Rose
Thorn #4
"Shisui!" Koharu's expression lit up like a lightbulb when the shinobi walked in through the door.
"Koharu," He grinned and went up to the flower shop owner, who had come up to give him a hug. He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly, breathing in the scent of flowers that she brought with her.
I smell blood? Koharu hugged him back, but she noticed the smell from his clothes. His missions…
Pulling away, the shinobi smiled. A blush had arisen onto his cheeks, and he rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"How was your mission today?" Koharu took his hand gently and led him to the roses, letting him go once she reached the short distance.
His hands are rough, she smiled to herself and busied herself with doing the roses for Shisui.
Shisui tried to not let out a sigh. He didn't want Koharu to worry needlessly about him, so he omitted some details here and there.
"It was a successful mission, but there were a few casualties." He explained.
She turned to him with a worried look, "Did you get hurt?"
He shook his head, smiling. "Thankfully I didn't."
She heaved a sigh of relief, "That's good. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." She turned back to the flowers, "I know your job requires you to fight and it's inevitable that you'll get hurt, but…it makes me worry, you know?"
Shisui pressed his lips together. He wasn't supposed to make her more worried!
I guess I failed on that part, his eyes trailed down to her focused look on the flowers, but I don't want to worry her. If anything, I should be worrying about her. That murderer is still out there. I can't tell her that the mission I did was one where we had to corner an individual who knew of that murderer, but they were killed by a fellow comrade when he was about to spill information, then that comrade disappeared into thin air.
"I'm sorry," Shisui said, staring at the red petals.
"Hm? For what?" The female took the roses in her hands and turned to face him. The look on her face was genuine—she didn't know why he was apologizing.
"…for making you worry." Shisui took her hand and pulled her gently towards him, staring at it. "I don't want to have you worry so much about me."
Koharu observed the male; he seemed so much gentler, more vulnerable than before. Was it because he was talking to her? Or was it because he was preoccupied with other thoughts that would contribute to this feeling?
She didn't know.
Koharu let out a gentle exhale and leaned forward, touching her forehead with Shisui's headband. She closed her eyes, "I'd worry about you even if you weren't a shinobi."
Shisui didn't move, but his onyx irises trailed to the apron she wore, to the notepad that was stuck in the front pocket.
"Do you know why?" Her words were sweet. Her eyes opened and she moved her head slightly to the side, coming in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Because you're special to me, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."
His eyes widened at the contact and her words. It may have sounded like something from a TV show, but he knew she was genuine. He couldn't help but let a small smile come to his lips as he breathed a "Thank you".
"So, Shisui," She started up again, leaning back and beaming at him, "How about dinner tomorrow night?"
"Oh, huh?" He blinked a couple of times. She was asking him on a date?
She giggled, "You're supposed to say 'yes! I'd love to'! Don't make that kind of face!" She gently patted his cheek and moved to the counter, where she proceeded to wrap the flowers.
"I, I-I'd love to…" He stammered, standing in front of the counter. He blushed, averting his eyes from her.
"I'll put the reservation, then." She handed him the flowers.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow night here, then." He nodded towards her and reached for the flowers, but took her hand instead. "I'll see you tomorrow night."
She laughed and nodded, then waved bye to the shinobi after he paid and left.
Once he was out of sight, she placed her hands onto her cheeks and crumpled onto the counter, hiding her face.
"Ah, there they are." Itachi pointed to the restaurant that Koharu and Shisui were seated. They could see them from outside the window, as they took the window seat.
"Tell me again why we're watching them?" A certain silver haired ANBU looked at Itachi with a dubious look.
"I'm making sure nothing happens to them." Itachi explained, taking a seat. He put the binoculars down onto his lap and scanned the area. He was on night duty with Kakashi while Shisui was able to get off for that night.
"…are you sure you're not just watching them because he's on a date?" The Hatake sweat dropped, sighing before standing close to Itachi, following his gaze.
Yet, he found himself watching them too.
"Thank you for tonight, Shisui. I had a wonderful time." Koharu smiled at him. A blush had arisen to her cheeks as she walked to her front door, taking out the keys to unlock it.
Shisui himself wasn't dressed up, but Koharu was, just a little. She put on a flashier pair of clothes and did her hair and put on light makeup, but just enough so that she didn't stand out as much.
"I also had a great time." He took a few steps forward just as she turned around after unlocking her door.
A surprised look overshadowed her features when Shisui cupped her cheeks, staring at her from within a close proximity.
The closeness forced the woman to go all shades of red as she stared at him with nervousness. Was he going to do what she thought he was going to do?
"May I?" His words were almost breathless as he slowly leaned forward, his eyes slowly closing.
She nodded once, nearly squealing when he leaned forward to touch his lips with hers. He pulled away after lingering a few seconds, smiling at her.
She held his hand that was still on her cheek and averted her eyes, feeling steam emitting from her face. She was so embarrassed that she had to look away.
Shisui, not feeling as embarrassed as she was, chuckled and brought her into a hug, feeling a big surge of happiness. He stroked her back as they stood in silence, enjoying each other's company.
"A-ah, I should get going, now. Really, thank you for tonight." Koharu pulled away from the hug, pushing the door to her house open. She waved as Shisui walked away and waved too, the smile never leaving her face.
When she entered her house, she immediately went upstairs and jumped onto her bed, face into her pillow first. She wanted to scream into it, to squeal about her night, but she was afraid her neighbours would complain, so she didn't. Instead, she rolled around excitedly as she hugged a long pillow, digging her hands into it to find another note.
She rolled to one side, using one hand to check out the contents written on the mini scroll.
She stood up and went to close the curtains, then went to find some matches to burn the small thing. She stared at it as it became ashes, the smile she wore never faltering.
"Another victim, huh…" Shisui pressed his lips together as his brows furrowed. This woman, too, was young and beautiful. She was found murdered in an alleyway near the nightclub that she worked—a bit of a reach away from Konoha.
It was the first murder for the week, and the ANBU suspected that it would continue to possibly up to 3 victims that one week.
However, they weren't sure as to why the murderer had come all the way to a town in the outskirts to do so. They only knew it was him because the style of killing was the same.
"I do believe that that was why there weren't any murders in the last week." Itachi mused, staring at his surroundings. He was sure that he was being watched by the root ANBU members if they had followed them there, but he wasn't going to complain, since they both worked for Konoha.
"Yeah. Do you think they'll continue this outside Konoha or would they go back inside and continue there?" Shisui questioned. "There doesn't seem to be any consistency with where this happens."
Itachi didn't reply and stared at the corpse. He wasn't sure either, because this killer, apart from modus operandi and killing style, had no other traits.
It was getting harder to find out who it was.
They could target anyone, even Koharu, Shisui felt his blood run cold thinking of more victims. He didn't want anyone to die; he wanted a peaceful resolution to all of this.
But there was no way that there was going to be a peaceful resolution to this if they weren't going to stop killing.
"I got the information you asked for, sir."
Danzo turned around. He was meeting a root ANBU member that had come back from their mission inside the village and was reporting to him.
"Make it brief." He ordered.
With a nod, the figure in all-black spoke, "He said that the killer would be going to the outskirts of the village. Now, he should be making his way back to Konoha soon, after a deal there. He plans to have 3 more murders maximum for this week."
"Disposal?"
"I made sure to clean up."
"And the other?"
"I have gotten close to him. Naturally, he doesn't suspect a thing, nor does Itachi."
"Good. You may go now." Danzo lifted the cane and hit it onto the ground gently. The next moment he knew, the all-black clothed root member was nowhere to be seen.
Who will be their next target? The elder narrowed his eyes and headed back to the building.
Koharu hung out her laundry, making sure that it was stable enough so that she could leave it without it flying everywhere or out the window while she was at work. Her clothes were a range of colours, and she made sure to let the black clothes that she used the night before, dry well.
With a gentle hum, she stepped out of her home and headed to her shop.
On the way there, she saw Sasuke outside her shop, waiting for her to arrive.
"Ah, you're here early today." She beamed when she saw the boy, waving excitedly as she hurried in her step.
"Koharu-san!" He looked up at her with almost brightened eyes, but then looked away, pouting. He didn't want to be caught looking at her with a happy expression.
The only reason he liked her was because she was on good terms with his brother and Shisui; there was no other reason.
"Are you here to buy flowers, little one?" She giggled when he sent her a glare, looking like he could bite her head off.
"I'm here to get the roses that Shisui-san asked for." He crossed his arms, "He won't be home for a few days."
Koharu let out a gentle 'Oh…' before nodding and opening her shop. "Come in, Sasuke."
"Koharu-san, are you and Shisui-san going to get married?" Sasuke asked, making a face. He was watching the florist cut the flowers and de-thorn them.
A little surprised by the small Uchiha, she let out a giggle at the suddenness of the innocent question.
Then, she sent him a smile.
A smile that could fool anyone.
"That would be lovely if we did."