There's a woman who works at a bakery in Konoha.

Shisui notices her from time to time, always working on his route to the Hokage's office. Occasionally, she takes time off to sit outside small restaurants, her eyes taking in the view of citizens milling around for hours. She's not unfriendly; Shisui has seen her conversing with customers with practiced ease. However, she always keeps them viewed in the corner of her eye, never breaking her gaze from their fingers, especially when the flash of a headband walks through her doors. Still, her business has become increasingly popular, with the displays and originality of her baking artistry enough to make the Akimichi clan treat her with hesitant respect.

Land of Iron heritage, her lips answer at their questions, some spoken and some not. Always said with a smile that seems a little tight around the eyes.

Shisui is suddenly pulled out of his musings by an ambush from behind, the perpetrator quickly putting an arm around his shoulder in a choking hold. "Still looking at her, huh?" A voice teases. Shisui throws Genma off with a scoff, averting his gaze from the shop window.

"I'm just wondering what she has new today," He unconvincingly remarks, darting back a quick glance towards her.

Genma looks at him. "From the rooftop?"

Shisui refuses to respond. He is innocent and thus does not need to explain himself.

Genma sighs. "C'mon, at least walk in once. She won't bite unless you want her to," He adds, wiggling his eyebrows until Shisui huffs out a small laugh.

"You're so gross, Genma. Also, she's clearly a civilian." Not interested in people like me, goes unsaid.

Genma nudges up next to him. "A little hard-to-get never hurt anybody. What, you chicken?" He asks, peering into Shisui's eyes in a clear challenge.

"Bawk, bawk," Shisui jokingly answers, not taking the bait. Genma rolls his eyes.

"Listen," He begins, pulling himself even closer into Shisui's personal bubble as they continue gazing at the window. It was a dangerous move for any shinobi, but Genma was unique for his calming personality, a trait that Shisui respected. It was one of the only reasons he got away from stirring up too much trouble. "Think of it as an assignment. That—" He points to a dessert on a stick, clearly different from dango, "Is your mission, Shisui-taichou. If you can charm that woman enough to get it for free, you've brought honor to the village and your clan," He pats Shisui's back. "We're all counting on you to win this. Not for me, not for her, but for you."

Shisui side-eyes him. "How much did you bet on me?" He nonchalantly asks.

"5,000 ryo you even talk to her, 10,000 if you ask her out," Genma immediately answers, no hint of shame in his voice. "I was planning on splitting it with you 50/50."

Shisui snorts. "Sure you were." He sighs after a second of silence, feeling the weight of something nameless on his shoulders. He stands up from his perch on the uncomfortable concrete, dusting off his shirt and pants.

"For Konoha, huh?" He muses.

Genma gives him a winning smile. "For Konoha."

Shisui offers him his hand, easily pulling his friend up into the hot, baking sun. Without warning, Shisui lives up to his nickname and shunshins down to the busy street, expectantly waiting for Genma to catch up above.

"You know I hate it when you do that. It's extremely unnecessary," Genma mutters after a few seconds, his breathing slightly laboured.

"Then get faster," Shisui cheekily answers, purposefully turning around and walking before he can see the stink eye Genma is sure to send him. His heart starts beating as he walks closer and closer to the bakery, but he pushes it aside, reminding himself of his shinobi training as he approaches the enemy: a pastel blue door cheerfully proclaiming Welcome!

Genma kicks his ankle before Shisui reaches for the door handle. "Shisui, your bitchface," He whispers.

"It's my mission-face," Shisui angrily whispers back, but he relaxes his expression all the same, clearly remembering how his ID photo turned out when he made the same face. It was not exactly screaming 'approachable.'

He reaches for the door handle, and opens it.

Immediately, Shisui notices the woman's shoulders tense up as the door is opened. She's near the counter, her body crouched over the wooden aisle and her eyes turned away from them, but within the same second she forces herself to relax, painting a smile on her face before lifting up her gaze.

"Welcome! How can I—"

The bread in her hands flies up as she spots them, an audible gasp passing through her lips as the food clatters to the floor with soft thumps. The woman's face is paler now, and her eyes stare at Shisui as if he was walking towards her with a kunai in his hands.

Everyone freezes.

"Sorry for the mess, Miss. Looks like we sneaked up on you," Genma says, ever quick to smooth over awkward situations. He shifts his feet, causing Shisui to react the same way. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Abort mission! "We can come back later if—"

"No!" She yells out, her arm stretching out so fast for them Shisui can hear a quiet pop of bone. There's another moment of silence as Shisui waits for her to continue, but she just stands there, clearly surprised at her own reaction.

She retracts her arm, bowing low. "I… I apologize. Please," She stands up, gently picking up the bread that had fallen from her hands. Her eyes dart from his eyes to the bread, as if unsure where to focus her attention. "Feel free to make a selection. The special of the day is, um, cinnamon swirl," She states, trying to give them both a shaky smile. Shisui has seen Kiri orphans look happier.

Genma opens his mouth. "Sure, let's—"

Shisui immediately walks out the door.

He doesn't look back as he speeds down the dusty road, ignoring the creaking sound of the door behind him being opened.

"Shisui, wait!"

"Get off, Genma," Shisui snaps, brushing the hand off his shoulder. "She may not like shinobi, but she clearly hates Uchiha, if that reaction said anything. We never should have gone in," He states, more angry at himself than anything. Of course, he couldn't have something for himself, of course, his clan had to influence something as little as wanting to go into a bakery, of course, the first time he acted on a crush he didn't simply get rejected, he got squashed. By a no-name civilian of all people.

"No, listen, Shisui—"

Shisui shunshins back home. Fuck his life.

Shisui doesn't mope. Shisui tells himself he is not the kind of person who mopes. He makes sure to finish his missions, clean the house, take care of his dad, and train with Itachi, all while putting on a disarming grin. There is nothing about this behavior that suggests moping.

"You're moping," Itachi bluntly says, dodging a punch.

"I'm not moping," Shisui instinctively answers back, but he fails to account for the distraction that Itachi made and summarily ends up staring at the sky, his back to the ground.

Itachi eyes him from above, head cocking to the side like a crow spotting a tasty worm. "Why are you moping?"

Shisui groans, closing his eyes as the sun blasts into his sensitive retinas. "Can't you let things go?" He says in a not-whining voice because he is older and much more mature than Itachi.

"You're whining," Itachi needles.

"You're a pain," Shisui answers. Still, he can't help the quirk of his lips at the traded barbs, cracking open his eyes to the sight of Itachi offering a hand up. Shisui takes it, feeling the sweat and grime on it like so many other spars.

"You know I always like the fact that you're blunt, Itachi, but you also need to know when to let things go," Shisui calmly answers as he stands up, brushing off some of the dirt on his pants.

"It's affecting our spars," Itachi answers. "It's clearly not minimal." Itachi leans in close, his eyes shifting as his eyebrows furrow. "Did you get any new information about the clan?" He whispers.

Shisui grimaces, refusing to meet Itachi's eyes. "No," He quickly snaps out. Itachi visibly relaxes, but the question is still clear on his face. It wasn't that Shisui didn't trust Itachi, but the truth was so embarrassing that Shisui is loath to even mention it.

Itachi stares at him.

Shisui stares back.

"You have beautiful eyes," He weakly jokes. Itachi doesn't budge.

"Ugh, fine!" Shisui yells out, putting his hands over his weary eyes to not see the judgmental gaze. "There's this girl I like and she doesn't like me because I'm an Uchiha, happy?" He blurts out. "It's stupid, and I don't want to talk about it."

Itachi blinks, processing the information. "Where is she?" He innocently asks. Shisui peers up at him, finding a flicker of something in his eyes.

"No," Shisui commands. "This is my problem, and I'm dealing with it. That's all," He states, trying to take back control of the conversation. Shisui doesn't like the look on Itachi's face.

Itachi averts his gaze, but Shisui isn't fooled.

"Sorry to break up the party."

Shisui whirls around, finding Genma propped against a tree with its leaves shifting in the wind.

"We just finished," Itachi demure states. He looks back and forth at Shisui and Genma as he picks up his fallen kunai and stuffs it in his pocket. Itachi turns a questioning gaze to Shisui, but Shisui shakes his head, and so his clansman politely continues on, leaving with a wave.

Genma juts his chin up at Itachi's departing figure. "You babysitting your creepy cousin?"

Shisui levels him with a sharp look, letting him know he's overstepped boundaries. "He's not my cousin, and he outranks you. Itachi is going to outrank me, so don't speak that way about the Uchiha clan heir," He says, pride and threats clear in his voice.

Genma lifts an eyebrow. "Couldn't help but notice you didn't say anything about the creepiness."

Shisui pauses. "We're working on that part."

"Whatever you say," Genma says, voice blasé. "Anyway, I'm here to escort you."

Shisui's brows furrow. "To the Hokage?" So many things could have gone wrong in so many ways, and Shisui's mind is puzzling through all of them, trying to seek a reason as to why he needs an audience with Shisui right this minute.

Genma looks at him. "Sure," He calmly answers, senbon shifting in his mouth, giving nothing away. Shisui tenses all the same, letting Genma lead the way to the center of their village.

But Genma isn't heading to the center. At first, Shisui assumes he is operating under protocol to not bring suspicion to them as they head around the outskirts, but that thought quickly dissolves as Shisui recognizes the streets surrounding them. However, it isn't until his coworker stops in front of a blue door with a sign on it that Shisui sends Genma a glare.

"This doesn't look like the Hokage's office," Shisui bluntly states.

"They've been doing some big renovations to the place," Genma smoothly answers. He walks up to the front door and juts his head towards it. "I talked to her yesterday and it was all a big misunderstanding. You should try again."

Shisui can feel his fists clench. "You what?" Embarrassment threatens to overwhelm him. He's not a child in need of a chaperone, he's fifteen; an adult of Konoha by every measure. "Why would you do that?!"

"Relax, I wasn't the first to mention you. I went in and asked how she was, and she just talked on and on about how you looked like someone she used to know and how she's very sorry about how spooked she was and that we can come in anytime we need to," He gestures towards the door again. "Now, let her make it up to you."

Shisui's anger and fear deflate like a popped balloon. "One more chance," He emptily threatens. "And I get 60/40 on the bet."

Genma tsks. "Don't get greedy," He warns, but triumph is hidden in his voice.

Shisui exhales out, steadying himself as he looks at the door in front of him. Out of curiosity, he peers into the window by the side of it, finding the woman with her face in her hands on the wooden counter. A pang of pity pierces his heart.

Shisui walks in, his body tensed as if headed to battle. As the door creaks open, she rapidly jerks up, exposing a face lined with eyes that haven't slept in a long while. Those same eyes widen as she spots him, her mouth open in shock. Shisui can't help but wonder what kind of horror a civilian would have had to go through to have that kind of face.

For some people, maybe for some smarter people, the crush would have ended there. Instead, it only pulled Shisui in harder. Not in a romantic sense, necessarily, but in a way that it felt when working on perfecting his shunshin. Like an unfinished puzzle trapping him with that one lost piece.

Exhilaration.

"Hello!" She yells, slamming her hands on the counter as her body shoots forward. She almost runs towards them, but stops herself as she breeches past the counter, visibility clenching her fists at her side.

"Hello," She breathes out again, standing still. She jerks, as if starting then stopping a motion, and bows. "I deeply apologize for my behavior yesterday."

There's a brief silence as Shisui flounders on how to respond.

Genma gives a subtle cough.

"Ah, don't worry about it!" Shisui hastily says. "It's really alright, um…"

She instantly lifts her head up, staring at him straight in the eyes. A daring move, especially to an Uchiha. "Saki. Pleased to meet you, Uchiha-san." She perks up, heading back around the counter. "Would you two like to have anything?"

"Well, we were just heading ou—"

"Of course," Genma says, butting in. He saunters up to the counter where a section of displays are shown, each more aesthetically pleasing than the next. The shelves are lined with dumplings, sweet rolls, pastries, and foods Shisui couldn't begin to name covered in a fine, white powder. He peers closer, almost entranced by the sight.

"Would you like a donut?" Saki knowingly asks, politely smiling at him.

"Yes, Saki-san," Shisui answers, unsure if the round object in front of him was a 'donut.'

"Please, call me Saki-chan."

Shisui gives a hesitant smile back. "Then call me Shisui-kun."

She grins, bold and wide and a little manic.

"I'll have this, Saki-san," Genma interrupts, pointing at the familiar sight of grilled dango with its pieces covered in sticky sauce.

"Of course," Saki says, pulling her gaze away from Shisui and settling into the routine of pulling out the donut and dango, unleashing sweet smells as she does so. Shisui tracks her movements, saying nothing and being careful not to react as he notices her slip a small piece of parchment into his desserts' bag. She finishes the packaging quickly, presenting them both with their orders.

"On the house," Saki says, smiling at them with mischief in her eyes. Genma subtly elbows Shisui and he responds by stomping on one of Genma's feet.

"Thank you, Saki-chan," He politely responds, an answering grin on his face as Genma quietly swears in the background.

"Have a nice day!" She calls out as they walk towards the exit.

"You too!" Shisui answers, ignoring Genma's grumbles as he follows him outside.

Genma slaps a hand on his shoulder as soon as they're out of sight. "You're welcome, by the way," He irritably says. "At least I got some dango out of this."

"Remember, 60/40," Shisui serenely answers, clutching the package close to his chest.

Genma scoffs, but there's no true anger in his voice. "Fuck you too, Shisui!" He yells, his voice growing more distant as he breaks from Shisui's side, the road to his house on the opposite path from the Uchiha compound.

Shisui sends out a cheerful wave back at Genma's fading figure, happily walking along the well-trodden trail. On impulse, he veers left as he gets out of the center of town, hiding behind the Hashirama tree trunks for some privacy. Methodically, he opens the bag of goods, letting the smell of fresh sugar and dough wash over him for a second before brushing past it for a note stuffed in the back. It's spotted with oil, but Shisui takes it in his hand, trying and failing to stop the goofy grin on his face from blossoming.

He opens the note.

I know about the coup d'état, says Saki's delicate handwriting.

Shisui stops breathing.