Which Color
The hallway of Itachi's quarters was the only witness to the hunt that had almost commenced.
'Defenseless.' Itachi was irritated with the way his mind kept replaying the muscle contractions of the little distraction that had stumbled into his quarters.
He was trying not to think about how much he liked the way her legs had stopped moving when his cousin had descended upon her with all the volatility of a storm.
Everything about the way she was clueless to the danger she was in while standing between him and his other half enticed him.
The memory of her difficulty meeting his eyes filled him with an arrogance that greatly contradicted his usual humble disposition.
He was not easily amused but Sakura was a strange mix of nervousness and confidence that made it unusually difficult for him to school his facial muscles.
However, Itachi wasn't inclined to dip his hand into a cookie jar that belonged to Sasuke.
.
Aren't all temptations made just for you?
.
But…
Itachi had not accounted for Shisui to be chaotic enough to lift the lid of that jar.
He also had not accounted for himself to be wholly fascinated with watching her whole body become immobile.
A freezing behavior reserved for prey.
Itachi had not accounted for the thrill of snagging her body away from his cousin just before his cousin could touch her.
A playfulness that had long since been subdued had emerged without him noticing.
He also did not account for his mind to linger on how fragile her small wrist felt underneath his long fingers.
Itachi could still smell the fragrance that burst under his nose when he had gotten her close enough.
Ripe peaches.
Spiced to perfection with the unique note of Sakura's sweat.
Her skin had grown so hot that it allowed the body of her fragrance to expand in the air around her without effort.
A minuscule tug in his lower abdomen was something Itachi chose to ignore.
Her look of bewilderment when she locked eyes with him after they had retreated lingered in his mind.
If he was honest, he hadn't needed to connect his eyes with hers.
Itachi's sensibility prevented him from acknowledging the indecent satisfaction that had erupted within his chest upon seeing her reaction to his speed.
Her skin had been softer beneath his hand than he had imagined it to be.
And the contact hadn't been nearly long enough.
Now standing in his bedroom, safe from pretty distractions, he regarded his deflated cousin who had plopped himself on his mattress.
Shisui leaned his weight on his hands that were stretched behind him on the bed and stared at the ceiling, thoughts filled with a particularly attractive color.
His lips were disgruntled, having been so close to their desired destination.
His hands itched with the need to snake themselves around a petite waist.
.
Would you mind if I put my name on it?
.
That woman's eyes had shone with something.
Something that was making it increasingly difficult to remain in his cousin's bedroom.
He was unaccustomed to having his true nature lured out in such a peculiar way.
'Exactly what was that just now?' Shisui thought to himself, a small frown appearing on his handsome face.
He contemplated the seriousness of the situation, recalling how Itachi had materialized out of thin air to stop him from touching Sakura's skin.
The precision it took to wait until Shisui was confident he had her before ripping Sakura away was refined.
Itachi would have easily used less effort to kill Shisui in that moment instead.
The difficulty of that task could best be measured by the running graveyards of failed shinobi.
Shisui let out a rueful chuckle when he finally lowered his head to look at Itachi.
"I couldn't help it." His low voice confessed.
His usual playful tone was missing from the statement.
Itachi looked at his cousin, eyes widening in surprise.
His cousin was a lot of things but he was not without an iron grip on his own control.
Itachi was unsure of how to proceed.
His intelligence allowed him to consider the situation again.
Itachi's heartbeat quieted when a seemingly impossible consideration came to his mind.
Itachi didn't like it.
But the memory of his own eyes not wanting to leave Sakura's flushed face after she had stumbled into his room continued to nag at him.
The sight was etched into the fabric of his mind.
Itachi also couldn't deny the scary probability of the consideration being true.
'He doesn't mean...?'
Had the only reason Sakura had reached the exit to that hallway been because Itachi hadn't seen the shade of the color that was hinting to bloom onto her face the closer Shisui had moved towards her?
Itachi was intelligent.
Itachi was reasonable.
Itachi was disciplined.
But Itachi also had a preference he had not been aware of.
.
Let me paint you with my fingers
.
Sakura was perhaps the incarnate of the color Red.
Itachi mind stumbled on what that could possibly mean.
His heart restarted and began a rather uncomfortable rhythm in his chest.
It was almost like all Uchiha blood had an affinity to the mythological mistress that bled through their veins.
His thoughts became sluggish.
.
Sakura was every shade of the color.
Sakura was also the painter's palette.
Sakura belonged to his little brother.
.
Sakura, if she wasn't the reincarnation… was also the perfect complement to the goddess he suspected that all Uchiha men answered to.
He hated the way it took all of his strength to resist relaxing into the involuntary clench of his lower abdomen when arousal tugged there.
He thought back to her big curious eyes.
He couldn't allow himself to feel the ripple of pleasure that was currently threatening to go up his spine.
His mind flashed to the view he had above Sakura when he had leaned his head down beside her ear.
His very last ounce of self-control hung in the balance as her smell wafted into his ridiculous thoughts.
She had been defenseless and just within his grasp.
Realization was hitting Itachi hard.
His body still wanted to touch her shoulder blades.
The muscles in his chest wanted to relax into the softness of her frame.
How troublesome.
His lips wanted to brush against her ear once again.
He wanted to do more with his mouth than he was comfortable acknowledging.
Itachi knew couldn't get himself addicted to the feeling that this particular drug gave him when it was something he wasn't allowed to have.
Wanting something for no reason other than it was his.
His mind corrected 'Should be his'.
The Uchiha clan heir harshly pushed a breath of air from his lips.
The action chased away every whisper of that particular trip's potential for adventure.
Itachi had once been confused about reckless drug use.
But how odd?
That Itachi now liked one that he hadn't even tried yet.
Shisui didn't make a joke about the crack in Itachi's shatterproof mask.
The two understood each other better than anyone else ever could.
They shared everything.
But this time it felt like the story of Adam and Eve.
The red of the apple was always left out in that story though Shisui mused.
Shisui wanted to laugh.
It was like when they were both young.
How when they each found something absolutely fascinating they'd run to show the other.
The prodigies had excelled in every single form of education.
The intellectual side of Shisui had wanted to gather more information on Sakura's color.
Had he really found something he liked this much that his first response was to share it with his other half to enjoy?
The two assassins had breathed as one since childhood.
In each battle, they were each other's left hands and right hands.
They both moved in tandem because it was just so much more fun to do it together.
They were almost inappropriately skilled at reaping lives.
Where Itachi was, it only took one roll of thunder for Shisui to follow.
The space between where the ground immediately charges with electrons and the lightning then strikes that piece of earth was the only time lag between the two cousin's movements.
Had Sakura really triggered both of their fondest interests?
She really was too curious for her own good Shisui thought to himself his mind replaying the way her eyes had regarded his face in the doorway.
Her admiration of his features had been poorly concealed.
It was cute, that her eyes gave her away.
He liked the satisfaction it gave him a little too much.
Shisui kind of giggled realizing he liked Sakura so much that he wanted to share.
The excitement he felt was oddly uncontained and made Shisui more than uncomfortable.
What were the odds of sharing the same fondness with another?
...
The interest in analyzing something curious.
And the interest in races.
.
Would you mind if I took a bite?
.
Itachi shook his head laughing, reading Shisui's thoughts.
Itachi's lips pulled into a particularly amused smile.
He thought of the background to the Uchiha clan's most brutal technique.
Maybe it was called an art for a good reason.
Even after choosing the exact detail of the nightmare they want to burn into their captive's mind forever, Uchihas also picked their favorite color to do it on top of.
'Red made it all look good didn't it?'
Not telling Shisui this insight was humorously difficult for Itachi.
His cousin's automatic snort would have been something hilarious.
But the two couldn't joke about this.
"I don't trust myself Itachi." Shisui admitted quietly, letting himself fall back onto the bed.
The two were always honest.
Troubled storm clouds stared at the ceiling, seeing a bright flower sinking into a black abyss instead of the ancient architecture that the Uchiha clan was renowned for.
"I know." Itachi whispered.
His cousin's nature was much too playful.
And truthfully, this had dangerously rubbed off on Itachi.
Both of their trained ears caught the last echo of Sakura's footsteps at the end of the hallway.
Red belonged to his little brother.
New AN:
Idk if people following this story read these updates, but expect more details and most likely new chapters in between what I've already written.
I feel better writing when readers tell me if the story is working, or if there's something they want me to add to this story.
Like do you want more dialogue? Or should there be more scene descriptions? Or do you want more humor?
Or am I talking to myself and the handful of cute readers who leave me reviews :')
SONGS:
My Writing: "Birthday Cake" by Rihanna
My Recommendation: "High sexual tension between you and the villain | a slowed playlist" on Youtube ( the first song)
Old AN:
fun dynamic? hahha I have no idea what I'm doing but it's kinda fun.