Where the Wind Blows

Off we go

"One...two...three! Here I go!" 

Shisui took off at once, the sound of his footsteps echoing throughout the forest.

I decided to stay close enough to keep him in range, but far enough where he wouldn't immediately notice me. Playing hide and seek had become a tradition during our training sessions with Itachi, which was nice in-between the intense combat. 

Although we were still young, with Itachi and I turning six over the summer, and Shisui at the ripe age of eight, there was an unspoken tension between us. It would have been strange if there wasn't, with the elders always in whispers about who the pride of the Uchiha was, which made them constantly compare us. For a long time I thought Shisui was the one everyone was watching, being the oldest, ideal version of an Uchiha, but Itachi and I seemed to be the ones who were compared the most. 

I tried not to think about it though. I knew it wouldn't do me any good. Itachi was kind, and never seemed to pay the comments or stares any mind, so I wouldn't either.  

Looking around,  I was really regretting my hiding spot. I could hear the buzzing of a wasp nest nearby, and was trying my hardest to stay still. 

"Why do I always pick somewhere inconvenient to hide,"  I wondered. 

I was usually decent at hiding, at least when Shisui and I were the ones doing it, although to be fair, we usually hid around the same spot, and blew our cover by laughing. When it was Itachi and me, I was always the first one found. How was he so good at hiding? 

"I still have enough time to change my spot," I scanned the area before deciding on a tree with a large trunk, that would be easy to hide-

Creak!

The branch I was standing on drooped, and with two fingers poking my back, I was found. I didn't need to turn around to feel the grin on Shisui's face.

"Found you, Mira."

I sighed before turning to him. "Well, we shouldn't waste any time. Let's hurry and find Itachi before it gets dark. I can still hear my mother scolding me for getting home late-"

"Actually," he interrupted, "I already found Itachi."

I couldn't see my face, but I'm sure my eyes looked like they were popping out of my head, because Shisui began to laugh.

"Strange,"  I thought to myself. "Is Itachi feeling okay? It's not like him to lose."

In a way, all Uchiha are alike. While I wasn't directly related to them, and was from a branch of the clan that wasn't nearly as important, we were all incredibly competitive. 

Itachi was standing a good distance away, looking unbothered. 

The rest of the training session went well, with the main focus of today being on tai-jutsu. We sparred for hours, and after practicing aim with shuriken, we decided that we should all be on our way home.

Normally Shisui walked me home, and would talk about his missions as a genin, or new feats he was accomplishing with his Sharingan. He was an incredible shinobi- anyone could see that. I felt so proud of him and how much he was progressing.

We weren't always thinking about training, though. Sometimes we'd stop by our local bakery for treats, when we'd really pushed ourselves. Today would've justified a snack run, but I knew I had something else to do. 

"You go on ahead," I smiled at Shisui. "I need to pick up bedsheets from Auntie Mikoto, so I'm going to go with Itachi tonight."

His eyebrows raised in surprised. "Oh! Alright." he grinned. As soon as I turned, I felt his arm on my shoulder.

Everything seemed still for a moment. He was never serious, and things always felt light and fun around him. 

"You did really good today Mira. I mean it." 

 I wondered why he needed to clarify he was telling the truth- he didn't have an ingenuine bone in his body. 

"Thanks. Don't forget to bring it up when you're bragging to your parents about your training."

With a final goodbye, Shisui went off, and I caught up with Itachi, who wasn't too far ahead. 

Itachi was...well, a little awkward. He mainly nodded politely to my stories, but talking with him never felt like a chore. He always knew what to say, and never spoke too much or too little. 

You always felt heard when you were with him, but getting him to open up seemed pointless.

I was about to begin another story, when he spoke.

"Soon we'll be graduating from the academy."

I raised a brow at him. This is what he wanted to talk about? 

"We are." I said evenly. I could feel him wanting to say more, but I wasn't going to wait for him to say something vague again.

"Did you throw the hide and seek game so I would talk to you?" I frowned. "We're friends, Itachi. You don't have to do things like that just to talk to me. I don't need your help to win-"

"I didn't throw the game. I'm sorry I gave you that impression." 

He turned to look at me. "When we graduate the academy, we are going to be on the same team. We should start to train together, separately from Shisui. "

This seemed obvious enough. Itachi and I were the head of our class- we would graduate before everyone, and ideally become Chunin together. 

"Oh...alright," I said. I didn't think he'd be thrilled at the idea, but Shisui had been a little distant, with all his demanding missions involving chasing cats across Konoha. 

We worked out a schedule of when we'd meet to train, which didn't interfere with our training with Shisui. The conversation flowed as it usually did afterwards, but I couldn't help feeling something in the back of my mind. It seemed as though Itachi was warning me about something, but I wasn't sure what. Most squads had three genin, and were accompanied by a Jonin. As a shinobi, I knew losing comrades was common, but it seemed as though he assumed they wouldn't make it, before we even went on missions together.

"Mira! What a pleasant surprise," greeted Mikoto when we arrived.

"Hello Auntie. My mother told me the bedsheets were ready?"

After some small talk, Mikoto suggested I stay for dinner, which I politely declined. The bedsheets were beautiful, navy blue with delicate dahlias stitched into the fabric. I wanted to get home as quickly as possible, but in the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke, who was a year old, zooming over to meet Itachi. 

"Do you want to hold him? He's gotten much better at socializing," encouraged Mikoto.

I hesitated. I never really liked babies, but Mikoto was sweet, and I felt it was the least I could do if I wasn't staying for dinner.

"Alright." I wrapped an arm under him for support, and to my surprise, he seemed excited to be with me. I rocked him gently, the way I saw other people hold babies, and was starting to think being a mother wouldn't be so bad. "Wow, what can't I do today-

Before I could finish my thought, Sasuke was throwing up on my shirt, that had managed to stay somewhat clean during my training.

I heard the faintest of laughs, and with an over the shoulder glare, saw Itachi smiling. At least someone was happy.