There has been many times that Kyori's felt absolutely child-like, but this undoubtedly tops the list.

Here she was, ecstatically holding onto Shisui as she took in the sight of the gorgeous, vividly citrus-tinted fur belonging to a family of Gold lion Tamarins. They were her favorite and the Uchiha could tell by the deep fascination bleeding from her eyes whenever they swung tree to tree. It didn't help her case at all when she snuck them a few pieces from her fruit cup while cooing at the sight of their young.

Shisui finally spoke up after she reluctantly walked away from their cage, the cute little primates cried loudly, almost drowning out his voice.

"Kyori…" he tested her name until she brought her eyes onto him. "I know this was my idea but will Kinoto be okay with you sneaking off like this?"

At the question, she grew stiff and cursed lowly as she masked her mortified expression perfectly. She couldn't believe that she had forgot all about her guard…

But Shisui assessed her concern and complied when she pulled him towards a quiet space, asking, "Can I use your phone?"

The Uchiha snorted at her and wished her well as he handed her his cellular device, dramatically praying for her life which resulted in deep scowl followed by her flipping the bird. The sound of dialing fell short, similarly to the joking air around them.

"Hey…Kinoto," she reluctantly greeted.

"Hello? Kyori?!" The Shimura girl winced at the alarm in his voice and pulled away from the speaker.

"Yes, it's me…" Kyori grumbled, annoyed at the fact that they were speaking in the first place. Shisui looked as though he was going to burst out laughing until he caught her admonishing glower.

"Where the hell are you? And don't bother lying to me because I searched the entire school before notifying your mother."

The burgundette opened her mouth to spew out a smart-ass remark, but then the last bit sunk in and she felt herself blanch as she repeated incredulously, "You notified my mom… Kinoto what the hell?!"

"What was I supposed to do? You left without a warning genius." The man said flatly, grumbling incoherently.

"But I'm fine and capable of fending for myself." Kyori frowned before letting out a sigh, growing anxious as she thought of her mother's wrath. "Besides, I'm working on a project with Shisui. You didn't have to tell her!"

Fuck, she was so dead probably. Shisui's dark eyes fell on hers, showing great concern as she begun her worrisome habit of pacing.

"You should be happy I didn't tell daddy dearest, so don't get pissy with me." Kyori abruptly stopped and found herself agreeing silently.

Had he told her father that she snuck out of school, his men would be combing the streets for her. But if he was to find out she snuck out with a boy, an Uchiha boy at that, he would have an aneurysm.

"I'm just doing my job…"

"I guess you have a point, but you don't have to worry about me." She told him evenly, then turned her gaze on the Uchiha that went off to capture a few pictures for their project. That's right, she was ditching school while being productive. "Shisui can take me home so enjoy a long and much needed cigarette break."

She groaned a dreadful tune then pursed her lips at their predicament; once her father found out that she had chosen to skip school to hang out with a boy, he'd ripped them both new assholes. But what would hurt the most would be him, jumping to conclusions and openly being disappointed with her. Because let's face it, he has been disappointed with her since she entered sophomore year, the same time she became… 'boy crazy.'

Kyori snapped out of her thoughts, feeling more disgruntled than she had seconds ago but mustered a cool tone as she spoke. "Guess I'll see you later."

"Guess I'll let you go and enjoy your… date." Kyori snorted dryly, hearing the teasing smirk just from the amusement. "And tell your little boyfriend I said hello."

Before she could even think to refute Kinoto's words, he ended the call. Rolling her eyes at man's rudeness, Kyori had trudged over to Shisui, handing over his phone while gratefully accepting the taiyaki he bought.

"Hey!"

"Thanks…"

The Shimura eagerly bit into the treat, and as expected, a sweet paste graced her tongue making her hum softly in delight. She never knew she would miss something as mundane as street food.

And even Shisui was getting a kick out of it despite her nabbing his snacks. He didn't seem to mind her, cherishing every bite of the stuffed bread as they continued gathering information for their biological anthropology assignment.

"Were they that good?" He chuckled at the sight of her pouting adorably while skimming her lips with her tongue.

Kyori nodded, smirking as he continued to laugh.

"Itachi thinks so too, we've been buying his snacks since we were going to secondary school." The raven-haired teen smiled brightly as she quirked a brow.

"Speaking of back then… you never approached me, why?" She asked with her big brown eyes on him, curiously gleaming.

"Well, how should I put it…?" Shisui frowned in deep thought before biting his lip. "Kyori you were intimidating for the most part."

Kyori snorted, recalling just how 'intimidating' she was. Shisui was putting things lightly; she was a little bitch and she knew that.

"Also, I was practically unapproachable for a while… then again Uchihas don't usually enroll in Tobirama." He shrugged, wearing an amused grin.

"Well if I ever did anything off-putting, I'll make up for it now."

Shisui paused at how somber her tone was and quietly walked beside her. He wanted to assure her that she's never insulted him, but that would be a lie. At one point, well supposedly, Kyori had a negative opinion on being in the same class as an Uchiha. If it weren't for that rumor, he never would've gained an interest in her.

"I forgave you already, but you gained brownie points for character development and being such a catch." Shisui winked, earning a raised brow.

Was he being serious or was this just a flirty joke? The Shimura eyes narrowed on the raven-haired teen before dismissing her questioning gaze.

"I don't say this often, but you have good taste." Kyori crumpled up the small baggie, meticulously wiping her greasy hands before she corrected herself. "You and Itachi, actually." The girl snorted at the sight of his chest deflating. "Can't say much on your taste in girls."

"You just couldn't let me have the glory, could you?" he dramatically sighed and feigned a crestfallen expression that had the burgundette scoffing.

"Nope."

"And I had the perfect phrase too..."

"Tough." Kyori shrugged and continued to walk beside Shisui until they stopped to look at the Chimpanzees and jot down notes.

Well, that's what Kyori did. Shisui on the other hand had a soft, teasing pout at his lips while he took a few pictures.

"Turn the frown, the other way around Stalker boy." She purposefully teased, snickering when he huffed like a miffed child.

"Damn it," Glancing at the Shimura, he grumbled. "You're so damn cute that I can't stay gloomy with you around~"

"S-shut the hell up." Kyori stammered, practically choking on air; he caught her off guard.

Shisui peered down at her with a cocky smirk that widened with amusement as she snarled at him. She wouldn't dare give him the satisfaction of seeing her flustered.

"Aww, are you going full tsundere on me Cutie?"

"I'm not a tsundere and don't call me that… stupid."

"What? Cutie or tsundere?" he asked, snickering when she gave him the evil eye.

But when he looked hard enough, her glare was softer, which led him to believe his grumpy little friend was flustered. It made bugging her all the more entertaining.

Kyori crossed her arms over her chest, huffing out, "Both!" then she paused at the sound of his stomach gurgling. Raising a brow, she glanced at the Uchiha, feeling guilty for eating some of his snacks.

"All this teasing's made me hungry." Shisui chortled sheepishly, tracing the core of his blistering nape. "If you don't mind, can we grab a bite before I take you home?"

"Sure. I'm in no hurry…" she shrugged.

"I hope you don't mind the mall, there's this one food truck here that serves authentic tacos." Shisui told her while, opening her door. Kyori was quite amused by the hints of gentleman she had saw in the Uchiha.

"It's fine, perfect actually." The burgundette assured him with a small grin. She couldn't help but perk up at the sight of the mall.

Though she was too busy being mesmerized by the bright, colorful appealing lights that seemed to sparkle as they carried through store to store, she was actually glad that she agreed to ditching seminar. The sweet and savory smells that made her stomach quietly rumble, reminding her that she had not eaten much throughout the day. She had forgotten all about the environment and her love of seeing lively people and feeling that strong impulse to purchase whatever she desired. Gods, she missed the mall.

"It's been a while. A long one." she murmured with a small smile, gaining the Uchiha's attention. Kyori expected the boy to pull a funny face at her admittance, but he only smiled.

"C'mon, you must be starving." He looped their elbows, pulling her through the youthful crowd of shoppers.

"Shisui," the girl grumbled in protest, snatching her arm out of his hold. She could walk through a horde of people perfectly on her own.

"Just take my hand, Kyori." The raven-haired teen persisted, reaching out for her. "I'm aware that you're a big girl, but trust me on this."

Kyori frowned and felt a faint fluttering in the pool of her stomach at the thought of there being a deeper meaning to his words. Many didn't know this, but Kyori was a closet romantic and certain things just screamed romance to her. Like Shisui… he was kind of romantic in a way. Sometimes... when he was being sweet. That or, she seriously needed to ask for a stronger prescription and stat; she's been feeling very intense emotions lately…

With heat brewing at her cheeks, Kyori allowed his large hand to wrap around hers, grumbling as she refused to acknowledge how gentle and nice his hand felt, "F-fine… only because Kinoto would kill you if I got lost."

Shisui blanched at that, remembering the man's exact words.

The two ended up retrieving their lunch from one of the food trucks located on the opposite side of the entrance. Shisui and Kyori definitely had not mind. They were able to eat placidly while enjoying the fresh breeze. Shisui had bought himself a handful of spicy fajita tacos while treating Kyori to a large chicken burrito and was stunned, but more so amused to see the girl consume her entire meal with grace, laughing whenever she turned to him for assurance that she had not made a mess.

"You're practically flawless, but you got a little green sauce…" he pointed at her lip and Kyori was grateful for her bronze complexion as she whipped out a napkin and patted at her lips dry.

"Th-thanks," She uttered quickly, and he shrugged her off.

Not that it bothered her, she was just glad he had enough sense to not tease her at that moment. Kyori looked down at her lap before sipping her drink as a twinkle of silence rolled over the two.

"So…" Shisui turned his dark eyes onto her curious lighter ones. "What's going on with you and the Yamanaka?"

Kyori choked on her chilled beverage, staring incredulously at the Uchiha. She didn't expect him of all people to be asking such a question and he did it so casually too.

"N-nothing!" she mindlessly sputtered and he rolled his eyes at her. Feeling put on the spot, Kyori looked away from the teen, frowning. "You noticed? Didn't you?"

"I'm not exactly an idiot, you know." The Uchiha held a small frown on his face when she decided to ignore him. "I know there's some unsettled feelings between you two. I'm sure you've realized that he has been glaring at me for weeks to no end." Kyori snorted, shaking her head before she finally placed her eyes on his.

"You'd really like to know?" the burgundette almost snickered when he nodded profusely. Batting her lashes, quite innocently, she leaned towards him proposing, "I'd tell you, but what's in it for me?"

Shisui repeated the question, biting his lip in deep thought before he found himself shrugging in defeat. "Nothing, to be honest."

They hadn't been friends for long, but he has proven himself enough to be genuine and reliable. Even though he was a bit of a cheeky jokester, she has never felt uncomfortable with him. For Christ's sake, she's cried in front of him… twice.

"How about, if you get me Anko pan from Ichiraku's?"

Shisui quirked a dark brow, snickering. "My, that's very specific," he pointed out causing her smirk drop as she blushed.

"It's my favorite and as you can tell I don't have the privilege of going out much…" Kyori shrugged and Shisui found himself agreeing.

Although, now he was curious as to why she was given so many restrictions. Well, he knew of her disappearing. Everyone in town did… at one point it was talked about within the Uchiha police department.

"You got yourself a deal." Shisui gathered their trash and walked off to discard it.

While he was away though, Kyori considered what exactly would she be comfortable with telling Shisui. There was no doubt in her mind that she could trust Shisui and he's never given her a reason not to.

"You ready to go?" Shisui suddenly asked and without a word, she stood, trailing behind him.

Then Kyori thought of the perks of confiding in the boy while absently placing herself in his car. It sure as hell beats talking to Inoichi, or worse, her father about her and Fu's… situationship.

Danzo sat at his desk, looking over files when a curt rapping started at his door. "Come in," He huffed and slammed the files down, growing irate when a few papers slid off his desk haphazardly. Beady brown eye slightly widened as his top guard waltz into the room, kneeling before him.

"Kinoto? What are you doing here?" he asked, checking the time. If he was not mistaken, Kinoto should have been held up with guarding the house.

"Sir, I have bad news to report to you." Kinoto announced after standing proudly before the war veteran. "Kyori has ran off with a boy-"Danzo shot out of his chair with an incredulous expression marring his scarred face. "-after getting in contact with me, she explained it was for a school project."

"So, you're telling me…" Danzo bit out, shaking with outrage. "That you've failed to complete a mission as simple as remaining near my daughter at all times?!" the father glared up something fierce as he questioned his subordinate.

"I'm not paying you to neglect your main objective, I assigned you to my daughter for a reason, god dammit! Do whatever is necessary to protect her and watch her or you'll be back on the damn street!" he shouted in the man's face, throwing in a jab of his finger.

"Yes Shimura-sama," Kinoto muttered instantly, watching the anger burst from his employer.

Danzo ran a hand down his face as if it would wipe away all the anger surging within him. Then he looked up at the younger man and snapped, "From now on, you'll remain by her side until further notice, now get out." He gestured to the exit. "Go!"

Slowly he lowered himself back into his office chair, wondering what he was supposed to do about his daughter. His troublesome daughter that always found a way to defy him as if it was for sport. Danzo just did not know what to do; everything was simpler when she was younger.

Well, not entirely, but he didn't have to worry about boys, her being out late, or partaking in wrongful activities and getting in trouble with some questionable people. Kyori was much easier to protect when she was just his little girl.

He let out a heavy sigh as he heard knocking at his door. "Come in," He called out, grumbling about docking the man's pay. The war veteran was stunned for the second time that evening when he met eyes with one of his men in training.

"Fu. What business do you have here?" Danzo asked, falling into a pleasant mood.

The teen stood straight with a grim expression, conveying an urgency that had Danzo's lips setting into a scowl.

"What is it boy? I have a family to go home to," the man pressed.

"Kinoto spared some grave details sir, your daughter," he paused, gritting his teeth in anger due to the words that were to escape his lips. "She's fooling around with an Uchiha."

All the color in Danzo's face was gone in an instant.

He pushed back, rolling in his office seat and gradually stood with his hands flat on his desk then dubiously hissed out, "She's wHAT?— my daughter's intimate with an Uchiha?!"

Incredulous, and immensely disappointed the older man found himself struggling to calm himself with his breathing techniques. Pinching the bridge of his nose, his brows deeply furrowed as he shook his head at the news.

'How could she?' He thought, though it hadn't taken him long to mule over how could she not? This was such a Kyori thing to do. Out of all his children, she was always the one that brought the deepest shame. When she disappeared, and even times before that. She never failed to disappoint him.

A dry simper escaped him at the thought of her doing such to spite him. And with that boy she had brought over. He knew it! He had a feeling and he could've nipped it in the bud much sooner too. Of course, it would be some smug Uchiha runt that had the balls to flirt with her in his face. Kyori always had the worst taste, the poorest choices too. Danzo brought his eyes onto the red-haired teen, no longer enraged or appalled.

"Are you sure, Fu? Are you sure an Uchiha is with my daughter?" he asked despite already finding such to be true.

"Yes, Shimura-sama. She denies it but I'm certain that she's lying. I've witnessed several instances, including one from today where they were seemingly intimate." Fu nodded, sharing both his anger and disdain for the Uchiha with the man. "They seemed very close as of late, he's very affectionate with her too." The young man added, earning a growl of disapproval and frustration from Danzo before the man collected his phone and dialed a number.

"Thank you for the intel, son. I'll be calling you very soon." He promised, patting the teen's shoulder. This caught the boy's attention. "But I'll need you to be my eyes and ears from here on out."

"I am glad to be at your service." Fu was almost tempted to grin but bowed deeply. "I'll do whatever it takes, sir."

He would do anything to make things between him and Kyori right. All that was left was to scare off Shisui.

Shisui shut his engine off and reclined his seat, letting out a short sigh. He stared out the moonroof, gazing at the purple and dark blue tones invading the sky. It was nearing nighttime and he was sure her parents would be screaming bloody murder had they remained at the mall any longer.

He could see it now, Hizume would be somewhat of the mediator while Kyori and Danzo bumped heads, during their yelling match. Shisui snickered and the burgundy haired girl casted her woodsy eyes on him.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked, letting her naturally soft eyes narrow a bit.

"No reason," he said in an instant and judging by the rosy color surfacing on his cheeks, spreading onto his ears, she caught him in a lie. The Uchiha shrugged, playing it cool as he pointed out, "Aren't you supposed to tell me about your crazy ex-boyfriend?"

Kyori frowned at something he said, but he wasn't sure if it was the former or the latter. Shisui was beginning to feel unease by the silence and as she continued to eat, he thought of something to say, but she beat him to it.

"He was never my boyfriend."

The Uchiha head snapped as he faced her with a perplexed look. Clearly, they were something though, Fu has been glaring holes into him for about five weeks, all of which was far from friendly.

"I'd like to think he was but it was…" Kyori had this conflicted gaze as she turned in her seat to face Shisui. "Complicated." She frowned at the lame statement.

"In what way? Was it an unrequited thing going on and he finally caught feelings?" he questioned, growing even more curious when she snorted in disbelief.

Kyori bit her lip as she recalled how her and Fu started off. There was nothing unrequited about them, it was purely mutual.

"No. We just couldn't be together." Shisui raised a brow, hoping she'd explain thoroughly. "He committed himself to my father's cause, not mine. So we couldn't openly date… we settled for something less." She elaborated, looking away from him.

The burgundy haired Shimura frowned, already regretting relaying such information at the sound of him laughing at her. She hated being laughed at.

"It's not funny!"

Shisui sobered up very quickly at the volume of her voice, his brows furrowed in concern for the girl. "I'm not laughing at you Kyori, I just can't imagine Yamanaka getting lucky. He's kinda like a wet blanket personafied."

Kyori huffed as she thought, 'Not with me.'

But she wouldn't go into detail with the Uchiha. It would not only make her uncomfortable, but there was no telling how he would react to her being downright raunchy.

"Today would've made our second anniversary…" she mumbled more to herself, but she was certain he was listening. "But I ended it."

"Is that why you left?"

Shisui witnessed her growing still as she digested his question and he felt alarmed when tears welled in her eyes as she dryly tittered.

"K-kyori, please don't cry." he winced when she glared at him.

"I'm not crying!"

"Okay! Jeez," the messy haired Uchiha gulped awkwardly as she huffed, quickly blotting her tears away before they could wet her face.

She sniveled numbly, finding the tears would be harder to stop if she entertained her thoughts. But how was it that he came to such a conclusion? Not saying that Shisui was wrong to assume, because he wasn't and she could just imagine Fu deducting the same thing.

"That's a story for another time." She muttered; her voice wavered as she got to the last word.

"Okay, then what made you want to end things?" he asked, and for once she was glad for his prying.

Kyori was not faring well with where her thoughts were treading towards; it would only lead to frustration since she had very muddled recollections after leaving Fu and painting the town red.

"He technically cheated on me with Maki. But he still wanted to be with me while dating her," she blew out, frowning.

To this day, she couldn't understand why he committed himself to the girl if he was just going to cheat on her—them anyways. Besides, Kyori also thought that she and Fu were in a closed relationship-thing.

"Wow… I can't imagine that at all." Shisui amused her by doing her trademark blinking when she was rendered speechless. "He wanted to have his cake and eat it too… what a dick." The Uchiha humorlessly scoffed.

"It's the quiet one's you got to watch out for, right?" Kyori refrained from openly pouting. "What made it worse is was that I thought it wouldn't bother me, but it did. All the time. Then I started doing it too, to make him see how I felt."

Shisui made sure not react to that, after all, he was aware of her being with multiple guys in their junior year. It wasn't a secret and even Kyori indulged in speaking of who she was with as if they were nothing but pawns. He knew by now, that they were, but he also knew that she wasn't the only one at fault.

Hell, he's heard guys talked about her like she was some fancy toy too. Even though she was sleeping around, she still was kinda picky with her choices. Shisui couldn't help but wish he could've taken a few pages from her note book. He'd rather be talked about than preyed on… any day.

Ignoring his past girl troubles, he insisted that she kept talking. He wanted a concise blueprint of the situation; to know what happened and when did it happened.

"But now that I'm back… everything's weird."

"How so?"

Kyori searched Shisui's eyes for a second, wondering why he was so interested in her love life. She wasn't sure as to what was it that he got out of knowing all of this, but she hoped this wouldn't bite her in the ass later on.

"When I first came back, it was like I meant nothing to him." she sat up a bit, recalling more than Fu's words from earlier.

That's right, he stopped himself from kissing her. Kyori bristled while mulling over her choice of words, if she was talking to Risu right now she wouldn't leave out any details or sugar coat it. She missed being transparent, but if they spent more time together then maybe she could be just that with Shisui.

"But now, I think he wants me back."

"Okay, so…" Shisui noted the confounded glint in her eyes then asked, "What do you want Kyori?"

Kyori gulped. She lowered her gaze and traced her kneecaps as she struggled to answer a question that has been foreign to her for some time now. Kyori still had feelings for Fu, but she was reluctant on forgiving him. Also, she really didn't like the idea of him ruining whatever he had with Maki just so that he could go back to casual sex with her. It was not right, if he wasn't happy then he should leave for his own sake. But even then, would she want him? Only time would tell.

"To be honest, I don't really know." the porch light flickered on and Hizume poked her head out of the door. When the older burgundette caught sight of Shisui, she waved excitedly with a large smile. "I should go Shisui, hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." The Uchiha didn't and it had a lot to do with the accursed thoughts of Hizume and Danzo being intimate. Still, he waved at the woman, smiling and all.

"I really enjoyed spending time with you, it made my day." Kyori genuinely smiled at him.

Shaking her head in amusement at the sight of him blushing, she leaned towards him in hopes of worsening his blush. Then she placed her tender lips to his cheek, giving him a little peck before pulling away.

"That's revenge for what you did at the kissing booth." She hummed, sharing his flustered state as he stared at her with a flabbergasted expression that quickly transformed into a bright smile.

"I still got it," he claimed smugly, ruffling his already disheveled curly top. "I wished you would've warned me Cutie, I would've planted a real one on you but I guess we're even." Shisui shrugged with a playful smirk on his lips.

"Kiss me again and I'll let Kinoto extract your innards."

Her smile darkened as he balked and then they started to laugh uncontrollably. Kyori was clutching her stomach, finding it hilarious that he was a knee-slapping kind of guy.

"I know you're not really joking, but that was funny." Shisui said and stopped her from exiting his car so that he could walk her to her porch at least.

The two teens walked and silence, appreciating the full moon and the fresh breeze as she reaches for her the door.

Kyori looked over her shoulder after thanking him for a day well spent, murmuring, "Goodnight, Stalker boy."

"Goodnight Cutie."

Even though he hated that name, Shisui felt a warmness swarm him and all of a sudden, he didn't want to see her go. Still, he mustered to walk away, smiling with his ears burning as he remembered her sweet words.

bdhusOsd

Jeez, writing fluff turns me into goo. Anyways, this was a fun chappie and I hope that their dynamics were displayed nicely.

It seems that they're becoming fairly close, but will it all come to an end now that Danzo knows what he know? And will Kyori ever reveal her reason behind leaving Fu?

Find out in another update! So don't forget to flame it, book it, favor it or keep it in your history!

Ochaaa