Home is Where the Heart Is

Celestia193's Author's Note: Get ready to say "Aw…" because we get some cute and fluffy in this chapter. There's some Sasuke Shisui bonding, and Shisui is just as awesome as ever. So let's give him some applause for being the best big cousin ever!

Chapter 7

"Holy…shit." Sasuke's eyes widen, and he tries and fails to resist the urge to hide behind Itachi at the sight of the…there had to be two hundred freaking people here. "…How big is the royal family, exactly?" The ballroom was packed with people sitting around tables, and they all had one thing in common. Very, very dark hair. From dark chocolate and ebony to jet and midnight black, and in their regalia, there was a profusion of blue, red, black, silver, and gold.

"Hm…fairly large." Itachi smiles at his suddenly skittish brother. "It has to be to sustain the royal bloodline."

"I see…" Sasuke swallows nervously. "And somehow…you're first in line for the throne. You're very…fortunate." And Sasuke was fairly sure that some of those faces, he'd seen around the palace. "And…no one here is going to try and assassinate their way to the throne? Because that's how it sometimes works back on Earth."

"Well…it has happened before, but we're rather good at taking precautions. There hasn't been a successful assassination in…seventeen hundred years, I believe." And the High Prince was completely unconcerned about the possibility.

"Right." Well, that only made Sasuke feel marginally better as he follows Itachi as discreetly as possible through the ballroom towards the head table set up at the far end. "It smells good in here."

"Of course." He smiles at Sasuke reassuringly as he leads him towards Mikoto and Fugaku.

Sasuke's self-consciousness rose as he saw the two places set out on either side of the king and queen. And as Itachi took the place to his father's right, the place to the queen's left was vacant. Telling. The place at the king's right hand was reserved for his firstborn heir. The place to the queen's left, for the second heir.

Nerves fraying a little, he takes a seat next to the queen, and feels two hundred pairs of eyes on him all at once, though only for a few moments. Apparently, he'd just made quite the statement.

Mikoto places one of her hands on his and whispers into his ear. "It's alright." It was only to be expected they'd all stare.

He nods, biting his lip a little to calm himself. He could do this. Sasuke would sit here, endure the stares, and everything would be fine. He'd done harder things than this. At least, he was pretty sure…

However, with everyone seated, it was time for Fugaku to make the announcement. Their clan was largely single-minded in how things were perceived, but there were still a few black sheep in the crowd.

The king stands, drawing the eyes in the room to himself. "I offer all greetings under the stars to my kin gathered here tonight. It is a pleasure to host this clan-wide celebration this night, and with it, comes an announcement that my wife and I are very pleased to make."

Mikoto nods and flashes a charming smile at everyone. The picture of poise and grace at the moment, even if she had spent much of the day braiding Sasuke's hair.

The king glances at the slightly flushed face of the child seated next to his wife, holding steady, despite his obvious nerves. "Tonight is a night to be remembered for our clan, for tonight, we bring to you a new member of our family! Tonight, Mikoto and I present our youngest son, Sasuke Uchiha, Second Prince of Thiral." His booming voice echoes the announcement to every corner of the ballroom, and every pointed ear in attendance.

Itachi watches Sasuke like a hawk. He really hoped that Sasuke didn't faint. Though he wouldn't have blamed him, if he did.

The hall started off silent, and Sasuke was starting to feel a little light-headed, only for a man and woman to rise from one of the closest tables, the huntress from before, and an elven man with short, unruly hair, with a single long braided lock on one side of his head. Both of them turned their eyes on the young new prince, scrutinizing him for a moment, before smiling widely and clapping loudly for the entire ballroom to hear.

Fugaku breathed a sigh of relief at seeing young Shisui and Izumi taking so quickly to the boy, and beginning what was quickly developing into a veritable thunder of applause, more than half the clan rising to their feet, for some had their physical difficulties, brought on by age, and traded for wisdom, and a few, well, they could never be pleased.

Sasuke's breath came in short little pants, his body shaking a little as the applause drowned out almost all of his thoughts. Blood pounded in his ears as he sat stock still, leaning slightly against his mother, but not showing any outward panic. …His mother. That was going to take some getting used to. "They…like me?"

She smiles and kisses his forehead. "Of course, they adore you." The poor boy was getting overwhelmed it seemed. He must have truly come from such a cruel world, for him to be so shocked at a positive response.

Feeling a little dazed, Sasuke barely notices as the king sits down, and the applause ends, only to be replaced by loud, incessant chatter as the doors open and an enormous roasted boar is carted into the hall.

Fugaku chuckles at the sight. "I take it that Shisui was the first to be informed of tonight's feast?" He looks to his eldest son with a twinkle in his eye. "Giant roasted boar?" The boar was Shisui's trademark, of sorts. If there was a feast to be had, one of their clan's greatest hunters had a habit of leaving the palace to wrangle a boar for dinner.

"Well, you know how Shisui loves to show off." Itachi chuckles at that. "At least no one will ever go hungry."

"Very true." Though Fugaku did suspect that they might have stunned Sasuke into silence for the evening. The poor boy looked utterly overwhelmed by the attention and the whispers, though he had endured it extremely well. At least the child had a plate of food to occupy his attention with. A plate that he attacked with…unusual gusto. Well, he was still fairly small, perhaps his appetite indicated that he was soon to undergo a growth spurt. "Least of all, Sasuke."

Mikoto nods at that. "Well he is a growing boy." She smiles at everyone. "Please join us in celebrating this night with a grand feast."

Sounds and cheers of agreement ring throughout the hall, The Uchiha Clan eager to celebrate the 'birth' of a new little prince. With some grumbling, of course, but Fugaku was certain that meeting Sasuke properly later would quell any reservations his family had about taking in this boy, seemingly out of nowhere.

For now, it was time to feast, drink, and celebrate.


Sasuke was…kind of impressed, actually. Apparently, his family really knew how to hold their liquor. Well, up to a certain point. Most of the clan had been perfectly capable of walking around. But…a few people had drunk themselves right to sleep. Whatever was in that elderberry wine…he kind of wanted to find out now.

Okay, maybe not NOW now, but eventually. Maybe he could get someone to sneak him some for his birthday.

Still, it was a bit strange to have one of his new relatives…yeah, he was still getting used to just thinking that, waltz up to him with a big smile on his face. And if he remembered correctly, this wild-haired elf was called… "Shisui, right?" Itachi had mentioned him as a favorite cousin a few times.

"That's right." He beams at him and claps him on the back. "So you're Sasuke." He looks him up and down. "You look strong for your age. It's a bit early, but maybe in a few years you can come on a hunting party with us."

A few years? Really? "Right, that's fair…" Sasuke sighs, frustrated once again by the fact that he was just a kid to them. "Just you wait, I'll be hunting by winter."

"An elf after my own heart." He chuckles. "Guess you're not really as much of a book mage as your brother. Itachi is a damn good shot, but he'd rather learn spells."

Sasuke's eyes light up, surprised, but thrilled to be acknowledged so quickly. "He says I've got the spirit of a wild elf. Maybe that's it?" After all, this cousin seemed a tad on the wild side, especially if he was the one that hunted that giant boar.

"Maybe. Some elves are more academic or magically focused and others prefer working with their hands and are warriors. King Fugaku falls into the latter group himself, but it's the Queen who is a wild elf, born and raised." Shisui shakes his head in amusement. "Of course, I can't tell you how she won his love yet…you'd probably blush and fall over. Wild elf women are just that…wild."

Yeah…Sasuke had seen enough of Kakashi's book to know that he really didn't want an elaboration on THAT. "Yeah, I can go without the explanation. But I guess…best of both worlds?"

"You could say that." Shisui nods. "Itachi says he's been teaching you how to use a sword and bow. That you're picking up on it quickly. That and…apparently there was some scuffle with Suigetsu." He pauses and adds. "We're both convinced he's got some water sprite in him or something."

Sasuke's cheeks flush light pink. "Yeah…I might have punched him in the nose…" But the idiot had been BEGGING for it. "He called me a girl. So I slugged him."

"That sounds like something Suigetsu would do. He does love to tease." Shisui shakes his head. "Can't say, he didn't deserve that."

"Oh, he definitely deserved it." Sasuke tilts his head as he takes in his new cousin's appearance again. "You're different to the others I've seen so far. You look more like what I've heard about wild elves." What with the braid on one side, and the multitude of earrings, especially the long crystal ones. "Is one of your parents from one of the…wild tribes?" That's what Itachi and his mother had called them, right?

"My father is." He smiles at him. "I don't mind saying that, though usually one waits for someone to volunteer that. It's…well, wild elves are something of a mystery to the people of Thiral. It's starting to change because of Mikoto. And there are more 'mixed' marriages, but still." He figured it was better to warn Sasuke about this just in case. "Especially amongst the older elves, you never really know what sort of reaction you'll get."

"Oh." Well, that didn't seem fair at all to Sasuke. "Well, I think it's cool. And if some old geezers don't like it, then I know exactly where I can shove my foot." Up their ancient asses, that's where.

He chuckles at that. "Yes, well that's more or less what Queen Mikoto tells them. Though none dare speak openly about such things within her or the king's earshot."

"Or mine, if they know what's good for them, or they'll learn the hard way how I deal with stupid people." And got into a lot of trouble for it as a kid. But Sasuke could only tolerate so much. "For a society that seems more…progressive than the one I came from, well, that's as ignorant and immature as judging someone for the color of their skin."

"Skin color means little here." Shisui nods at him. "Though, I suppose it's only natural. People tend to prefer the familiar to the unknown." He smiles, trying to soothe the young prince's agitation. "As I said, it's beginning to change. It'd be hard for it not to with Queen Mikoto sitting on the throne. She has largely assimilated." Until you got her mad.

"Sounds like people are still being stupid, though." Well, Sasuke supposed that there would be problems, no matter where he was. But…maybe he could try to make a difference? "Anyway, I just…I wondered if that was why you wear so many earrings. M-Mother wears lots of earrings too, but Itachi doesn't. So I just thought…was that why?" It sounded stupid to Sasuke's ears, but there was just so much that he didn't know, that his mind was full to bursting with questions, and finally…well, some of them just had to come out.

"Wild elves do tend to wear more earrings." He smiles at him. "Most of them don't really mean anything other than a fashion statement." A few of them had deeper meanings, though. "But one of them, I got for my coming of age ceremony, another one is made from the antler of a stag I shot on my first successful hunt, there's also the one I've had since birth." A few were special, but most were just pretty.

"Oh, I see." That made sense. Of course there would be a few sentimental pieces mixed in with the more 'fashionable' pieces. Sasuke eyes the long braid as well. "And that? Another fashion statement?" He'd seen a lot of braids, but typically they were done in pairs, or sets, often with silver or gold chains, and sometimes with jewels. But Shisui's was rather plain, in comparison, with just a leather tie, and some shining, intricately carved onyx beads braided into the equally dark hair.

"That's my piece of the night sky." Shisui smiles as he runs his hand through his hair. "When you fall in love with someone, you cut the braid off and give it to them. Some elves use multiple braids and turn it into quite the impressive trinket. Necklaces are a common choice."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "Just like that?" That was a weird tradition if he'd ever heard one. "Why did you call it a piece of the night sky? And what happens if you fall in love more than once?" There had to be some kind of trick to this. "And why hair? Wouldn't a regular necklace be easier?"

So many questions, Shisui observes with amusement. "We call it a piece of the night sky because our hair tends to be dark. Sometimes black as the night sky." He smiles at him. "It's giving up a piece of yourself to someone else, which makes it more symbolic than just regular jewelry in our minds." Shisui shakes his head at the other questions. "So a regular necklace is easier and of course we do sometimes give those in addition to this as well, but less meaningful. You can only give your piece of the night sky to one person…unless your beloved dies, then of course it's socially acceptable to give someone else one."

Oh…that made a lot more sense. Sasuke had heard of things like that before. "So…it's kind of like a marriage proposal?" Shisui's was definitely long enough to be worn around the neck. "I take it that you're not married, then? Wait, do elves even get married, outside of the king and queen?"

"Essentially, but generally it's viewed as even more meaningful than that." Shisui nods his head at the boy's question. "I'm not married, but elves do get married, yes. Well some do and some don't. Most eventually enter some sort of exclusive relationship, of course."

Fugaku, having heard every word between the cousins, chuckles. "Shisui, perhaps you should show Sasuke to his new chambers. I have obligations to attend to, and it would seem that he has a rather impressive barrage of questions for you that would take until long after it would still be interesting to him to be here."

Sasuke glances at the king, his new…father. Still weird. But he knew what that was code for. He was saying that Sasuke was being a loud, curious kitten, and things were going to get very boring in here, very fast, and the king was offering him a way out, before getting caught up in what was no doubt a large mountain of clan politics. Something that not even a king could worm his way out of. So he was giving the two of them an easy out.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Shisui gestures for Sasuke to follow him. "Come. I think that you'll enjoy your new quarters even more than your last ones."

"You mean more than Itachi's room?" Sasuke was still a little embarrassed about that. "I guess…it's about time I stop mooching off Itachi." Casting a last backwards glance at his new parents, Sasuke scurries off after Shisui, following the older elf through the crowd of relatives.

He blinks at that. "Oh. I thought they gave you guest quarters." Well perhaps, he wouldn't like them more than Itachi's room. "Well still, I'm certain that you'll enjoy the privacy of your new room." He leads him down the hallway.

Hallway was putting it mildly, though. Sasuke was pretty sure that every hundred feet, you could put in another small house. "No, since I was injured, Itachi kept me in his room so that he could look after me. And then…he just never moved me." Though privacy did sound kind of nice.

"Ah well that makes sense." Shisui beams at him as he leads him further down the hallway. "You seem to have recovered quickly."

"With healers coming in every day, and Itachi fussing over me like a mother hen, I'd hope so." The walls were incredible, so organic in the way they were hollowed out. "…Itachi once mentioned that the palace was…sung out of the tree." Which Sasuke took to mean that they'd used magic and made it grow this way. "Is that something done a lot here?"

"Well singing usually goes hand in hand with a certain kind of magic that grows plants." Shisui nods at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We do that a lot for the spring festival in particular."

The spring festival? "Is that what all the noise was about outside while I was injured?" Sasuke had wondered about that, and it had made the air feel weird. Not a bad weird, just…weird. And he'd felt hot too. Also weird.

"Yes, the spring festival helps us to grow the forest. There are other aspects of course, but everyone looks forward to it." There was so much that Sasuke had to learn, but Shisui didn't mind answering his questions.

"Oh." Well, Sasuke felt a little left out now. "I guess there's always next year." Right, because he was going to be here next year. "Wait, is that…?" He slows down as they approach a door, and he notes the twisting letters embossed upon the door, along with what he presumed was the royal crest. Sasuke Uchiha. Just like how Itachi's name was written on the door to his own chambers.

"Of course." Shisui smiles at him. "It's your room now. It should have your name on it."

"Right." Sasuke presses his hand to the door, pushing it open with a light touch.

Inside, the room is a profusion of dark, fluid colors. Blacks, blues, silvers, and earthy tones as well, accented with red drapes that parted to let the light of the setting sun inside. A gigantic circular bed was the centerpiece of the room, with bookshelves filled to the brim pressed into a corner, and a small archery range set up on one side. While he couldn't see the bathtub directly, Sasuke could see the imprint of it in the floor, tucked away behind translucent blue curtains.

Behind the bed, set up underneath one of the windows, was a large desk, coupled with a very comfortable-looking chair, and stocked with ink and quills, and what Sasuke was pretty sure was the dictionary he'd marked up, along with a few of what passed for encyclopedias in this world. It was…everything he needed, and with plenty of room to add more, if he liked. "It's perfect…"

The older elf seems rather pleased at this assessment. "I'm glad you like it and I'm sure the king, queen, and Itachi will be thrilled that you do as well." It was a very nice room though. Shisui found himself almost feeling a bit jealous.

"Yeah…" Sasuke makes for the bed in a bit of a daze. "Jeez, this bed is the size of my old room." And now, he had so much space. He could totally put furs or something on the floor or hang them on the walls. It was easy to get lost in daydreams of what this place could look like. "Hey, you go hunting a lot, right?"

"Yes, that is my occupation." He smiles at him. "Well other than being a noble in general." Which was quite the feat in itself sometimes.

"So…that means that when I get the hang of shooting a bow, you'll take me out into the forest on a hunt, right?" He wasn't after nightspawn or anything, but Sasuke was pretty sure that if he really practiced hard, he could at least hit an elk. Somewhere on its body, anyway.

"Well most elves do tend to tag along on hunts fairly young." Though he wasn't sure how the queen would feel about such a thing. "So if the king and queen have no objections, I don't see why not."

Sasuke grins excitedly. "As long as we mention that we're NOT going after nightspawn, I don't think it'll be too hard." He'd probably give someone a heart-attack if he got injured again. "There's like…elk and those giant boars around, right? You know, normal animals?"

"Yes, most animals aren't more threatening than wild boar." he chuckles. "Magical creatures such as unicorns and nightspawn are in the minority."

"Good, so there's no problem then." Sasuke highly doubted that they'd be hunting unicorns. And dangerous animals were, for now, off his list. "Can you teach me how to skin animals too?" It would be good to know how to butcher a kill. "Preferably in a way that keeps the pelt intact?"

The question amused him greatly. "Oh yes. Like I said, my father was a wild elf. I was doing that since before I was your age." He didn't want Sasuke to get the wrong idea though. "Most Thiral Elves, don't learn to butcher like that so early though."

"That's fine. If some old sticks in the mud kick up a fuss about me expanding my skill set, then I've got a few choice words for them. Because I know how to cuss them out in three languages." If Shisui could teach him, then Sasuke wanted to learn. Judgy 'adults' be damned. "On Earth, some kids learn how to do that stuff at the age of nine or ten."

"I've never heard of this Earth Kingdom." Shisui tilts his head curiously at that. "Either way, I'm sure you'll catch on quickly."

"Uh, yeah, I will. I'll do my best." Sasuke rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "It's…not a kingdom exactly. It's…complicated." Crap, he was so used to talking about it with Itachi, that he'd gone and slipped it with Shisui.

"Well if you ever wish to discuss it, I don't mind listening." He nods at him. "I'm…good with complicated."

"…I'll tell you later." Sasuke glances at the door. "There's magic here, so for all I know, the walls have ears. And as far as I know, only Itachi, our parents, and one of the seers knows about my special circumstances. It's probably best to keep it away from people's ears until things have settled down."

"Alright." Shisui smiles as if he didn't have a care in the world. "You are family now. So we have nothing, but time to get to know each other."

Sasuke blinks twice and his cheeks turn tomato red. "Right, family." He…had a really big family now, with a whole whack-load of cousins. And one of them was half wild, and extremely friendly. Yeah, that wasn't weird at all. "Thanks, Shisui."

"Mhm. Well if you have other questions, I'll try my best to answer them." He shakes his head. "They'll probably be interrogating the king and queen for the better part of the night. Likely, Itachi too."

"You sure? I'm a night owl." Sasuke wills away the flush in his cheeks, laughing softly. "We could be playing twenty questions for hours." Forget twenty questions, Sasuke had hundreds.

"I think you'll find that I have pretty good endurance." He had to as a hunter. "I'd be a very poor hunter, if I wasn't patient."

Onyx eyes light up, and the bright smile takes almost permanent residence on the usually sullen face. "Okay, let's play."