on still water
by whisperedsilvers
prompt: "for you."
summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura
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pull me down
"Deidara is dead," Tsunade stated with a certainty frostiness that made the fine hair on her shinobi stand on edge, "As well as Kisame."
Kakashi stared, surely he hadn't been that out of touch, it's only been three weeks since he was last in the village, his mouth burned when he asked, "Who—?"
"Sasuke and Itachi," She answered, her eyes had taken on a grim light, she continued, "Itachi has a mild case of chakra exhaustion, Sasuke has third-degree burns and a shattered leg."
It was like someone took a piece of cotton and swabbed his mouth clean. The Akatsuki names were dropping out of the bingo books like flies, but somehow, it looked like it was too easy. For all the rumors that had been spread about the organization like wildfire, it seemed sort of pathetic, the copy-nin was perplexed— this, was the terrorist group that was frolicking around extracting the tailed-beasts?
Preposterous.
"How many are left?"
"We have identified two more members, Hidan and Kakuza," Tsunade replied, her fingers tapped her desk, "They were last seen in Yugakure."
"But we aren't sure how many members there are, are we?" Gemna interjected suddenly.
"I think there are ten," Sakura mused aloud, her eyes glancing out the window as if she were deep in thought, but really, she was trying to wrap her around the fact that three of the Akatsuki members were indisposed. Suddenly, she was aware of the various pairs of eyes on her, and she turned her head to face the lot.
"Ten?" Tsunade stared at her.
"It's just an assumption," She swallowed, mentally cursing herself for not being attentive.
"Why ten?" Kakashi looked at her strangely.
"Well aren't there ten-tailed beasts?" Sakura pointed out, she crossed her arms, and then shrugged, "If the Akatsuki are hunting the tailed-beasts and there are ten of them, shouldn't there be ten members?"
Ultimately, it was just an overall hypothesis. She had no evidence to back it up other than what was already said, but there couldn't be that many shinobi that powerful and if there were, all of the elemental countries should list them off—shinobi that have gone rogue and shinobi that were far too powerful to ignore, dead or alive.
Tsunade could only look pensive.
—
"Sakura-san," Itachi's voice called out to her in the midst of her tempura run.
"Itachi-san," Sakura blinked at his sudden appearance. She and the ANBU commander were on speaking terms, professionally and unprofessionally, a little more than acquaintances, but a little less than friends. As the head-medic and Fugaku's stubbornness, she was the only medic allowed to treat his son other than Shizune and the Hokage herself. She would like to think they were friendly, but Itachi has always been a little…odd.
"I—" he paused, eyebrows furrowing, "Would you like some tea?"
She blinked again.
What?
"I'm sorry?" she looked bemused.
"Tea?" Itachi looked uncertain, "There's a dango shop nearby, I would like to ask you something."
Bizarre.
This situation was far too bizarre for someone like her to understand, mostly, because this was exactly how she and Shisui started talking—well, not exactly, but it was close enough. First, it was tempura, then he was charming his way into the sparring grounds, and now she couldn't get rid of him.
Not that she wanted to, though she wouldn't admit it.
So, stupidly, she said, "Lead the way."
If Sakura was going to be bombarded with Uchihas, she might as well link her hands with the prettiest ones.
Itachi led them to a very familiar teashop, vaguely, she could remember the beginnings of their unofficial mission: see-underneath-Kakashi-sensei's mask, which was dubbed as operation ramen.
Even the wooden benches were the same.
"So," As soon as Sakura ordered her usual dango, both goma and chichi, she turned to look at Sasuke's brother, "What did you want to ask?"
"How did you know there were ten members?" Itachi asked suddenly and poured her a cup of tea.
His manners reminded her a lot of Shisui. Sakura couldn't remember seeing him or Itachi in the Hokage Tower when Tsunade began to debrief them unless they were deployed outside the tower as security, then they would've heard what they were saying regardless.
"It was just a hunch," she replied defensively. It was just an observation, it wasn't like she had confirmation that there are ten members in the Akatsuki, not unless…
"I received confirmation that there are ten members," Itachi explained, he sipped his tea, "I relayed this information to Hokage-sama about my findings an hour before the debriefing."
Sakura's mouth parted, her voice much softer than she intended, "I was right?"
He nodded.
She furrowed her brows, "Isn't this confidential information? Why are you telling me—"
"Hokage-sama wanted me to keep you in the loop," Itachi's lips twitched, "As the first person to destroy one of them, I thought you would have more insight."
Sakura wouldn't let it show, but she was flattered by Itachi's faith in her. She smiled her thanks when the plate of dango arrived in front of her, she started on her goma stick first, inhaling deeply she began slowly, "I think that it has something to do with the rings?"
Itachi's eyes sharpened, "Rings?"
"Did you take the rings when you and Sasuke…" she trailed off.
"The Hokage has them sealed,"
Sakura stared at him, her mouth twitching at the corners, deliberately, she tilted her head and hooked a finger underneath the silver chain around her neck, she said almost mischievously, "Not all of them."
Sasori's ring hung around her throat like a war trophy.
Itachi took a bite of his dango and tried not to seem too interested, but with the time she had spent with Sasuke – and Shisui – she could see the faint glimmers of amusement, "What do you think?"
"Sakura thinks too much," Shisui – how does he find her, she will never know – interjected, chakra quietly humming from the remains of his shunshin, he grabbed her chichi stick and chewed, "It's what gets her in trouble."
Sakura glared, "That was mine."
"Sharing is caring."
"But I don't care."
Itachi stared at his cousin who was quite literally snuggled up to the pink-haired medic. When had he—where did he? For a moment, Itachi was a loss for words. His cousin was known for being the most friendly of Uchihas, but he was certainly not the most trusting. Shisui smiled with his shoulders raised and cared with his heart on his sleeves, but trust—trust was something earned, and it was so very odd that Sakura – because Shisui was reinstated just three or was it five weeks ago? – had gotten a hold on him.
"What are you doing with Sakura, Itachi?" Shisui asked him as if he didn't know what Itachi was thinking and maybe it was the tone of his voice that had his younger cousin reeling.
"What are you doing with Sakura-san, Shisui?" Itachi replied back just as casually, he raised a brow at the sudden change in tension.
Sakura, who did not like to be in the middle, interrupted their very strange Uchiha-like game, "We're having dango, Shisui."
"I can see that,"
"You mean eat," she huffed.
Shisui winked.
"We're discussing some things," Itachi clarified, his fingers twitched.
He raised a brow, "Ring things, hm?"
Sakura stared at him with incredulity.
Shisui looked at her with a hint of perceptiveness, he poured a cup of tea for himself and then for her—blatantly ignoring his younger cousin. He sipped quietly and hummed, "Hokage-sama is giving me two hours."
"Two hours?"
"Before I receive clearance for the rings Sasuke and you brought back as confirmation," he explained, tilting his head, he elaborated, "Something about paperwork?"
Sakura sighed, she didn't like his tone, because it sounded almost accusatory, "Alright—what is it?"
"What is what?"
"If you know," she pressed, lips thinning at their game, she didn't like where this was going, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to visit you," he frowned.
"But we're meeting later?"
Itachi, who was staring at the two of them like they were something more than a puzzle, but less than a problem, he picked up his last stick of dango, as if it's the only thing left to ground him, he asked blankly, "Shisui, how do you know Sakura-san?"
"That's actually a long story," Shisui chuckled, he threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a good squeeze, "We train together, eat dinner and all that jazz."
"Shisui is terrible with genjutsu," Sakura deadpanned.
The older Uchiha looked betrayed, "I am not!"
"He's really bad at it," she explained to the Uchiha heir, sipping her tea she continued, "He can dispel it easily, but casting it…"
Itachi's lips quirked, he hadn't expected Shisui to indirectly accept her shrewd observation, but what he most certainly didn't expect was for Shisui's fingers to trail up the back of her neck and tangle in her hair. He felt his mouth uncharacteristically dry, as he watched his cousin's blunt nails press and drag down the back of her scalp in a strangely sensual scrape.
"Your hair is longer," Shisui commented lightly, his eyes hot like coals.
"That's what happens when you don't cut it," Sakura quipped, she wouldn't admit how nice it felt for his fingers to weave into her hair, but still her hands shook against her cup, "Anyway, Itachi-san. I don't have anything solid, but the kanji of the rings look like something from Ame."
"Rain country?" Itachi asked, eyes sharpening.
"It's a dialect," she explained, her eyes glazed over when Shisui's fingers ran over a practically sensitive patch of skin behind her ear and Itachi had the audacity to flinch.
Voyeuristic, that's what it had felt like.
Itachi nodded feeling a lot more uncomfortable than he would like to admit, he flickered his eyes over to his cousin who had a hint of a smirk on his face and then he felt himself still at the implications.
Shisui was doing this on purpose.
For what reason?
He didn't know.
But he did, the rational part of him, the more masculine, dominant part of him spoke—it whispered to him with gravel.
It was a warning.
.
Shisui didn't know what on earth possessed him to stake his claim in front of Itachi – his claim? Where the hell was he? The warring era? – but when Sakura had told him that Itachi was her second favorite Uchiha, something insecure, something fragile, something apprehensive in him shook and he needed to do something—more for himself, than for Itachi, to show that Sakura—Sakura was someone to him.
It was a moment of weakness.
But Shisui couldn't bring himself to care.
Itachi was his cousin, yes, that much was true, but he watched the way his cousin looked at her with a certain type of fondness, a certain type of kindness that he had yet to see Itachi give someone other than him or Sasuke. Maybe it was the Uchiha curse, the possessive, silent type of longing that edged in his blood, curling against his flesh, it itched at him and something in him vulnerable trembled at the thought of her.
Shisui had always been self-sacrificing, wasn't it time he became a little selfish?
"I'm tired," Sakura threw herself on the ground, uncaring for the way the grass rubbed against her skin, the rough edges of stone scraping her skin. She felt drained for some reason, restless, maybe a little sad or perhaps, she was just exhausted.
"We barely trained," Shisui pointed out as he took a seat next to her, his brows furrowed at her sudden attitude. She looked miserable for some reason and it grated on his nerves.
"I know," She said in a quiet voice, she rolled over onto her back, "I know."
Shisui had never seen this part of Sakura before, granted he only knew her for a month and five days – when had he gotten so sentimental? God. – but sometimes he just forgot himself when he's with her, it was like he's known her for years and that she was just someone that had become routine. Like she was always here and that she would always be here.
Sakura was in that place where tired met frustration and then a full-on meld with weariness.
Shisui stood up, leaned over her, trailed his hands up her hips, then he lifted her and tossed her over his shoulder.
Stupefied by the entire situation, Sakura could only gape stupidly at his swift movements her forehead brushing his lower back, then he was using shunshin – she didn't even have enough time to yell at him for his manhandling – and they were at the beach.
"What—?" Sakura couldn't even come up with a plausible question.
Shisui turned to her, fingers hooking underneath his shirt, slipping off his sandals and then removed his pants.
"Why are you stripping?" She squeaked, her eyes widened and she couldn't find it in her to look away.
He grinned and disappeared into the water.
Sakura stared at him, "Wha—"
"Don't make me come and get you, Sakura," Shisui warned her playfully, his eyes glinting mischievously – she wondered if it really was a warning – the muscles of his shoulders visible to the sun and her eyes.
Sakura had to thank her lucky stars that she wore a sports bra and not bindings today. Unzipping her vest, shrugging off her skirt, unbuckling her boots, and slipping off her tights—she used shunshin to stop Shisui from staring at her any longer, not that she minded, of course.
She squealed at the suddenness of the sea, her body trembling at the roughness, "It's cold!"
Shisui threw his head back and laughed, his teeth white, "You have to duck your head under!"
"I don't want to!"
Shisui, however, didn't take no for an answer, he lunged towards her, hands out and fingers ready. She eluded his grabby hands with shunshin and flickered to the side of him. He blinked at the suddenness of her movements and decided that if she really wanted to play tag, who was he to deny her?
He smirked.
Shisui's eyes glinted red and he moved.
Shunshin was a dizzying pattern of cutting and maneuvering chakra into your body. They subbed the air with dust, with salt and the droplets of water that beaded against their skin. Shisui played with her a cat would toy with a mouse, and when she laughed at his somewhat sloppy attack, he decided it was time to get serious. He paused deliberately in his movements - just enough to throw her off - then he grabbed her, arms around her like steel, and pulled her down under—with him.
Sakura was beautiful in the water.
That was his first thought, he watched her, mesmerized by the colors of her. Hair pink, that darkened into a true magenta in the cobalt of the ocean—when a forest bled into a beach, the water was darker, colder and clearer than that of a real beach. Her eyes were like sea-foam, skin like satin and she was warm. So warm that he could feel the heat reverberate in his bones, like the gentle trickling of rain on the back of his spine, and it coiled in his stomach dizzyingly.
Shisui had also realized, a little too slowly for his liking, that he hadn't given her enough time to warn her of his sudden plan for submerging.
She was drowning.
Shisui didn't think, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
—
Shisui's lips were warm and chapped, even with the water as a buffer. His arms never left the sweet indent of her waist, skin on skin, and the roughness of his fingertips made her squirm against him. He pried her mouth open, oxygen, so sweet, so heady, so intimate, it made her toes curl in the thickness of the water and she nearly keened when his tongue licked the roof of her mouth.
He was kissing her.
He was really kissing her.
The heel of his palm pressed into the dip of her lower back, she was pressed so tightly against him, she was sure that she would never forget the way he felt molded against her. Her hair floating like a halo of silk around them, her hands dug into his shoulders, fingers raking down the back of his neck, her head spinning with the taste of him and if she was drowning—
—she would gladly drown in him.
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footnote1: um yeah idk what happened lol
footnote2: Shisui has made a decision obviously, even if he's not even aware of it.
footnote3: are exams over? lmao, not even close.
footnote4: unedited, also, I caved, it's m rated now.
as always, please review
