Shisui waited until he hadn't heard anything from the main room for several minutes. Then he lowered himself to the floor and slid his door open, slowly and just enough for him to be able to peek out. There was no light coming from Obito's room. Or Kagami's. Or Kyoko's. He rose into a crouch and moved out carefully so that he wouldn't make noise. After sliding his door closed, he shuffled towards Kyoko's room. He slid her door open.

Kyoko appeared at the door, peering down at him from between the small gap he'd opened. "Shisui?" She frowned. "What's wrong?"

He grinned up at her. "Good," he whispered. "You're awake. Lemme in."

She pushed the door more open and stepped back. He scrambled inside and shut the door behind him. Immediately, Kyoko was next to him and pressing a green-glowing hand to his forehead.

"Are you feeling sick? Can you not sleep?"

He stood up, shoving her hand away. "I'm fine. Was Tousan still mad when you go home?"

Her frown twisted a bit. "He's not mad at me. He's— Worried."

"So he's not," Shisui concluded. "Good. Then you can teach me!"

She paused. "Teach you?" She sighed. "Shisui—"

"Nuh-uh. I practiced more, and even Tousan said I got bunshin down. I'm good at it. So teach me shunshin."

Kyoko stared at him for a moment. He watched in fascination as red bled into her eyes and she look towards the wall, in the direction of Kagami's room. "We can't do it here," she mused. "The second clan training ground is the closest." She moved to her closet and retrieved a kunai pouch and shinobi sandals. She was still wearing her pajamas, and so was he, though he also had his shoes.

Shisui bounced in place. "So we're going?" he whispered excitedly. She nodded, and he trailed behind her as she moved to her window and opened it. After putting a finger to her lips, she climbed out. As soon as he was also out, she closed the window.

"We can go over the wall," she said, voice low as she led the way off the engawa and and angled away from her room. "But we'll go around the houses on this end so we don't go past Tousan's room."

Shisui kept pace with her easily as she wound them between houses and eventually to the compound wall. Once there, she easily tree-walked up the side and then sat at the top, looking down at him expectantly.

"Do you do this?" he asked in suspicion. "Do you sneak out?"

She gave him an odd look for a long beat. "No. Walk up the wall, Shisui."

Once they were at the training ground, Kyoko knelt down and retrieved a small scroll from her kunai pouch. He leaned over her shoulder as she unrolled it, squinting at the ink. "What is that?"

"A seal Minato-sensei has had me practice with." She touched two fingers to the scroll and brought her other hand up into a seal. Fire whooshed into existence about a foot above the paper, the single flame the size of Shisui's head and shedding light across a portion of the training ground. The warmth pressed against Shisui's face, and he grinned. Kyoko pointed to the lines around the outside of the seal, which were smoldering at the ends. "It only lasts about an hour, which is fine because I still need some sleep for training in the morning."

"I can get it in an hour," he said with the same confidence that usually earned him a tired sigh from his father and an amused reprimand from Mikoto.

Kyoko, however, just smiled. "I'm sure you can."

Training with Kyoko was not the same as training with Kagami and Mikoto. Kagami was gentle in his direction, and sometimes Shisui would get snippy in his impatience. His father's worry every time he got hurt or almost got hurt was also grating. He was going to be a shinobi! He could take a few bruises. Mikoto, meanwhile, was much firmer than Kagami, and her expectations for what he could do were set higher. But she also gave him less guidance, and it was easy to feel like he was letting her down when he couldn't figure out how to do what she was asking.

Kyoko was something like a mix of that. She laughed whenever a shunshin attempt ended with him in the dirt or, one time, against a tree, but she still fretted over him each time with green hands as she checked that he really was okay. Her expectations for what he could do were way more than Mikoto's, but she always seemed to understand exactly what adjustments he needed in a way that even Kagami was never able to identify or explain. The way she was having him make the tiger seal was wrong—his fingers weren't supposed to lean that far forward—but it worked. And, eventually, so did the shunshin.

"I did it!" he cheered as he dropped onto the ground and laid back, arms spread wide. "Did you see that?"

"I did!" Kyoko knelt by his head and finally healed the bruise on his head from twenty attempts ago. He'd refused to let her interrupt his practice to address it until now. She sat back, grinning. "That was amazing, Shisui."

"I'll catch up in no time." He stretched with a groan. "And then you can't leave me behind anymore."

She sat down, hands on her knees, and frowned. "What do you mean?"

He turned his head to blink at her. "That," he said. It was obvious, wasn't it. "You left me. We're twins. You're not supposed to leave me. But once I catch up, it'll be okay."

Kyoko's eyes had gone wide, and her face had drained of color. "I haven't," she murmured. "You left me."

"What? No, I didn't," he said, confused. He sat up and tapped a finger to his chest. "I'm right here."

Kyoko swallowed visibly. Then she shifted so she was sitting back and rubbed at her eyes. "I know that," she mumbled, voice small. "Sorry. I think I'm just tired."

"You just need a nap. Maybe some warm milk."

She huffed. "I'm not a baby."

"A blankie? I can get you a blankie."

She laughed and shoved him. "Shisui—"

"Aw, c'mon. Let your big brother take care of you, Kyo-chan! You need a blankie!" He dragged her into a tight hug. It felt right; it also felt like it had been too long.

"I'm older," she muttered, wiggling her arms free so she could hug him back.

"That's just what Tousan told you to make you feel better."