A/N: I'm sorry my updates are so far in between! I'm back home and have married off my sister, so hopefully updates will speed up. Sorry guys. On the bright side, there are only three or four more chapters to go! I think.

Water up to my knees,
But sharks are swimming in the sea.
Just follow my yellow light
And ignore all those big warning signs.—Yellow Light-Of Monster and Men

The ear was warm and pink, curved like a shell waiting for its treasures to be dipped out. The gentle rasp of a calloused finger on the ridges blended with the soft sound of breathing. The gentle, luxurious in and out of oxygen pulled into the lungs that leant the ear its pink tint and gave the body life. Slowly, large eyes fluttered, the precursor to waking from heavy, heavy sleep. Dark, thick soot lashes brushed the golden skin of a cheek, and a pink mouth crossed with red twisted a bit, frowning, moving, opening for a soft exhalation as the eyes opened again, sleepy and content. And tired. Oh so tired.

Shisui leaned forward and placed his lips by Itachi's ears. He felt the boy's body stiffen, and when he pulled back, Itachi's face showed no signs of fatigue. His eyes were bright, and he was ready. Shisui moved first, sliding out from under the bed into a stiff crouch. He stretched himself out slowly, cracking his back in places and popping his shoulder. The wound was partially healed, but it still burned with the pulling of Shisui's muscles. Shisui rolled to his feet and Itachi emerged after him. In silent motions and gestures, Shisui conveyed what he wanted. Itachi eyed him warily, then padded to his feet and across the room.

In seconds they were both dressed. Shisui led the way to the door and heard the rustle of cloth. He turned his head and caught Kakashi looking at them, half risen from the bed. Itachi made a quick hand motion that was partially blocked by his body, and Kakashi lay back down. Shisui vanished out the door, and Itachi locked it behind them, tying his cloak on as they went.

Shisui took them through a storeroom window, then down damp back alleys. It wasn't even dawn yet, and Itachi followed on silent cat feet with red eyes that almost glowed. If Shisui were in the mood, he'd think Itachi's eyes were brighter than his own. They held a deadly clarity that sucked you in and made you realize things about yourself that you'd never even come close to contemplating before. Those were true Uchiha eyes, not the muddied half breed version. Shisui wasn't, and as soon as they hit the edge of the town, he flickered.

Not far. He paused a listened. Itachi dropped into existence a foot from him. Shisui flashed him a smile and then took off in a great bounding leap over the landscape, his sandals skittering and sliding about on the damp stone. It had rained last night, and the air was rank with the smell of the sea and low tide. Shisui gulped it in as he pushed chakra into his legs and ran. Jumped. Flew. He didn't flicker, and he felt Itachi right behind him—shadowing him every step of the way. He was dropping back, of course. His legs were shorter. He wasn't as certain of his footing. For a moment, Shisui thought he might lose his little shadow.

Then Itachi sped up. He threw himself into the leaps and bounds with the same wild abandon Shisui did, trusting his companion's choices in the foggy pre-dawn murk. Shisui laughed—a wild cackle at the stupidity of fools who trusted mad men, and they descended to the sea at a break neck pace sure to have hair turning white and teeth set in a grimace to meet death.

As soon as they hit the water, Shisui turned on Itachi and laid him out with a kick to the gut.

Itachi hit the water with a wet "splat." As Itachi rose up, he dodged Shisui's grand finishing move. He swung around and punched Shisui squarely in the kidneys, dancing away as Shisui came around to retaliate. He was faster than Shisui remembered, snapping his chakra in a way Shisui found vaguely familiar.

They crashed together again, blocking and striking. Itachi flipped over his head, face fixed in a grim look. Shisui's face twisted into a wide smile as Itachi landed a stinging blow to his cheek and split his lip. Kid was good. Kid moved well too, each step and motion well used. Pretty too, with his braid snapping out behind him. Deadly and gorgeous. What a combination.

Itachi barely blocked the knife strike aimed at his neck and kicked Shisui too close to the groin for comfort. Another five near misses and they came to a stop yards from each other, breathing hard and wary. Shisui slowly relaxed, watching Itachi do the same. Slowly, the younger walked up to Shisui. His lips quirked.

"So you're back." Simple words as he cocked his head to the side, regarding Shisui carefully with an almost lazy contentment on his face.

"Yup, back and ready." As Itachi's lips twisted to ask "for what," Shisui flickered. He grabbed Itachi around the waist and threw him into the air. Shocked by this tactic, Itachi landed with a satisfying splash before vanishing under water, and Shisui laughed.

Shisui spent the rest of the morning teaching Itachi how to catch fish bare handed. Much to Shisui's delight, Itachi was terrible at this.

"You would starve."

"I would not," Itachi grumbled. He was in Shisui's cloak and huddled against the other's knee. He looked to be half asleep again, happily dozing on and off on Shisui's knee. Shisui felt a little bad for putting the kid through all this, but what could you do? It wasn't like he's planned to lose his marbles. He also hadn't planned for Itachi to go into full-on mother seagull mode. Scary.

Hesitantly, Shisui reached down and stroked the top of Itachi's head. He expected Itachi to yank back. Instead, the kid twisted his head a little into the pressure, murmuring something soft and Konoha slurred. Shisui grinned, utterly delighted. Just as delighted as he had been while making Itachi eat the fish raw, because that was how you did it. Itachi didn't like it much, but he'd humored Shisui.

This—this right here? This was the most dangerous thing Shisui had ever tried to swim. The worst thing was, it felt too wave cursed good. Made him drop his guard. Made him feel safe, which was a load of ocean silt.

"We should get back," Itachi admitted.

Shisui shook his head. "I want to take you somewhere." As Itachi glanced up curiously, Shisui smiled widely. "Contact of a contact or a contact of a contact…" Shisui's grin grew only wider as Itachi's looked turned sour as an old woman's. Shisui laughed, earning himself a sock to the leg. It stung and Shisui knew it would bruise. Itachi didn't believe in easy violence. If it didn't bruise, it didn't count, so why do it? Itachi stood up and went to retrieve his drying clothes, somehow unconscious of his body as he dropped Shisui's cloak and pulled on his pants.

Shisui grinned wide enough to dimple and kicked his feet out. "Too bad we still need that virginal sacrifice." Itachi gave him a muted glare over his shoulder and tugged his shirt on. He swung Shisui's cloak back over his shoulders and threw his own wet one at Shisui.

"I thought your silver tongue could talk anyone into anything," Itachi countered, walking over with a silent killer's stalk.

"Why would I waste my magic when all that's at stake is a virgin?" Shisui asked, waggling his eyebrows. Itachi thumped his knee into Shisui's, mildly rebuking. Shisui looked up at Itachi, knowing the little brat was still tired. He could probably curl up on the hard stone and sleep.

Shisui offered his hands up. Itachi reached down and caught them, bracing and leaning back at Shisui rocked up to his feet. Itachi still only came to below Shisui's collarbones, but he looked larger.

"How far is it?" Itachi asked.

"Just a swim in a tide pool and a walk to the undergods," Shisui shrugged and started off across the rocks. Itachi's feet took a moment to follow, and it didn't make Shisui nervous to have Itachi pattering behind him. He slid the boy's damp cloak around his shoulders, slowing his pace for just long enough for Itachi to catch up beside him. They were in a hurry, but Shisui's legs were already pleasantly burning from earlier in the morning. So, together, they walked as mortals might, wending and winding down to the path.

Shisui took Itachi along the way that would allow for a small group of soldiers to pass quickly. It was one of the longer ways, but it would be the one the brat's employer would want to use. Itachi studied the path critically as they went from point to point, pausing at times to check the cover. They were moving faster than armed men would, and maybe that bothered Itachi. Maybe his little mind was churning up all the bad things that could happen and all the good things, weighing out pros and cons with each flicker of his eyes.

Shisui left him to it. After all, it wasn't his mission.

After another twenty minutes, Shisui changed track. He did it because he had finally realized someone was following them. He hadn't meant to tip Itachi off but, five seconds after Shisui noticed, Itachi twitched his fingers in a subtle sign that probably meant they were being followed. Shisui didn't know. Stupid Konoha-nin, assuming that Shisui would know his stupid hand signs…

"Mist-nin. The crows recognized them," Itachi murmured softly, eyes ahead. Shisui cursed himself. He hadn't even noticed the water cursed crows! Also, this was going to be a very good fight. A hard one. Could he do it with his arm at half strength? They'd already been sparring this morning, so they would be at a disadvantage.

No time to think. The enemy was here.

Their assailant struck right between them, trying to drive them apart. Shisui went flying to the side, flickering around to come back and strike from behind before he realized she wasn't going for him. He slammed to a stop, letting his shins scream and his eyes go wide and red as he watched.

This woman—it was the woman-was one of Mist's best. She was one of their Hunter-nin, and she had to be good. Itachi, on the other hand, wasn't even ANBU. He was twelve. He had spent nights not sleeping and watching out for Shisui. He'd already had a rough spar this morning, and he had to be tired and cold with weird stomach from eating so much raw fish.

The little brat was holding his own.

More than that, he seemed to be winning. It was an illusion created by the Sharingan's abilities, but Itachi was always one step ahead. Shisui had never seen anyone else fight with the Sharingan before, expect when Itachi had been going for him. Itachi had better mastery of his than Shisui. His chakra moved fast—like fire licking up oil. It burned up, leaving afterimages in Shisui's eyes as his whirling pupils jumped to keep track of the fight. Itachi fought the woman off with a single, heavy bladed knife (SHISUI'S knife, he suddenly realized. Brat had kept it.).

Shisui waited, counting for just the right moment. He bounced on his toes, getting the tempo of the fight into his body and jerking his chakra to attention. He watched as Itachi faltered once, caught himself, but the woman had seen it. She would start thinking that maybe she could take him. Shisui's face cracked into a grin, and he bounced once before vanishing.

The blow to her back sent the woman sprawling, giving Itachi enough time to regain his footing. As she jerked back to her feet (and she was quick), she spun, reassessing with bright eyes behind the mask the double threat. She dodged the almost decapitation by Itachi, then had to dodge again as Shisui aimed a knife strike at her neck. Itachi ducked in from the side and almost hamstrung her, rolling low across the rocky ground to avoid getting kicked in the nose. Shisui fell on her next, landing two quick blows as he flickered by.

She barely staggered, but she'd felt them. Itachi same at her again—from the left, low and fast. At the last moment, she flicked out a long, thin weapon—so thin Shisui could barely make it out. He heard the scratch of Itachi's feet on the ground—grating gravel against sandal as he tried to avoid the blow. His foot slipped. The thin silver arch came for his throat. Shisui flickered.

He caught Itachi around his stomach, flared his chakra, and flickered again, landing heavy and gripping Itachi's suddenly limp form. A quick glance down showed him the blossoming of blood across Itachi's cheek. It was nothing more than a scratch. The boy's hands gripped Shisui's arm with bruising force as he anchored his feet to the ground again.

"Don't kill her. We need questions answered." The orders were almost inaudible, more communicated through the soft vibrations in Itachi's chest as he pushed away from Shisui.

The woman had taken a moment to regard them from behind her mask. Stupid. Shisui sneered and moved, flaring his chakra and slamming into the rocky ground. He used chakra to stick to the uneven rocks. As she whirled to face the noise, Itachi came for her back again. Shisui was impressed with the kid's lack of hesitation to attack someone from behind. She almost stuttered, whipping the long, thin sword around behind her back to block Itachi's blow. Itachi's blade skittered to the side, scoring a thin line along her back. Shisui shoved off the rocks and came at her from the front, dodging a blow that would have likely gutted him.

Her sword reminded him of one of the seven swordsman's weapons, but she wasn't one of them. They would both be dead if she was. Shisui dropped back, down, and kicked at her feet. She simply stepped back, as comfortable as he was with the treacherous rocky ground. Her hands were white knuckled around her weapon, and Shisui imagined her face was a rictus of hate. Someone had issues.

Shisui saw the flair of chakra before he realized what was happening. The fire blossomed, burning away the soggy warmth of the air and replacing it with true heat, raced upon them in seconds. Shisui felt the heat of it lick his face, crinkling up his hair. Shisui flickered, stumbling a little as he landed, flickering again as he felt the heat wash over him again. He slammed to a backwards stop this time, jerked around to see what had happened. A wall of fog and steam rushed over him, and, despite his Sharingan, he could barely see. It didn't matter. He could hear, and he had grown up on a foggy island.

Itachi's steps were light—kitten steps in the murk. The woman…she was a panther. Deadly, silent, but Shisui could almost feel her boots press into the rocks. He closed his eyes and listened, drew a breath, and leapt. Shisui wasn't anything. He was air and water and fog embodied into a physical form, hard enough to kill those who came onto his island unwary.

In this moment, the clammy air rippling by him, Shisui reclaimed something he'd lost in Itachi's cramped little inn room. He was not Shisui, bastard Uchiha and crippled informant. He was not Harada Hashi. He was not Fuwa Eitaro. Or Fukaimori Koji. or Makimachi Misao. Or Ota Kenichi. He wasn't any of those humans with their flesh and bone concerns and abilities.

He was Tsuyu Shisui, bastard child of a woman no one dared name on this damned little island. He was the trickster spirit in the mist, waiting with a wide smile to take whatever he pleased.

He wasn't just some halfbreed ninja.

He was a god.

He took the woman off her feet, knocking the weapon from her hand. They slammed into the ground hard. Shisui felt blood burst across his arm, some stitch ripped (so the bright pain told him). The woman spat, and Shisui felt something burning hit his face. Poison. Nice. Shisui hammered his knee into her gut, hoping it would do more than bruise as he surged up, flipping on his hands to gain he feet and flicker away into nothing.

He smelled Itachi—the boy now silent as he crouched and readied something. Shisui could see the bright curls of chakra all around the boy, whipping in and out of his hands. He heard the woman gain her feet as she wretched, hands on the ground as she scrambled for her weapon. Shisui rebounded on a rock and jumped, wicked grin twisting against the scalded freckles on his face.

She flinched back as his feet crashed back to the earth near her, then they both braced themselves as a heavy wind threatened to knock them both down. Shisui kicked up her weapon into his hand, jumping away even as her kunai slammed into his foot. When Shisui landed this time pain flared from that foot, almost enough to make him stumble. Shisui held firm and realized her mask was off.

And he knew her.

Itachi stood, small and erect, not too far away. His red eyes were cold, and Shisui thought it made him look older. Eerie. Really dangerous though he was tiny bird bones and bleeding from three wounds—one that had almost taken out his eyes.

"You can't beat us. You should know that by now." Itachi spoke in that cold, clipped voice that really said he didn't give a rotting fish about this woman or her life. Shisui's grin widened as she looked between them.

"I only have told hold you for a few more minutes," She replied. Her voice was wonderfully smooth. Lilting and melodic in a way that Shisui instantly liked. He wanted to talk like that.

Shisui laughed. Itachi could be the reasonable one here—sea and surf, he looked it. Shisui knew his hair was at its wildest. Craziest. He smiled so widely his cheeks dimpled. "That's a nice bluff, darling," Shisui giggled—high and deranged. The woman stared at him, and Itachi barely twitched. Good for him!

"They're not coming, are they? Hard to get the dead to get up and fight, isn't it?" Shisui knew this because some memory that wasn't his prompted the knowledge. She was too pale. Too wild in the eyes. Shisui swallowed and drew up the group dynamics. "After your captain killed your lover, you reacted on instinct. You killed him. Then you couldn't let any witnesses live. Now, oh now you can just tell Mist that I killed off your team."

Her eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed as she stared at him.

"And, redeem yourself by bringing them my eyes." Shisui chuckled. "Oh, wouldn't that be sweet? You can't bring him back from the dead, but you can profit, can't you? You can make the most of this disaster, and, at least, you'll keep your life and your dignity."

"You know nothing," She spat. "I've heard all about your tricks—your powerful eyes and your silver tongue. We should have known better than to allow your mother to breed with an Uchiha. You should have never existed, bastard."

"I'm so hurt," Shisui smiled, but his heart was pounding. His mother—had this woman known her? The thought passed quickly. It didn't matter. (Did it?)

The woman sneered and looked at Itachi. "We come from different villages, but least we know what it is to be loyal. This one only knows how to serve himself, and he has the power to twist your mind over on itself. You should know better than to hold an adder to your breast, Uchiha. You'll never even know when he bites you, or how his poison will twist you."

"So I should give him over to you and save myself?" Itachi suggested dryly, his red eyes still spinning lazily. Shisui had to admit, the Sharingan was pretty fascinating to watch.

"Save your needy clan from polluting themselves. Someone like him can never be loyal and true. He's a bargaining chip and nothing more. He seeks his best interest, and, above all, his freedom. If you leave him to me, I'll spare you, Uchiha Itachi."

She seemed disappointed that Itachi didn't seem surprised that she knew his name. Shisui slid a senbon into hand and prepared to kill her, even though he could feel the blood running down his foot.

"Let's not bluff, Hunter-san. The two of us could take you, and Shisui-san has enough reasons to help me kill you without any questions of loyalty cropping up," Itachi raised his chin a fraction. Frigid little fish he was.

"I could escape, and I could blow your cover." She smiled. "How would that damage your clan, if you managed to escape? Wouldn't they be devastated if it was known you had failed such a simple mission?" Her cheek dimpled charmingly, and Shisui saw Itachi falter.

"And you want Shisui." When had Itachi gotten his own, personal way of saying Shisui's name? With a little bit of a lisp and whistled to it that made Itachi sound his age.

"I want him. All I want is for you to walk away, and I'll leave with him." Her honey smooth voice was back. Shisui started cackling, earning himself wary looks from the both. For a moment, Itachi looked like he was considering it. Shisui didn't believe it. Itachi wouldn't give him up after everything, just for this silly mission. Just for pride? Never.

But his face said he was tempted. He was caving. He was giving in.

He shook his head. "Shisui's eyes are nothing special, but he is half my blood. I cannot abandon him to another power." Itachi's eyes closed for a moment, and he seemed to steel himself. "I can give you another Sharingan to take home and appease your masters."

She scoffed. "You would give me your eyes, little genius?"

Itachi shook his head. "No. I would give you an eye that has already been stolen from my family." Itachi's lips twisted in displeasure. "And eye that, because of loyalties, we have not been allowed to take back. It should have been burned along with my cousin's body."

Itachi gave the woman a long look, and her lips dipped up into a pleased smile again. "The Copy-nin travels with you."

Itachi didn't respond to that, but his lips thinned. "I can promise you one Sharingan—unharmed by removal—if this mission goes off without your interference."

"I can't hang around that long, as sweet as your offer is," The woman protested.

"Then give me until the day after tomorrow. I'll meet you before sunrise with the eye," Itachi suggested.

"No. Bring it to me sooner," The woman demanded, stepped forward. Shisui shifted closer, and his foot slid in the blood puddling around his foot. Could he take her? He could. He could annihilate her mind, and it would all be so simple. The only thing that kept him from it was what had happened last time. Would he completely lose himself if he did this?

Itachi stared at the woman for a few long moments where everything seemed to get colder. His eyes were redder than the little bits of coral Shisui dug up on the shore but just as hard and cold. Shisui imagined they would cut into his fingers if he ever touched them. Slice him to the bone. The mere look made this woman hesitate.

"No." Itachi took a breath that looked more like he was tasting the air. "Tomorrow night and no sooner. I have things to accomplish that do not concern you." It tickled Shisui that Itachi was tiny—bird bones and barely over five foot, but he could slam this woman down to a smaller size. Breeding or training? Shisui hoped it was breeding. He wanted to do that.

She wanted to argue. Shisui saw that and was again tempted to pounce. He watched her bite the inside of her cheek, half able to tell because of the twitch there, half able to tell because he knew it was a habit of hers. Then her mouth would taste like blood when his tongue wiped it clean…

"That will do." She lifted her own chin and looked at Itachi as if he was just a child. No one was convinced.

"Don't follow us," Itachi added, eyes narrowing. "Your presence is a hindrance, and I have no intention of endangering my 'simple mission' to calm your distrust."

She smiled. "I'm to just take you at your word, child?"

"You'll take us at our word, bitch, because you don't have a choice. We've got you over a barrel," Shisui's mouth split wide open, and he reached inside for a certain phrasing and cadence. It came up mixed with the scent of her hair and the taste of her skin. His body almost shuddered as a voice whispered how sweet she was. How lovely. How tender and glorious to take in the wildest of places as you both struggled not to make a sound-

(Don't you want to feel that too?)

"Or I'll make you like I made him. You'll go beggin' back to them, tellin' 'em everything you did wrong, my darling." her eyes flickered to him, widening slowly. "You'll tell 'em that the man you was supposed to catch—that he ripped every one of their secrets from your mind—nay, you'll tell them that you told him willingly. And what will they do? What does the Mist do to their traitors, darling mine?"

"Shisui, that's enough." Itachi spoke softly, brining attention sharply back to himself. Shisui snapped his teeth shut, clinging faintly to Itachi's voice and his fragile sense of self.

Who was Tsuyu Shisui anyway?

No one? Anyone? A lying bastard child of no repute?

If he dug into his mind to find what he was instead of living on the surface impulses and charisma, what would he find?

That you are not alone, are you?

That he was thousands or hundreds of people, crammed in fragments into one mind, mixing and mingling and morphing into new people at every turn. It didn't have to make sense. Memories strove to be complete. The partial memory of loving melons cleaved to the memory of being a father in Cloud, even though they were from different people, miles apart.

"Pretty lap dog, isn't he? Do you really trust him?" The woman asked. Shisui could know her name if he dipped his hand down into that memory. He could know so much about her if he just stepped back and down to the left, opening that little hatch that lead to the knowledge. He could see his hand on the door.

"What I trust or don't trust is none of your concern. Only know that I don't trust you." Itachi flicked a knife into his hand. "It would be good for our future dealings if you left now." When asked. Like a good dog. Shisui giggled—high pitched and unnerving even to himself. She glanced at him, and she wanted to fight again. Her hands were shaking, and Shisui started humming.

Little girl on the ocean line,

Little girl I'll make you mine.

Her face twisted into a vicious snarl, eyes bright. She managed to move before Shisui slammed into her. The thin sword he'd held snapped under the pressure of hitting the rocks, and he dropped it. His foot slid on the rocks, laying him out on his side. It didn't matter. Shisui dug his hands into the gravel and rocks and was on his feet in moment, leaping after her. He flickered, point to point, crouching to wait for her. He held his breath until his eyes saw rainbow spots, listening to her footsteps thud closer. She passed him at a run and never knew it. He didn't think she had any intention of coming back. Shisui let out a breath and rose to watch her flee.

Shisui wondered if she was going to report to someone. Maybe her entire team wasn't dead. Right now, he wasn't going to risk getting into a fight with them if they weren't. He leaned against the rock and breathed, then flickered back to where he had left Itachi. Itachi, who was in exactly the same spot he had been when Shisui left, caught Shisui's arm before he fell.

"You don't know the meaning of restraint, do you?" Itachi asked, his little boy fingers pinching into Shisui's skin.

"I was making sure she was going," Shisui shrugged. "She stayed around too long." He wobbled a moment, but got himself moving in the proper direction. In three steps, his foot was screaming agony. Had he broken it? Maybe. Shisui never could tell when his feet were broken.

"Did you think I wouldn't come back?" Shisui asked with a crooked smile.

Itachi shot him a dark, childishly sullen look. "If you hadn't, I would have assumed she attacked you or you passed out somewhere…let's stop and look at your foot."

"Little farther ahead," Shisui motioned with a hand. "Better place to stop." He grabbed Itachi's sleeve and tugged the boy along, breathing in deep gasps that kept his body from crying at him. Flickering was tough work. He almost couldn't get enough oxygen in sometimes. He had a system now, but he'd really been pushing his body today.

Plus, if he focused intently on his breathing, he couldn't hear the voices in his head start to whisper at him.

Shisui guided Itachi down a little rock back, and into a small circle of rocks. Shisui sank down onto one and propped his foot out in front of him. His foot was covered in blood and looked a little swollen. As Shisui leaned forward to ease his sandal off, Itachi crouched down and did it himself. He removed the object with care—a practiced tenderness that made Shisui raise his eyebrows. Itachi's fingers were cold, and Shisui's bright blood made a stark contrast to their paleness.

Itachi's hair was still damp, heavy in the way it clung to his head. Shisui watched that as Itachi's fingers stroked his foot, probing and guessing the damage. Shisui wiggled his toes to be helpful and almost groaned. He rolled his head back, clenched his hands, and closed his eyes, hissing through his teeth.

"Hurts?" Itachi asked, perhaps teasing, maybe just being mean because he could be a sea-witch when he wanted to be.

"Yes. Nothing's broken, I don't think," Shisui offered hopefully. Itachi made a noise of assent and pulled something from the pouch at his hip. Shisui leaned forward a little and watched as Itachi unsealed a small cloth. With it, he started wiping the blood off, ignoring how the blood got all over him.

"You're pretty good at this," Shisui observed, meaning more being gentle than wound cleaning. Who would think to train a killer's hand in kindness? His mother had always been rough but efficient when it came to wound care.

"I have a younger brother," Itachi sounded almost defensive, but his hands didn't falter as he finally found the wound on Shisui's foot. It wasn't large, but it was deep. Shisui leaned over, close enough he could smell the damp salt clinging to Itachi's skin.

"He gets hurt a lot? Why doesn't your mother take care of him?" Shisui pressed, sure that the Uchiha heir would be too busy to take care of baby scratches and bumps.

"Because he asks me too," Itachi began rubbing ointment into the wound and Shisui hissed. He'd missed where that had come from. He'd been looking at the sand in Itachi's scalp.

"I think we had a discussion about you being a needy child who needs to be needed?" Shisui asked, letting his head fall forward enough to tap against the top of Itachi's. Itachi's hands kept moving, perfectly systematic as they tied a bandage around Shisui's foot. That hurt.

"I like taking care of those I love and am responsible for," Itachi countered as he tugged the knot tight.

"Like a good little clan head."

Itachi sat back and looked up at Shisui. He had blood all over his hands and smeared on his dark pants. Shisui's aching foot sat in his lap. His own face had three scratches on it, all aimed at his eyes it seemed.

"Do you want something for the pain?" Itachi asked.

"Nah, it's fine. It'll pass." Maybe.

"Your face…" Itachi grimaced and reached up.

"Is gorgeous?" Shisui finished hopefully.

"Is covered in burns—I thought you were supposed to be fast, Shunshin no Shisui." Itachi sighed and pulled something else out of his magic scroll. This time, it was just a damp cloth. Shisui wrinkled his nose as Itachi raised it towards his face.

"That is the lamest nickname ever," Shisui protested.

"Close your mouth, you're not supposed to ingest this," Itachi instructed, pressing the cloth to the side of Shisui's face. Shisui rolls his eyes. The cloth wiped away the little burning pains of his face. Itachi's eyes were no longer a cold, hard red. They were a soft grey, crinkled at the corner in concerned concentration.

And this, Shisui realized, was Itachi at his more powerful.

"Hey, gimme that cloth. Your gorgeous face is covered in blood, Uchiha genius." Shisui grabbed Itachi's wrist, and Itachi released it with a smile.