a/n: i wanted to be done reworking chapters 1 & 2 (ch. 1 is almost done, but ch. 2 is largely un-upgraded atm, help- ) before updating, but i was itching to post something for ftf since it's been forever. this is soft, (but everything hurts), hope you like it!

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but wAIT, before you start:

- part of my revision included new (very cutesy) uchiha nicknames (say goodbye to shisui-nii, say hello to sui-nii. itoko is itachi. sacchan is sasuke.)

- these nicknames will be used in this interlude, but haven't been updated here in ch. 1 & 2 yet

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okay, now you can go.

"INTERLUDE - Window Watching"

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ayumi reminisces.

The window is just big enough for her, or Sacchan, to fit through it.

The size of the window doesn't really matter. Even a mediocre, fully grown shinobi could find a way to squeeze their way through if they were truly determined. It would be even easier for a shinobi of worth.

Ayumi knows this, just as she knows Sui-nii could have easily slipped in within the blink of an eye. (Which means Itoko, who is smaller than Sui-nii was and perhaps even more talented— because Sui-nii is dead but Itoko is not —could do the same.)

It's that thought that makes her realize one of the traps she'd set up in front of the window had been passed along from Itoko. Her fingers twitch, but she hesitates and keeps it up. If Itachi wanted them dead, they would be dead. She accepts it as the truth, but still, that they continue to live by his... what, mercy? (or is it sadism, a twisted desire to play with them and make it hurt, that has never been present in Itoko? he was never close with the Clan but he loved them, he loved them) chafes as much as it makes her tremble.

There are still other enemies out there and she and Sacchan no longer have the protection of their Clan. They are alone and vulnerable and weak, but this little thing, a window—

It's good.

She shifts the curtains and places a hand along the pane of unsealed (the Archives must have something she can use) glass.

Konoha's sky is blue. The Village sprawled out in every direction beneath it is alive and bustling. She breathes and looks.

Then, she is no longer standing in front of the window. Now, she sits, back straight, at a desk. A teacher speaks, but class is almost over. Ayumi is not listening. She gazes to the side out the window. Her brother is supposed to arrive back today.

Shinobi were required to check-in and gain clearance from a medic-nin after a mission away from the Village, but he always went to her first upon returning home. Always.

If it was dark, he slipped quietly into the house, but made sure to check on her. She could only tell he had been there because sometimes she would wake up with a cheek still warm from the heat of his hand. During daylight, he would wait outside the Academy building for her classes to be done.

"Ayu-hime~," he used to call loudly, right before he rushed over and swung her up off the ground and around in spinning circles. (There wouldn't be a trace of the pinching scent of the hospital lingering on him or his clothes, but sometimes the hint of a bandage peeked out from beneath his clothes.)

"Put me down, Sui-nii!" she might shriek, indignant over being treated like a child in front of other people, like her classmates. Or, if she was feeling indulgent, as she usually did when it came to her nii-chan, she shouted, "Sui-nii, you're back!" and clung to him gently (mindful of those hidden bandages), allowing him his delighted, and dramatic, "Yes, yes, reunited with Ayu-hime at last!"

For either reaction, her chin would hook over his shoulder as she stared at the blur of passing colors until she felt sick and had to press her face into his neck.

When he stopped, the world felt almost unbearably slow for a bit before: "And how has my favorite imouto been?"

That was her cue to say, "But Sui-nii, I'm your only sister."

"Maa, that makes you even more special!"

She rolled her eyes but hid a smile against the high-collar of his shirt as he carried her home. (Even though she, to his pouting protest and denial, pointed out "I really am too old to be carried like this, Sui-nii.") Then, because she still hadn't answered, he put on a serious face and voice.

"Now, tell me," he pauses and waits for her to look up. "Did Tachi and Sasu-bou get you into trouble, hmm? Those nasty troublemakers."

Unable to stop the peal of laughter at the idea of "Tachi" and "Sasu-bou" of all people being "troublemakers," the noise spills out just as they enter the Compound.

"Sui-nii," she attempts to put on her own serious face and voice. "You know they both hate when you call them that. Sacchan's nose goes all," she mimes the way his nose wrinkles whenever he is called a prince.

He leans in like he was about to tell a secret. "I know, that's why I do it," he winks.

Catching her wagging finger, he grins. "It's cute!" He does the Sasuke nose scrunch too. "Besides, the little prince has to match the princess," he lifts her up a bit. "Isn't nii-chan so smart?"

"Yes, yes," she said, patting his head and nodding sagely. He laughs and chatters on. At some point, she returns back to resting against his shoulder and answers his original question, mumbling, "I'm better now that you're back, Sui-nii."

He quiets down. Then, he holds her up with one hand and offers her the other, extending his pinky finger. Her eyes brighten. They interlock fingers and he recites his promise. The one they came up with when he went on his first mission.

"I'll always comes back."

Standing in an apartment that is not her home, so very far away from that tender moment, Ayumi steps back from the window and returns to bed. The curtains settle back in place. Sacchan curls closer to her.

"Liar," she whispers to the ceiling.

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notes:

╥﹏╥ soft, but everything still hurt.

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hime - princess [ the term "hime" is not typically used as a form of endearment like the English version "princess" could be used as. in shisui's case, it's part of an inside joke. ]

imouto - little sister

bou - kind of means "little prince," an honorific used for very young males. [ the other part of the inside joke. shisui calls ayumi a princess and sasuke a prince, even though sasuke's version is a bit mocking. ]

nii-chan - basically a cutesy way to say "big brother"

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this interlude was written while revising ch. 1 but it didn't fit with the tone so i decided to use it as a little breather before we dive back into *trauma*. hope you enjoyed the moment of fluff amidst the angst, and ofc, 💖shisui💖 (sui-nii is best boy. fuh outta here sacchan, mmh- ).

tentatively, there's a plot chapter (still being written and edited), then an omake chapter lined up after this. until next time, ja ne! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧