The cold night breeze ruffled Shisui's hair as he stood on the fire escape of an old brick building, the darkness hiding him from the view of anyone who'd happen to look in his direction. He leaned on the iron railing and blew into his hands in an attempt to warm up his chilled fingers before he turned the collar of his coat up. This position offered him a perfect view of the apartment complex across the street, where Hinata Hyuga stood on a third floor balcony with a fluffy blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She was staring off into the sky, a steaming mug of what he guessed was cocoa in her hand.
The sound of footsteps ringing on the metal steps above him announced the presence of Kakashi as the masked white-haired man joined him at the railing. "It's like I'm watching Make-Out Paradise in real time, except it features a creepy stalker and a girl who isn't scandalously dressed."
Shisui scowled at him. "Don't compare her to your dumb book. And I'm not stalking her, I'm just making sure she's safe."
Kakashi just stared at him. "From all the way over here? What were you planning on doing if something happened? Sprout wings and fly?"
Shisui frowned and returned his attention to Hinata. She looked cold despite the blanket and warm drink. It was true, he had no way to intervene from over here. He wasn't as good of a sniper as Kakashi was. But there weren't any dangers that he was aware of. Root had no reason to target her, and Hinata lived a rather quiet life. He was just a tad paranoid.
Shisui's gaze slid back to Kakashi. "How did you even know I was here? Nagato can't see this spot, so he didn't tell you." He'd double checked, no cameras could see this particular side of the building, which meant it was a blind spot in the Akatsuki leader's system.
Such spots were rare due to the city wide mandate that required at least one exterior camera on every building, commercial or residential. This law was part of Hiruzen's promise as mayor to keep the crime rate low. In reality, it was just a way to ensure the Akatsuki had eyes nearly everywhere in Konoha.
"Well, you're not the only one who's aware of the blind spots."
"Do I even want to know what you use them for?" Not that it's difficult to imagine.
Kakashi shrugged. "Sometimes I don't want to be bothered while I'm reading. Now, I'm here because Rin is tired of seeing you pine away over the Hyuga girl and she told me that if I intervened, she'd reenact scenes of Make-Out Paradise with me."
Shisui groaned as he immediately tried to block that image from his mind. "Okay seriously, I didn't need to know that last part. Why does she care anyways?" Rin was Kakashi's girlfriend and was a former combat medic that had served overseas in the army alongside the white-haired man. She was Akatsuki's only medical personnel. She did the best she could, but they needed more than a medic—which was where they were all hoping Sakura would come in, but that was still up to debate.
"Because you're nice and remind her of…" Kakashi visibly hesitated in a way Shisui had never seen him do. He knew little of Kakashi's personal history because the former soldier wasn't very talkative about his time in the military, and was even more tight-lipped about his life before.
Kakashi continued as if nothing had happened. "Anyways, I'm here to tell you that if you like her so much, you should just talk to her."
Shisui looked away, his gaze dropping to the ground below. "It's not that simple. You weren't here several years ago, so you wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
A part of him wanted to brush Kakashi off and put up his usual front where he said everything was fine, but he realized that this could be his chance to talk to someone who might understand. Not even Itachi could have helped him with this, his cousin having never been in a relationship. Meanwhile, from what he'd seen of the two, Kakashi and Rin had a history together, a history that must have been complicated if neither of them wanted to talk about it.
Shisui inhaled the cold air, and then exhaled it out before launching into his tale. "I've known Hinata since we were kids. I grew up with her and her cousin, Neji." He suspected his parents—along with Hinata's—had put them together as playmates in the hopes that they'd get married and unite two of the most powerful families in the city.
It'd almost worked.
His voice turned wistful as old memories were dredged up. "We were like the rock, paper, scissors game; always together, but not always getting along. Especially when we were in high school and Neji found out I liked Hinata." Neji had been the scissors, his words too sharp for Hinata at times, while Shisui had been the rock, wrapped around Hinata's finger and ready to come down hard on Neji for being a jerk.
Those had been simpler days.
Shisui turned around to rest his back against the railing and folded his arms. "Hinata and I started dating at that point. Neji eventually came around to it and we really hit it off as friends. We graduated and got accepted into the same college. So of course we went out to celebrate. I was driving…"
The memories changed, becoming dark and full of terror; the screech of tires, headlights filling the car, Hinata screaming.
They stood in silence as he struggled to go on. He knew every detail of those memories because he'd examined them so many times in an effort to understand what he could have done differently, what actions he could have taken to change the outcome. He'd run hundreds of scenarios on how it could have played out better, and every single one had started with him not picking up that drink.
His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'd had one drink, and I was speeding. Neji was in the backseat telling jokes—who knew he'd be a funny drunk. We came up on an intersection. I had the green light. We were just about to cross when someone ran the red light. I saw the headlights coming for Hinata's side of the car, so I swerved, that way the other car wouldn't hit her side directly."
The words just kept coming. "They rear-ended us instead. Neji died on impact, and I lost control of the car, we rolled. Hinata almost died too." His hands balled into fists beneath his folded arms. "And me? I walked away with a broken wrist. A broken wrist. If I hadn't been speeding, maybe we would have missed that car entirely or I could have had more time to react." When he glanced over at Hinata's balcony, she had gone back inside, the curtains blocking his view.
A lump formed in his throat that he had to clear out. "When Hinata was released from the hospital, she told me that it wasn't my fault, but she needed time. We kind of just drifted apart after that." Those days after the accident had been some of the darkest Shisui had ever lived through. He'd even contemplated throwing himself into the river that was just outside the city. That was when Itachi had brought him into the Akatsuki, to distract him, and it had worked.
A group of crime fighting vigilantes that worked from the shadows? That was cool in and of itself, but it meant he could help people, maybe even redeem himself for making a choice that had gotten Neji killed.
"We were both busy living our lives, I guess. Between college, me and the Akatsuki, then Hinata breaking away from her family to find her own life." He'd helped her through that, from a distance of course. It was he who'd found employers to get in touch with her, he who'd reserved her apartment, and then sent the details to Hinata's sister, so she could make it look like she'd found the apartment. Now she was thriving with a life of her own, free from her father's stifling expectations.
A life free of him too.
"She'll text me sometimes, asking how things are going, but she never asks to meet up. I don't think she wants to see me."
Kakashi finally spoke up. "Or she thinks that you don't want to see her. Since it sounds like she's the one who dumped you. Maybe she thinks you resent her."
Shisui frowned thoughtfully as Kakashi pushed away from the railing and turned to face the street, his back to Shisui. "Trauma changes people, it does things to their minds. You should talk to her face-to-face. What if something happens to you and you leave her with a lifetime of regret over words unsaid? Trust me, that's a position you don't want to put her in, or be in yourself."
Shisui couldn't help but feel that Kakashi was speaking from personal experience.
The masked man turned and moved to the ladder. "I also think you're just finding excuses not to see her, because you're afraid of what she's going to say. Whelp, I said my part, the rest is up to you. See ya." Kakashi dropped down from the ladder, shoved his hands into his pockets, and sauntered off to where he'd parked his motorcycle.
Shisui wasn't sure how long he ended up standing there, watching Hinata's empty balcony. When the windows of her apartment went dark, he finally stirred, and descended the ladder. Kakashi was right. Shisui could have been talking to Hinata right at that moment. He had the time to watch her from afar, but not to talk to her?
Kakashi hadn't said it outright, but he didn't need to.
You're a jerk. Your girlfriend asks for space and you all but abandon her.
As he made his way to his red coupe, he promised himself that he'd talk to her, but not that night, since it was clear Hinata had gone to bed. He climbed into his car, got the heater blasting, and drove away, hoping he wasn't just making another excuse.
Itachi studied his face in the mirror, a finger tracing one of the dark circles under his eyes. He barely recognized himself these days. He was always on alert, knowing that Root could make a move at any moment, and it was rather exhausting. But Danzo wasn't going to stop until he got his hands on Nagato's software. It wasn't just physical threats Itachi had to look out for, he was the only one skilled enough to keep hackers out of Nagato's code. Which meant he spent a lot of time staring at screens, and that wasn't easy on the eyes.
He also didn't sleep very well, but that was an entirely different issue.
The incident involving the car at the hospital had been targeting him. A test to see if he was distracted enough by Sakura for Root to take him out. They'd wanted to see if she was going to be a weakness.
He'd traced the location of the car, but it'd been abandoned in the warehouse district and the records had led him to a civilian household, indicating the vehicle had been stolen. He hadn't been able to lift any fingerprints either, but that was to be expected. Root agents cleaned up after themselves well.
"Nii-san, I'm hungry!" Sasuke appeared in the doorway of Itachi's bathroom, still in his blue pajamas, and rubbed sleepily at his eyes. "You said you'd make me smiley-face pancakes."
Itachi smiled at him, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Go get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs."
"Okay, but you better hurry," Sasuke said with a threatening tone that was even more amusing in his disheveled state.
There were times Itachi was glad to see Sasuke acting normally, but there were other times that he worried Sasuke was just putting on a brave face for him. No child was going to go unchanged after losing their parents. But whenever he tried to coax Sasuke's feelings out on the subject, his brother would change the topic or refuse to talk to him.
And unfortunately, Itachi was too wrapped up in keeping the city and his brother safe to attend to the details of Sasuke's emotional needs. That was where he was hoping Sakura would be able to help, because professional counseling was out of the question until this war was over and he didn't have to worry about Root possibly spying on his brother's sessions.
He went to get dressed, opting for a casual look since he wasn't planning on going anywhere today. There were certainly benefits to working from home. By the time he got downstairs, Sasuke was dressed and eagerly sitting at the counter, all but vibrating on the stool as he tried—and failed—to appear patient.
It wasn't long before the smell of breakfast filled the kitchen, the bacon sizzling in the pan while three pancakes baked on the griddle. Itachi had propped a tablet on the counter, which Sasuke was using to watch his favorite show.
Like he did most mornings, Itachi spotted Sakura pull into the garage and moved to open the back door for her. She certainly looked better than she had on Saturday. It seemed almost getting run over hadn't phased her, unless she was also one to pretend that everything was fine. He knew Shisui was fond of doing that.
"Good morning, Sakura-san."
"Good morning, Itachi-san, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke briefly looked up from his show to wave at her, then he went right back to his show.
Itachi returned to the kitchen to attend to the food, and when it was done, he put together three plates and brought them to the table.
"Would you like some breakfast?" he asked Sakura as he set the plates down, two on one side, one on the other.
She looked surprised, but nodded and joined him. "It smells good."
"Sasuke, turn the tablet off and come eat," Itachi said. "I thought you were hungry."
Sasuke closed the tablet and came to sit next to him. His little brother immediately started in on the food, almost looking as if he was starving despite the rather nice dinner Itachi had prepared the night before.
Sakura giggled suddenly. "Is this supposed to be a smiley face?"
Itachi glanced down at her plate, where a syrupy smiley face was looking up at them. He'd only planned on doing that on Sasuke's pancake. His lack of sleep was starting to catch up to him it seemed. What did she mean by 'supposed to'? It looked like a smiley face to him.
Sasuke beamed. "Yeah! They're my favorite. The smile makes them taste better and means you'll have a happy day, because that's what mom…" He trailed off and looked down at his plate.
Itachi quickly came to the rescue. "Our mother liked to start the day off with a smile."
The pink-haired med student's expression was sympathetic as she took a fork to her own food. "Smiles can do a lot of things."
Breakfast fell into silence as the three of them ate. It was a strange feeling, having someone that wasn't Shisui eating at their table. Sakura always arrived after breakfast, but since it'd started late today, he'd anticipated feeding her as well. He couldn't help but note that Sakura ate around the smiley face first, letting it linger on her plate for as long as possible, before she finished the rest of it.
When everyone was done, he gathered up the plates and brought them to the sink, where he washed them up, and stuck them in the dishwasher.
He returned to the dining room. Sakura was looking over the assignments he'd left for Sasuke to complete. He picked up one of the worksheets and set it in front of his brother. "Sasuke, start on this one while I speak with Sakura-san." He glanced at Sakura and inclined his head towards the back door before heading outside.
Once Sakura joined him beneath the patio, he ensured the back door was shut so that Sasuke wouldn't overhear them.
"I have an errand for you to run." This would help him gauge how reliable she was with something a bit more challenging than handling Sasuke's schoolwork—which she'd proved to be adept at. She had a mind for studying. "I was going to surprise Sasuke with a dog, but I'm too busy to take him myself. Is this something you'd be comfortable with doing?" He was also hoping a dog would help Sasuke in general.
Sakura looked surprised and also confused, but she smiled. "Sure, it sounds like fun."
"You can take my car, since it already has Sasuke's car seat. I'll send you the address. It'd be best if you go now, and be back before lunch."
Sakura felt quite fancy cruising through the city in Itachi's Audi. Though she was also nervous, because this car was vastly more expensive than a vase, and while she liked to think she was a good driver, other people weren't. Wow, worrying about the car when your boss's five-year-old brother is in the back? If there was an accident, it wasn't the car Itachi was going to be concerned about.
She pulled into the small parking lot of the dog daycare facility Itachi had given her the address too. A sign on the building read Chidori Dog School in bright blue lettering.
Sasuke became excited when he saw where they were, which told her he was familiar with the place. "Are we going to play with Kakashi-san's dogs?!"
Kakashi? That guy who was watching the mayor's kid? He'd been with Shisui at the BBQ restaurant too. He must have been some sort of family friend. What, exactly, did he do for a living? At first, he was a bodyguard, now he was a dog trainer. She couldn't make any sense of it.
When she got Sasuke out of the car, he tried to make a run for the doors, but Sakura snagged the back of his coat. "Hold up, Sasuke-kun. Don't run in the parking lot." She didn't want to even imagine what Itachi would do to her if his little brother got hit by a car on her watch.
That thought reminded her to ask Itachi about the incident at the hospital. It'd likely been an accident—people were crazy behind the wheel—but she was still curious if he'd gotten any information on it.
Inside the building was a small lobby with wooden floors that had seen better days. There was the sound of barking dogs in the background. A woman with short brown hair was manning the counter. Her chocolate colored eyes lit up when Sakura walked in, holding Sasuke's hand.
The woman smiled at them. "If it isn't little Sasuke, and you must be Sakura-san! Itachi told us you were coming, Kakashi's in the back. I'll take you there. I'm Rin."
For someone who's supposed to be reclusive, Itachi sure does know a lot of people. The lack of an honorific on his name spoke of at least some familiarity between whoever this was and Itachi.
Sakura and Sasuke followed Rin through a door that led into a hall of kennels. Several dogs barked at them as they passed, while others furiously wagged their tails and whined for attention. Sakura kept a firm grip on Sasuke's hand to keep him from running up to the kennels. He may have been familiar with this place, but she wasn't, and she certainly wasn't comfortable letting him go up to someone else's dog.
At the end of the hall was another door. This one went outside, into a chilly backyard that had been fenced in by high stone walls for privacy. There were several areas sectioned off by chain-link fences, but they were empty.
"There he is, I need to go back up front, good luck!" Rin waved and left.
Kakashi—who was still wearing his mask—stood in one section, with three dogs sitting in front of him; a black German Shepherd, a Bullmastiff, and a mixed breed shepherd. They sat at attention, like soldiers waiting for orders.
"Yo," Kakashi greeted them.
Sasuke was all but chomping at the bit to pet the dogs, but to Sakura's surprise, the five-year-old stayed at her side, the very picture of a well-behaved child.
"I see you remembered what I told you last time, Sasuke. Very good." Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Never run up to a dog you don't know." He met Sakura's gaze. "Alright, just tell me which one you want, all three are the best I have, hand-picked and trained by myself. The black one is Kage, the mixed is Takeo, and the mastiff is Benjiro."
Sakura glanced between Kakashi and Sasuke, but the masked man was clearly addressing her. "I'm supposed to pick one? I thought this was…" She trailed off, her eyes falling to Sasuke, who looked very jealous that Sakura was getting a dog.
"He wants you to pick one, Sakura-san," Kakashi said.
Sakura didn't need to ask him who 'he' was. She bit her lip, wondering why on earth the decision had been left up to her. If anything, Itachi should have been here to pick himself, or at the very least, Sasuke. This almost felt like some sort of test. She studied the dogs. All three sat perfectly still, like statues, though the german shepherd wagged his tail ever so slightly when she looked at him.
These weren't ordinary house-pets. Even she could tell that these three were trained guard dogs, which could be linked to the fact that Kakashi himself was a bodyguard.
This was no small decision for a nanny to be making. What is Itachi thinking?
She looked between the three large dogs. "Do you have anything, uh, smaller?" Less dangerous.
Kakashi shook his head. "It has to be a guard dog, that's the only requirement."
Sakura turned to Sasuke for help. "Which one do you like, Sasuke-kun?" She felt like he should have a say in the matter, if this was supposed to be a surprise meant for him.
Sasuke threw his arms up into the air. "All of them!"
That's not helpful at all.
Kakashi looked like he was enjoying her discomfort. He also looked like he wasn't going to give her any hints on who she should pick.
She tried thinking back to the dogs she'd had growing up. The one she remembered the most was her family's own german shepherd, Duke. He'd been more of a giant lap dog than a guard dog, and had been very patient with her younger siblings. Since that was all she had to go off of…
"I'll go with Kage."
At his name, the german shepherd's ears perked up, and his tail began to wag a little faster.
"Good choice, I'll take the others away while you three get acquainted. Kage, stay." Kakashi let out a low whistle, prompting the two that Sakura hadn't picked to follow him out, leaving Sakura and Sasuke alone with Kage.
She was trying to decide what he'd meant by good choice, when he'd said earlier all three dogs were the best. Had he said that because she'd secretly picked the right one? Or would he have said that regardless of what one she picked? This is silly, why does it matter which one I pick? Her thoughts were getting all twisted for nothing.
"Can I pet him now?" Sasuke suddenly burst out, his patience clearly having a limit. "You're so lucky that you're getting a dog!"
Sakura walked over to Kage and held out her hand for him to sniff. He licked her fingers instead. She looked over at Sasuke with an amused smile. "Who said this was my dog? Come say hello to your new friend."
Sasuke gaped at her. "Really?! He's my dog?" He rushed over, but then stopped suddenly and held out his hand for Kage to lick. Only then, did the five-year-old move to pet the dog. "But Nii-san doesn't like pets. He says they're too noisy and messy."
Did he now? "I guess he changed his mind then, because he said this was your dog."
They spent nearly an hour playing with Kage, until Sakura remembered Sasuke had a schedule to stick to, and they were about to miss lunch. Before they left with Kage, Kakashi went over with them what orders the dog would take, and what tricks he could do. He also packed the trunk of Itachi's car with basic dog necessities. When Sakura asked about paying—Itachi had given her a credit card to be used for expenses towards Sasuke—Kakashi told her it was all taken care of. She loaded up Sasuke and the dog into the car, and then tried not to worry about Kage scratching up the leather seats as she drove away.
When they got back to the townhouse, Sasuke wanted to give Kage a tour of his new home while Sakura brought in the dog supplies and got lunch ready. She made Itachi a plate too, but there was no sign of him, even after Sasuke returned from his tour of the house.
"Nii-san said he was too busy to see Kage," Sasuke complained as she set his sandwich down on the table before moving to get Kage's food bowl set up in the kitchen.
The rest of the day didn't go so smoothly in terms of Sasuke's schoolwork, since he was too distracted by his new buddy. It wasn't until Sakura was about to leave for the day that Itachi finally came downstairs. Sakura was outside, beneath the patio, watching Sasuke play fetch with his new dog. The sun was starting its descent, painting the leaves with fire.
"You picked well," Itachi said as he came to stand beside her.
Sakura glanced at him, unable to help note that he looked tired. "Why did you have me pick the dog?" She still thought it'd been an odd request.
"I trusted you to make the right decision."
That doesn't really answer my question, but it's good to know that my boss trusts me.
The sound of a car coming up the driveway drew both of their attention. A red coupe pulled up by the garage, and Shisui got out. His car looked more like a rich-person vehicle than Itachi's, and it looked very fast.
"Maybe Kage will deter your cousin from sneaking into your house," Sakura said with a snort as she recalled the vase incident. Itachi had made it sound like Shisui showing up out of nowhere was a common occurrence.
"He'll likely have the dog eating out of his hand, and then will sneak into my house anyways." She snuck a peek at Itachi's face to try and gauge if he was telling a joke, but his expression was unreadable as he watched Sasuke play with Kage.
"Hey, Sasuke!" Shisui called, waving a hand in the air.
Kage stopped mid chase of the ball, his ears perking up. Then he was running over to Shisui, tail wagging furiously as Itachi's cousin scratched him behind the ear.
"Uh, Kakashi-san told me he was a guard dog," Sakura said. She didn't think a guard dog would run up all friendly to a stranger like that.
"Shisui just has that way about him," Itachi said with a shrug. "Kakashi's dogs typically know a threat when they see one."
Sasuke grabbed the ball and ran over to Kage and Shisui. "Shisui, will you play with us?"
Shisui rubbed the top of Sasuke's head. "Sorry, but I have some business with your brother. I'll stay for dinner though, and we can play then. How does that sound?"
Sakura watched Sasuke pout, but he nodded and turned to throw the ball. Kage barked and gave chase while Shisui joined her and Itachi under the patio.
"Heya, Blossom. Itachi." Shisui looked as tired as Itachi did. She could only assume their jobs weren't exactly easy. "Do you mind hanging around a little longer, Sakura-san? I need to talk to Itachi."
Sakura went over her evening in her head. All she had planned when she got home was homework and binge watching. "I can do that." While the two Uchiha went inside, she went into the backyard to keep an eye on Sasuke.
An hour later, Itachi and Shisui returned.
An hour's hardly a little longer. She tried not to let her annoyance show on her face. She'd thought it would have been twenty to thirty minutes at most.
"Sorry! My business took longer than I thought it was going to," Shisui said with a rueful smile. She must not have hidden her expression very well. She wondered if that was something Itachi could teach her as part of their self-defense classes.
"We ordered take-out, if you'd like to stay for dinner, Sakura-san," Itachi said.
The only thing she had waiting at home for her were frozen TV dinners. Dinner that wasn't cooked in a microwave sounded amazing. And it was free.
"Sure, why not?"
It wasn't long before the food arrived and Sakura found herself sitting in the second-floor theater room, on a squishy couch, with a massive screen playing a movie while she ate Chinese take-out from a carton. She felt a little awkward, like she was intruding on what was likely a typical Uchiha evening in Itachi's household. It looked surprisingly normal.
Itachi sat on the couch with her, Kage stretched out between them. Shisui lay on his stomach on the floor, with Sasuke sitting on his back. It wasn't too different from when she was at Ino's, hanging out with Shikamaru and Choji.
When Itachi looked like he was done eating, she turned to him. "Did you ever find anything out about that car at the hospital?"
"The police couldn't find the driver, but I wouldn't worry about it."
That was what she'd been thinking, that it wasn't anything to worry about. A part of her wondered if it'd been an attempt on Itachi's life, but that sounded ridiculous. Stuff like that only happened in movies, like the spy one they were currently watching.
She ended up staying to finish the movie, a decision she knew she was going to regret later. When it ended, night had fallen outside the windows. Itachi walked her to the back door and handed her bag to her. "Goodnight, Sakura-san."
She slung the bag around her shoulder and hesitated in the doorway. "You can call me Sakura, if you want." She chuckled. "After all, we almost got run over together." She feared she was being too casual with him, but he smiled—a real looking smile that softened his face in a pleasing way.
"I guess it's only fair, since Shisui already subjects you to his terrible nicknames. You may drop the honorifics too."
"Goodnight, Itachi." It felt odd to not address him formally, but she'd get used to it, hopefully. When she got into her car, she couldn't help but feel like she'd passed some sort of test that had nothing to do with the dog she'd chosen. Shaking her head, she pulled out of the garage and went home.