Shisui wakes with a headache and the violent need to empty his stomach—he doesn't, but it's a near thing, mostly out of respect for Mikoto and the pristine tatami mats in her guest bedroom.
As soon as he gets his gag reflex under control, memories of last night rush into the forefront of his mind with the force of a landslide. They are a scrambled mess of pain, panic, and haunting images of Danzo and ROOT. Shisui can't even piece together the details of how he found himself back at the Uchiha compound, let alone tucked into bed.
Evidently, someone must have taken care of his injuries, as bandages cover the right side of his face and most of his limbs; probably Mikoto. His chakra is still low, and his muscles are sore from overexertion. Though at least his vision is less blurry than it was the night before.
Birds are chirping in the tree outside the window, and the sun hangs high in a cloudless sky. Considering the events of the previous night, it's definitely too peaceful. He would have expected the compound to be in a state of uproar. After all, eye theft is a grave transgression for the Uchiha, and they are already on the verge of revolting. Danzo's actions might as well have been the last push that plunges Konoha into a civil war. So why is it so suspiciously quiet? Shisui can't imagine Fugaku not taking offense to Danzo's actions.
What a mess. With a groan, Shisui crawls out of bed. After a few stretches, he starts feeling marginally better and makes his way downstairs. The telltale metal clink of kunai and shuriken resounds from the garden, so that's where he heads first. A high-pitched, familiar voice is the next thing he hears. Shisui smiles to himself. He expects to find the usual scene of Itachi training and Sasuke watching and cheering him on. What he doesn't expect is to see an unknown man showing Sasuke how to throw multiple shuriken simultaneously.
"Don't waste your energy trying to do something fancy. Focus on accuracy for now," he explains, adjusting Sasuke's stance with a few precise pokes.
The voice rings a bell in Shisui's mind. It's the same man from last night, his mysterious savior. Now in the daylight, he finally gets the chance to see him properly. He is shorter than himself, but definitely older, likely in his early or mid-twenties. He is lean, built for speed rather than raw strength, and his face looks eerily like an older version of Sasuke's. One might even think they were twins displaced in time. The Uchiwa fan is proudly stitched onto his back, though Shisui is sure he has never seen this man before, and he would like to think he at least knows everyone in the clan by passing.
Sasuke throws, and three shuriken hit the wooden targets hanging in the distance in quick succession. Thunk, thunk, thunk. The sound echoes in Shisui's ears. Thunk, thunk, thunk. His mind is thrown back in time; reality melts away. His leg spasms. Pain in his skull. Flashes of fingers reaching for his face. Chakra signatures closing in. A weight on his chest, crushing his lungs.
Shisui squeezes his eye – his only eye – shut and takes a deep breath. He forcibly pushes the memories away into the deepest pit of his mind where they can't bother him, where they can't hurt him. He can deal with it another time. It's fine; he is fine.
A hand lands on his shoulder. Shisui's eye flies open. He seizes the limb by the wrist with an iron grip, bones grind beneath his hand. He is ready to throw the attacker off. But as soon as he fully registers the person standing in front of him, he freezes in mid-motion.
As if burned, Shisui immediately releases mystery-man's now red wrist—damn, he should really ask for a name—taking a step back. "Ah, shit, sorry about that," he winces, a sheepish expression crossing his face.
"It's fine. I shouldn't have touched you," the man says, twisting his injured wrist experimentally once, twice, before lowering it with a satisfied hum. "Are you alright, though?"
"Yeah, I'm all good. I was just a little lost in my head for a second." Which is seldomly a good thing for an Uchiha, but whatever, right? Smile and move on, smile and move on. "I'm Uchiha Shisui, by the way. I should probably thank you for saving me from going blind."
"No need to thank me. Bloodline theft is not something I tolerate. I'm Izuna."
Shisui knows no Uchiha Izuna. "I don't think I have seen you in the village before. Did you recently return from a long-term mission?"
Izuna snorts—it's a condescending sound that has Shisui bristling instinctively. "No, I'm not from Konoha. Though, Mikoto invited Nii-san and me to stay in her house, so you will most likely see a lot more of us in the future."
An Uchiha born outside of Konoha? That's unheard of. If it weren't so rude, Shisui would ask whether he is a bastard child, the result of a quick tumble in the sheets somewhere far away from the Land of Fire.
"By the way," Izuna continues. "Nii-san got your eye back for you."
Shisui's brain stutters to a sudden halt. Did he hear that right? He couldn't have; his eye is in Danzo's possession, meaning it is as good as gone, forever out of his reach. "What do you mean he got it back?"
Izuna frowns, confused, as if Shisui is the one that doesn't make sense. "It means your eye is not in Danzo's skull but safely stored in a scroll with Mikoto in the kitchen."
Yeah, no, that can't be. Izuna, however, remains serious, not revealing any hiden jokes. Shisui suddenly, desperately wants to talk to Mikoto. She is always the reasonable one; she can make this make sense. He leaves the garden. The clatter of dishes and the low murmur of voices lead him to the kitchen. The delicious smell of tea wafts into his nose and reminds him that he hasn't had anything to drink or eat in a while.
However, his hunger is forgotten, and his stomach turns the moment he spots the man sitting at Mikoto's table, a very recognizable man. "Kai." He whispers. Nothing happens; Uchiha Madara is still sitting there, as calm as you please. Did he hit his head on a tree last night?
"Shisui, good morning, how are you feeling?" Mikoto greets him with a sunny smile, drying a plate with a rag by the sink.
"Kai." Shisui mutters again, with the associated hand seal this time.
"This is not a Genjutsu," Mikoto says casually, as you do when a dead man sits by your kitchen table—maybe Mikoto is not as reasonable as he had thought. "I resurrected Madara and Izuna last night to help protect the clan and deal with the appalling treatment we face in the village."
Shisui's mind utterly bluescreens. Resurrected? No way. He takes everything back; Mikoto is nuts. How can she say something like that so casually? How is that even possible? Since when does she know how to bring the dead back? And what madness had overtaken her that she would choose those two to do so? Uchiha Madara, who is a traitor to the Leaf, who tried to destroy it in an attack with the Kyuubi; and Uchiha Izuna, his brother, who hated the Senju and peace with a passion.
Dread settles thick in Shisui's gut. The situation between the Uchiha and the village is precarious as it is; they can't use another disaster. This is a catastrophe; this is oil poured over a flame. What was Mikoto thinking? He and Itachi were working on a solution, godsdamn it! This ruins everything.
"Does the Hokage know about this?" Shisui asks, his voice stilted.
"The Hokage," Mikoto says, her smile faltering, "Has other things to occupy himself with at the moment."
Meaning he doesn't. However, he will soon, he needs to. Madara is a threat to the entirety of Konoha. Who knows when he decides to lash out, and there is no Hashirama to stop him this time. Shisui tenses at the thought. Never mind; the Hokage needs to know immediately.
Shisui's chakra flares, and a Genjutsu crashes over the entire room. The next second he is out of the door, nothing more than a blur in the wind.
He doesn't delude himself into thinking that the illusion will hold up very long. It will, however, give him the extra second he needs to reach the Hokage tower. If he is one thing, it's fast. He didn't get the moniker "Shisui of the body flicker" for nothing.
Using Shunshin with aching legs and nearly depleted chakra is a challenge, to say the least, but the compound walls are already in sight. If he takes the quickest route through the market district, he should be—
A force abruptly yanks him back by the scruff of his neck. Shisui chokes on his breath, his brain rattling from the forceful change of momentum. Lifted into the air, he dangles there like a hissing cat. Something is pressed onto his back, and in an instant, his chakra slips from his grasp, sealed. Cursing under his breath, Shisui clenches his teeth and kicks his feet, but he can't reach his attacker.
"You are quick on your feet, I'll give you that, but nowhere near as fast as Tobirama was," Madara remarks, unruffled. He turns around, strolling back into the compound with Shisui squirming in his hold. "Listen brat, you will at least sit your ass down and patiently hear what Mikoto has to say before you run off to Sarutobi to tattle. While we are at it, I might as well explain why Konoha was founded by Hashirama and me in the first place, and why it is failing at everything it was supposed to be. After that, you can go whine to Sarutobi if that's what you truly want."
Shisui glares at Madara, tries once more to land a hit, but it's useless. He has no choice but to get carried along.
.
.
"I don't know what you are sulking about," Izuna sighs, shoving another piece of mochi into his mouth—Sasuke, for whatever reason, doesn't like them so Izuna got his portion as well, weird kid, but Izuna won't complain.
Shisui merely huffs disdainfully beside him, not deigning him with a response. Izuna rolls his eyes, settling more comfortably on the grass.
Meanwhile, Sasuke, across the field, takes a deep inhale and casts another fireball over the lake, slightly bigger than the last one. Izuna is impressed; he is learning fast. Sweat is clinging to the kid's face, and exhaustion is bending his back, but he keeps going under Madara's watchful gaze, determined to improve.
"You got your eye back, Danzo is dead, and a new Hokage is going to be chosen soon," Izuna lists off absentmindedly.
"Yes, and the village is descending into instability and chaos due to your careless actions!"
"Hardly. If anything, it's Danzo's actions and Sarutobi's inaction that caused this mess," Izuna says around a mouth full of sweets. "Their crimes would have come to light sooner or later anyway. Madara is just speeding the process up. Besides, the clan heads are rightfully angry. Their own children were being kidnapped and brainwashed right under their nose."
"The issue should have been handled quietly. Unrest makes the village vulnerable; it lowers morale and sows distrust towards the Hokage." Anger is lacing Shisui's words. "Konoha may not be perfect, but it's worth protecting, and you have done nothing but endanger its peace."
"This is exactly why I never believed in Madara's childish dream of a village," Izuna spits right back. "This peace of yours is nothing but a temporary illusion, built on the corpses of hundreds of children. The worst is you tell yourself that those losses are necessary to keep peace, for the greater good, but honestly, fuck this greater good, fuck Konoha if it requires the sacrifice of children to exist. In the end, nothing changed from the Warring Era."
"So what? You suggest we all go back to committing senseless slaughter like you did back in your time?" Shisui asks faux innocently. "At least we have a reason to fight, to protect our home and our people, what did you fight for? Bloody revenge? Because that's what you always did, always knew? Do you even know why?"
"You are just as brainwashed as those ROOT agents, pathetic."
"And you are a warmonger who can't fathom the idea of coexistence."
Izuna grins, wide and nasty, leaning into Shisui's space. "Oh, I'll show you what a warmonger I can be."
Shisui doesn't back away; his eyes flare with intent. "Bring it."
"Go somewhere else if you are going to fight!" Madara yells from the pier. "We are trying to concentrate!" Sasuke scowls their way from beside him, arms crossed in irritation.
"Sorry, Nii-san! Will do!" With that, Izuna hauls Shisui to his feet and drags him to the nearest training ground, ignoring the curious Uchiha they bypass. Fugaku and Mikoto have yet to explain that two dead men are back amongst the living, and Izuna is mildly excited for the madness it will unleash, though that will have to wait until the whole Danzo situation is dealt with. But no matter, he is patient. In the meantime, riling up Shisui is entertaining enough.
.
.
He wakes to the sound of leaves rustling like wind chimes, to a cool breeze caressing his cheeks and tangling his hair. Rough wood underneath his fingertips radiates a soft warmth. Spots of sunlight are dancing behind his closed eyelids. His limbs are lying heavy on the ground, his mind is floating with the wind. The air tastes like spring.
"Wake up, sleeping beauty." The voice is familiar, smooth, and teasing.
He sluggishly blinks his eyes open, squinting against the bright sunlight. The moment his vision adjusts, he is met with an impish grin he hadn't seen in decades. Izuna is leaning over him, long locks of black hair framing his face like a veil, a rosy color painting his cheeks making him look more alive than he remembers.
"Stop crowding him. Give him some room to breathe." Another voice, deeper and rougher, admonishes.
Izuna's face vanishes. Another replaces it, a little further away. Madara's brows are furrowed as he looks down at him, his telltale sign of showing concern.
"How are you feeling?" Madara asks.
He feels… good. Better than he remembers feeling in a while, which is confusing. He steadies himself onto a wobbly elbow, intending to heave himself upright. However, control is slow to seep into his limbs. He is about to fall back down when a steady hand catches him, helping him to sit up.
A plain, wooden room spreads before him, shoji doors wide open to a garden dotted with specks of color in a sea of green. White particles dust the floor he is sitting on and coat his clothes. Not far beside him, a familiar scroll is spread out.
"So this is not the Pure Lands?" He asks, just to be sure.
"You seriously thought you'd get to rest when you are the one responsible that we got dragged back from the dead?" Izuna is suddenly right back in his face, a shit-eating grin pulling at his lips. "No, no, if we are going to stir shit up in this village, we damn well do it with you or not at all. Do you have any idea how messed up everything here is? You better help-"
It's been so long since he has been on the receiving end of one of Izuna's tirades. His heart stings, but he smiles. "I missed you, Izuna."
Izuna's composure crumbles; surging forward, he closes the little remaining distance between them and envelops him in a crushing hug. "You better, because I missed you too, Hikaku." He mumbles into his shoulder, tightening his hold. Hikaku greedily closes his arms around Izuna for the first time in decades. He soaks up his warmth like a freezing man.
Too soon, Izuna pulls away, though just long enough to get a hold of Madara and bodily drag him into the hug. There are some token protests, but they are halfhearted at best and he gives up fairly quickly.
"Thank you, Hikaku," Madara whispers, "For everything."
"You are quite welcome."
Because, above all, Hikaku is loyal to his family. He loves them, and they love him, making all his hard work more than worth it in the end.
.
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AN: That's a wrap! ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
I think Shisui and Izuna will eventually get along. Over time, they might become a good influences on each other.
As you surely have noticed, Itachi isn't involved in this. That's because this story was already getting longer than intended, and opening the can of worms that is "Uchiha Itachi".
Thank you all for reading!