Shisui shifted nervously as he waited by the Hokage tower.
Mina didn't leave her home often except to buy groceries. Something that was happening less and less with the recent tax hike. She didn't actually know much about the village despite living here for years.
Shisui didn't have to be ANBU to know that someone was planning something. He immediately discounted the civillians because they were kind of idiots. Jinchuriki or not, if they would knowingly mistreat someone bearing the last name of the Shodaime's wife then they obviously couldn't be trusted to be professional about it.
Plus Oribanda was the only known witch in the elemental nations. Driving her out of the village with hostilities would be stupidity worthy of execution.
She was the only witch known in the elemental countries so it was unlikely they were trying to kick her out.
Which meant that someone wanted her to be in debt.
The date had multiple purposes. The first was to try and get to know his employer on a more personal level. He had been working for the girl for a year and a half now. Despite that he still didn't know much about her. The only non-store related things that came out of her mouth were wood jokes to fluster people with and made up stories to comfort Naruto. Shisui knew that Mina was a nice person. She was cheerful and eccentric and got along with a lot of ninja clans. The pranks she talked about made his head spin and the two of them had even plotted one out when they were scrubbing the cauldrons.
He ended up giving the plans to Naruto to pull off.
The second was to narrow down the list of possible suspects. He knew that the best way to control someone was to isolate them or use blackmail. Mina seemed to know this too so there was nothing to use as blackmail. He also remembers the ROOT nin that showed up in her private chambers.
Mina was perfectly fine with people using ninja methods to enter her shop. However, they were all warned that the consequences of invading her privacy were unpleasant and without mercy. Despite that someone had decided to make a grab for her wand crafting notes.
Her WAND crafting notes! Her family craft!
Mina had always been immensely protective of her secrets but to try and steal a part of her heritage?
What. An. Idiot.
The poor sap had his arm jinxed off before she dragged him to the Military Police. She wouldn't give it back until the Hokage demanded it either. He actually had to take a moving arm down the street to the Hokage tower since Dogface wouldn't go anywhere near it. It kept trying to strangle him!
Shisui bet the medics had a field day with that one.
The third was to hopefully get the elders off his back. There had been more and more pressure for him to use his mangekyo on Mina. He really didn't want to do that. She was his friend and while he wouldn't mind being closer it wouldn't mean anything if it was because of his eye. Plus he wasn't sure if it would actually work on her since he heard that she doesn't have chakra.
Mina was slow to anger but no one wanted to be around when she lost it. He had been around her long enough to know that she could break someone faster then Anko and Ibiki combined.
"Hello Shisui. Sorry I'm late" Chirped his date as she came up to him. "I had to teach a dog some manners."
His eyes widened when he took in what she was wearing. He had gotten used to seeing her in giant baggy robes and thick goggles that the sight of her in regular clothing completely threw him for a loop. He already knew that she had a pretty face but this was nuts!
"A-Ah don't worry about it." he waved off. "You look really nice out of the potion robes."
"Thank you." She curtsied. "What are we doing today?"
"Well. I thought you might want to eat something that was more local." Asked Shisui. "How do you feel about sushi?"
It seemed that the date was meant to go wrong from the get go.
The two Blackbird staff were about half way through lunch when one of the waitresses tripped and covered them in food.
It was a good thing that Mina had brought her wand with her. She pulled it out of a purse and vanished the mess. Unfortunately the soy sauce would probably leave a stain and she would have to dye the dress black later. Still the food and conversation was good, even if political philosophy wasn't her usually choice of debate.
"I am still considered an outsider in these parts so take what i say with a grain of salt. I do not believe that prejudice could be solved by changing the ruling party. If anything, a hostile takeover would inspire fear, which is not the same as respect." Mina insisted. Her employee seemed to be under the impression that she was not well informed. She had no intentions of correcting this mistake as it gave her a more unbiased information. "Depending on the nature of the take over it would just result in copious amounts of bloodshed and bitterness. Like what happened with the kyuubi."
It's very easy for people to forget that she is rarely the only one working in the store since she has her indentured servants working out of sight weeding or cleaning. This was mostly to protect the privacy but it also meant that people in her shop were often happy to gossip about everything.
She suspects things would be very different if Shisui worked where her customers could actually see him. The Uchihas were some sort royalty here and it would be scandalous to see a prodigy scrubbing dangerous cauldrons.
"I don't really think the situation is the same."
"Maybe not but the result probably will be. It's been the result of more then one war in the history of magic." At least this was something both wizard wars shared. Prejudice, followed by violence, followed by more prejudice and suspicion, followed by a strange decision that makes everything alright or just more violence.
Wizards are idiots.
Apparently Ninja are too.
Mina was fairly certain that if witches ran everything then- CRASH!
Her thoughts were interrupted by the realization that she had ice running down the back of her dress. This was the second accident, from the same waitress no less. "Oh My Gosh! I am SOOO sorry for interrupting your date Shisui-kun." Gasped the waitress.
It seems someone had a fan club.
Well, either that or political philosophy was pissing people off. In retrospect, she probably should've casted Muffliato before speaking but that might've made the problem worse as it highlights that there was something worth hiding. Shinobi were more curious then cats on a sunny day.
Then it happened again when their dessert ended up having so much salt it was nearly inedible. Her date had been the first to bite into the cake. "Shisui. I really hope that you didn't do that on purpose." She sighed as she pulled out a napkin to wipe the spit up food from the table and his own clothes. "I'm not entirely sure what this is but is it supposed to be this salty?"
"Ah! My greatest apologies Majo-san. Someone has mislabeled the sugar and the salt!" Apologized a waiter. "Here. Let me get you another one you can take to go." Then the man dashed off leaving a very embarrassed shinobi and a bemused witch.
"I am so sorry! The service here isn't usually this bad." Coughed Shisui as he ignored everyone else and helped her clean herself up for the third time. "Are you alright?"
"No need to worry. It's not your fault." She assures him.
Mina was aware that the Uchiha are considered highly attractive. Hence the fan club.
Well, Mina did spend a good chunk of her time surrounded by teenagers. She could recognize date sabotages when she saw them. She wonders if her potions tutor ever had to deal with this sort of thing. He had been competing with the marauders for a girl after all.
"Hey Shisui. I think our waitress is having a bad day. Maybe we should go somewhere else?" She asked while gesturing to the other girls.
"Yeah."
...
The two of them strolled leisurely through a forest. It was early afternoon now and neither one of them had any doubts that people were watching them. It was the witch and an Uchiha after all.
Mina decided that if people didn't have the presence of mind to ignore a date then they should make their observations as difficult as possible. Shisui had agreed heartily and in the spirit of the prank suggested an out of the way training grounds which had a rather nice view and was very difficult to navigate if one wasn't using the path.
The conversation wasn't quite so heavy as the one in restaurant.
Shisui had been completely red regarding his fan club but had been highly horrified with some of the more outlandish fan clubs from Hogwarts. "Love potions? Wand theft? Mistletoe? This was allowed?"
Likewise he began talking about some of the pranks he had pulled on his family. "This is the cousin that breathed fire when he was four right? How did he look with pink hair?"
Of course this turned into a debate regarding what defines a prodigy
"No. I don't think its a good thing. That much pressure could drive someone mad. "
a genius
"A genius stands out amongst their peers. Not much room for making mistakes you know."
and a savant
"The world definitely needs more bookworms like my Ravenclaw friends."
The conversation then turned to various mascots and color schemes.
"The Ravenclaws have a terrible color combination. Blue and Bronze? Really?"
"A paper fan as a symbol? It looks like a target. Why would you want to wear something that bright? Why is your clan named after an object?"
"Didn't you say that your name meant he who uses an olive stick? You can't exactly talk."
"That isn't really worth discussing." Shrugged Mina who pointedly ignored the indignant huff from trees. "Both of us are from upperclass families with house names that have poor meanings."
"I'll have you know the uchiwa fan is excellent for fanning flames." Pointed Shisui. "Olive oil is a very popular product in many different things."
"Point to you. But paper fans are fragile. The act of fanning flames could also be interpreted as fanning the flames of conflict. The broken pieces can't be used as anything other then fuel either." Then the witch began picking apart her own name. "Olive wood isn't good for anything that isn't used to render judgement as it other wise lacks the initiative to do much. Which to my house renders it pretty much useless."
"Careful boss. Them's fighting words. People will kill you for things like that." They were in public, outside of the shop silencing wards, people will hear.
"Ah really?. I apologize for the insult then." Mina raised an eye brow at that. "Also kill? Over an insult? Really? That's something straight out of the wizarding war."
"We are shinobi. Not wizards. We have different values. It's kind of hard to explain." Then the boy began explaining the will of the fire as best as he could. The belief that had been passed down from the Shodaime to each succeeding generation. It was the philosophy that defined Konoha and made it strong.
"Hmm. I think I get it. The burning passion to protect your loved ones with all of your strength with others who feel the same." She clarified. "Including kiling?"
"Yeah. Killing is a duty. Not a pleasure." He noticed the unimpressed look on her face. "Ok. What is it? You always get that look when you don't like the implications of something."
"Well, Fire is a force of destruction, it needs fuel to keep burning. Especially large blazes. It stands to reason that people who do not carry the will of fire would be fed to it right? Thats what happened to the White Fang isn't it? Those that are not fit to be the carrier are turned into the fuel?" She highly doubted that the flame analogy was chosen by accident seeing as the first Hokage had been lauded as something of a genius. Then again Shinobi thought differently then wizards.
Fire was warmth and light. It was also pain and destruction. What it burns will affect the fire itself. Somethings will flare in the flames while others will pop. If the history books were accurate The White Fang was considered a hero until he failed a mission and chose to save his team rather then finish the job. There was no other explanation for the start of a war being blamed on someone acting along the lines of Konoha's preachings other then the failure taking him out of the carrier and into the fuel category.
"Yeesh. So cynical." Shisui shook his head but did not disagree with her. "One of these days, you are going to be accused of treason for saying stuff like that."
"I still don't understand what you are talking about." Chirped Mina "I'm just playing the part of loyal opposition."
"Nevermind Mina-san." He groaned but subtly pointed out a few eavesdroppers. "So You mentioned that you were in a bunch of different clubs right? At your school?"
Mina raised an eyebrow at the change in subject but complied. She figured that he knew who was listening in on them, something her magic couldn't qiuite do when there was more then one person in the vicinity. "Yep. I was a part of the Dueling club, The quidditch team and, the muggle association."
"Maguru association?"
"Basically we'd take trips out of the wizard world to watch movies, study gadgets, and eat new food."
"Ah ok. Is the dueling club military training?"
"Not really." She thinks for several moments. "It's more of a combat club since dueling is a way to settle debts and insults. We get taught much more then offensive spells and ways to counter them. Like minor mediwizardry. I don't mean to blow my own horn, but I was one of the best." Then she gazes far into the distance with a wistful smile. "I miss duelling with my friends."
Shisui became quiet as he began to think of something. "Hey Mina-san. Wanna spar? This is a training ground after all."
It turned out that Dogface and Naruto were not the only spying on the date.
To Naruto's dismay, he and Dogface were joined by two more Uchiha who were curious about the girl Shisui-nii had asked out. The older one looked like he hadn't slept for several days judging by the bags under his eyes and the wrinkles on his face. The younger one looked like it was his age with really stupid hair. He wanted to ask if his hair was supposed to look like a pheseant's butt but then the memory of Nee-chan's wooden spoon came to mind and he kept quiet.
He knew Mina-nee was happy to go on a date but it was just weird that it was with Shisui-nii.
He watched as the food people started spoiling the date and it made him mad. He was used to people sabotaging him in civilian school (He hopes Jiji will let him go to the Academy when he sees him again.) but no one should mess with Nee-chan. Dogface had to muffle him several times when he started to shout at the people in the restaurant.
"Maa. Naruto calm down. They'll know we're watching if they hear you."
Dogface promised to help him prank the restaurant though, so that will be fun. He could help him read Shisui-nii's plans.
Then they followed them into this really cool looking training grounds. The ground was really soft and Dogface had to carry him on his shoulders to keep from sinking into the mud.
Wow, Dogface was really tall-ttebayo.
Thats not important right now.
He watched wide eyed as Mina agreed to a spar and drew her wand. Nee-chan always did cool things with her wand even if they made his head spin.
Shisui threw a kunai into the air and the sound of it hitting the ground marked the beginning of something that he will remember for the rest of his life.
"Tarantellegra!"
Shisui-nii's legs promptly started jerking like something he saw in one of the photos. Shisui looked alarmed from a moment before running through a series of hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu."
And then there was fire everywhere.
Both of his precious people moved from the spot they were standing and maneuvered themselves around the sink holes and the tree roots. Shisui couldn't control his legs enough to stand on a tree properly and Mina was in dress shoes so must of the spar took place on the ground.
Naruto knows that it would look so much cooler if Mina-nee had her broom.
"Aguamenti" Almost scalding water flows from the end of the wand and puts out the flames. It also hits the blank faced ANBU that was hiding in that area and floods the area with steam. "Serpensortia!"
Also, WAS THAT A SNAKE-TTEBAYO?!
Dogface made a funny noise when the snake started moving.
"HOLY CRAP!" Shisui, who seemed to have regained control of his legs dodged the spray of water only to get hit by a large python. It was poorly throw but it was definitely a python of some sort. Before the snake could wrap itself around his legs he tossed the snake into the bushes where it wrapped itself around another ninja that had been snooping. "WHAT KIND OF DUELS DID YOU HAVE!"
"Normal ones!" Mina cackled in response. She looked like she was having the time of her life jumping from mud puddle to mud puddle while repelling kunai ("Repello").
"Doton: teppodama!" He spat several mud balls which were dodged and mostly hit the trees. It would've hit Naruto too if Dogface hadn't shunshined them away.
"Avis!" A cloud of black birds puff into existence and begin flying through the area. Dogface had to draw a kunai when he got too close to one of them and it tries to rip off his ear.
"You have a summoning contract?" Asked Shisui as he began knocked away the birds with the flat side of his sword. When that didn't work he started slicing through them. The birds didn't die like the ones Naruto caught either, with a rain of blood and bones. Instead they crumbled into dust which made their noses itch.
"Don't what that means!" She panted. She was unused to this much moving around outside of her garden. Her wheezing was audible and her face had become red. "Fumos."
A thick smoke began to fill the area. It was completely different from the smoke in Nee-chan's basement, which was funny smelling but other wise fairly light. This smoke smelled disgusting and it clung to his skin. It almost felt like the time he fell into the river when he was younger and it hurt his lungs.
He nearly falls off of Dogface when the man leans over to vomit.
Dog face moves to deposit him behind a giant stump under the smoke and he sees a familiar pair of feet. Nee-chan's shoes were kinda flimsy compared to the ones Naruto had seen on shinobi. The soles were attached to her feet by several bands rather then a whole piece. The smoke was too gross to see much more but Naruto knows that Dogface was probably sitting too.
He hears Mina-nee murmur revelio over and over again as she looks to see where Shisui-nii might be.
"Found you!" Chirped the woman as she directed several fallen branches to attack the boy.
A loud yelp confirmed that the branches hit their target. But then Naruto noticed another pair of sandaled feet pass them.
Ninja sandaled feet.
The feet jump into the smoke and- "Stupefy! Evanes-" *CRACK!* "BUGGER!" Then a torrent of very angry sounding gibberish.
Naruto couldn't understand what Nee-chan was saying but it sounded like the rude words that he always heard at construction sites and in bars. Usually they were directed at him.
He'd never heard Nee-chan say stuff like that before so it must be serious.
Usually it's Shisui-nii and himself saying things like that and Nee-chan would hit them with her spoon.
Anyways the smoke clears once a huge gust of wind blows the whole thing away, revealing another Shisui running towards Mina-nee.
The one next to Mina-nee promptly turned into a puff of smoke when the real one got close. "Shit Mina. I am so sorry. I didn't mean for my clone to break your arm like that." He stammered nervously as he inspected the damage.
"Tch. I shouldn't have blocked that kick with my wand arm." Grumbled Mina. "Perhaps you could take me to the hospital then? I can't really do anything with a broken arm. Plus it really hurts."
Shisui nodded eagerly and carried her off to the hospital as fast as he could manage.
There was a moment of silence and then Naruto started hearing rude swears in the background. It was probably from someone getting clawed at by one of the birds that are still hanging around. "Hey Dogface. What now?"
"Maa. I'll leave it up to you. But we'd better get away from these birds." Said the man as if he hadn't thrown up a few moments ago. "They're still attacking people here."
AN:/ Two papers, A civil service exam, and one birthday later, this chapter finally shows its face.
Careful mimikins. Your wizard rudeness is showing.
Poor Shisui. Talk about a bad first date.
The date was surprisingly difficult to write. Mostly because I don't have much experience in that department. Also because I wanted certain events to happen but couldn't make it work. Like Mina shaking hands with gai and having her hand crushed by his monstrous strength.
Or having the two of them confronting their eavesdroppers.
The spar was just as difficult since magical duels are pretty much flying lights. Ninja spars tend to be upclose and personal.
And also It was originally going to be much longer but I figured since this part was already kind of long I may as well cut it into two parts and post this section.
I've also written out possible wands for various characters even if they can't use them. I can post them as an extra if enough people ask for it.
Could anyone guess what the weakness of magic in combat is?
Comments on the fight scene?
Comments on the fallout of the whole thing?
Guesses as to what the eavesdroppers were thinking? Because I assure you. There was more then one faction watching.
Crystal M. Key: I didn't think of that. Thanks for the idea!
Ultimate Alternate Universe: Magic is to Oil as Chakra is to sugar water. The body is the container. They can exist side by side. Using them means applying heat. Make of that what you will.
Vatsyayana96: I think Hiruzen's policies would work if Konoha wasn't so big. It takes too long for paperwork and information to be processed and its enough to miss large and crucial information before someone with enough knowledge to tamper with it.
Stranger: Wish granted.
Maxxus Herald: Thank you for the advice. As soon as I can figure out how to weave exposition with dialogue I'll drop the parentheses.
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