Crossroads (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Innate Paranoia

Shisui was the odd Uchiha extrovert, but unlike how some called Obito uncouth for his own personality, his prodigal abilities allowed him to get away with many things that would have been stopped otherwise, such as how he would brazenly ask Fugaku to take Itachi away to hang out. Already known as the Uchiha heir's unofficial trainer, Fugaku never opposed, and Shisui took full advantage of their favoritism. The regular clan meetings were one where he didn't bother to ask to attend. He just showed up to his first one and voila! He became a regular. Though he did find it jarring when Satsuki started to attend them as well.

Shisui, for how sociable he was, found it awkward when figuring out a middle ground with Satsuki. Itachi was easy enough, as both of them were capable enough to match each other's intelligence and strength. If they had nothing to talk about, they trained. If they didn't train, they talked. Satsuki, although now able to communicate with his hand-signs, was someone who had many things hidden within him that triggered Shisui's innate paranoia. It was nothing like hostility, he would never hurt or even be suspicious of him being an enemy, but shinobi were trained to remain guarded even with their allies.

Every time Shisui found himself in Satsuki's presence, he became quieter, less energetic, and more watchful of the boys movements. He took in the body language: a twitch of the lips when he was amused, playing with his hair when he was nervous, a deep breath when he contemplated something, and many more tale tell signs from his body language. When he found out how much he observed the other, he found Fugaku and Mikito had always been doing the same.

It wasn't just them. He noticed Kakashi would stay near him at all times, and he knew the silver haired teenager to be a lone wolf who thrived on personal space. Rin would always give him the most attention, and the Hokage would always ask for any new updates that he needed to know on Satsuki whenever he came to retrieve a mission directly (though he did also ask about Itachi and Sasuke, but Shisui knew it for what it was, because he understood). Obito... Well, Obito considered Satsuki his savior and he was pretty dense for the most part, so he didn't really notice or cared if he did. To his credit, Obito treated even the weirdest of people like family once they became his friend, like Anko for one. Having been Orichamaru's personal student before his betrayal made her a secret outcast amongst many of their peers.

Though, who was he to judge? Being an Uchiha made him a natural outcast as well. He slowly stopped trying to buy groceries from the main market in the village, and gradually drifted to the in-clan stores. They overpriced their produce whenever he took something to cashier (who in their right mind would pay 400 Ryo for a pound of rice) and when he bargained, they accused him of trying to put the man out of business. The customers either joined the cashier or remained silent. It was hard to be rejected and ignored by the very village he would give his life to protect, so he avoided it until it could be solved.

Itachi never shared this paranoia. He was only concerned that whatever Satsuki was hiding could hurt him. "Mother told me he started training with natural chakra." Itachi said during one of their meetings. The Naka river flowed just over the edge of the land they seated on, and the sound of its currents was a pleasant one to have in the background. It lulled you in and supported you.

Shisui gave Itachi a surprised look. "Your brother just gets more and more mysterious, doesn't he? How can anyone just use natural chakra on their own?"

Itachi shrugged and threw a rock over the edge. It didn't fall but instead reached the other side of the gap. "I don't doubt he'll tell us how. Even though I'm willing to wait for the answers, it worries me. Even Sasuke's starting to notice Satsuki's differences from everyone else."

"I don't blame you. For someone so sheltered, he has a lot of secrets."

Itachi paused in throwing another rock and turned to face Shisui. "It's obvious how everyone is suspicious of him, but Satsuki isn't hiding anything. He never hid what kind of person he is, or what he's capable of. With how much he's letting on, we should have been able to put the pieces together by now. The fact that we haven't shows it's just something outside of our realm of understanding."

Shisui knew what Itachi was saying was true. They should have been able to figure out something with all that they observed. "But the fact that you asked and he's still not telling makes it a secret." Shisui couldn't help but point out. Shisui loved Satsuki like he was family. For him to fully accept him, however, he needed to know the answers to all that made him wary.

"When Satsuki told me he was going to tell me everything, there was no secrets between us. The answers were already made, now they just need to be heard."

Shisui sighed and fell back to lie on his back. The shade of the tree protected him from the sunlight and the summer breeze was cool. He might just fall asleep here. "You and your cyptics. Sometimes I really wonder if you're not just some old monk in a kids body." He said lazily.

Itachi chuckled. "Why a monk?"

"They're wise or whatnot." Shisui waved him off.

Itachi shook his head and refrained from throwing more rocks that he had stashed. Shisui never stopped or teased him about it. It was just one of the handful of things that made him the child he was.

As Shisui was starting to doze off, Itachi spoke, "The description fits Satsuki too. Though I wouldn't call him a monk."

Shisui hummed in agreement, before falling asleep.