"You two! I've been a bit busy lately."
"Shisui." Itachi looks up from where they've drawn diagrams on the dirt, thoughts about team formations and attack collaborations.
"Shisui-san." Nagi waves at him.
Shisui smiles at her, taking a seat and unsealing the whirlpools and ladders game they've taken to playing almost every time they meet, "Who would've thought you'd become teammates, right?"
Nagi takes her yellow, Itachi receives the blue, and Shisui keeps the bright pink.
"So how's it been?" He rolls the dice. Four.
Nagi is three.
Itachi is six, "Yuki-sensei is still the same. The D-ranks only lasted a week though, more of an excuse to have us get along and for some time for team training. We just had a C-rank."
Itachi gets first move, then Shisui, then Nagi.
"Your first C-rank, right Nagi? How was it?"
Nagi nods, "It was my first time out the village, and we only saw Shukuba from far away, but it was really fun. I even had a chance to actually fight, though it was just monkeys."
"How's your other teammate?" Shisui scowls when the board tells him to move back four spots.
"He's boring but cooperative." Itachi deadpans, moving another six steps forward.
... blunt.
"I think he's not very used to socializing, he doesn't get cues easily. But maybe that's because he can't talk, and so maybe he never had the chance to exercise that too much."
Shisui looks confused, because he's a better ninja than Itachi, really, so if he's cheating, Shisui should be catching him. Itachi isn't cheating and just has very good luck, "Can't talk?"
"Someone tried to slit his throat years ago." Nagi tells them. She has had enough time to examine the scar.
It was done in anger, with viciousness and a desire to get rid of him. She isn't an expert, but it's such an old wound that it would've been years since it was inflicted.
How young...?
Nagi couldn't help from frowning when she had realized that while painting a fence.
"Itachi, you don't like him very much."
"... no."
Seeing the opportunity, she ask the question that's been niggling at her.
"Itachi-sama, why do you hate sensei?"
This visibly surprises Itachi.
"Hate?... I don't... hate him."
"Oh. Okay."
He looks at his piece, a downward quirk to his lips, "... Just... I'm just frustrated. And, I guess... disappointed too."
It sounds as if it takes him a bit to admit that.
Nagi decides to move on to the other boy.
"Shisui-san, can I ask you something? You can choose not to answer."
"Shoot."
"With me and Itachi-sama, are you gathering people?"
Shisui looks up at her and it's the first time his gaze is openly probing. Nagi freeze up, just a bit.
No wonder there are people who fear him.
It's both intimidating and exciting in a 'I've always known he was cool!' sense.
"Well, I'd like to say yes." he moves his piece ahead of Itachi, his grin returning, "But in my position, and even Itachi's position, it's difficult for us to approach people much less have the time and chance to gauge their trustworthiness and get them on our side."
She's gonna take it as him having already determined her as relatively trustworthy. Encouraged by his answer, she lets her questions spill.
"Our side against who?"
He frown when, only a step away from the finish line, he falls back halfway, "I still don't know. My father's journals never mentioned a specific name. Only... only some very disturbing events this, er, person, has a hand in."
"Is that so...? Like what?"
Shisui looks torn, before smiling at her tightly, "It's not- it's just... you're still too young to know."
She straighten, "But I've already graduated. I'm sure I can read back on some things and find it."
He laughs wryly, not distasteful or anything, just... a deprecating sort of humor, "Most of the things they did can't be written in the history books, it doesn't fit with the Konoha pretense."
Itachi falls next.
"Alright... Then I'll help you with uh, befriending talented people then."
Shisui blinks.
Nagi brush a hand over the metal of her forehead protector, eyes intent on the board. Even if she can still see his eyes, she'd rather not meet it.
"I'm not very good with lying and pretending," Too scared to try and the consequences of it to practice it more than occasionally. She let go of the dice and watch it roll, "-but, at least I can point you to the interesting people and you can tell me what to do after that."
Nagi is the one who reach the end goal, the other two pieces having fallen before they can.
XxXxXx
There's a reason why she asked Shisui that question.
Itachi and her walk side by side, meeting Yoji by his clan gates. Since they walk the same road towards the training grounds anyways, the team has nonverbally agreed to walk together every morning.
Itachi stand by the Uchiha gate until she pass by and they talk while picking up Yoji on the way.
Her eyes don't move, but she glance at Aburame Torune inside the compounds.
Looking into the Aburame compound and bugs inside the clan members is always disconcerting. She's not afraid to admit of breaking into hives the first time she sees them.
If it's against Danzo, then she has certain people in mind to keep track of. And since Danzo has fingers in a lot of pots, those individuals can be moved around not just strictly against the councilman.
Aburame Torune. Yamanaka Fu. Yakushi Nono.
Yakushi Kabuto.
Of course, when it comes to subverting their loyalties before they're firmly under Danzo's commands, it will be all up to Shisui.
Nagi's hand come up to her necklace.
In the show, Ao who had the Byakugan, had been able to spot Kotoamatsukami, the pinnacle of genjutsu, under Danzo's bandage.
Even if Kotoamatsukami isn't as effective as it was in the hands of Danzo as it would've been with an Uchiha (Mufine recovered quickly enough), much less with its original bearer, surely there must be some limit, right?
She can't confidently say that it's better, or it's worse, doing it the way Shisui has been doing his manipulations until now, instead of just whammying people left and right (on one hand, the situation may be resolved much faster, on the other hand, there are lines even for ninja, there should be), but whatever her opinion is, Shisui at least thinks of it as a very last resort.
Nagi has no way to say for certain wether her Byakugan will be able to spot it if turned against her, or if her kekkei genkai is strong enough in her chakra that the inherent aspect of it can even wear down at a Sharingan genjutsu the same way it does on normal genjutsu, much less the undetectable genjutsu.
... She's come this far.
At this point, Nagi has no right to hold reservations.
She has to trust Shisui to do the right thing that won't cross their lines.
Nagi, even if she has this knowledge, is still selfishly letting Shisui bear the responsibility, after all.