I do not own Naruto~
Okay, so the dinner had gone better than she expected. After a while Itachi's dad had excused himself, and that relieved nearly all of the tension in the air. Sasuke kept trying to get Ayano's attention, which she found amusing, but apparently Itachi thought it was even funnier for some reason she didn't bother to ask about. Shisui didn't tease them anymore and actually seemed to be trying to get on Ayano's good side, which made her laugh again.
After a while Sasuke started complaining he was hungry, so they took that as a reason to finally go inside. Seeing as how there were no dishes on the table yet, they just went to the living room.
"Be right back, I'm gonna go ask my Mom something," Ayano told them. She got up and walked in the direction of the kitchen, where she was pretty sure her Mom was.
The house was the largest in the compound and looked like rich people lived in it, but on the inside it looked like any normal house. There weren't any expensive paintings or anything like that, and she even saw family photos on the wall or sitting on a table.
She found the kitchen and was about to walk in before she got wind of the conversation her mother and Mikoto were having.
"...knowing Ayano, she's only going to get upset about it..." her mother said in a hushed voice. Ayano frowned, and pressed herself to the wall beside the doorframe, keeping her ears open.
"You don't know that," Mikoto soothed. "Since she's an only child, she should be thrilled about it." Ayano frowned again. What were they talking about?
A tap on her shoulder made her gasp, albeit quietly. She turned around to see Itachi looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She put her fingers to her lips and glared at him. His eyebrow rose higher, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he pressed himself to the wall as well.
The mothers hadn't heard them.
"You don't understand. She's angry beyond words at her father." Ayano suddenly frowned, and Itachi looked at her in question. "She might hate him even more when she finds out he left a baby for us to care for when we are almost broke."
Wait...
What!?
She gasped, and her knees almost gave out. Hands grabbed her before she could hit the ground and pulled her away from the kitchen.
"She's pregnant!" Ayano gasped out when they were far enough. "I can't believe it! But, the weird sleeping hours and eating habits and mood swings, oh." Her mother was pregnant. And they were barely able to even keep the house they were in.
Itachi was quiet, not entirely sure how to react.
"Congratulations?" he asked. Ayano was just standing there, her mouth wide. His eyebrows knitted together. "Younger siblings aren't that bad," he told her. "Sure, they might be clingy sometimes, but that's just because they want to be like you. If anything, I feel kind of honored when Sasuke wants to spend time with me."
She tried to picture it. Her, holding a little baby boy or girl, with a smile dazzling it's face. Teaching them how to draw or ride a bike, taking them to school.
A smile lit up her face.
"I'm going to be a big sister..." she whispered. At the sound of it, she grinned more. "I'm going to be a sister!" Itachi clapped a hand over her mouth, but was smiling.
"You'll let them know we heard them," he told her. "Come on, we'll go back to the others. Let your Mom tell you when she wants to." She nodded, but was still smiling. Then she frowned.
"Et'ur an ff ore m unna ai oo," she told him, her voice muffled. He moved his hand.
"What?"
"I said 'Get your hand off or I'm gonna bite you,'" she giggled. "Come on." She pranced to the living room, where Shisui was playing with Sasuke. He looked up at them when they walked in, then smirked.
"Why're you so happy?" he asked Ayano, then looked between her and Itachi.
"Be right back, I'ma go get that stick," she told Itachi.
"Sasuke, cover your eyes," Itachi told his younger brother, walking towards Shisui.
"I'm joking!" he exclaimed. "Mikoto! Itachi's trying to kill me!" Itachi paused.
"Itachi, don't kill your cousin," Mikoto shouted back without a care. Shisui looked offended and Itachi grinned. Ayano laughed.
"You have no allies!" she stated, pointing a mocking finger at him. He grinned.
"This means war! Quick, Sasuke, grab a weapon!" But the smallest Uchiha was already beside Ayano. "Oh, come on!"
"Mwahaha!" Ayano laughed evily. Sasuke mocked the laugh, causing Itachi to laugh. "By the way," Ayano started. "Happy-birthday, Weasel-face."
"Why thank you, delivery girl," he shot back. Ayano laughed instead of firing back another comment.
"Okay, dinner's ready!" Mikoto stated, walking into the room with a nervous looking Mari. Sasuke and Shisui were up immediately, heading towards the dining room. Ayano turned to walk and Shisui paused.
"Ladies, first," he said politely, gesturing towards the door. She smiled and walked through. Shisui didn't move and looked pointedly at Itachi, who narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"I know you aren't thinking what I think you're thinking," Itachi warned. Shisui merely grinned. Itachi kicked him through the door before following.
"Hey, it's not my fault you won't cut your hair."
"Stop bickering before I put you both in timeout," Mikoto scolded lightly.
"But I'm fifteen!" Shisui protested.
"Maybe you should act like it," Itachi and Mikoto said at the same time. Sasuke was whining for Itachi to hurry up.
"You people hate me," Shisui groaned. Ayano patted him on the back.
"Don't worry, you haven't done anything horrible enough for me to hate you," she assured. He grinned at her.
"Who wants to sing the birthday song?" Mikoto asked suddenly, grinning at Itachi, who frowned.
"Don't push it."
-xXx-
The otherwise dim room was lit up by two candle flames that were positioned towards the front of the room. The air was damp and layered with nervousness and blood. It was rather crowded, but everyone made sure to give room to the Clan leader and the two who were the subject of the day's meeting. They whispered in hushed conversations, anxious to see what would happen.
"Itachi, Shisui," a man barked. He was the head of the clan, and the leader of the coup de' tat that was planned to go into effect not even half a year from now.
The two teens stepped up in front of the leader, in front of the clan's watchful eyes.
"Father," Itachi acknowledged, bowing his head. Shisui didn't speak, just bowed his head.
"Does the council suspect anything?" the man asked coldly. Anger flashed in Itachi's eyes, but it was fleeting and went unnoticed. Shisui's eyes narrowed.
"They do not," Itachi replied.
"When will they have the Hokage away on the treaty mission?" The Hokage was going to attempt to get an explanation for the kidnapping attempt made on a Hyuuga.
"Five months from now." Lie. Fugaku narrowed his eyes.
"And you're sure of this?" Itachi looked down.
"I heard it from the higher ups myself, but I can't be positive. They didn't know I was listening in on them and there wasn't anyone else, so there was no need for them to talk in code." Fugaku turned to Shisui.
"You're slipping, Itachi," he stated. Itachi scowled. "Shisui, since you were inducted into ANBU as well, you'll also get information." Shisui looked up sharply.
"But I can't-"
"Don't go against orders!" Fugaku barked. "If we do not have enough information, we could be ambushed, and things would go out of control." He glared at him and looked at one of the police officers. "Innocent people would get hurt, like your sister." He gestured to the four year old cowering behind the leg of the officer, staring at Shisui with terrified eyes. The officer had an obviously painful grip on her arm, and her hand and wrist were turning pale. Shisui's eyes widened at his sister, and he turned to Fugaku with a glare, as did Itachi.
"You wouldn't dare!" Shisui yelled, his Sharingan spinning into existence.
"That's extremely pathetic," Itachi growled, his Sharingan having already been activated since the beginning of the meeting.
Fugaku was mocking.
"And you'd oppose me?" he asked sarcastically. Shisui rushed forward and grabbed Fugaku's collar, almost reaching his height. The officers in the room instantly had a threatening air around them.
"For her, yes," Shisui spit.
"Well then you'd get information for us. If you attack me, there are twenty other skilled ninja in here who would strike back." He looked around him, glaring at each of the officers.
"Shisui." Itachi grabbed his shoulder, noticing the tightening hold the officer had on Shisui's sister. Shisui glanced back at him and to his sister, then let go of Fugaku with a push, sighing.
As soon as he stepped down, several officers were around him, attacking.
"Shisui-nii!" the little girl screamed.
Almost as soon as they were there, the officers were beat back, and Itachi stood there with his katana unsheathed, glaring at all of them. Fugaku met his eyes with a glare. A few seconds passed, he broke the eye contact.
"Leave them be. Meeting adjourned."
Itachi didn't relax from his position as they filed out of the room, completely silent. Fugaku walked past without a word or glance. The officer nearest to them moved.
Itachi had his katana pointed at the man's throat in less than a second.
"Leave the girl," he ordered. The man glared defiantly, but cracked under the full weight of Itachi's glare. He pushed the girl towards them, and Shisui immediately enveloped her in his arms protectively. The man left. When Itachi felt the clan leave the temple he relaxed with a sigh and turned to Shisui.
"Is she okay?" he asked. The girl was huddled in her brother's arms, bawling. Shisui was trying to comfort her.
"She'll have a nasty bruise, but yea." He observed where the man had squeezed her arm. Itachi raised an eyebrow at him.
"Are you okay?" Shisui had a busted lip that was bleeding rather badly, and a mark around his eyes that was already turning into a black eye. The older Uchiha grinned painfully up at him.
"I've had worse," he stated with a shrug. Itachi grimaced.
"Why do you smile when you're not happy?" he asked. Shisui shrugged again, tightening his hold on his sister.
"It's better to lie and make people happy than to have them worry over you."
I never did like Fugaku 7:(
So! Shisui has been blackmailed into spying for the clan by them threatening his sister...bastards.