twenty-one.

There was someone else with Shosa today.

Hinata lifted her arms, allowing Mitarashi-san to check her sides and write it down on her clipboard. She was instructed to do many things earlier, like opening her mouth for the medic to check her ton—tolin?—tonsils, and to look up while a flashlight shone on her pale eyes. She thought it was weird because—what were they doing to her, really? She had never undergone anything like it before. It was strange.

"Well," the medic began, eyes skimming over her results, "you're unusually healthy and fit for active duty."

Hinata nodded. She had expected as much. "Thank y-you," she managed to say, looking away at the curious glint the medic gave her regarding her stutter. She fingered the tachibana in her pocket, gliding her index finger over the long pin and around each sunflower petal. The woman was still looking at her and she tried to ignore it. Was she being a bad girl?

Mitarashi-san sounded funny when she spoke, "Well, you better go on then. I'm sure the Uchiha's waiting for you outside."

The prospect made Hinata feel giddy to hurry out of the tent, but remembering her manners, bowed once to the older girl before she left. She hummed inside her head as she ducked out of the tent and stopped altogether, blinking up at the tall dark-haired man who accompanied her Major. She cocked her head slightly to the side. He looked very much like the Major. They had the same eyes. But he was not Shosa, and that explanation was clear enough for her to stand behind the only Uchiha she considered worthy of her attention.

"Oh, Tachi, she's adorable!" the other one exclaimed, bending at the waist to look at her properly. She didn't shrink under his prying eyes. "You should have told me about this earlier."

The Major released a heavy sigh, sounding very irritated. "This is exactly why I didn't even think of telling you," he muttered in annoyance. "You're scaring her."

Not really, she thought instantly. She hardly ever got scared, and this big boy in front of her was not really scary, just a little unusual. She had never known anyone to be so bright and… dare she say—jumpy. It was unlike anything she had ever encountered. It set her on the edge of caution. She glanced up at the Major wordlessly, noting the lines on his face creasing as he regarded the other one in front of him with a frustrated glint in his eyes.

Hinata blinked owlishly. "Shosa," she started, steady and slow, refusing to stutter in front of the stranger, "who is this?"

Itachi had barely gotten his mouth to open before he was shoved to the side with a grunt of protest. The other boy smiled warmly at her and she blinked once more. She decided that this boy would fall under a different category. He was not like Sasuke, or Ayame-san, or the Major. She would have to make a new category in her mind for him to make sense.

"I'm Uchiha Shisui, your Major's best friend and best cousin," he declared, grinning as he held his hand out. "Nice to meet you."

Hinata stared at the outstretched fingers, remembering the manners that she had been taught. Gingerly, she gripped it with her little hand and gave it a firm shake. "H-Hello," she murmured back, eyes lowering. "I'm Hinata."

Shisui-san straightened at last, the smile on his face widening just a tad bit further. "Can I borrow her—"

"No."

"Aw, but it'll only just be for a bit! You can go and do whatever it is you used to do before hime came."

"No is no, Shisui."

"Come on, hime, let's ignore this old stuffy bastard, aye?" Shisui-san whispered, her wrist loosely held in his big hand.

Itachi growled, glaring at his cousin as he hooked his fingers under her collar, pulling her towards him. "Don't listen to him, Hinata," he told her, shifting to stand in front of her in hopes of blocking her from the idiot that was Shisui.

But she was curious again. "Shosa… w-what's a b-b-b-bastard?"

Crowing with laughter somewhere in the back, Shisui wiped tears in his eyes, and Itachi resisted the strongest urge to deposit his face to his palm.

a/n: Oh, sometimes I forget that I have other stories to write for, but I remembered this one and had a laugh jotting it down. Shisui's a character I really adore, even from other fanfics, so it makes me happy that I get to write about him too! Thank you, jungkookies, emva9x and the guest who reviewed, they will forever be appreciated.