Don't Stare at the Sun or You'll Go Blind

Chapter 6

"Little Sasuke-chan is growing up. It feels like just yesterday you barely came up to my waist," Shisui said with an exaggerated sniff. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a scoff. It was moments like these where Sasuke genuinely questioned whether Shisui was really an Uchiha. His cousin was dabbing at his completely dry eyes and blowing his nose into a napkin. 'So dramatic,' Sasuke thought.

"Where has the time gone?" Itachi asked in that bland tone of his, but even he had a small, teasing smirk on his face.

"You are both ridiculous," Sasuke scoffed and returned to his food. Why had he taken up Itachi's offer to stay over for dinner again? Right, he had assumed that it would be just the two of them, but he should have known better. Itachi had barely finished laying out the food when Shisui had strode into the apartment as if he belonged there and claimed a seat at the kotatsu.

"Oh come on, Sasuke. We're just teasing. You and Itachi are like brothers to me and what are brothers for?" Shisui said and clasped at hand onto Sasuke's shoulder with a grin. Sasuke sighed softly and returned to his food. It's not like he minded Shisui's teasing too much. His only saving grace was that Shisui wasn't as meddlesome as Itachi. Accepting his lack of protest with a nod, Shisui turned to Itachi, "So how did you get them to separate this time? You said it took both you and Haruno-san to pull them off each other at the party."

Sasuke nearly snapped his chopsticks as he turned a glare onto his brother. "Liar," Sasuke seethed at his loose-lipped brother. Whether that was a lie or not, Sasuke wasn't 100% certain. That night was still a bit of a blur...

Itachi finished chewing before he calmly responded to Shisui, "Sakura-san did most of the physical work required to pull Naruko-chan away from my brother. I believe the issue was that they were too intoxicated to see reason. Naruko-chan was more willing to leave this time when I pointed out how late it was getting. Kushina-san has very strict dinnertime rules."

"I'm mildly surprised. I didn't take Sasuke for the passionate or romantic type," Shisui mused. "But he must be doing somethingright."

"I'm right here," Sasuke ground out and glared at both Itachi and Shisui.

"I admit that they have an...interesting dynamic," Itachi replied as if he hadn't heard Sasuke.

"Interesting is putting it lightly. If I called a girl an idiot on a regular basis, I'd get slapped for it and my reputation would be shot," Shisui complained.

"And what a reputation to lose," Sasuke muttered loud enough for Shisui to hear.

Seeming to no longer be ignoring Sasuke's presence, Shisui turned to him with a wounded look. "Is that sarcasm I hear, Sasuke? You make it seem like I'm some sort of philanderer."

Sasuke snorted and asked, "How's that civilian girl you were seeing? The one you said gave you chocolates for Valentine's day."

"He's no longer seeing Kurosawa-san," Itachi pointed out and took a bite of the tomato nabe he'd made. Sasuke shot Shisui a knowing smirk. "They were together for three weeks and four days."

"Do you always count down how long my relationships last?" Shisui asked Itachi, affronted by the blatant betrayal.

"It's not like it's a lot of work. What's your record? Three months?" Sasuke teased with a smirk. Shisui narrowed his gaze at Sasuke in warning.

"Four," Itachi corrected mildly.

Shisui hung his head with a loud sigh before giving Itachi an exasperated look, "Not all of us find their perfect match when we're seven." Itachi shrugged once in response. Turning back to Sasuke, Shisui pointed his chopsticks at his younger cousin and said, "Nonetheless, we're happy for you, Sasuke. It was pretty painful watching you dance around your feelings and beat around the bush for so long."