Enjoy!
With the help of Granny Cat's granddaughter, a helper at a supply shop frequented by the Uchiha clan, Itachi had meticulously designed a Paw Encyclopedia. In it was a series of pages outlining the various feline species. A key form of identification in the ninneko's world, was each species' unique set of paw prints. Therefore, the purpose of the book was to collect paw prints from all sorts of ninneko in hopes of creating a systemic form of identification for these creatures.
Originally, Itachi had intended it to provide a younger Sasuke with something to do while the two Uchiha brothers ran errands for the clan. Upon boasting about his latest triumphs, Sasuke had inadvertently challenged Naruto to a competition: who could get the most sets of clear paw prints to be added to the Paw Encyclopedia.
That's how Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Itachi had found themselves in the training grounds just outside the Forest of Death. The Forest of Death itself held many fierce and dangerous species of animals, so the 7-year-old trio had yet to venture beyond its gates.
But their 'mission' today would not require that.
"C'mon, Naruto! It will be a competition between the two families." Sakura flexed her knuckles into a fist in anticipation of the challenge, trying to be optimistic about the two sets of teams.
The cunning ninneko had realized that the five-mile radius all around the Forest of Death's gates was as safe as safe could be since the mere danger, and death intent emanating from the forest kept many creatures and humans alike away from the area. Therefore, the majority of the undomesticated feline species had set up residence in its adjacent fields.
With Naruto as her partner, Sakura knew she was at an immediate disadvantage in the stealth department. Both she and Naruto's ridiculously bright-colored manes were partly to blame for that. The other piece of it was Naruto's overly enthusiastic and loud presence. While Naruto's personality itself was ill-suited for reconnaissance, Sakura had learned to use his outspoken and loud nature to a mission's advantage.
If Naruto and Sakura had any hopes of giving the Uchiha brothers a run for their money, she would have to stretch her trapping and stealth skills to the limits. Naruto would serve as the center of attention and distraction that would allow them to steer the ninneko right into her traps.
If that failed, then Sakura would just have to purposefully direct Naruto's never-ending energy to complete the mission.
A sudden rustle in the trees sharply distracted Sakura from her strategizing. A second later, a familiar figure landed on the ground between the two teams.
"Yo," Shisui greeted with a wave, "Got room for one more?"
"YES!" Sakura immediately exclaimed, hoping the group would honor the timeless rule of dibs. "Join Naruto and me!"
"But he's an Uchiha!" Sasuke protested, crossing his arms against his chest. "He should be on our team."
"Talk about overkill, baby cousin," Shisui interjected. "What do you think, Itachi? Make sense for us to be on opposite teams for a change, ne?"
Itachi smirked.
"Shannaro!" Sakura exclaimed. "We might stand a chance now." She murmured, not relatively quiet enough to keep Naruto and the others from hearing.
"Oi! We totally could have taken them on our own Sakura-chan!" Naruto countered in that inexplicable confidence Naruto always had.
"Tch, only if you somehow managed to knock Nii-san out," Sasuke fanned the flames of their rivalry.
Before Naruto could launch himself and Sasuke into another of their long-drawn-out verbal quarrels, Sakura intervened. "Five minutes to strategize! Then, it's on!"
The two older Uchiha nodded in acceptance while the two younger boys hesitated for a second before deciding to save their energy for the competition.
After a couple of intense hours of alternating between stealth and pursuit modes, the team leaders had called time. Itachi and Shisui had both noted the increasingly slowed movements of their younger teammates. Through a series of bird call signals, the two team captains coordinated a rendezvous point to get a final tally from both teams.
They ended up eight for eight, which had Sasuke and Naruto in pieces, neither able to come to terms with the fact that all their hard work had not resulted in a definitive loser. Both boys missed the fact that they now had sixteen new data entries for the Paw Encyclopedia.
'Boys,' Inner scoffed, with the added eyeroll for good effect.
'Honestly,' Sakura thought, 'I'm starving now, so they'd better not push for a rematch right now. We're all so tired!'
'Well, except for those two' Inner grumbled at the older Uchihas' still pristine uniforms.
Sakura's attention was drawn to Itachi's hip pouch as he retrieved a scroll from within.
"What's that for?" Sakura asked as she made her way over to him and curiously peered over Itachi's shoulder as he placed the scroll on the ground and knelt before it.
"Watch" was Itachi's simple reply. His hands arranged themselves into the ram hand seal before uttering a firm "Release."
A gorgeous picnic wicker basket appeared on the other side of the scroll, taking Sakura by surprise. The sudden waft of Sakura's favorite riceball topping hit her full force. "Itachi-kun," she started almost reverently, "is that… is that umeboshi?"
Amusement stretched Itachi's lips into a small smile.
Naruto and Sasuke's argument abruptly stopped as Naruto comically sniffed the air, attempting to trace the pleasant smell of food through scent alone. The blonde left a trail of dust behind him as he made a beeline for the wicker basket he had zeroed in on.
Taking a page from a certain shy Hyuga, Naruto uncharacteristically pushed the pads of his index fingers together as he asked, "Is there any instant-ramen in there by chance?" His glimmering sky blue eyes peered up at Itachi in expectation.
Itachi's silent nod earned him an exuberant "Yosh!" from the blonde boy.
Sasuke had been hot on his tail and promptly scoffed at Naruto's question as he eyed the tomato onigiri. "Ramen over nii-san's onigiri? Really, Naruto?"
At Sasuke's comment, Sakura, who was still peering at the goods inside the basket from over Itachi's shoulder, abruptly turned her head to face Itachi. Itachi partially turned to face her and caught a better glimpse of her expression. Her round brows rose in question, while her wide-eyes blinked in unrestrained surprise. It took Sakura a second to realize just how close she was to Itachi's face. While she fought the blush threatening to spread across her cheeks, Itachi reached into the basket to offer her an umeboshi onigiri.
"Your favorite, correct?"
Sakura's viridian eyes widened in surprise once more before her expression eased into one of heartfelt delight. The rosette eagerly took the onigiri from Itachi's fingers before going in for the first bite. Sakura's eyes closed shut as she savored her treat.
Unexpectedly, Sakura's face curled up into a pout. Itachi's head cocked to the side in confusion, mirroring her previous expression. His intense gaze tried to decipher why Sakura's joy had suddenly disappeared. Had he messed up the recipe?
"I thought we were friends, Itachi." The rosette finally spoke after an agonizing few beats. Itachi's heart sped up as dread filled his chest. "Why would you keep something so delicious from me for so long?" Sakura finally elaborated as she licked her fingers clean. "Friends don't keep things like this from each other, you know!"
After a beat of comprehension, a hearty laugh escaped Itachi's chest, surprising Sasuke and Naruto, both of whom paused mid-bite to take in the scene.
Shisui, who had set out to find dry wood for a fire while the seven-year-olds appreciatively ogled the feast carefully packed in the wicker basket, returned then."One piping hot kettle for instant-ramen coming ri-," Shisui's announcement cut off mid syllable. As Shisui owlishly took in Sakura's pout and Itachi's form, gently shaking in delight, it occurred to him to make the tiger sign for genjutsu release.
As Sakura's lips finally released her mock anger and swelled to form a brilliant smile at Itachi's rare laugh.
'Hmm,' Shisui mused internally, remembering a recent conversation and subsequent blushing expression on his cousin's face. Shisui took in the surprised looks of the younger boys who had paused their munching and made a note of the lack of surprise on Sakura's face as she joined in Itachi's amusement with her giggles.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I think Sakura broke Nii-san," he uttered, not too silently to the blonde boy beside him.
"What?" Asked Naruto in utter confusion. "Why would you say that, teme!? You've heard your brother laugh before, right?"
"Chuckled, yes…," Sasuke responded after attempting to remember the last time he had heard his brother laughed this way.
Naruto narrowed his eyes in skepticism. "You and your brother are real humans, right?"
"Tch, what else would we be, Baka."
"Baka?!," Naruto harshly whispered. "You're the weird one who has never heard his brother laugh out loud!"
Sakura's breath was the last of the seven-year-old trio to settle into the slowed and shallow breaths of sleep.
Sasuke and Naruto had entered into an onigiri eating contest that had only served to further tire them out. Sakura had eaten her fill of umeboshi onigiri before settling into Itachi's right side for a quick nap.
"Guess we tired them out, huh?" Shisui quietly directed at his younger cousin. "Although Naruto could also be in a food coma." He commented with amused uncertainty.
An uptick of Itachi's left lip corner quickly settled back into the distracted by pensive picture Itachi's features were set in. Sensing Itachi's mood and probable cause for it, Shisui ventured to confirm his guess.
"How was the clan meeting yesterday?" Shisui had been unable to attend due to a mission that had taken a few hours longer than expected.
"Tense," Itachi wearily responded. A hand rose to tug at the red hair tie at the base of his neck, a new habit Itachi had slipped into whenever he felt overwhelmed. "Talk of rebellion was explicitly voiced last night."
Shisui understood Itachi's concern.
For years now, the Uchiha clan had been unsettled and restless with the treatment they had received after the Nine-tails attack. To the rest of Konoha, the Uchiha clan had been relocated due to the extensive damage to their clan's grounds after the attack. To the Uchiha clan, the move had been nothing short of exile. Conversations during clan meetings always alluded to rebellions and coup-de-tas.
However, never before had those or similar words been voiced.
This development in the clan meetings signaled to Itachi and Shisui that their combined efforts at easing tensions on both sides of the issue were progressing much too slowly.
"Our clan is hurting, Itachi. They just haven't quite figured out how to appropriately express that. That and Konoha's council of elders seems intent on ignoring the fire they keep feeding." Shisui released a heavy sigh before continuing. "Our clan believes they can regain some form of acknowledgment by pushing more clan members into high-ranking positions. It's why they're pushing us to join ANBU."
"Acknowledgement," Itachi mused in agreement. Perhaps that was all his clan needed in the first place
It was a reasonable human desire, after all, to be recognized, acknowledged, and accepted. His clan sought redemption for the wrongs cast upon them, respect for the contributions they made in keeping Konoha safe, and validation for the pain they too felt after the Nine-tail's attack. "They'll soon realize that approach is not enough to ease their wounded pride."
"We'll figure it out," Shisui placed a comforting hand on his cousin's shoulder. "We have to, for them." He directed his gaze at the previously slumbering trio.
Naruto had managed to curl himself up into Shisui's trunk before his body relaxed enough to drop down to the grass, back supported by the Uchiha's upper leg. Naruto's arm, which lay by Shisui's left knee, cushioned his blonde tuft of hair. Sasuke had somehow managed to sprawl himself comfortably between Shisui and Itachi. His head lay by Itachi's left knee, a right arm curled around the older sibling's lower leg, and the other neatly folded over his chest. Both of Sasuke's knees comfortably rested over his cousin's lower leg.
"Sakura," Shisui softly asked, knowing full well the pinkette was no longer dozing, "what do you think the Uchiha clan needs?"
The rosette unfurled herself from Itachi's right torso as she sleepily peered over Itachi's chest to direct her gaze at Shisui. Naruto and Sakura had initially been settled into mirror positions, the former resting against Shisui and the latter against Itachi. The difference had been that as soon as Itachi sensed the rosettes body relaxing into slumber, the Uchiha heir had wrapped his right arm around her torso to keep her comfortably in place.
Sakura took a few seconds to sift through her memories of her sleep-wake phase, attempting to distinguish dream from reality.
"Is the Uchiha clan hurt?" Sakura asked, suddenly alert and invested in the topic. "Are you and Itachi hurt?" The worry crease in her brow deepened as she assessed Itachi for wounds with her gaze.
"Shisui and I are fine. And the clan is not physically hurt, no." Itachi calmly responds, brushing the pad of his left thumb over Sakura's brow in an attempt to smooth out the crease that appeared too often for his liking.
Shisui silently observed the exchange.
Sakura blinks up at him, still brushing the sleep from her eyes. "Then, are the Uchiha hurt some other way?"
"Something like that," Shisui responds this time, reclaiming the pinkette's attention.
"Well," Sakura started, "when Ami and her friends teased me about my forehead and pink hair, there was only one thing I wanted immediately after."
"And what was that?" Shisui curiously asked.
"A hug." Sakura solemnly answers the original question posed after an intense few seconds of thought. "The Uchiha clan just needs a big hug."
"Tch," Sasuke expressed, a deep scowl on his face, "why does Sakura get to piggyback on Itachi?"
After the seven-year-olds had awoken from their afternoon slumber, the older Uchiha had taken it upon themselves to carry them back home. The only one who had, unsurprisingly, resisted was Naruto. After a quick nap and another instant ramen noodles cup, Naruto had been refreshed and fully recharged.
"Oi!" Shisui exclaimed in indignation, directing his next question at the raven-haired boy on his shoulders. "Something wrong with my piggyback rides?"
"No, but Itachi is my nii-san," Sasuke huffed in Shisui's ear, earning himself a chuckle from the oldest Uchiha.
Naruto, who was jogging in reverse between Shisui and Itachi, laughed heartily at Sasuke's pout. "Sakura-chan, doesn't Sasuke's face look like that time you dropped the last tomato at the grocery store?"
Sakura plastered the right side of her face against Itachi's hair, trying to get a good look at Sasuke. "Hmm, reminds me more of the time you accidentally dropped Dino in the toilet, Naruto." Sakura replied, referring to the bright green dinosaur Sasuke had been inseparable from since a young age.
"I was five!" Sasuke shouted in defense. "And he was a gift from Itachi."
His brother and Naruto really could be too predictable, Itachi internally mused.
"Well, like Dino," Sakura started, "you need to learn how to share."
"Itachi isn't a toy! He's MY NII-SAN!"
"Well, he's MY ITACHI-KUN," Sakura sassily retorted, before a bright blush dominated her cheeks.
"WHA-, there's no way that beats him being my nii-san!" Sasuke spluttered back. "What does that even mean?"
Shisui directed a sly glance at Itachi. Indeed, what exactly did that mean?
Itachi ignored his cousin's pointed stare and forced his breathing to remain even as he too attentively waited for an answer to Sasuke's question.
"That he's my Itachi-kun," Sakura finally spoke, thumbing the red hair tie at Itachi's nape, "And I'm his Sakura-chan."
After a pause, Itachi responded, "Aa." A gentle smile tugged at both corners of his lips.
Shisui's eyes lit up in recognition and triumph. The half-smirk on his face left Itachi feeling wary of his cousin's antics.
"'Aa'?!" Sasuke questioned, "How can you agree with that, Nii-san? She didn't explain anything!"
"Oi!" Naruto exclaimed as he pointed an accusing finger at Itachi, "You trying to steal my sister?! I'm the only one who gets to call her that!"
"Looks like you have some competition, little cousin," Shisui directed his teasing words at a suddenly stoic Itachi.
Itachi's narrowed gaze sent Shisui into a fit of laughter.
A/N: Thanks again for the lovely, lovely comments! Always appreciate constructive feedback :)