(… 6 years ago)
"She said yes!" Shisui chimed rapturously as he dropped down from a tree within his clan's grounds in Naka Forest, causing Obito to jerk alarmingly at his abrupt exclamation, "Fucking hell! You little shit!" he barked with a hand clutching his heart. Obito panted heavily to calm the adrenaline coursing through his body.
"Wow, seriously?" Shisui questioned sardonically, "If you become our next Hokage, the village is doomed for sure" he jeered at his older cousin for getting frightened by his unexpected arrival. "I was napping before you came down howling!" Obito squawked defensively, but Shisui snickered saying, "Hah! That makes it worse, I can imagine those future headlines 'Konoha's Rokudaime, died from being jerked awake!' no pun intended' he winked mockingly.
"…" Obito deadpanned.
Itachi, who had been training nearby, broke off the bickering by rediverting Shisui's attention, "I never doubted she would" and Shisui clasped his arm warmly around him. "I did! So, how did you pull it off?" Obito asked jeeringly. "This might come as a surprise to you, but most women are into handsome guys who are funny and charming" Shisui supplied smirking, and Obito retorted mockingly, "Right, so again, how did you manage to pull it off?"
Shisui made a silly face at Obito before deliberating, "Now, all I need is to come up with the perfect first date, that's where you guys come in… how do I do that?"
Obito and Itachi were speechless with dumbfounded expressions evident on their faces. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" Shisui asked in a doubting tone, uncomprehending as to why his cousins looked at him as they had, but Obito soon let him know the thought behind their confusion, "What are you asking us for?" to which he retorted, "What do you mean? I always come to my cousins for advice" matter-of-factly.
"Not with this, dating is more your forte" Itachi stated, and Obito interjected with a scoff and, "Yeah, we couldn't even help you if we wanted to! I mean between the both of us; I still hadn't figured out how to ask out the one woman I've been in love with for the past 30 years, and Itachi has never, well… he's never even liked a woman let alone dated one!" to which upon hearing, Itachi swallowed a lump in his throat, and Shisui gave him a knowing look.
Obito noticed the exchange and asked with an inquisitive brow, "What was that?" causing Shisui to hastily meet his gaze and retort cheekily, "What was what?", "That look you gave Itachi, what was that?" Obito repeated his question again more assertively. "I don't know what you're talking about, anyway, are you going to help me figure out what to do on this first date or not?" Shisui diverted the subject to avoid ratting out on Itachi's one time affair. "Didn't you hear what I said, we suck at that stuff, besides, haven't you gone out with several women before Ino?" Obito responded, and Shisui retorted smugly, "Yeah… but those dates are different than this one" a self-assured smirk was beaming on his face, "And how is this different, exactly? Just recreate a date that you or one of your dates had enjoyed in the past" Obito said as if he was stating the obvious.
Itachi arched his own eyebrow too, but for a different reason. He knew Shisui had been infatuated with Ino for a while, but he had seen him infatuated over others before and would eventually always grow bored. Could it be that this Ino Yamanaka had succeeded in capturing his cousin's heart?
"I want this to go well, and I doubt taking her back to my place immediately to get her down on all fours will give that impression!" Shisui jibed. "That's what you do on first dates?!" The eldest Uchiha barked in amazement and then turned to Itachi to discern if he knew about this, but Itachi avoided meeting his gaze which had informed him that he did in fact know about Shisui's conquests. A dumbfounded expression returned onto his face, as he realized Shisui wasn't the traditional type as he and Itachi had been. He let out a sigh and asked, "Just out of curiosity, how many women had you been on these "first dates" with?"
Shisui started counting the women in his head and used his fingers as an abacus to keep track. When he had passed the tenth, lapping another finger count, Obito's eyes widened in astonishment. Soon Shisui was done counting, and Obito's look of astonishment morphed into vehement shock as he gasped, "forget Uchiha standards, even by the village's standards, you're practically a manwhore!"
Shisui's smirk turned into a grin as he claimed, "Getting jealous, Obito? Bet you can't wait to do that with Rin", to which a flustered Obito started to incoherently mumble objections. "Hah! Thought so!" Shisui called him out. Obito's face was turning red, and so he diverted the attention away from himself by asking, "Anyway, how do you end up moving so fast on a first date?" to which Shisui smugly replied, "wouldn't you like to know" as a cheeky smirk evidently formed on his face. "Do you want our help or not!" Obito barked, and Shisui responded, "Yeah, yeah" with an eye roll.
"Perhaps a public setting would be in your favour, one where you could talk and get to know one another. That way you would be forced to behave." Obito supplied. "Hah! You know, all my dates started out like that. I'm not the one who initiated the misbehaving" Shisui supplied, and Itachi's lips slightly curled at the corners. He heard all about Shisui's first dates. Obito was looking dumbfounded once more. "I got nothing" he gave up and raised his palms up to register his resignation.
"Why don't you ask Ino what she would like to do on your date?" Itachi asked, and Shisui cupped his chin into the tub of his thumb and index finger, and replied pensively aloud "Huh, I never considered that. Thanks Itachi! At least one of my cousins is actually helpful" he snubbed Obito, who scowled at him in return. "You want some helpful advice? Put on a chastity belt fucker!" he howled at Shisui who had already left to make his way to see Ino. He then turned to Itachi, who met his gaze.
"So… are you going to tell me what that look between you two was about?" Obito asked, he had decided to relegate his prying to when Shisui had left, knowing that it would be easier to corner Itachi without his excessively quip-equipped counterpart. Itachi felt a lump forming in his throat, but his expressions remained indifferent as he responded, "To what do you refer?"
"So, you don't want to tell me either?" Obito tried once more, but Itachi remained silent with the same indifferent expression. "Fine, you can choose to play dumb too, but I'm only letting this go because I'm getting the sense that I don't really want to know the answer" Obito resigned, and Itachi was relieved that his cousin had the good sense not to pester him anymore about it.
(… Less than 3 years ago)
Ino placed a blanket onto the grass , set her basket down, and took out a bottle of sake and two saucer cups. She poured the drink for two and placed one of them onto an engraved headstone. There was no body buried beneath it, however, Fugaku had one made as a memorial for Shisui so the family may have a place to remember him and pay their respects.
This was the first time Ino had come to visit the site; she had deliberately avoided coming to this place, because she refused to accept that the man she loved was truly gone. However, after careful thought about her conversation with Hana, Ino came to a sudden realization that impelled her to visit his memorial; she needed to speak to Shisui, and she didn't know any other way.
"It's been a while, huh?" her lips curled up on one corner to form a hesitant and guilty smile, "Sorry I didn't come sooner…" a lump formed in Ino's throat as she struggled to finish her sentence. It had taken a lot of strength for her to show up at his memorial, and even though she had prepared herself for this, she still couldn't bring herself to acknowledge that he was really gone. Her eyes were now glazed with tears, "… I couldn't, I don't want to…" she couldn't say the words aloud that she couldn't accept he was gone. But as her mind thought them, the tears in her eyes grew heavy enough to form cascades on her cheeks.
She wiped them with the back of her arm as she let out her heavy sobs, then exhaled deeply to try to regain some composure, "But I'm here now" she managed, "So much has changed since I last saw you…" she chuckled, "Can you believe that Itachi and I became close friends? Who would have thought it, right? Well… you did. You always knew we would be great friends with time..." her tears came rushing again as she wailed, "It only took losing you to make it happen"
She stopped resisting the urge to cry this time, to relieve herself from the painful emotions that where overwhelming her from forming the words she needed to say. But as she stood over the empty grave of her lost love, Ino continued to reflect on the pain of losing him and the memories they shared. The emptiness she feels in his absence, the longing for the comfort and companionship that he once brought to her life, she found herself saying in a choked whisper, "I miss you…" she rubbed more tears away from her eyes, "… so much" she squalled as her grief caused her breathing to become more laboured.
"I miss your teasing, the way you would make all our friends uncomfortable with your shameless and lewd taunts.
I miss hearing you laugh and seeing that goofy grin on your face.
I miss how you would look at me, how your eyes would let me know there's nowhere else you'd rather be.
I…" she let out another choked sob, "I… I miss your touch, I miss the comfort I felt when I was in your arms, I…" she let out a tearful chuckle as she confessed, "I miss you fucking me all over Konoha"
her tears were finally receding as she continued to reflect on the past…
(… 6 years ago)
Ino was in her family flower shop when she heard a bell ding, signifying that a new customer had entered the store, "Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers, I'll be with you in a mo- Oh, well if it isn't Uchiha-Senpai, come to buy a special lady some flowers?" she said as a smirk curled on one side of her face.
Shisui made his way towards the counter and picked out a single white calla lily along his path. He raised the flower to his nose to take in a whiff of its sweet scent and leaned onto the counter as he declared, "I'll have this one" Ino gave him a cheeky grin as she asked, "will that be all, just one random flower?"
Shisui flashed her a cunning grin as he informed her, "what makes you think it was random?"
"Is it not?" she challenged.
He chuckled as he said, "well, you'll discover soon enough"
"Hm. And when would that be, exactly" she leaned forward meeting his gaze.
"After I get an answer from you first. What do you say, are you willing to barter some intel?" a teasing smile beamed on his face.
Ino enjoyed his playfulness; she simply couldn't resist it and was already ensnared by that grin on his face. "I'll play along" she conceded, "What do you want to know?"
"I have this hot date with a very beautiful woman tomorrow night, and I'm sort of worried it won't turn out as great as I want it to be…" He started.
"Is that so? What is it that worries you?" she was taken aback by the question, she didn't think that someone as smooth as Shisui appeared to be, would be openly apprehensive about a first date, and with her no less. However, her countenance remained playful as she went along with him.
"You see, I don't really have any normal experiences with first dates, but a wise man told me to come to you with my little predicament" He supplied, and she responded smugly, "He sounds wise for sure. Why don't you tell me a little more about your… experiences" she registered the plurality of the word.
"Well, they would always start out normal enough, but things tend to always… escalate too fast." He acquiesced the answer. Ino was taken aback once more. Shisui had an issue with getting physical too quickly? That seemed highly unlikely to her. Her arched eyebrow betrayed her thoughts, but she voiced them anyway, "Why would that be a problem?"
"Well, this girl I like is very special. I want something more than just a good time, you know?" he said taking her aback once again with his honesty, but she was grateful, nonetheless, for how highly he regarded her.
"Well, knowing the girl that you like, the way I see it, this date can go one of two ways" she declared, and he listened more intently, "You would either fuck before the date and get that out of the way-", to which he interjected with, "I'm definitely down for that scenario" a hearty grin evident on his face, "… or, and it's the most likely scenario…" Ino came in closer as she sensually whispered into his ear, "…she would hold out on you until she decides she wants it. But be warned, she's merciless with her teasing, and she won't make this easy on you" she nibbled a gentle bite onto his earlobe before she retreated, and his lidded eyes told her it had her desired effect on him.
Shisui gulped and said, "I think I'm going to need a minute here before I can turn away from this counter"
She giggled then returned, "Your turn, why did you pick that flower?"
Shisui extended his arm forward to hand the flower to her as he explained, "The Calla Lily is known to be unique and rare, and so it's come to symbolize unfathomable beauty. Be that as it may, I'm yet to see anything that compares to the magnificence of your own"
Ino was stunned into silence.
"Too cheesy?" he asked as he registered her gaped lips.
"No! um, I just didn't think you would know so much about flowers" she said flustered. Her cheeks displayed a pinkish glare as she said, "Thank you, for the flower" and a thought crossed her mind, that if he continued to be this romantic on their date, then she might have a problem with keeping her hands off him for sure.
Shisui flashed her a genuine smile and said, "So, shall we go for a fancy dinner then for our first date?" and she nodded saying, "Yeah, that should be harmless enough" though, the outfit she already had in mind wouldn't be harmless at all.
"Alright, I'll come over then around 5" and she nodded in agreement.
The night of their first date had arrived, and Ino heard a knock on her door. She was glad her private quarters were separated from the main house to afford her more privacy. It would have been embarrassing if her parents were around when she left for her first date with Shisui.
She took one final look in the mirror and tucked a rogue lock of her hair, which she kept loose and trailing all the way down to her thighs, behind her ear. Ino wore a deep-wine-coloured bodycon dress which hugged the curves of her body. It had a low neckline and thin straps which hung off her shoulder. The dress held onto her body only by the corset which was reinforced into the fabric which accentuated her bosom. The hemline was short and reached her midthighs. She wore a simple necklace with a small teardrop ruby pendant and earrings to match, her heels weren't too high and wine-coloured as well to match the dress.
A second knock on the door urged her to leave the mirror's side, but she had been satisfied with the outcome anyway. She moved to open the door and on the other side of it she found her date's jaw had dropped as a stupefied expression had taken over him. Ino smirked at having caused the reaction she intended, "Careful, you wouldn't want to swallow a fly" she remarked at his gaping jaw.
Conversely, Ino would have had a similar expression, had Shisui's own not been there. He looked marvellously handsome in his black light sweater, with a V-shaped neckline, and paired with dark grey pants. Enough of his chiselled chest had been visibly tempting, and his sleeves were scrunched up to reveal lean forearms, which caused her to have carnal thoughts that mirrored his own.
His expression was replaced with one of lidded-eyes and a playful smirk as he moved closer to her and asked, "You sure you don't want to reconsider going with that first scenario? I don't think I can last the night with you looking like that" Ino stepped forward to close in the space between them and her velvety voice promised with a murmur into his ear, "And miss out on teasing you mercilessly for the rest of the night? Not a chance" sending a delightful shudder through his body.
Shisui had taken her to an exclusive restaurant which high profile shinobi figures and the Daimyo would go to. It was an upper-class restaurant that sat on a hill and overlooked a lake which was surrounded by more rolling hills on all sides with lush green vegetation growing on the slopes. The lake was likely being fed from streams or rivers that flowed down from these hills. The sight was serene, and Shisui ensured their table had been reserved outdoors on the terrace, so they may watch the sun as it set behind the hills to paint its vibrant colours onto the sky and the waters.
Ino fell silently stunned as she watched the sun reflect its rays over the hills and the lake. The sight had evoked various emotions as she absorbed this awe-inspiring event. The illuminated hills induced emotions of tranquillity and stillness, while the golden-fiery ripples on the lake stirred within her feelings of wonder and amazement on whether this view was the personification of the Will of Fire.
"Shisui, this view is absolutely stunning" she said in a breathy voice as her eyes continued to marvel at it, until she heard Shisui utter, "Not as stunning as my view" in his own breathy voice as he took her in with his gaze, trying to resist unleashing his crimson eyes so he would commit this vision to memory. Ino's cheeks flushed pink upon hearing the compliment, and he found himself loving the effect he provoked.
They had both known each other well and having covered learning so much about each other on their missions, and when they would hang out in the village, had made the night more comfortable for them. They would share some funny childhood memories, missions that had gone wrong, most embarrassing situations they had experienced, and so on. Ino would occasionally press her breasts together as she would speak, and although Shisui had been listening to her in earnest, his mind would lose focus as the majority of his blood would be venture off to a region quite nether to his brain.
At one point of the night, they had left the restaurant to take a walk in the garden overlooking the lake, where she delivered her promise and cruelly teased him further.
They stood upon the edge of a wooden dock over the lake, and Shisui was mustering the courage to wrap an arm on her shoulder. Ino had been thinking along similar lines as she announced, "It's a little chilly here, I wish I brought a jacket" as she met his gaze with a smirk curled on one corner. Shisui gleaned the intent behind her words, the undertone had not escaped him, and so he placed an arm around her shoulders pulling her into his side, and inquired, "Is this helping?"
"It's better… but I could be warmer" she returned challengingly.
His hands dropped to grab her midriff as he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her into an embrace. Their chests touched and her palms rested onto his shoulders. Shisui leaned his forehead onto her own and asked in a nervous whisper, "is this better" to which she responded in a similar tone as her lips hovered closely to his own, "Much…" he had traced a finger down the length of her arm, causing goosebumps to form, and then coiled a finger into her own as he attempted to seal their lips together, however, Ino had slowly moved her head back as she denied him what he sought.
She met his gaze with her own and a teasing smile formed on her face, to which he remarked with a chuckle, "You sure play dirty, Yamanaka" and with lidded eyes looking over her, he said, "I like a dirty girl"
"Then you'd like to know that this dirty girl…" She moved in much closer to sensually whisper into his ear, "… hasn't been wearing any panties all night"
Shisui's jaw dropped once more, but Ino wasn't done, "Look into your back pocket" as she stepped back and began to walk away hastily.
Shisui placed his hand into his back pocket to find that at some point throughout their date, Ino had placed a black laced thong there. He unfolded the garment, and something began to churn in his stomach. Which was when he heard her seductive giggles echoing in the air and inviting him to chase after her.
The sexual tension that had been building between them over the past few months was skyrocketing tonight, and Shisui could take no more of it. He wanted to undress her the moment he laid eyes on her when she opened that door. Her incessant, cruel, and provocative teasing almost had him cutting the date short so he may take her home and have his way with her. Never had Shisui Uchiha initiated the first move on a woman. They always desired him, they put the moves on him. But here he was lusting for a woman, craving to discover every inch of what Ino was made of. Never had he been more aroused as he was in this moment, and he did not hesitate to chase after her.
She led him deep into the forest on one of the hills surrounding the lake. She took off her shoes and continued her spirited escape upon the trees. Ino took off her strapless, black-laced bra that matched her panties and left it on a branch as she whisked by for Shisui to find.
Shisui halted in place when he found it and swallowed a nervous lump that formed in his throat. He continued to trek on the path she had taken and dropped down onto a clearing where he found her waiting for him, sitting laid back in the middle of the flower field, with her eyes calling him to venture towards her from within the locks that accentuated their heat.
There he sat before her, cupping her face into his palm, towering over her as he said alluringly, "You seemed to have dropped a few things"
"It seems I have" she responded, her eyes glistening and inviting.
"You wrecked me, Ino…" he admitted in a nervous whisper, "You completely wrecked me"
"I haven't even started yet" she teased once more, as she closed the gap between them and caught his lips with her own. He lifted her onto his lap, and she ran her fingers into his curls as their lips moved with a harmonised hunger evident in the intensity of the exchange.
A thrilling sensation was taking over them both, and they could feel each other's heartbeat quicken, with each kiss eagerly conveying the deep desire they held for the other. Conversely, the kisses they shared were paradoxical in their nature; A deep lust that had conveyed their undeniable chemistry, had also revealed a deep sense of connection and affection.
(Back to Ino at Shisui's memorial, less than 3 years ago)
The memory she recalled caused a wrench in her heart, that prevented her from recalling the remainder of that night. Fresh tears formed in her eyes, and she struggled to go on, but mustered some strength to convey what she needed to tell him.
"It's been very difficult without you. It still is…"
She took in a deep breath. Ino couldn't put this off any longer. She knew how she felt. She's known it for a while, but she never could admit it to herself before. She can no longer deny the truth anymore. She came here with a purpose, and there was no going back.
"But… Itachi… he… He helped me through it. we helped each other.
Shisui, I had loved you so fervently. What we had was real, it was so intense, and nothing would ever compare to it. This is really difficult for me but know that you will always hold a special place in my heart. I'll never let you go. You would always live through me, and Itachi. He loves you so much.
I…
We need to move on. It won't be easy. I stopped myself from moving forward for so long, and I just can't keep standing still where it hurts so much anymore.
You need to know, I get what you said about Itachi now. He is one of the best people I know too. So much that I foolishly fell in love with him. I'm so sorry, Shisui." There... She said it. Finally. she let out a shrieking sob.
"I never meant to, it just happened. I denied it for so long, but I just can't anymore.
He doesn't love me though. I'm such a fool, right?" She let out a sigh.
"Anyway, that's what I came to say… I really do love you, you know. But you had to be a jerk and leave me" She snuffled and sobbed through her words.
Ino placed two fingers on her lips, kissed her fingertips then lightly brushed them over the engraving of his name on his headstone. She swallowed the shot of sake, and poured his shot over the stone. She gathered her things then turned to say, "And Shisui… Fuck you" she smiled, and imagined him in her mind responding as he always did, with a goofy grin on his face saying, "Gladly"...
