Note: I finally made a cover photo! It's not the best sadly. I think my older version of Matsuri looks way better. I'll change it to that whenever he finally reveals himself but if you want to check it out, it's on my deviantArt. Same name as here ( it never changes) Shinan7.

Chapter 9 Part Two:

Matsuri peeked over the corner and giggled slightly as Shisui cussed again. The Uchiha didn't seem to notice the eight year old just yet, and continued trying to do something with the pan. Matsuri wasn't sure what, but it probably wasn't with anything edible in it.

The blue haired boy made his was over and peered around Shisui to see what he had been making.

Everything was burnt and black. Matsuri couldn't help but raise any eyebrow. "You suck, Shisui-nii."

Shisui yelped in surprise, promptly dropping the wooden spoon that he'd been holding. "Marsuri! What do you expect?! Your freaking stove sucks!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." Matsuri stuck out his tongue. "Just heat up some water for ramen." Instead of waiting for the teen, Matsuri placed the kettle on the stove and took the pot that Shisui had used and dumped the contents into to thrash can. "What were you trying to even make?"

Shisui blushed slightly in embarrassment. "..." He mumbled something but Matsuri couldn't tell what it was.

Matsuri giggled and went back to his room to find something to wear. He didn't feel like taking a shower, but with all the training he had done the day before…

A sigh of resignation left Matsuri's lips as as he came to his decision. He went through his closet and took out some black pants and a grey shirt, and headed into the bathroom. "I'll be right back! Try not to burn the water!"

"Hey!" The indignant cry from Shisui was well worth it. "I'm not an idiot!"

The snicker left Matsuri's mouth as he closed the door behind him.

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"What's that...?" Matsuri asked as he spotted something behind Shisui's back after he finished slurping the noodles.

"Well, I found this and thought if you start wearing it now, people would get used to not seeing your face?" Shisui pondered that for a moment, before tossing a light cloth at Matsuri.

The boy caught it with one hand, and raised an eyebrow. "A... mask...?"

Shisui nodded enthusiastically. "That way you only have to do the henge when you're older. If you don't like having a mask, we can try something else... like a high collared shirt or maybe a scarf...?" Shisui trailed off in thought as he thought about it a bit more.

Matsuri finished his ramen and went to the bathroom to see how he would look with it on. As it went over his head and covered the bottom part of his face, Matsuri had to admit that it really did hide his features a bit more... The only thing you really saw were his grey eyes…

"Here, let's try this." Shisui said as he walked in behind Matsuri and studied him for a second. He finger combed Matsuri's blue locks and made a very high pony tail. He tied it with an emerald colored strip of cloth. A few of the shorter strands of hair went on either side of his face, framing his eyes.

Again, Matsuri studied himself in the mirror, trying to gauge his appearance. Normally, he liked having his hair down... but this didn't look half bad.

At that thought, Matsuri knew that he had finally fully accepted Shisui's prank to keep people thinking that he was a girl... Sigh.

"Aww! Look at my cute wittle nee-chan!" Shisui teased, holding back more than a few chuckles at the look that Matsuri shot him. "You know Kakashi is going to love you."

At that, Matsuri tilted his head to the side in thought. "...Because of the mask?"

"Yup! But you're my mini-me! Always remember that!" Shisui walked out of the room and checked the time. There was still a lot of time until Matsuri had to go to the Academy. "Let's go find you a new outfit though... One that's a bit more..."

"Not girly!" Matsuri crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm NOT wearing a dress!"

About thirty minutes later, Matsuri was muttering under his breath and shooting Shisui death glares as he walked out of a clothing store with one of his new outfits on. It was long, hitting his upper thigh. The material was a white chinese style shirt with long sleeves that flared at the ends. They hid his hands well, and Matsuri grudgingly admitted that it would be useful in hiding what hand seals he was using... He would remember that for when he was older, except for maybe slightly less flared sleeves... His pants weren't that bad either, they were dark grey, almost black, and stopped at mid calf. He had taken off the mask for now, but his hair was still up in the high pony tail that Shisui had put it in.

The overall outfit... was definitely girlier…

"Hey! A mask with a heart on one side! It would look so cute! And it fits your eye color!"

Matsuri twitched.

"Oh! And this!"

Suddenly, Matsuri stiffened and Shisui sprayed him with something. A lavender- vanilla- mixture- of obnoustiously strong perfume. The smell wafted up around him, and Matsuri couldn't help but gag. Quickly, Matsuri yanked on the silver mask with the blue -dare he say it?- heart on the left side... The silver color matched the clasps on his shirt and his eyes... At least he wasn't coughing anymore…

"There! Though, you probably wouldn't have had to worry about smell until puberty..." Shisui thought about it for a second, before shrugging. "Eh, whatever. What time is it? If we have time, let's drop off this bag at your place, if not..."

Matsuri shrugged as he strapped his ever present pouch around his waist, underneath the shirt. He'd noticed most -if not all- shinobi put the pouch part on their back, but he'd liked having his on his front hip. It was easier for the classroom... Maybe when he was a genin he would have two. One -his favorite- and another one at his back. He had to admit that it was definitely easier to reach back for weapons... Especially if he was on the move…

Absently, Matsuri took out an empty storage scroll and motioned for Shisui to hand over the bags. With a poof, everything disappeared as Matsuri sent a bit of chakra into it. He then rolled up the scroll and tucked it into his pouch.

That was when he noticed that Shisui was watching him with a small smile. Matsuri quirked his eyebrow a bit in a silent question.

Shisui shook his head and glanced up at the sky. "It's probably time then... Let's go! I want to show you off to my cousins!" Shisui placed his hand on Matsuri's arm.

"Wait! We can-!" Matsuri felt like his stomach was left behind. He dropped to his knees as soon as they appeared in front of the Academy. "Walk!" He finished with a curse.

"Nah, to slow." Shisui grinned and walked ahead while Matsuri took deep breath to calm his nausea. "If you're going to learn how to shunshin, you better not do that during a battle."

"Shut up!" Matsuri pouted -though he wasn't sure that Shisui would notice it- as he jogged to catch up with the Uchiha.

Obviously, the teen had spotted his two cousins because he had a huge grin on his face. "Sasuke, Itachi!"

The two turned and as Matsuri finally caught up to Shisui's side, he noticed the way Sasuke's jaw dropped. He chose to ignore the look on Itachi's face. It was just... so wrong. Who knew an Uchiha as strict as Itachi could have that amused look? Sure, around Sasuke he wasn't as uptight but Matsuri wasn't Sasuke.

Matsuri paused slightly as Sasuke eyed him in surprise. "What is it...?"

Sasuke blinked and then seemed to shake himself. "You look different."

"Uh.. yeah.." Matsuri had to glare up at Shisui who was having a hard time keeping a straight face. That time, Matsuri knew that Shisui noticed because he barely held back a chuckle.

"Go on you two, or you're gonna be late! I'll catch you after the Academy, Matsuri!" Shisui pushed the two boys towards the doors and waved happily when Matsuri scowled back at him.

They made their way quickly to the room, and Matsuri made sure to keep his head down. He just felt so awkward! The clothes weren't overly girly, at least he could thank Kami for that. If they had been pink - or Kami forbid, purple!- he would have thrown a fit. And Shisui would have regretted having Matsuri after him.

Ino spotted him immediately, and he winced as she squealed happily. "Matsuri-chan! Wow! You look cute!"

"What's with the mask?"

"What the heck is that?!" Kiba grimaced, covering his nose with his hands. "Gawd, that's strong!"

Matsuri just sank deeper into his seat. His face was hot, luckily, most of the redness was covered by the silver mask.

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Matsuri sighed as he sat outside in the sun. It was a nice feeling the way the warmth hit him. Even through all his clothes, he could feel it. It made his slightly drowsy the longer that he stayed immobile.

He had decided to stay on his own during lunch. Everyone had seemed so interested in talking to him that Matsuri had gotten sort of spooked. It was just way too much attention. The boy shook his head with a slight smile on his lips. After a few more moments, Matsuri reached into his pouch and pulled out one of his research scrolls. This one was on the theory of how a shinobi and kunoichi was better off with a specialty and having passing knowledge of something else. It was something that Matsuri didn't really understand. He felt like the more he knew, the better off he would be. But that was him. He knew that some shinobi excelled with one thing, like Gai-san, Kakashi's friend. He never did anything other than taijutsu. He could if he wanted to but he didn't.

Matsuri figured if it worked for him, then all the better. Though Matsuri doubted that he would ever go that route. Then it got him thinking. He had been focussing on throwing weapons, and that was kind of specialty. If he was only focused on that, he would be vulnerable when someone got in close to him…

At that thought made Matsuri frown and he placed the scroll back into his pouch and took out another one, along with a pencil.

Matsuri pondered that for a moment before writing something down, in order of least to most.

Mid Range Skills:

Ninjutsu/Genjutsu Skills: Henge

Short Range Skills: Academy Taijutsu, Kunai

Long Range Skills: Bow, Senbon, Kunai, Shuriken

After looking at it for a good ten minutes, Matsuri grimaced. It was bad. Like really bad. It wasn't even funny.

"I'm not half decent with kawarimi and shunshin is not even... And I can't put my shield because I haven't been able to use it since..." Matsuri muttered to himself, feeling a slight pang in his chest at the reminder of that day.

He swallowed harshly before continuing to mutter to himself. "Hmmm... I'll keep working on the ninjutsu and hopefully I'll have better control when I keep practicing... Wonder if I can learn any close range weapons...? Sword..? Tanto...? Should look into it... I'll ask Shisui-nii...Hope he doesn't mind?"

Suddenly, Matsuri stiffened. He turned his head slightly at the chakra signature that he felt appear suddenly behind him. He was sure there had been something there. But nothing met his eyes. Matsuri pushed himself to his feet, while trying to get his senses to work with him. The signature moved to the left and Matsuri kept his eyes locked on it. And yet, he couldn't see it!

It didn't feel familiar either.

With growing uncertainty, Matsuri retreated. He made sure to keep facing whatever direction the signature was coming from, though he seriously doubted that he could do anything to protect himself.

He didn't feel safe... It was almost like back then, back when those vile creatures had killed his sister... Had tried to kill him…

Just as suddenly as the chakra appeared, it left.

Why?

Who?

"Ne, Matsuri-chan! Can you hear me? Matsuri-chan!"

Matsuri was jolted out of his panic and dread. His eyes flickered around him, spotting his friends surrounding him. He somehow hadn't noticed them, being too focused on finding the danger. Instinctively, he'd assessed the non threat of his friends and ignored them to keep looking for that signature.

Once, he focused on their faces, he saw that most, if not all, had concerned looks.

Naruto was the one that looked the most distressed. "Matsuri-chan? What's wrong? What happened?"

"... I-I..." Matsuri hesitated. He didn't want his friends to be targeted if Matsuri told them. He didn't want them to come to their -whoever it was- attention. The sharp spike of chakra made Matsuri stumble back and into Shikamaru. He felt like he'd been stabbed.

"Wha-" Shikamaru steadied Matsuri, and he felt the way she was shaking. "What's the matter?"

"I- I don't feel too good..." Matsuri groaned, his face was clammy and the way his mask felt was uncomfortably sticky... He just wanted to get out of view, out of the area... Away from that. Matsuri couldn't keep his eyes from going from the spot he'd felt that spike of chakra. It was gone again, but Matsuri knew that he was still there. Still watching.

"Matsuri-chan!" Just then, Iruka came running out of the Academy, with Kiba just behind his heels.

He wasn't sure if he should feel like this, but Matsuri felt safer. Not as safe as say... if Shisui had been there, but definitely safer than when it was just himself.

His shaking did not go away, and neither did his clammy skin. He didn't feel even remotely safe for a while after.

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As soon as Matsuri walked out of the Academy, he saw Shisui's unruly hair and immediately threw himself at the teenager. He latched onto the Uchiha's side and buried his face into his shirt.

"Huh? What's wrong Matsuri?" Shisui asked, sounding worried to Matsuri's ears.

Matsuri just held on tighter.

A/N: I made a few tiny changes in the first chapter, but nothing major. I will be writing one more chapter before jumping up to graduation so brace yourselves.

Thank you to everyone that reads, follows, and/or favorites!

Special thanks to my previous chapters reviewers: DarkDust27, Nekohana, HextheDaydreamer, and SleepiPanda! Love the love!