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There are certain levels of loyalty one can have for the Village. To Shisui, none of them are more important than the level of loyalty a shinobi can have in order to succeed and enjoy doing D-rank missions.
It’s the last D-rank mission he’ll do, Shisui swears to himself. Never mind that the choice was completely up to their jounin-sensei. He thought that after the war, their team would continue to pick up outside missions. Apparently, they had to make up for the missed D-ranks they didn’t do because of the immediate shuffling of fresh genins to do border patrol and easy-but-still-helpful missions.
But the war is over. The Villages have to pick up after themselves. More so for Konoha after the Kyuubi incident.
If Shisui had his way, this would be their last D-rank mission. No more building fences and roofs, planting rice fields, or catching that blasted cat.
Certainly, this babysitting mission would be the last of them.
From the looks of it, Anri and Makoto agree with his silent sentiment. They don’t agree often, for sure, but shared misery is a thing that binds even the unlikeliest pairs.
Suzuki-sensei cheerfully leads them to the civilian district, nattering on about the family they’re doing a D-rank for. They’re a first generation family, as Suzuki-sensei informs them, but Haruno Mebuki and Kizashi are not ninjas to scoff at. They are also, apparently, friends with Shisui’s jounin-sensei.
The house they reach is unassuming and entirely like the surrounding civilian houses. There’s a small front yard with two trees and a narrow pathway that leads to the front door.
When they knock on the door, a harried kunoichi with blonde hair opens the door with a baby dangling from her arm.
Shisui blinks. The only babies he’s been exposed to are those from his previous babysitting missions (not fun at all) and his cousin Sasuke, who prefers to crawl literally everywhere.
Like, literally. Shisui once saw Sasuke almost crawl up the wall, which should be impossible considering he’s a baby with no chakra control whatsoever yet, but he didn’t let that stop him from taking Sasuke away from the wall. He shudders at the thought of Sasuke falling and Fugaku finding Shisui sobbing over Sasuke’s unconscious form, or worse, Mikoto. At least Itachi could potentially forgive him.
This baby, however, has pink hair and a tight, monkey-like grip on her mother’s arm. Shisui feels like that deserves some exclamation points because really? Natural pink hair? That’s awesome and yet so bold for a ninja. If she chooses, of course. But Shisui can’t think of being anything other than a ninja for this kid, especially with that hand power.
Seriously. Shisui could see the redness of her mother’s arm from the kid’s tight grip.
Green eyes widen at the sight of Shisui’s team before the baby shows a bright grin at them.
“Suzuki! This is your team? Come in,” beckons Haruno-san, whose first name eludes Shisui. “Thank you for this. This is my baby, Sakura.”
Sakura perks up at her name and starts swinging her legs.
Fitting, supposes Shisui, eyeing her locks.
“I’d say anything for you, Mebuki, but we both know this is for the village,” replies Suzuki-sensei, smiling impishly. “Besides, I won’t be directly taking care of her. My brats will.”
Makoto squawks at that, angrily protesting they’re not brats. Anri rolls her eyes but Shisui senses her chakra bristling a little, too.
“Oh?” Mebuki eyes them critically. For a moment, Shisui is reminded of Mikoto’s gimlet stare, the one she uses when he’s done something he shouldn’t have done. Then Mebuki breaks into a grin, one so similar to her baby’s, and says, “Well, good luck. This little blossom -” Sakura starts babbling at that word, “looks like an angel, I know, but she’s actually a hellion in disguise.”
Shisui’s eyebrows twitch. It was going to be a long day.
And it was, but not entirely the way he expected.
For one, Sakura wasn’t as bad as the other kids they babysat. Sure, she climbed everywhere and anywhere, including but not limited to cabinets, the fridge, and the genin themselves. She was quick for a baby, and gave smiles like her life depended on it before grabbing something with her bare hands, but she was no match for Shisui’s speed.
For another, Sakura absolutely disliked Makoto and adored Shisui. He’s smug about that. Makoto would try and entice Sakura with whatever interesting he’s holding but Sakura would just ignore him. Anri was amused as well; all of them were roped into playing whatever games the kid wanted to play.
“Sakura-chan, look, a lizard!” Makoto holds up a picture of a lizard. Sakura gives him a glance, takes the paper from Makoto and crumples it before grabbing one of her stubby pencils and doodling.
“Why do you think she’d be interested in that?” asks Anri.
“I like lizards.”
Shisui snorts. “Only you do. Sakura-chan,” he coos, grabbing the baby’s attention. “Would you like to see,” Quick, what do kids like? Shisui liked cats personally, but seeing as it’s difficult to procure a cat right now.. “A raven?”
Anri looks at him incredulously. “Do you think that’s any better?”
But Shisui ignores her because Sakura lights up, green eyes sparkling. Nodding furiously, she babbles some undecipherable sounds, half of which Shisui realizes to be his name repeated over and over again.
Shisui really wants to take this kid home. He doesn’t know if Mebuki-san would agree to it, but he thinks if he promises to take good care of her, and make her eat favorite foods, and occasionally visit the Harunos with her, then surely nothing is wrong? Shisui might only be eight years old but he’s a genin now. That means he’s an adult and totally qualified to take care of a child.
Sasuke is a cute brat who often giggle before spitting at him. Shisui wants to love him as much as Itachi does but he just cannot see why his favorite cousin thinks the kid was an angel.
Angels are kids like Sakura, who stare at him with wonder in their very cute green eyes and follows him everywhere.
Like a duckling! thinks Shisui. Or a chick!
“Here’s a raven,” says Shisui and does the summoning jutsu. Yatagarasu, one of his main summons, appears before them.
“Bird!” yells Sakura and stumbles towards his summon. Shisui follows after her, hands hovering behind her teetering form.
“Shisui-kun,” greets Yatagarasu. “I see no enemies to vanquish.”
“Err, haha,” says Shisui. “But I’ve got a mission and Sakura-chan wanted to see you, Yatagarasu-sama.”
“Pretty bird,” says Sakura, for once making sense in her babbles, vice-like grip already ruffling Yatagarasu’s feathers. “Pretty, pretty.”
Yatagarasu visibly preens at her words and lets the child hold onto him.
Behind Shisui, Makoto sighs before saying, “Can we take a break? Can I take a break?”
“Why are you so tired?” asks Anri, still doodling on one of Sakura’s coloring papers. “You barely did anything.”
Hmm. Those are really good butterfly doodles.
Deadpan, Makoto answers, “My soul has shriveled up from the hatred directed towards me.”
“She doesn’t hate you,” says Shisui. “She just likes us better.”
“Yeah, Makoto-chan,” says Anri, smirking. “You probably look like an oni to her and that’s why she likes us better.”
Makoto shoots back an answer that has all three of them arguing at once. They continue fighting until Shisui realizes they’re all shouting at each other.
Conspicuously, Sakura and Yatagarasu are nowhere to be seen. Makoto and Anri continue squabbling but Shisui pulls away from them, searching the house.
“Sakura-chan?” he calls out. “Yata-sama?”
Deciding not to waste time, he flitters to and fro the bedrooms, checking for any signs of the child. He does not find her so he rushes back to the living room where Anri and Makoto were still sniping at each other.
“Sakura-chan’s missing,” declares Shisui, interrupting their argument. “I can’t find her or Yatagarasu-sama.”
With wide eyes, Anri asks him, “Did you search every room?”
Shisui scowls. “Of course I did!”
“Did you check the cabinets? Under the beds?” says Makoto. “I have two younger siblings, they used to hide everywhere.”
“Oh, um,” says Shisui. “Not really?”
“Alright,” says Anri. “Makoto-kun, go check the bedrooms again. I’ll go outside and see if she somehow manage to make it outside. Shisui-kun,” She pauses, then says. “Wait here and see if she comes back?”
“I’m not sitting still!”
“You are! Or you can summon back Yatagarasu-sama and ask him where Sakura-chan is.”
“No,” says Shisui, shaking his head. “We don’t know where they are. For all we know, Sakura-chan might be depending on him for safety and summoning him would just put her in danger.”
“What if,” starts Makoto, hesitancy seeping in his tone, “Sakura-chan’s in the summoning world?”
Horrified, Shisui says, “Why would you even think that?!”
“It’s a possibility!”
“No it’s not! The ravens wouldn’t just summon a child in their realm.”
“It could still happen!”
“No it cannot!”
“Whatever, I’m going to look for her now,” says Makoto, scowling and stomping towards his designated searching spot.
Anri moves, too. “I’ll be outside. Shisui-kun, stay put.”
“Who put you in charge,” snarks Shisui.
Anri just raises an eyebrow. “I’m the oldest.”
Huffing, Shisui watches her go. This is his fault. If only Shisui hadn’t argued with his teammates, then Sakura would still be around. She was probably scared of their raised voices.
A scuffling noise in the kitchen pulls Shisui out of his thoughts. He shunshins quickly, stopping right in front of the sink.
“Sakura-chan?”
No answer, but Shisui opens the cabinet under the sink.
Green eyes peer at him from below and Shisui feels something in him relax, like the constricting chains in his lungs suddenly loosened and he could breathe.
“Sakura-chan,” says Shisui, very seriously. “You had us worried.”
“Shhh,” says Sakura. “Bird sleepy.”
Softly, Shisui kneels down and asks, “What’s that?”
“Bird sleepy.” And that is indeed true for Shisui now sees Yatagarasu, eyes closed and posture relaxed as Sakura gently pets his head. Yatagarasu opens an eye, looking at him significantly before deliberately closing his eye again.
“Why are you here, Sakura-chan?”
“Bird sleepy. Dark.”
“It’s dark in here?”
Sakura nods. Wildly enough, Shisui understands her. “It’s dark in here.. so Yata-sama can sleep?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Please don’t do this again,” says Shisui. “If you’re going somewhere, let us know okay? Otherwise we’d worry.”
“Shi-shi find Sakura,” says Sakura simply. “Shi-shi good nin, find Sakura.”
Shisui’s breath hitches. Those are just words of a kid. Simple words, maybe even meaningless, but.
Nobody has ever told him that he’s good. His clan calls him smart, calls him brilliant. His father, during times when he was lucid, told him you have huge potential, Shisui. The blood of Kagami runs strong in you. His classmates either fawned over him or envied him. Anri and Makoto treat him like he’s a child often because of their age gap. He’s either too much of a prodigy or too much of a kid.
Only Itachi’s come close to understanding Shisui, to understanding what he does and what he wants. But no one’s ever told him he’s good.
It’s strange how much power words wield.
Shisui’s chest feels tighter the longer he looks at Sakura. It’s one thing to be a kid’s temporary favorite person, but to have their trust? For them to wholeheartedly trust someone like Shisui, who has seen and done ugly, terrible things?
Something warm rushes inside of him. It feels suspiciously like fondness.
Sakura’s face, her absolute conviction that Shisui is a good ninja and that he’ll find her, is something he knows he’ll remember for a long time. Probably for the rest of his life.
Unknowingly, Shisui’s sharingan springs to life, capturing Sakura looking up at him with a gummy smile.
It is the first time that Shisui etches a memory of Sakura in his mind forever, but it will not be the last.
Later, Makoto finds them under the sink, cuddling as Sakura babbles at Shisui. Shisui smirks as his teammate gives him a stink eye for not informing him immediately before calling Anri.
When Haruno Mebuki comes home with Suzuki-sensei in tow, Shisui hands her a drooling Sakura.
“Mama!”
“Hi, little blossom,” greets Mebuki, “Has she been good?”
“She was a devil,” says Makoto seriously.
“She wasn’t,” refutes Anri. “Sakura-chan was a very easy baby to look after. We only had one incident with her missing but we found her immediately.”
“Is that so?”
Shisui wonders if he can still take Sakura home. He debates asking Mebuki for permission - he’s still a genin but he can take care Sakura. Right? But then he thinks of Sakura’s trusting smile and her earlier words and decides that, no. Shisui can’t take her home.
He doesn’t deserve her yet.
Shisui will strive to be a better, no, the best ninja for Sakura. So when she calls him good again, Shisui can proudly say that he is.
“Mebuki-san,” he says, solemn. “I’m not yet worthy of Sakura-chan, but one day I will be.”
Taken aback, Mebuki shares a glance with Suzuki. Both raise an eyebrow - that sounds remarkably like a boy asking for Mebuki’s daughter’s hand, in a roundabout way. Which would be weird and inappropriate, because Sakura’s barely two and Shisui, while young for a genin, is eight . Uchiha are sometimes weird, for all their blessedly good genes, but not this weird.
Shisui, oblivious to the adults’ confused looks as they misunderstand his words, clenches his fist and nods to himself.
For quite a while, Shisui finds himself thinking about Sakura a lot. Not on missions, of course -- Suzuki-sensei will have his head otherwise.
He wonders if she’s learned to talk properly or if she’s still tripping up on her words. What’s her favorite food? Does she think of Shisui as a big brother? Does she even remember him?
It’s very much unlike him to be invested in something unrelated to his clan or being a shinobi, much less about a stranger. Granted, Sakura wasn’t much of a stranger, but she’s still someone else’s child.
Is this how Itachi feels about Sasuke? The notion that you can do anything once you are bestowed a smile? It’s a strangely lightheaded feeling.
He once brought up Sakura in his pseudo-trainings with his baby cousin, to which Itachi hesitantly pointed out that he’s only met Sakura once and they’re not related so, whatever Shisui feels for her, it’s to a lesser degree that Itachi thinks about his precious brother.
Shisui fumes at that and trounces Itachi, a non-Academy student, in their spar. It doesn’t make him feel any better.
Itachi, correctly guessing Shisui’s grudge, apologizes and asks if he can meet Sakura.
Flushing, Shisui replies, “I haven’t seen her since.”
“You haven’t?” Itachi looks doubtful.
“So maybe I went to look at her from afar twice. Maybe thrice.”
“I can join you,” offers Itachi.
Shisui feels troubled. On one hand, they’re shinobi, or at least shinobi-in-training for Itachi. Watching people from the shadows is basically a part of what they do for a living. On the other, spying on Sakura already feels wrong when he’s doing it by himself.
Shaking his head, Shisui says, “No. I’ll take her to the compound one day, but don’t tell anyone.”
Itachi looks shocked, which means there’s a brief widening of his eyes before he says, “You’ll kidnap her?”
“What? No! I’ll visit her properly, geez, your faith in me is astounding, Itachi.”
But he doesn’t, at least for a few months. Shisui’s team find themselves getting sent to more and more C-rank missions. His personal time gets eaten up by training and missions, training and missions. Even his meetings with Itachi dwindle down.
It’s after a particularly long mission that Shisui encounters Sakura.
“Report,” orders Namikaze Minato, fourth Hokage of Konoha. Though his voice is hard and strict, Minato’s eyes are blue and warm. Beside him were two other people, one of which Shisui knows well.
Uzumaki Kushina, her bright red hair mesmerizing when the sun hits it right, is focused on scribbling something on a piece of paper. If Shisui trusts her reputation then it’s most likely something fuuinjutsu-based.
Uchiha Fugaku, with his grim-face that once invaded Shisui’s most dreadful nightmare, was looking at their team with a severe gaze.
All three ninja were put forth as Hokage candidates but it was Minato who prevailed. Privately, Shisui cheered for him - Uzumaki-san was someone he didn’t know too much about, and Fugaku was too focused on Uchiha matters. Still, his nomination quietened the grumblings of the clan Elders.
Then the Kyuubi happened and Minato proved himself to be the strongest Konoha shinobi.
“.. and the mission was, in the end, successful,” Suzuki-sensei finishes. “Hokage-sama.”
“Anything important to note?”
Suzuki-sensei slants an eye towards Shisui for a brief moment. “None, sir.”
Shisui carefully doesn’t think about how he has three tomoe in his eyes now, lest someone read his mind.
“Very well. I’ll expect a written report soon.” Minato’s stern facade gives way to a soft smile. He says, “This mission has taken longer than we anticipated. I regret that our intelligence may have underestimated the effort and preparation needed. As such, Team Suzuki is given a one week leave starting tomorrow. Thank you. Dismissed.”
All of them bow together. As they turn to leave the room, Fugaku says, “You’re doing our clan proud, Shisui.”
Shisui manages to stammer out a proper thank you before leaving, Uzumaki-san’s laughter ringing out behind him. Shisui wonders if she stashed her son somewhere just to do some fuuinjutsu in the Hokage’s office.
(Somewhere, Kakashi feels oddly criticized as Naruto continues tumbling with his pack.)
The team separates and Shisui heads home and showers. He tries to sleep but he feels hungry. Soon, he wanders the streets of Konoha. The sun hasn’t even started to set yet, meaning that Academy students are just barely rushing out from its gates.
There are a few dry leaves littering the ground. Shisui takes delight in stepping on them purposefully to hear the satisfying crunch-crunch of the leaves.
That is how Haruno Kizashi, who was taking Sakura out with her after a day in the playground, finds Shisui.
“Shi-shi!”
Shisui’s head snaps towards the sound of Sakura’s delighted voice. She remembered him!
Grinning, he shunshins until he’s a few feet away from Sakura, only noticing the man holding her.
“Sakura-chan! And.. Haruno-san?” asks Shisui tentatively, eyeing the man’s dusty-pink, star-shaped hair.
“Who are you and why do you know my daughter?”
“Ara, Shisui-kun, is that you?” Mebuki’s voice cuts in smoothly before Shisui can answer. Shisui didn’t even sense she was nearby. What a terrifyingly competent kunoichi. “Kizashi, this is the one I told you about a long time ago!”
“The one who got Sakura obsessed with crows?”
“Ravens,” corrects Shisui. Then he backtracks. “Uh, nice to meet you, Kizashi-san. I’m Uchiha Shisui and I once took care of Sakura-chan with my team.”
“Shi-shi play?” asks Sakura, reaching out for him.
“Yes, Shi-shi would like to play,” says Shisui. “If your mama and papa are okay with that, of course.”
Sakura turns her pleading look to her father. “Shi-shi play?”
Smart girl. Not only did she understand what Shisui said, she also made use of her adorable green eyes.
Kizashi’s eye twitches until he visibly sighs, handing over Sakura to Shisui. “Nice to meet you, Shisui-kun. One hair out of her head and we’ll be talking , is that clear?”
“Oh, hush,” says Mebuki, handing over her own bag of groceries to Kizashi. The pair bickers as they start walking. Shisui follows them, his gait slow and measured as he entertains Sakura. Tiny fingers grab and tug at his hair. He holds Sakura gently, the bone-deep tiredness in him slowly ebbing away until all he has is a comforting sense of feeling.
Well, at least until his stomach grumbles, reminding him why he went out in the first place.
Kizashi turns around and asks him, “Is that a hungry stomach I hear?”
Flushing red, Shisui sheepishly answers, “I just got home from a mission and I haven’t had any food yet.”
“Oh, then we should eat out! We’d love if you have dinner with us, Shisui-kun,” says Mebuki.
“Thank you,” murmurs Shisui, clutching Sakura closer to him.
They choose an Akimichi-managed restaurant, one that Shisui’s never visited before. It’s warm and smells delightful, the scent of barbecued meat wafting up to the entrance. It’s too early for a dinner rush but there are quite a few shinobi sitting on tables, glancing up whenever the doors slide open.
It’s one of the best nights Shisui experiences.
Kizashi grills him thoroughly, the picture of a stern father, until Shisui accidentally makes a joke and Kizashi beams, replying with a pun. Mebuki fusses and grills Shisui’s meat for him, slapping his hands away whenever he tries to do it himself.
Sakura herself has a blast - she takes pleasure in putting her fingers in whatever dish is close to her. Unfortunately for Shisui, his is the closest, so he often has to skillfully maneuver Sakura’s creeping fingers away from hot food.
There’s laughter and teasing and so much bantering, partnered with good food. Shisui’s cheeks hurt from too much smiling. Absentmindedly, he thinks this is one of the rare times when his smiles are genuine.
“Come visit us anytime you want, Shisui-kun,” says Mebuki kindly, grabbing Shisui for a surprise hug.
“You’re alright, son. Maybe we can even con you into babysitting Sakura for free, eh?” Kizashi waggles his eyebrows. “My wife’s right. Our doors are open for you anytime.”
“Thank you,” says Shisui, forcing down the choked feelings rising in his throat.
He wonders if this is what being part of a family feels like. He doesn’t remember anymore.
Being orphaned so early in his life - in a clan full of relatives - isn’t so bad. But they’re all that: relatives. Cousins and aunts and grandfathers. Shisui has always stayed on the fringes of everybody’s lives, even Itachi’s. He loved Mikoto-sama and her family but sometimes.. he just wasn’t sure.
He’d rather not assume.
But isn’t he assuming with the Harunos?
“Hug,” demands Sakura, again holding up her arms and reaching for Shisui.
He complies, scooping up Sakura’s small frame and clutching her close. Shisui buries his nose in her soft hair and inhales, feeling Sakura squeeze tightly on him.
Her mouth to Shisui’s neck, she mumbles, “Shi-shi play again,” and it is not a question like it was earlier. It’s a request and a demand and suddenly, Shisui feels obligated not to disappoint this little angel.
“Yes,” he answers, “Shi-shi will come to play with you again, Sakura-chan.”