rules and ethics; because of this it's no wonder that their best asset is Shisui, as expected from someone who faked his own death and managed to bring a whole rival clan on his side.
He was considered the best even before that, although the only independence he was granted back then was in leading military actions, and the faculty to report to the Third Hokage directly.
Once the situation between the clan and the village was brilliantly solved, Konoha's economy experienced a boost: clients chose them over other countries because of their strength but also their stability.
Shisui was appointed leader of an all-Uchiha special jounin team. It was decided that each clan formed theirs. It was Fugaku's idea, enthusiastically approved by the other Council members, who defined it a rightful way to promote their peculiarities.
Itachi wasn't enthusiastic about it; he would have preferred mixed teams working together for Konoha.
He always considered clan mentality a hindrance that enclosed people between borders while they needed a higher perspective, including not just the clan but the whole village.
Then their neighboring countries, then humanity as a whole.
His dream was the same as Hashirama and Madara: achieving peace through village stability and a network of diplomatic relationships, fostering mutual respect and understanding of differences between clans, positions, cultures.
Itachi was well aware of how difficult achieving his dream was.
Even if he didn't care about power he accepted his father's will, becoming clan leader and Hokage one day, because he would be able to change the world.
For now he -and Shisui, and everyone who followed him- succeeded in changing Konoha's politics, forming alliances between clans.
They hadn't succeeded in changing society yet, for clans used members as pawns and Itachi couldn't let them do that to Sasuke.
Unlike Konoha, whose awareness and change was a result of the equally failed coup and massacre, outside the Fire Country the other shinobi villages were still plagued by internal conflicts and ruled by shady leaders like Danzo.
Itachi knew that those countries would only follow their personal interest, so he would have to use the right arguments when the time would come.
If the time would come. Maybe he would have to wait for the right rulers to rise.
History's pace is slower than people's.
Itachi never forgot it, yet he would have accepted it as the natural course of events, if only Sasuke's future wasn't at stake.
In the meantime he worked to make Konoha an example for every other village.
He was promoted to head of all Anbu squads, main intermediary between them and the Hokage. Under his guidance assassination missions dropped, replaced by alternative solutions that even Shikaku Nara commended as innovative.
The Hokage's counsellor valued his judgment and praised his uncanny ability of understanding what needed their focus even if it seemed unimportant and what, instead, wasn't relevant in the long period.
Like the special jounin teams issue: although they were formed with an opportunist purpose their members worked well together and were completely loyal to one another.
In this world nothing is as it seems anyway. Like him, who was called a genius and praised as a hero for saving the clan, yet to save Sasuke would have carried on the massacre, if Shisui hadn't been there.
Just like his cousin, Shisui knows that Fugaku's was just a smooth diplomatic move to keep a strong yet politically controversial member as far as possible from Konoha's council, and that after him each clan did the same with their embarrassing relatives.
Not that he cared: he did what he had to do to save the one he loved and his family, to prevent his clan from a horrible end and to avoid a war against the village.
He did what he had to do to make sure Danzo had what he deserved.
Besides, the clan was sincerely grateful and so were Itachi and Fugaku, even though the latter disapproved the way he had tortured and maimed Danzo.
Shisui knew how much Itachi hated unnecessary violence yet he never said a word about it.
Maybe because his cousin was paralysed by Danzo's jutsu and he couldn't see -he could only hear- him cutting and hitting the man. Only when the sword was extracted from the old man's midsection, before his head was cut off, he was finally free to move.
Maybe because Danzo would have pierced Itachi's chest in a non vital point only to hit Sasuke, fatally, so that he would watch his beloved brother die.
Itachi didn't look disgusted by Shisui. He didn't look angry either.
He looked worried, because Sasuke had fainted.
He looked surprised, because for the first time he had been saved instead of saving.
Fugaku said that in order to be respected the Uchiha had to be an example of fairness and stability; by committing such gesture Shisui looked unstable and revengeful, a textbook example of what the enemies of their clan defined Curse Of Hatred.
As if they wouldn't go berserk if the one they loved one was about to be stabbed and forced to watch his brother die by the same sword.
As if they wouldn't swear revenge onthe one who turned the life of their loved one into hell.
The Uchiha Special Jounin team is hired for a particularly long mission just outside the Capital of the Land of Fire, to protect the Daimyo's cadet branch after they received several death threats.
They had their own loyal guards, but samurai's code of honor is complicated and sometimes it's useful to employ someone less morally bound, as a further measure of security.
In addition to patrolling the area, visibly or in hiding, a few guards are asked to take part in social events, to keep a closer eye on guests; it's not a surprise that the squad finds this sort of assignment, where they are required to blend in, eating, drinking and engaging in conversation, particularly pleasant.
There are many young women in the household. Shisui's comrades are naturally attracted by pretty maids and predictably charmed by young ladies and their colorful makeup, elaborated hairdos and flowy kimonos. Some are lucky enough to be granted attentions by the object of their desire, those who don't end up making snarky criticism against them. Some daydream about marrying one and becoming a nobleman, others scold their unprofessional and unrealistic attitude.
Aristocratic women would never marry someone belonging to a lower social class, such as a samurai or a shinobi. Even an Uchiha.
For them it's a lesson in humility to realize that in the high classes of the real civilian world -not the one that gravitates around their village- their elite warrior clan, their greatly envied powers, their composed demeanor that exudes nobility, is considered as highly qualified servants.
For others such it's frustrating to think that while they have been fighting since they were children, these highborn men and women, always looking for new pastimes to keep themselves busy, were playing in safety. Nevertheless they wouldn't change their lives with those adults' prolonged childish games.
It's not the first time that Shisui works for civilian nobility. To him their behavior, and more than that his subordinates' reactions, who forgot that they are paid to pretend to blend in, not to do it for real, are another proof of people's narrow mental boundaries.
He thinks about Itachi, who dreams of breaking such boundaries, one at a time. He used to share the same dream, when they spent hours discussing by the river, and when they were tired of talking they used to kiss and when they were tired of kissing they used to make love under the stars, but that was the past. Now the river seems less blue, the stars less close and that dream less possible.
Itachi is working hard it for the village but most of it all for Sasuke.
Shisui too used to worked hard for the village, but most of it all for Itachi.
Then, he grew more and more disillusioned as his own dream crumbled. Not that he had lost his faith in Itachi, or his wish for world peace; he just thought that it was impossible to achieve everything during one single lifetime.
He had always been more realistic than his cousin. And, as much as Itachi was amazingly good at reading people, he was even better than him, thus he knew that nothing would change his mind, and that the only thing he needed from him was his support.
Like taking Sasuke under his wing.
The special jounin team attended several parties since their mission started, but none is as ostentatious as the one in occasion of the Daimyo's visit. The main attraction is a performance held by the most popular musicians of the country.
The aristocrats gather around the small stage while shinobi and samurai alike keep guard, disguised as guests. They aren't the only ones not listening to the music. Many are chatting or blatantly flirting, even disappearing with their conquest.
Those hired to pay attention can't help but comment what they see. The shy girl who often smiles at Naoru is not shy at all, since she just left with a young man with a thin moustache and a small book whose verses he used to charm her, just like he charmed another girl with the same techniques during the previous event.
It's Naoru himself who declares that shinobi women, who combine beauty and strength, loyalty and dedication, are better. Always the clown, Asao adds that their simple clothes are easier to take off. They can take real men; these ones are too delicate, Hiro remarks. A plethora of positive comments ensues.
Koji reminds them that Uchiha women are the best amongst them all and they all list the most representative ones. They mention Izumi: Itachi is lucky, he could have gotten engaged to scary Ayumi, daughter of an influential Uchiha elder who'll eventually require a relevant husband for her, maybe Shisui, Asao suggests, joking on their leader's bad luck.
Luckily Sasuke is too young for her, or she'd eat him alive and spit him out, tall and burly and hysterical as she is, Hiro says. If the rumors are true, after the Hyuuga will unite the two branches by marrying the heiress with her cousin, he will marry the younger sister.
Sasuke feels almost sick at the idea of marrying someone he doesn't even know.
Or just marrying. It makes him think about Itachi and he hates thinking about him now.
Itachi never cared about him so why should he be worried about him marrying someone he doesn't love? It's not that Itachi loved him. He is not Shisui.
He takes a walk in the most external part of the garden to breathe some fresh air.
Nature always calmed him when he was nervous, although here, where it's submitted and arranged according to human aesthetic, it almost doesn't feel like nature at all.
He heads for the aviary to check the falcons they use to communicate with Konoha.
Noises make them nervous and as the youngest and less qualified member of the team he is in charge of them.
No one likes to clean their mess, especially not in this refined place. How stupid, he thinks.
Sasuke is indifferent to luxury and he doesn't care about being considered inferior. He doesn't understand why his comrades are so worked up; these nobles are just their current employers. Nothing they could do or say would change his pride in being an Uchiha.
He used to dream of working beside his brother once. Then said brother pushed him away because he wasn't enough. That hurt, not the opinions of lazy strangers'.
"Don't worry too much about what they say".
Damn Body Flicker. When did he even leave the group? Sasuke didn't sense his presence.
He never does. He is strong indeed, or Itachi wouldn't have chosen him.
"Times are changing. I'm sure that by the time your brother will lead the clan he'll end these stupid traditions."
Shisui appears from behind a rounded rock, holding a jug on one hand and a thin pipe on another.
"I hope so. I don't want to marry scary Ayumi..."
During these events guards are required to dress accordingly and they are given a vast collection of rich clothes to choose from. Shisui picked a dark green silk kimono with golden cranes embroidered in it. Sasuke chose a dark blue one with fish motif on its lower hem.
This is the first time Sasuke is assigned to attending a party, since the whole team loved these events while he didn't show any interest so he was automatically assigned to keep guard hidden in the trees.
He complained about wearing a kimono, because a long robe is not practical for a shinobi, just like an obi that cinches them when they should be able to move easily.
Shisui echoed his complaint, adding that not wearing trousers is even worse, yet it was obvious that looking like guests was a smarter move than wearing shinobi clothes or even hakama, that would define them as workers.
Shinobi have to endure after all. Even if it's just thick clothes they are not used to.
No one wears kimonos in ninja villages. Not even at their wedding.
They need to be practical and quick with no exceptions, because even when there aren't surprise attacks for years they never know if there is going to be one.
Death could catch them anytime.
Yukata is a more practical choice for celebrations and festivals.
Itachi said that to him they represented peaceful moments.
"Luckily my expertise is needed outside Konoha", Shisui smirks, the pipe between his teeth.
Maybe it's his familiar way of talking about his brother's future plans, that Sasuke ignores because Itachi never bothered telling him anything, maybe it's the further realisation that Itachi never cared about him while he cared about the man in front of him, that the words come out of the boy's mouth.
"I saw you kissing him."
"Huh?"
"I saw you kissing my brother."
He echoes. Shisui almost chokes on the smoke at the other's reiteration of the previous statement, stressing their fraternal bond as an innate right.
As a threat.
"Eight years ago, by the Naka river."
Probably Sasuke didn't bring this up earlier because he was too young to understand what he saw back then, unlike now.
Shisui wonders if he's going to tell Fugaku but he dismisses the thought. He would have done it already if he really wanted to, and even in that case his father would have had nothing to object; the unwritten shinobi law is that what happened between comrades stays between comrades. Besides the brat would never discredit his brother.
Even though his look gets dark every time Itachi's name is mentioned.
"So?"
His tone is casual. His mentor for the time being, Shisui certainly doesn't see his younger cousin as a threat, especially after weeks in a Hyuuga cell, with a badly injured eye that was roughly treated only in the rare event that they believed his answers.
When they didn't they would beat him over and over, their gentle fist technique being convenient for them to avoid splitting their knuckles over him.
"How was it?"
The older Uchiha is used to reading people like open books. Unlike his brother, Sasuke is not even challenging, yet this time his words are completely unexpected.
"Why don't you ask him?"
Shisui doesn't show that he is intrigued. Instead, he blows a ring of smoke.
His father used to blow smoke rings when he was a child. He fell asleep watching them.
"I'm asking you."
Sasuke's look is serious. Shisui passes the jug.
If the boy intends to pester him the least he could do is keep him company. He hates drinking alone and Sasuke needs to loosen up. His kimono already is; it's so loose on the chest and its obi is so low on the waist and almost undone that the boy looks like he's wearing night clothes.
His clothes are usually neat and orderly, as his father would never allow anything less than perfect, but now he is away from home and there is no Fugaku to control him.
And no Itachi to help him: Shisui remembers one time when he came to pick his cousin up and found him tieing the boy's obi. He joked out loud that Itachi would be a wonderful father and the little boy replied that Itachi was a brother, not a father.
The brat would be disappointed as soon as Itachi would do his duty with his future wife, Shisui thought bitterly back then, knowing that he would be disappointed too.
He always knew that one day Itachi would have to marry but he hoped that their love would not end. Instead it did end, not because of society's rules that almost no one cared about, because the only thing that mattered was to not get caught, but because of Sasuke.
Because some of the young guests aim to stand out with their extravagant style, Sasuke doesn't seem out of place, thus Shisui, who more often than not reprimands him during both training and work -it's for his own good, the brat must learn, he tells himself- doesn't have anything to say.
Itachi too is uncharacteristically casual with this particular garment.
When the elder once joked about it, his cousin chuckled, as if his little secret had been discovered. He explained that the first time he and his Anbu team went to an onsen to celebrate a successful mission he was feeling uncomfortable, being younger than everyone else, until his mind formed an image of his father, walking around their garden, resting his arm on the loosened front of his haori rather than in the sleeve.
Those were the only moments the man didn't look worried; somehow, imitating his gesture relaxed him as well.
Shisui is not sure if Sasuke mimicked his father's mannerism. Or his brother's.
He , on the contrary, took advantage of every occasion to see a less tense Itachi wearing a yukata, and before he realized it he had the same habit, so much that during a clan event Fugaku looked at him with evident disapproval, either thinking that he was mirroring him for fun or that he was rude and slovenly. Which, in hindsight, could have influenced his choice of keeping him away from Konoha politics and assign him in an Uchiha-only special jounin team.
"What did you do to him?"
Sasuke asks, after gulping the sake down.
The boy is not a drinker like their comrades, but a little alcohol won't hurt him, especially if he reveals himself to be a happy drunk, even though Shisui is quite sure that he's facing an aggressive drunk.
Looking at him Shisui remembers the first time he made Itachi drink.
He was pretty, with his flushed red cheeks and his slurred speech. When he lay on the ground Shisui fought to keep control of his senses.
Until he lost.
"Nothing he didn't want, brat" Shisui spouts, irritated at the intrusive question.
He can -almost- tolerate the thought that Itachi hadn't loved him enough.
He can't accept the accusation of having taken advantage of his most precious person, and the implication that Itachi didn't want the things he did, that they both did, for years.
"Did he like it?"
.
Knowing Sasuke's feelings for Itachi, Shisui assumed that the boy's questioning would resemble to a jealous wife's, but it's nothing like that.
Sasuke's jealousy is not the dark web of fear, greediness and desire that haunts adults, making them pry, painstakingly, into each detail of the other's life.
It's more childlike, more straightforward yet at the same time more abstract.
It's pure, like his love.
What Sasuke feels towards Itachi is the same for body, mind and soul. He doesn't separate attraction, admiration and love. To him Itachi is perfect and he is bewitched by that perfection like a moth to a flame. He wants to get closer, to feel the kiss of its blaze, even if it will destroy him.
Indeed Itachi destroyed him, hurting his body, mind and soul, and Sasuke now hates him, or so he tells himself, trying to forget his brother's body leaning on him, and his breath, warm like fire, tingling in his ear.
Sasuke's jealousy isn't the possessive, shortsighted one that children have for their favourite toys either. It can't be: Itachi has never been his.
He ignores that Itachi has always been his, that he is his and will always be so, that his brother's whole life is devoted on creating a better world so that he will be free and happy.
He has always lived off Itachi's crumbs of attention.
His brother was often away on mission; when he was home he was busy with clan meetings and his training with Shisui.
Sasuke assumed that he was too young, uninteresting and weak to deserve more time with him.
He couldn't imagine that Itachi would have loved to spend more time with him but he couldn't risk to have his little brother see him when he was worried.
He was the only one who noticed the boy's perceptive nature, that would have noticed his big brother's distress if he loosened his self restraint even a little.
Not just that: Itachi loved and respected their father but he needed to get away from the pressure he put on him. He needed to find a way to change the man's plans or the clan would implode and the village would be next and Sasuke would not be safe.
Always the hard worker, the boy trained to become worthy of his brother's interest, so that he, too, would be included in the other's life.
Despite his efforts he didn't succeed, for his brother had other plans for him.
As a result he succumbed to a somber, self-hating insecurity that he hid behind an arrogant demeanor that fooled everyone but a few, like his former sensei Kakashi, Itachi, who used his brother's every weakness to steer him towards his desired path, and Shisui, who was sure to know everything about him, until now.
Sasuke's jealousy isn't the malicious type that makes rivals battle each other with a smile on their faces and deceptive subterfuges as weapons.
His eyes don't betray just restrained anger for him; they also shine with admiration and reluctant curiosity.
"It wasn't even a real kiss" Itachi said, yet for Sasuke that kiss, that innocent peck on his brother's lips, had been everything.
He had kept his eyes closed, after, feeling the elder's thumb tracing his face, waiting, hoping, for their mouths to touch again. How wrong he had been, thinking that his feelings were reciprocated, deluding to be worthy of his perfect brother who had chosen the other prodigy.
Sasuke doesn't just hate Shisui because Itachi has chosen him.
He admires Shisui because Itachi has chosen him.
It's only logical that his perfect brother would choose another hero to spend his time with, to have a relationship with, to have sex with.
Since he joined the Special Jounin Team he heard many stories from his comrades, all older than him. Dangerous missions, heroic sacrifices, adventurous actions and unexpected comfort between the arms of a stranger, or a comrade, when they needed to feel alive because death could catch them anytime.
Like them, Shisui and Itachi were children of the war. They became full-fledged shinobi in a short time. They learned about sex at a young age.
They learned about death even earlier.
Unlike them Sasuke didn't live in the aftermath of a war.
He learned the human body at the Academy. He was the lookout when Naruto stole their sensei's porn book, and when his team mate gathered a few other kids to read the pages aloud. More recently, he listened to his friends recounting their first experiences.
With no impending war his peers went through dates, first kisses and inexperienced intercourse at a slower, less urgent pace.
Sasuke's pace was even slower, since he was hopelessly in love with his brother.
Hopelessly in love with the brother who pretended to care about him but never did, and hopelessly unaware of the truth.
Sasuke sincerely admires Shisui, even if he considers him as a rival, an obstacle that he must overcome.
And to do so he, always the hard worker, must learn from him, know everything he knows.
His perfect brother chose to bestow upon Shisui time, attention, physical proximity.
Itachi's breath tingling in his ear; his body leaning against him.
Little he knows that he is the reason why what Shisui wanted couldn't be bestowed upon him.
Itachi's unconditional, undying love. The kind he felt for Sasuke.
It doesn't matter if Sasuke is not perfect or a hero according to the clan's standards, because to Itachi he is perfect just by being born after the war, in his house, beside him. Shisui used to tell himself that the love for a brother was different from the thing between them, until he couldn't lie to himself anymore and he couldn't lie to Itachi anymore, and he couldn't let Itachi lie to himself anymore.
Thus Shisui was angry at Sasuke, who had no idea of what happened between them, who had no idea of what he destroyed with his presence, who simply existed, and he was angry at himself because he knew how irrational he was, still he wallowed in his dark adult jealousy that made him notice every painstaking detail.
Like the fact that the boy gave Shisui the upper hand, asking if Itachi liked it.
"He wouldn't have come back for more if he didn't."
Back off kid, you can't possibly understand.
That hits hard, Shisui can tell from the way Sasuke clenches his jaw.
Serves him right, he tells himself blowing one ring of smoke after another.
Shisui loved him as a child. He used to feel bad for him whenever Itachi pushed him away and trained with him.
He knew that his cousin needed to breathe because Fugaku's pressure was hard to endure without breaking. Hurting Sasuke was a collateral damage, as the elder started walking the path that would give the boy a happy life in a peaceful world.
Shusui disagreed with Itachi about his brother; he often warned him that he would be his ruin. That his excessive control would make him suffer more than the truth.
Itachi's look darkened. He knew that this was a possibility but he also knew that such negative outcome would only occur if he failed, thus he needed to work harder so that Sasuke would grow up in the best environment and that his later shinobi career would be as smooth as possible.
He pulled strings so that his brother's genin team would be led by Kakashi of the Sharingan, his old Anbu team leader, one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha.
He would teach Sasuke better than any other sensei. He would make him stronger.
Most important, he would protect him, and his comrade, the late Fourth Hokage's son, more than any other.
He helped Fugaku teaching him the history of the clan and the village, adding basic principles of politics, so that he would understand everything was said during clan meetings.
Nevertheless he didn't specify that many issues are not solved by direct means, that there are other ways to settle them. He made sure that their parents wouldn't scheme around him, veering the conversation towards subjects that wouldn't reveal their clan as less than honorable.
He didn't make sure that Sasuke wouldn't suffer though.
The boy felt left out whenever he perceived that he was denied information. Not understanding why he assumed it was because he was weak, that despite all the training nothing was changing.
Sasuke takes another sip, this time slowly. He doesn't speak for a while, his gaze fixed on Shisui. Then, he breaks the silence.
"Are you two still..."
"Nope. That's why you're here."
Shisui cuts short, soon biting his lip because it's not his fault; the boy didn't ask to be born, Shisui tells himself to shut the bad feelings up.
He doesn't even know.
The elder would like to punch his cousin though, for putting him in such position.
He gestures Sasuke to pass the jug.
He's still a boy who doesn't like sake, Shisui thinks, wiping his mouth after having gulped down all of its content, more than he expected.
He tries with the pipe; the brat is a shinobi after all. He has to try these things.
Sasuke inhales warily and when it's time to exhale he coughs, just like most newbies.
Shisui laughs heartily at the scene, even more so because the boy refuses to give his pipe back, badmouthing him with a pouty face.
"My bad, I shouldn't have laughed at you so much...you know what, why don't you get back to the party? No more duty for tonight, just relax, take a look around. I'm sure that there are a few girls and boys who'd love your company. Something tells me that they would also love to kiss you."
Sasuke narrows his eyes.
"Why the hell are you saying this?"
Because I don't want you to pry into my past with Itachi.
"Didn't you want to know about kisses and...everything else? "
Shift the subject, pretend that you didn't quite get that the boy's curiosity is very specific.
"Besides, you're quite handsome like this..."
He jokingly adds, but it's true: the boy is attractive.
Almost as attractive as Itachi.
He is paler than his brother, his hair are raven black and his features are sharp but harmonious. He is slender and thinner than Itachi, but his loose kimono reveals a taut chest, beside protruding collarbones and a long neck.
In this household Sasuke is not as popular as he is in Konoha, because to aristocrats sheer beauty or ability mean nothing if a man doesn't have social skills. Like Shisui, that they unanimously define charming.
Shisui has always been good at reading people and telling them what they want to hear.
He succeeded in bringing the Hyuuga clan on his side; clients are much easier.
Itachi would be considered charming too: not only he is beautiful, graceful and well-mannered. He also loves poetry and arts, even though he's too burdened to freely express it.
The elder imagines that if he were here he would enjoy the music performance.
He would love to see him in a vibrant red kimono, his hair loose, his profile illuminated by the moonlight.
He expects Sasuke to leave but the boy doesn't move.
"Then kiss me."
"Uh?"
"I do want to...know. So teach me."
Confidence. Then hesitation, then confidence again.
The shift of subject made him consider things from a different angle.
"I'm...flattered that you chose me," Shisui replies in a mocking tone,"but I won't be offended if you choose another teacher. I don't have to be the only one, you know..."
"I want to learn from you," Sasuke rebukes.
I want to learn from the best, whom my perfect brother chose.
Shisui voluntarily disengages his mind and lets it wander over nothing in particular. He notices that the music is not as loud as before, as the performance is over. He expects the party to continue for one or two hours, hopefully without problems. He reviews the following day's duties, imagining that unlike them, their clients will wake up late. He considers increasing the patrols on the external areas and all sorts of tasks, under silently expecting eyes.
Sasuke is patient when it comes to training, repeating the same exercise over and over until he masters it. On the contrary he is extremely impatient when he asks a question.
He hates waiting for an answer. Maybe because he needs it to understand and form his own view of things before acting.
Maybe because he and his questions have often been ignored.
"Not a chance."
Shisui deadpans.
He should have let Sasuke drink more, it's his first thought when the boy manages to take advantage of his giddy reflexes and push him to the ground, straddling his hips with a threatening look.
Or maybe, he almost chuckles, he is really a good teacher.
"Not even Shisui of the Body Flicker could escape katon now," Sasuke smirks, "or...this."
With a swift moment he unsheathes the ivory senbon hidden on the side of the pipe, pointing it at Shisui's throat.
"An extravagant place such as this needs an extravagant weapon, don't you think?"
Shisui comments, his voice slightly strained after the sudden fall. As he catches his breath, inhaling from the nose and exhaling from his parted lips, he takes a good look at Sasuke's exposed milky white thighs. They make an interesting contrast with his fierce look.
"Who would have thought that you'd be suited for those missions too...I'll keep that in mind for our next assignments…"
The elder says, teasingly. The white needle pushing unto his throat suggests that Sasuke doesn't find it amusing.
He doesn't find the whole situation funny either, and he knows someone who would share the same opinion. Even though it's his fault that this situation occurred.
"Try with katon next time."
The Body Flicker flips their positions: Sasuke has no time to react. He realizes what happened only when the hand that wielded the senbon pinned to the ground so hard that the wrist is hurting, and he feels his back being pressed against the damp grass, his stomach weighed down by the elder straddling him.
"You wouldn't like my teachings, kid..."
Shisui says, smirking for having defeated the youngster again.
He grabs Sasuke's face by the jaw and turns it left then right like a doll, with such strength that it's almost impossible to tell that the boy is resisting.
"...Because, you see, I like things to be a little rough..."
He ignores the boy's free arm clawing at him, to release his face from his grip. He leans over Sasuke, nose brushing his chin, lips dangerously close to his ear.
"...And when things get heated I tend to enjoy pain..."
His voice is huskier, carnal, not with lust but with something closer to killing intent.
"Not mine, of course."
He marks his intent by bending Sasuke's head to an impossible angle exposing his pale throat.
"And not your brother's", he anticipates, after catching a glimpse of the ridiculously concerned expression that clouds the boy's face when he imagines his brother in pain, not realizing that he should be worried about himself.
Or maybe he is not worried for another reason.
"Not Itachi," He reiterates, finally releasing his hold on the boy's face.
He respected Itachi too much to even think about hurting him; he would have never let his darkest side out for his beloved to see.
He already saw too much of it, when, possessed by anger, like a bloodthirsty demon, he tortured and killed Danzo.
When he stands up the world is spinning but he's good at faking a control he doesn't have.
He casts a brief glance at the boy, disheveled, his chest exposed just like his legs, his chin and jaw reddened, his lips parted, his look confused.
"Sorry kid, I'm afraid you're going to have bruises tomorrow!"
A/N: In the Itachi novel it is said that he wanted to become Hokage. To me it sounded demeaning for a wonderful character such as him, who doesn't need power or aknowledgment to accomplish great things. He'd be great as counsellor for the Hokage, like Shikamaru's father, a strategist, a diplomat. But this doesn't mean he wouldn't be the best Hokage ever. He is an awesome leader, someone who is able to inspire others with both his words and his actions. Nevertheless in this story Itachi is set to become clan leader and Hokage because his desire to change the world (and make it a safe place for Sasuke) is so strong that he is fine with taking the power in his hands.
This is a non-massacre AU where the massacre almost happened; this means that Itachi went through all the turmoil that he lived from the moment Shisui committed suicide to a few moments before the massacre. He went through Danzo's humiliation and threats, he was accused of Shisui's murder, he was alone and lost trust in everyone and accepted to slaughter the clan so that Sasuke would live. Then he discovered that Shisui wasn't dead and they planned together how to counter Danzo, he was called a genius and then a hero, but no one knows how badly he suffered, like I described in the latest chapter. Only Shisui knows, he knows him better than anyone else. That sort of pain, together with the one he felt as a child witnessing war, never leaves. So to him it's a duty to protect his little brother from that same pain, and it's a blessing to have him in his life. Nothing is too much or too complicated if it means that Sasuke will be fine. Also, he is very controlling, and stubborn, and goal-oriented, so much that he is aware of Sasuke suffering from being left out of many things, and he does nothing to change it, because the final goal -Sasuke's happiness in a safe peaceful world free from machinations that use people as pawns- is more important to him than anything else.
Shisui has suffered a lot as well. What he feels for Itachi is similar to what Itachi feels for Sasuke; nothing is too much or too complicated if it means that Itachi will be "fine", or less bad. Even faking his death to give him a new power. Even making him suffer for months, while he was bringing the Hyuuga on his side. It's a little similar to what Itachi did to Sasuke, making him stronger even if it meant also making him suffer. Both had to make hard choices. I explored his dark side, a glimpse of which is seen (in canon) in fact that he committed suicide so Danzo wouldn't take his eye and Itachi would have Mangekyou, leaving a too young Itachi alone, caught between Konoha and the clan.
I took this to an extreme level, not just making him not die instead, and find a solution to help Itachi, but also torturing and killing Danzo in a gruesome way. Somehow I think that someone who would commit suicide to give their loved one a new power, in other circumstances would also kill the enemy that threatens their people and the same loved one. Especially in the way Danzo did. The other thing that "darkened" Shisui's personality in my story is that he realized Itachi's real feelings and ended their relationship, becoming bitter, disillusioned. I don't think it's demeaning for him, he is still selfless and he is still a hero. He's just more human. It's terrible to love someone realize they don't feel the same.
Sasuke, instead, has been spared a lot of tragedy in this AU. He has a family and a brother. His generation has less worries, even Naruto, who lost his father but still has his mother and no one mistreated him, knowing that he's the Fourth Hokage's son.
Yet Sasuke suffers a lot, only his pain is different, more personal. His father neglected him and preferred Itachi, even more so since no one died and his firstborn son kept being perfect, even solving the issues between them and Konoha. There are a lot of strong Uchihas and even though Sasuke's results are the same as in canon he is not considered a prodigy, especially because everyone is biased against those who haven't seen the war, so to speak.
Sasuke admires Itachi and feels inferior to him, so I don't think that in this AU it would be IC to portray him as excessively possessive and jealous. Not when he has always seen his brother, the hero, spending time with Shisui, the other hero. They're on a sort of pedestal in his eyes, he admires them both and strives to be like them.
Also, I am a little tired of that sort of imagery where Sasuke's jealousy would touch psycho levels like keeping him locked from the world. My reference model for Sasuke and Itachi is the fight against Kabuto, with Edo Tensei Itachi, commanding but calm, confident and selfless, leading Sasuke, watching him all the time, jealous of him giving too much attention to Kabuto but also incredibly respectful of his younger role and naturally relying on him for guidance. Then trying to understand him. Then trying to make his dream come true. To me in those moments, Sasuke's behavior is that of someone who respects the other, not someone who wants to own him. Of course he would be jealous and possessive of Itachi, but I can't see him as a drama queen who makes scenes if someone talks to Itachi. Instead he would never forget who disrespects him. Then he'd go berserk. After all the time they spent separated I'm sure he knows what matters and what doesn't. But this is my perception of them, it's only relevant for me and my writing, be it fiction or not.