Blood. There was so much blood, and it covered his hands like a stain that he could never banish. His hands shook as he stared at them, before looking up to see Danzo holding his sharingan eyes in his hands, with a glint of triumph in his own eyes.
Shisui! Shisui! His head jerked to the side to see his mother calling out for him, right before a katana flew into her stomach impaling her. Her body fell to the hard cold ground, her eyes wide in shock. Shisui trembled, frozen in shock, eyes jumping between Danzo and his mother. He came out of his shock to try to run to his fallen mother.
He made it one step before he heard a thunderous roar behind him, and he turned to see his father with a group of Konoha shinobi facing off against the Kyuubi as it terrorized their village. Shisui suddenly found his body shorter and much younger. He ran as fast as his shorter legs could carry him, but he didn't make it soon enough to protect his father from the dripping claws that sheared open his torso, allowing the insides free. Shisui felt his stomach flip, bile rising, as he slowly turned to take in the carnage surrounding him. The air smelt like death, and he could hear the wailing of comrades watching their partners fall from a quick and harsh death.
Shisui
Where was that voice coming from? He turned to look for it, before he found himself standing in darkness. He saw the Uchiha elders, cloaked in the shadows, red eyes glinting. When he looked around him, he saw the council members, the looks on their faces imposing judgment and death. Shisui stood caught in the middle. His will to protect his family, and his duty to the village left him in the crosshairs.
Shisui
He felt the breeze, and heard the crashing water below him. He was back in his regular body again, but the blood still stained his hands. He felt himself falling back, air rushing past him. He watched the cliff he fell from slip from view, as he felt his body fall to the rocks and unforgiving water below. He closed his eyes, and let the breath he had been holding out, accepting his fate. Free.
Shisui
His eyes opened and looked around, watching the cliff side passing by; he felt as if he was starting to fall in slow motion. This dream is new. He could feel his heart pulling, but he didn't know why. He awaited the sweet release of death.
Shisui
He felt hands on his arms, as if trying to pull him from the brinks of hell.
Shisui
"Shisui!" His eyes opened in a panic, his body sitting up, trembling. He stared down at his hands. No blood. He looked around to see that he hadn't fallen to his death for the second time. He felt gentle hands touch his face tentatively, and turned his head to see Sakura's emerald eyes, full of worry and fear. When their eyes locked, it felt like his feet were finally touching the ground again, and he was safe; as if she was the safety net pulling him back to safety. He didn't realize his cheeks were wet until her fingers brushed them dry.
It's just my luck that the first night that Sakura shared my bed with me, innocent as it was, would be one of the nights my nightmares came to visit.
He suddenly felt self-conscious, as if he was exposed and felt the need to cover himself up and hide. He slowly started to withdraw from Sakura, but her hands held him firm.
"You don't need to hide from me Shisui." Her hand came up to brush the sweat damp wet locks from his forehead. Her gaze came back to meet his own uncertain one. "You don't need to talk about it, just know I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." She inched her body back so she could sit leaning against the headboard next to him. He nodded his head, not knowing what else to say; he still felt as if he was trying to adjust to reality from the harshness of his dreams. They always felt so real.
"You were only asleep for a little bit, do you want to try to sleep some more? Or I can go make you some tea?" He looked at her, so small next to him compared to his own size, her hair slightly tousled from their brief sleep.
"I think I just need to lay down for a bit, if that's ok." She nodded back at him, and patted her lap in invitation. He hesitated, before moving his body down lower, and rested his head on her lap, and used his arms to loosely wrap around her waist. She began to stroke and play with his hair in an attempt to soothe, and he could feel the stress and panic start to seep from his body.
The feel of her chest moving in and out with her breath, and the sweet smell of jasmine lulled him back into much needed dreamless sleep.
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The morning light filtering in his room roused Shisui from his slumber. He felt around the bed, and realized he was alone. Did I scare her off? He rolled over to see a covered plate and glass of water on his nightstand, a note taped to the top.
I ran home real quick to get cleaned up.
I'll be back soon.
-S
Shisui smiled to himself as he sat up in bed and pulled the plate into his lap to enjoy the breakfast she left for him. He felt like he was rested enough, and intended to go visit Genma today. He finished his breakfast and took his empty dishes to the kitchen, before going to take a shower so he could be ready when Sakura got back. Shisui turned the water as hot as it would go and started scrubbing his body, as if he was trying to cleanse himself from the remnants of the destruction in his dreams.
Shisui stepped out of the shower and quickly ran the towel through his hair before bringing it down to wrap around his waist. He felt water dripping off the ends of his hair, so he shook his head and ran his hands through it as he opened his bathroom door to walk out. As if on autopilot, he took a step to head to his room to get dressed, when he heard his front door close, and he found himself face to face with Sakura. He saw the way her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. Her cheeks slowly melted to red, and he watched as she tried to keep her eyes from roaming too low. He couldn't help the heat he felt curling in him; it felt good to feel so clearly wanted.
"I uh, I'm sorry, you, I didn't," She stuttered out and coughed to clear her throat, before shyly tucked her hair behind her ear. "You didn't answer so I assumed you were still sleeping." She started looking everywhere but him, as if her eyes were playing pinball with the different objects in his living area.
Shisui couldn't help himself. He walked over to her like a cat stalking its prey; his smirk grew as he watched her start biting her bottom lip, a nervous habit he noticed she seemed to have.
"You ok, Sakura? You're acting a little nervous." He tried not to laugh when she looked as if she had been caught with her hands in the cookie jar.
"Nervous? I'm-I'm not nervous." Sakura looked up at him, fighting to keep her eyes on his. She must have seen the teasing glint to his, and she rolled her eyes as if coming out of his spell, a huff escaping her. "Ok, I can't even think when you look like that." She waved her hand in front of her, motioning to his body. "You need to go put on a damn shirt so I can think straight." Shisui let out a laugh, a smile on his face. He knew they weren't at a point where they were ready to take things to the next level…they hadn't even kissed again the way they did on their first date. But he couldn't resist teasing her. She was so innocent in all the ways he wasn't. He smiled down at her fondly, bringing his hand up to cradle the side of her face as he brushed his thumb gently along her cheek.
"Yes ma'am." He bent down and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips before turning to go back to his room to change.
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Sakura waved goodbye to everyone in the clinic as she stepped out into the midday sun after finishing her early morning shift. Their schedules had kept them busy for a few days, so they made plans to meet up in their usual spot after she got off work.
Sakura walked down a wooded path, the trees and forest hiding her away from the village just behind her. She could hear the clanging of metal and felt a static in the air as she entered their usual clearing. She saw Sasuke and Naruto sitting at the base of a tree, panting as they tried to catch their breath. But it was the sight just beyond them that stopped her in her tracks. In the center of the training ground were two blurs moving so fast, that if she didn't know it was Shisui and Itachi, she would never have been able to tell who it was due to how fast they were moving.
"Sakura-chan! It's good to see you again!" Naruto greeted her with a big warm smile and friendly wave, and Sasuke gave her a passing glance hello.
"Hi Naruto." Sakura smiled at him, and turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, good to see you."
"Hn."
"Sakura-chan, I was just kicking temes ass, you missed a good show!" Sasuke slapped Naruto up the back of his head.
"Dobe, it was clearly a tie today." Naruto laughed and rubbed his head, before muttering about technicalities. Sakura couldn't help but laugh when she realized that they always seemed to remind her of an old married couple that was always bickering. She cleared her throat and tried to keep a straight face.
"I've never seen anyone move so fast. I didn't think it was even possible." She watched Shisui dodge a hit from Itachi before literally flickering a few feet behind Itachi to try to sweep his legs out from under him.
"Yeah, they're fast all right. But I'm sure you've heard what people call Shisui, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise." Sakura was confused, and a bit embarrassed that she had no idea what Naruto was talking about.
"Actually…I haven't heard. What do people call Shisui?" Sakura nearly got dizzy trying to keep up with their spar.
"Really?! He's known as Shisui of the Body Flicker! He's in all the bingo books, and known throughout all the shinobi nations, Sakura-chan!" Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's enthusiasm.
Sakura stood mesmerized as she watched Shisui and Itachi come to an abrupt halt, dust kicking up around their feet. Shisui held his kunai angled down and pressed against Itachi's throat, while Itachi crouched down with his side to Shisui, with his arm angled back with a kunai pressed against Shisui's back. Shisui of the Body Flicker, huh?
Shisui and Itachi withdrew from each other, a smirk on their faces as they both put away their kunai and made their way over. Itachi gave a polite hello to Sakura, as Sasuke and Naruto stood to join Itachi to prepare to leave.
"Mother wanted me to remind you that dinner is at 6." Shisui inclined his head towards Itachi.
"We'll be there." Shisui stood next to Sakura as they watched Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto make their way out of the training ground.
"We'll be there?" Sakura raised her eyebrow, turning to Shisui and thoroughly enjoying how sheepish he looked.
"Ah, well that is if you would like to join me, of course." Shisui gave her a boyish grin. "I know we didn't really set plans for tonight yet, but I was hoping you wouldn't be too averse to it." He turned fully to her, crooked smile in place. "So, would you like to join me for dinner tonight at Mikoto's, Sakura-chan?" She laughed at his attempts to butter her up, and brought a hand up to tap her chin as if deep in thought.
"Well, I suppose so." She drawled, "But I want to hear all about why you're so famous in all the shinobi nations while we walk, Shisui of the Body Flicker." She winked at him before laughing when she saw a faint dusting of pink grow on his cheeks.
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Shisui felt his heart warm in his chest as he watched Sakura helping Mikoto in the kitchen; Mikoto insisted that Sakura was a guest and didn't need to help, but Sakura wasn't having it. Fugaku was working late, but Itachi, Sasuke, Naruto and Shisui sat at the table talking about how missions have been going. To be fair, it was mostly Naruto talking, with a handful of Uchiha 'hn's' to help keep the conversation going. Shisui was in and out of their conversation, mostly lost in his own thoughts.
It had been a few months now since he first met Sakura, and Shisui found himself always thinking of her when they were apart, and traveling extra fast to return home from missions after they had been apart; when they were together, he never wanted to leave. He spent so much of his life willing to be a pawn for sacrifice if need be, that it scared and exhilarated him to feel so…attached to her. There were still times that whispers of fear would sneak out and make him question himself and if he was getting too far in, but then he would see her smile and the fear was cast away like a light vanquishing the darkness.
Shisui felt eyes on him, and he turned to see Itachi with a calculating look on his face, before motioning his head towards the back door that led to the gardens. They both stood to quietly excuse themselves, and walked out the door and down the moonlit path behind the house.
"What's on your mind, Itachi?" They stopped in the gardens and Shisui looked up to the sky, admiring the stars away from the light of the house.
"Kakashi's team arrived back about an hour ago." Itachi's gaze followed Shisui's to the sky. "Orochimaru is on the move. They found an abandoned base that had Orochimaru written all over it."
"What aren't you telling me?" Itachi sighed.
"They found a lab there" Itachi looked down to run his gaze through the trees. "They brought back what they could, to try to determine what they were working on." He looked over at Shisui. "They were experimenting on people." Shisui's gaze cut over to Itachi.
"People?" Itachi nodded. Shisui knew Orochimaru was perverse, and had heard rumors of him conducting unethical experiments before leaving Konoha. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised.
"The Hokage wants us to get ready to move in and try to track them down before they have a chance to do whatever it is their planning. We're supposed to report tomorrow morning." Shisui let out a breath and nodded in acknowledgement. Itachi looked back towards the house.
"Things seem to be going well." Shisui's gaze followed Itachi's. He could see Sakura laughing on the other side of the windows, and Naruto with a beet red face.
"She's something else, Itachi. I never thought I would find someone that makes me feel the way she does." Itachi looked over to Shisui.
"If you decide to take things further, just know that the elders will not cause problems." Shisui huffed in amusement.
"Damn Itachi, you sure take after Mikoto." Itachi let a rare soft smile grace his features.
"Thank you." Shisui sobered, "I still don't know if I could ask her to be a part of this life…but I'm glad to know that I have the option." They both looked back over when they heard the back door open, and saw Sakura step out.
"Dinner's ready!" She called out to them, as she made her way down the path to meet them. "Is everything ok?" She looked between the two of them, trying to gauge the situation she just walked into.
"Yeah, just talking about work." Shisui looked down at her, fondly.
"I will let father know dinner is ready." He nodded to the two of them as he left to retrieve Fugaku.
Shisui looked down at Sakura, admiring how the moonlight gave her an ethereal glow, and made her hair look like lavender.
"Shall we?" Sakura reached for his hand to walk him inside with her, but when she felt their grip go taut, she turned back to look at him confused. "Shisui?"
Shisui gently pulled her back to him, so she was pressed gently against his chest.
"I just need a moment." He looked down at her, and brought his hand up to slide past her cheek and wrap softly behind her head. He didn't know what their future held, but he knew what he wanted it to be. Nothing felt better than to know that when he came home, he had someone waiting for him. It may be selfish, but he never wanted it to end.
He leaned down to gently press his lips to hers, as if he was trying to convey what he was feeling through a kiss. Her eyes fluttered shut as she leaned in, and he got lost in her touch. Her hands moved up to rest on his chest, as his own free hand wrapped around her waist to pull her flush against him.
It surprised him how quickly their kiss gained traction and he could feel heat stirring. Everytime he touched her like this, he felt alive. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss, her own responding in kind. The feel of her lips, and curves of her body against his nearly made him forget where he was, and he never wanted it to end. Remembering that they were late for dinner, he slowly pulled back, and rested his forehead against hers as they caught their breath.
"Shall we?" He whispered, staring into her emerald eyes; he was so close that he could see the dark flecks of pine green entwined with bright emerald. Sakura slowly leaned back, her kiss swollen lips making him want to scoop her up in his arms and shunshin away. She smiled at him, and reached for his hand.
"We shall." They walked back to the house, taking their time as if trying to enjoy every last moment just the two of them before joining everyone else.
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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this one! I'm trying to find a good pace to keep plot moving and give fluff its' time to shine. I think we're only a few chapters away from the end, but we'll see. This story has already grown more than my original intentions, so I'm just letting it do its' thing. Thank you for taking the time to favorite/follow/review. It truly makes my day to see that you're enjoying this story as much as I am.