"Good morning Kyori-san," Inoichi smiled at the girl as she stared him down.

"Yeah, morning Yamanaka-sama," she huffed out, reclining into the padding of the seat.

Her deep brown eyes were dancing across the room before they focused on the gloomy clouds. She felt the same way… a sigh almost escaped her mouth had it not been shut.

Inoichi gave her time while he looked through her reports, scanning the more recent ones. "Well, how's school? How are you feeling?"

"School is school." Kyori rolled her eyes in annoyance.

She was tired of hearing the same words out of his mouth at the start of these things. It was like his conversation skills were on wash, rinse, and repeat.

"And if you haven't noticed, which I'm sure you have, when I feel like shit I look like shit." She gestured to her get up.

Despite her going to school in the next hour, Kyori had her kinky hair secured in a jumbo clamp with a persistent lock tickling her brow, her large knitted sweater was curtaining what appeared to be pajamas. The thin spaghetti strap and flowing pants wasn't remotely viable in societal standards but neither was her llama slippers.

Inoichi frowned. "Please, refrain from cursing," he chimed absently, while jotting something onto his notepad as she let out a heavy sigh and grumbled out an apology. "If you'd like, you are free to share anything with me."

"Yeah, I know, but good news first." She smirked softly, knowing he would be glad to hear what she has done. "I've made a few friends, some new. Some old." Her smile only brightened when the blond sat up to congratulate her. "I even joined a club, well two if you count the Youth Group."

"I'm glad to hear it! Though, I knew you would gain friends regardless of whether you wanted them or not." He smiled, happily adding notes into her progress report. "So… what seems to be bringing you down then? Is it a boy?" he asked, raising a brow.

Of course he would've guessed it right. Then again, boys seemed to be a regular problem for her. Inoichi has dealt with her for a long time… almost a decade, actually. It would be strange of him to not be able to see right through her. By now he should know these things without her opening her trap and telling him herself. It made these sessions that much easier and sometimes, more overwhelming.

"Is it this Shisui character?"

Kyori snorted, before falling into a fit of guffaws. "No, you're weeks late if you think he's the one I'm frowning about."

In addition to that, Shisui was quite the friend and she was glad that they worked past the whole 'enemy' thing; That was more of her dad's take on his family anyways. Shaking her head, she looked down at her lap and fumbled with her fingertips.

"It's Fu." Kyori uttered, soundlessly.

The silent admittance had the blonde Yamanaka frowning. He felt deeply concerned while facing Kyori's dull umber eyes; they held the same emptiness a week before her disappearance. But instead of probing her for answers, he motioned for her to continue at her own time. Here, she was free to choose what she wanted to share; hell, she was free to refuse as well.

"I just…" Kyori sighed deeply, blinking away a storm of tears that she has neglected for weeks. "I keep disappointing myself by hoping he'll forgive me. I want him to let go of what had happened." her lips trembled as she forced herself to stare directly at Inoichi. "But it's like he hates me." she mumbled weakly before letting her head sink.

It was one thing to express the hurt, but it didn't mean she wanted for Inoichi to see her cry. She was tired of letting him see this side of her.

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you," the man started softly, recoiling as she shot him a watery glare.

"Bullshit. He resents me to the point that he always has something hurtful or disrespectful to say." She sniveled. Letting out the heaviest sigh she could muster, Kyori turned her eyes onto the murky clouds.

"Kyori-san."

She felt so pathetic. All the time.

"What happened before and the reason behind me disappearing," she paused with a deep frown. Kyori looked down at her hands and screwed her eyes shut as if they disgusted her. "It doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter when all I want is to forget."

"Kyori, I understand your plight." Inoichi gave her a sad smile. "But I think that Fu's behavior stems from someplace else. Pain perhaps."

"You don't say…" she sarcastically mumbled, looking away from the calculating icy blue eyes.

"The two of you were practically inseparable, right? And then you were gone, without a notice or anything. In that time, could you imagine how he might have felt?" He asked earning hard, yet doubtful eyes. "He may have been worried, and scared while waiting for you. Hoping you would show up soon and when you hadn't…" he turned to her giving her a knowing look.

"Did I hurt him that much?" She uncertainly chirped only to earn silence.

Kyori huffed and felt disappointed when the blonde Yamanaka did not respond to her. She then turned her eyes on the open door, and felt like it was commanding her to storm out any second. Kyori didn't want to talk about how she felt anymore. She didn't want to feel this way anymore, but what choice did she have?

"I hope to see you, in a week or two." Inoichi gave her a sad smile. "You are free to leave Kyori-san." That made her happy, even if it was for a little while.

Wiping her tears away, the teen stood from her seat and headed for the door with a feint, but grateful smile. "Keep hoping until then," she shot back at the Yamanaka, grinning to herself. Kyori stood at the exit for a few seconds, placing her game face on so that her mother wouldn't suspect a thing. They were already on a tight schedule, with her being under dressed so when she waltzed out of Inoichi's office, she practically dragged her mother to the car.

"We have to hurry back home so you can get ready! It's almost 8 o'clock," Hizumi exclaimed, feeling that her words added extra pressure as she stepped on the gas.

"Mom, I'm already late. Might as well not go." Kyori feigned innocence while staring out at the blurring trees and the sky. "I don't want to go. Not today…"

Hizume avoided gazing into sullen woodsy eyes and felt grateful when Kyori resumed peering out the window. "I think you should go to school, and see your friends."

Kyori had let out a long sigh while watching the clouds were part. "Too bad it won't rain…" she mumbled to herself.

But her mother caught on and shook her head. Hizume was a sucker for snuggling on rainy days. If she could, she would keep her family inside and provide warmth and snacks in abundance.

"You're going to school, now hush it!"

"Fine…"

Kyori walked into class, sighing as she almost trudged pass her locker. Turning to the heap of muscle trailing behind her, she asked, "Kinoto, what time is it?"

Seeing as she was not in the mood to jeer and jab, Kinoto read her the time and decided to gather her things. "It's nearly time for your third class. Isn't that your free period?" his brows furrowed.

"Technically it's second period… homeroom doesn't count," she blew out.

Surprisingly, she was disappointed she had nothing to look forward to, other than sulking for another hour. Was today supposed to be a shit-show?

From down the hall, Shisui spotted the girl and shut his locker with gentle thud. A smile was present on his lips at the sight of her smugly grinning at her guard, alerting the raven-haired boy and the brunette girl beside him.

"You look silly, cousin." The young man quietly chortled with the brunette, sharing a knowing look as she clutched onto his side. "It must have a lot to do with a certain girl consuming both your thoughts and time. Not to mention she is the main source of your… giddiness."

The oldest Uchiha shook his head, amused at the speculations.

"It's not like that, she's just a friend Itachi." Shisui reeled back from his cousins' doubtful dark eyes. "A strange friend, but a friend nonetheless."

"Yeah, a friend you're eager to introduce us to and for no apparent reason~" came the teasing voice of the usually meek Izumi as she giggled to herself. "There's more to it huh, 'Tachi?" she presumed with bits of uncertainty, earning a brief nod.

"I'm certain there is." He uttered while his onyx eyes narrowed on the burgundy haired girl that held a scowl on her lips.

"Has to be. I mean, she looks like your type too!" Izumi grinned at the sight of her brother's rosy cheeks.

"Sure, like you know my type," Shisui scoffed then proceeded to roll his eyes at the sight of Itachi's knowing stare.

Kyori looked to be very inhospitable, with Kinoto glaring holes in anyone who dared to point and murmur in the girl's presence. But the burgundy haired girl carried herself with an unmatched grace that insinuated wealth, power and confidence. The Uchihas thought she was quite the beauty; someone with her features were bound to stand out, but she seemed content with herself entirely.

"She's definitely your type. Beautiful, mature, and guarded with a sensitive side." The Uchiha heir listed in a bored yet amused fashion at the light blush tinting Shisui's fair complexion.

"Okay, so she might just be my type. But there's nothing going on between us!" Shisui almost sniggered at how dubious his family appeared.

Still, he couldn't help but smile when he brought his eyes onto the girl. Kyori frowned at something Kinoto said, and the man continued with smirking even though she elbowed him in the ribs.

"If there was something going on, I wouldn't be defensive and deny it." Shisui reasoned.

Which was the truth, but he definitely would never admit to being in a compromising position with her or reveal that he has almost kissed her or tell them that he met her parents! He would never give them the ammunition they craved so naturally in hopes of teasing him.

"I guess that's true. Still…" Izumi nodded. Shrugging disappointedly, she sighed while wondering when her big brother would find true romance like he deserved. "We just want you to find happiness."

Shisui shot her an understanding smile, dipping his head as if it would help him digest her words and aspirations pertaining to him. It made Shisui wonder… was he not content enough? He surely was quite alright with being alone for as long as he needed to be. The last thing he needed was romance to define whether he was happy or not.

"There's his potential girlfriend, now." Itachi resisted the urge to point and the taller Uchiha rolled his gorgeous catty eyes.

Shisui felt as though his soul was on its merry way to ascending when she brought her big brown eyes on him and attempted a polite smile.

"Good morning," she greeted lowly.

"Check it out, she comes with manners this morning!" Shisui joked, and to his surprise, Kyori playfully shoved him.

"That was a crap joke, even for you…" She commented, but there was an amused simper coming from the girl before she found herself laughing.

"It was pretty crappy." Shisui grinned, delighted to hear her sweet, witchy tittering.

"How can you be wired this early in the morning?" she wondered out loud with a raised brow.

The Uchiha cupped his chin, marveling over the question for a bit. "Nine hours of sleep does wonders?" Shisui supposed with a sheepish shrug as he got lost in her grin.

He was not familiar with her smiling much, but he believed it would benefit the girl's health and mood, entirely. Rather than seeing her scowl or with a blank face. Then, he remembered two pairs of onyx eyes intently observing their interaction with seen and unseen amusement. "Anyways, I wanted you to meet my little sister –"

"Izumi-chan," Kyori ripped the word from his mouth, wearing an amused expression.

"You two know each other?" Itachi raised a brow, turning his obsidian stare onto the smiling brunette.

"We share Kakuzu-sensei's morning class. She's my desk mate." Izumi added as the burgundy haired girl presented her hand anyways, and she delightfully took it.

"Still, it's a pleasure to meet you. Had I known you two were related I would've asked you to tug his leash sooner."

"I'm not some dog!"

"Then why are you barking?" Kyori snickered when Shisui frowned at her softly. She then presented her hand to Itachi. "Shimura Kyori and you are?" she asked with a knowing grin that had the rigid Uchiha drawing a blank.

"Shimura?" Itachi blinked and brought his eyes onto Shisui's shortly after shaking her hand. "As in, you're related to Shimura Danzo, the Head of ROOT Investigations?" He questioned, not masking his concern for a second.

"Uh-huh, that's my papa." Kyori nodded, ignoring the devious pursing of her lips as she eyed Shisui before snickering. "But more importantly, when did you two start dating?"

"Ehh?!"

"W-wait what?" Itachi stammered but couldn't find any words as he was finally stunned to silence.

"Kyori-san y-" Shisui was interrupted by Izumi's tittering.

"She thinks you t-two train wrecks are together! I…" the brunette guffawed until she was swiping tears away from her dough eyes.

Even Kinoto was shaking his head as he watched his charge frown.

"So then… he's not your boyfriend?" Kyori asked, more than bemused.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Itachi, a blood relative." Itachi frowned at her then stared at Shisui, hoping he would clear the air.

"Wow, okay. I feel embarrassed…" Kyori blinked. "But you guys looked really cute and happy together so I just assumed." she rambled, wishing she had fell through a wormhole the moment she uttered those words.

"You shipped it?" Kinoto sniggered. "Bet it's because they're pretty boys like the ones you read about when you use my internet in incognito." He mused, huffing as the burgundy haired girl shot him a death glare that overpowered her embarrassment.

"Shut up! I only assumed because the long haired one is super pretty and Shisui's a big fat flirt!" Kyori gapped, then proceeded to shut her mouth.

But it was too late, Itachi's blush alone indicated she had definitely said that out loud.

"Guess I can't blame you... I am into long hair and flirting and Itachi is super pretty." Shisui shrugged.

Still, a frown made its way on his lips at the sight of Izumi, failing to control her laughter.

Shisui puffed his cheeks, glaring softly at his sister. "Keep weeping! I have you know I have standards, I don't flirt with just anyone, you know."

For the second time that morning Kyori blinked, as she processed this new piece of information. Flustered, she had a hard time accepting the idea of Shisui seriously flirting with her and a selective few. Did that mean anything? Probably not.

But what she took from it was that he must've enjoyed flirting with her for it to be a main component to their daily conversations. Then again, he could've been doing it to get a rise out of her? She would stick with that. The burgundy haired girl snapped her head to her side as she heard heavy shuffling.

"Right you guys haven't officially met…" she huffed lowly with a smirk. "Shisui this tall lunkhead with the intimidation of a pit bull is my guard, Kinoto."

She gestured and the man raised a brow at her, his beady brown eyes glittering with amusement as the boy brought his hand out for a shake.

"Kinoto this is Shisui, he's kinda annoying but he's in the clear." Kyori shrugged.

"Not with Shimura-sama though." The guard held a serious gaze and used quite a bit of his strength while shaking the teen's hand. "Nothing personal but if you hurt her in anyway, I'll hunt you down, castrate you then kill you." He said casually, alerting the Uchiha's.

Surprisingly, the unruly haired Uchiha had shown no signs of pain or discomfort while they shook hands. Instead, he had even added strength to his own grip and grinned at the man. "It's a pleasure meeting you."

Izumi and Itachi also shook the guard's hand out of politeness. However they could hardly say it was a pleasure as they expectantly leered at Shisui.

Kyori frown as she turned to Kinoto when the bell rung but as they walked away, she looked over her shoulder catching Shisui's eyes on her. Kyori gave him a small smirk, feeling much better. "I'll see you around then."

"Sure thing, Kyori-san. "Shisui responded with a wide grin, while ignoring the heat spreading across his face once he caught Itachi and Izumi giving him shrewd glances.

"You're too formal. Just call me Kyori." She mumbled with an eye roll. "I prefer it." She irately proposed before walking off with a wave.

Izumi then turned to her brother, whispering once the Shimura was out of ear shot, "Well, aren't you going to ask her?" the brunette nudged her brother with a soft yet sly grin.

"I don't know…" Shisui frowned at his little sister. Shaking his head, he chuckled bashfully at the disappointment lingering in the younger Uchihas' eyes. "Shouldn't I ask later? She looked like she was in a bad mood and I don't want to upset her."

"She hardly looked upset, baka." Izumi pointed out with a telling smile on her lips. "Since… you two were throwing goggly-eyes at each other for ninety minutes."

"We were not doing that… we were having a friendly conversation!" Shisui finished lamely causing Izumi to titter. He finally brought his eyes onto the Uchiha heir that was far too quiet for his own good. "What do you think 'Tachi?"

"I think you should just extend the offer," Itachi muttered.

His dark eyes were still watching the Shimura, stomping to class before she scowled in the face of her history book.

He then pointed out with a telling glance, "She doesn't seem too eager to go to class, though she seemed rather upset before approaching you."

Shisui blushed at that. After all Itachi was clearly insinuating that he was the reason behind her witchy laughter, snarky remarks and that sweet little smile. And though it was a nice thought, he couldn't entertain that for long without viewing their friendship differently. Getting over his flustered state, the unruly haired teen's eyes followed after Kyori.

"You're giving me too much credit, but that's what it means to be a friend," he breathed out as she disappeared from his sight gradually.

"Or it's the other way around," Izumi uttered, catching both of the Uchiha males' attention. "You aren't giving yourself enough credit! You should just take initiative and ask."

Itachi nodded in agreement before Shisui could concoct a refuting statement. "It's just a productive outing between friends, it's not like you're preparing to ask her for a booty call," he tried to reassure his cousin, cringing at the last word he uttered.

"I was thinking I should w-"Shisui paused at the sight of the red haired Yamanaka staring, no glaring directly at him. "The hell?"

The Uchiha heir quietly darted his obsidian pools between Shisui and Fu before he turned to his cousin, placing a gentle pat on his shoulder.

"What is his issue with you?" Hearing Itachi's concern tone, had Shisui turning his contemplative gaze elsewhere.

"I don't exactly know…"

"Oh but I might? It looks like you might have competition to me," Izumi uttered with a small frown.

Her confusion seemed to heighten when the eldest Uchiha challenged the red head's cold gaze with his calculating eyes before storming off after Kyori.

"Competition huh?" Shisui mumbled, lifting his brow.

Now he was curious. What was going on between Kyori and the Yamanaka and why was he suddenly pushed into the middle?

Kyori brought her eyes onto the green checkered floors with a smile growing on her face.

"I feel a lot better." She affirmed in a low whisper, far away from the eyes of the Uchihas as she fell in step with Kinoto.

Speaking of her guard, he was more so amused at her words as he turned to her with judicious beady eyes.

"Are you sure he's just a friend?" he questioned, wiggling his brows at her when she harshly nudged him. "I thought I saw Cupid shoot his arrow."

"As if!" she screeched despite her face heating up.

What was it about Shisui that gave everyone the idea that she was interested? Kyori shot a humorless glare at the man while frowning.

Then she spat, "I know this is funny to you, but you should keep in mind that it's against Papa's rules and you shouldn't encourage that."

"As you wish Kyori-sama." He saluted with a mischievous smirk and followed the girl into the history class. "But it wouldn't kill you to give it a go. You're young and this is the best time to make mistakes."

"Kinoto, you're an idiot. I can't keep making mistakes." Kyori hissed and with a scowl, she thumped the larger man's temple. In return, he shot her a playful glare and while blandly hissing 'ouch,' Kyori rolled her eyes.

Chocolate eyes immediately clashed with a pair of stoic hazel ones, resulting in a delay in heading over to her seat. Kyori felt like she was gradually being rooted to the floor as she took time searching deep into Fu's pensive gaze. Then her eyes lowered to his mouth. She felt almost shameful for blatantly staring, but more so for recalling how they felt.

Kyori shut her eyes tightly and willed these feelings away. She couldn't afford to yearn for someone she couldn't have. It would be wrong and almost cruel to go back to how things once were. Afterall, it is connected with how she ended up in this predicament. A cool shiver ran down her spine at that realization. As unfortunate as it sounded in her head, maybe they weren't meant to be.

Looking back into his pensive gaze, Kyori detected bits of regret and her stomach dropped at the thought of him regretting how things ended up so rocky between them. Suddenly, she remembered those lips being callous and foreboding towards her.

The Shimura frowned at that; she was frankly tired of there being so many complications. There were so many ups and downs… so many gray spaces when it came to how they both felt. Kyori just had to get over it all. Nothing good would come out of falling into a vicious cycle. Being with Fu was basically self-sabotage.

Then he had the audacity to mouth the words: I need to talk to you.

Kyori, now shoving her feelings to the side, had sunk into her seat and felt stuck. She was now wondering if this was all apart of Fu's elaborate scheme so that he could demean her some more or was this him being upfront and wanting to apologize to her and disregard the past and start anew.

'It doesn't matter though…' she sighed, placing her attention onto the white board.

When class was over, the big haired burgundette was delighted to shove her materials into her messenger bag and scamper toward the exit. With the quickness of a pro speed walker, Kinoto had made it an effort to be right on her heels by the time they stopped by her locker

"Someone's in a rush," Kinoto commented as she closed her locker and turned to face him. "Are you that excited for hamburgers?"

Kyori frowned at him. Obviously, he was pretending to be oblivious and was trying to lighten the atmosphere for her sake. But he could only do so much before Fu made sure his presence was acknowledged.

"Can we talk?" The Yamanaka asked, awkwardly as she still had her back turned.

But she finally faced him, well… she drifted her gaze onto the floor, then to her side as she spat, "I'd rather not, especially today. But knowing you, there's not an ounce of sympathy to spare."

Ouch.

Her tone was brutal enough that he stared on with befuddlement painting his habitually deadpanned face. Fu's face always did well to betray him, forming an elaborate picture of him practically turning into the personification of the word: unbothered.

Kinoto realize that he didn't want to be there to witness this quarrel and excused himself, uttering, "I'll be waiting at your table with your lunch then."

"Alright," The Shimura muttered despite not wanting to be left alone with the red head. She didn't even have the gall to look into Fu's eyes while asking, "What do you want?"

Fu gave her a bland look, frowning at her unpleasant tone. "For starters, I want you to look at me when I'm speaking to you." He grumbled stonily, making her scoff.

But Kyori couldn't look at him. Not yet at least. It would hurt too much, when all she could remember was all the good times up until her disappearance.

"Look at me." she tensed at the faint urgency in his tone then dismissed it entirely.

"Fine," Kyori blew out before bringing her eyes on his. A deep scowl settled onto her face as she crossed her arms over her chest but it faltered when he openly frowned. "What do you want Fu?"

"Why do I have to want something in order to talk to you?"

"Because there's always an incentive with you, so what is it?" she said matter of factly and felt a power surge at the mere sight of him dragging his palm down his face as if she was stressing him out.

But she was and of course, she had no clue. What made it worse was her being committed to taking on the 'cold' front that he requested on her first day back. Ever since Kyori waltzed back into Hashirama High, she's been running through his mind nonstop and, heavens, it bothered him. Fu was certain he had gotten over her leaving, going as far as committing all his free time to forging a deeper relationship with Maki.

But with Kyori back, all of his choices seemed futile like he would never be happy if he was not spending time with her. Seeing her face every morning, but having nothing to say to her was getting old when he had a lot to say, especially about her Uchiha companion. This was driving him insane. He didn't hate her at all and gazing into her hardened, baneful brown eyes only made him realize just how big of a mistake he has made.

"Kyori I…" the Yamanaka paused to consider his next words, but Kyori was quick with her knack for interjecting.

"You what?" at the sound of her crude voice, his eyes darted to her lips and then to her face. But she must have noticed since she choked on her breath and her glare softened.

Fu began to lean forward and in response to that, Kyori backed away until she was sandwiched between him and her locker. He was so close that she could feel his breath wafting over her skin and she was sure he was going to make a move on her, causing her breath to sharply hitch. But he didn't and she felt… discontent and ashamed. Nothing entirely new.

Instead, the Yamanaka gently traced her cheek then her parted lips with two fingers, making her shudder. Her eyes were practically begging to be released from their sockets in response to the familiar affection he displayed before he reluctantly pulled away.

"Kyori," he wantonly grumbled, setting his hazel gaze on her eyes. This felt right to him, and he was sick of being in denial.

"Fu did you just…What the fuck?" Kyori dubiously fumbled with her words and he almost graced her with a smile.

His heart warmed and as he towered over her, he felt relief and pride stirring deep within at the fact that he still managed to get her stuck on stupid.

"I'll make this right. Soon." Were his last words before he left her there, utterly stumped.

With him out of sight, she finally gained control of herself and the first thing she had done was start running. Kyori didn't understand why, but she felt like she needed to get away. Fast.

Truthfully, she needed to breath and to be alone with her thoughts. But a part of her just wanted to forget as she suddenly found herself slamming the doors to the garden.

Still, she couldn't. Not even here, among the most serene atmosphere that was located in this god forsaken school. Kyori was subjected to wondering what exactly did Fu have in mind when he declared to 'Make this right?' What was he to do as of now in hopes of making things better between them? Stop hurting her feelings and spouting snarky shit? That would be a nice start but would that be enough?

Probably not.

Fu's behavior, though it was not fully justified, it was practical since she has hurt him so many times, if not an exact amount of times he has done to her in the past. Maybe the best thing was for her to give him closure and then play nice with him until she went off to college?

They wouldn't have to carry on with this cruel contest of hurting each other, they didn't even have to be associated with one another. Ever. But damn, after just having him touch her had her wishing he would've done more. If he planned on making up with her, he knew what she'd prefer.

Kyori's eyes grew wide at the thought and she mumbled her pleas for forgiveness. It's been so long…Maybe she needed to use this time to consider things carefully before she decided to outright dead him or fuck him and then proceed to dead him. The latter though was a terrible yet tempting idea... However, at the familiar sight of chaotic raven hair, she knew that now wasn't the time.

"Stalker boy," she uttered as he stared at her with an unamused smile.

Shisui chuckled dryly then patted his bottom free of muck before chucking a rock into the small pond. "I really wished you'd stop calling me that, I'm not a creep."

Kyori snorted.

"I never said you were… It's just fun to see you catch a fit," she admitted with a shrug and the Uchiha shook his head, reminding her of someone old and wiser.

"If you say so, "he hummed, staring up at the vast blue, coating the sky while she strolled over and watched the small dulled stones dash across the surface before being completely swallowed. "Can I ask you something without you freaking out on me…?" He pondered out loud.

The question alone had her craning her neck as her lips fell into its perpetual soft scowl. "Depends." Kyori shrugged.

Seeing as she was glowering and was, unquestionably, in a fouler mood than she had been in earlier, Shisui didn't feel at eased or inclined to continue talking.

But after enduring another stale moment, Kyori grumbled, "Just ask already. You not saying anything will piss me off."

"Do you want to go out with me?" Shisui practically blurted and gaped as those pretty pools of umber grew wide and dubious.

Kyori blinked, fixing her mouth to crush the proposal and was thwarted when he planted his face with his palms.

"I didn't mean as in go out, I was wondering if you were up for ditching seminar with me?" The Shimura almost laughed at the sight of his blush, painting his ears and cheeks a rosy color.

"Then why didn't you just say that… idiot." She murmured the last part, pitying him for being so embarrassed over a misunderstanding. "Let's go then."

Kyori then does the unthinkable, she wrapped her hands around his forearm and squeezed tightly as she tugged his weight which only worsened his blush.

"N-now?!" Shisui stammered in surprise at how eager she was.

"Yes now." The burgundette sighed as he finally followed her out of the garden and into the hallway. "I really don't want to be here."

Can't believe I forgot to include an author's note... don't know if anyone reads these or if anyone reads my story, but I'll do it anyways!

This chappie was fun, writing as Itachi can be quite the challenge... he gives me sweet, but inevitably condescending vibes for some reason and I just love it. And yeah... I made Izumi Shisui's sister, but initially I was going to pair her with Itachi, but...

Idk... I'm not really into the Uchihacest thing, and if I was, I'd solely ship ShiIta... rather it's romantically or platonically, it makes the most sense to me.

Also, if I ever end up having readers for this story. I want to try to engage with you guys more by asking for your help in character building for Risu... if anyone is up for it or is just bored, I'd appreciate it if you pm me about ideas.

Ochaaa ✽