Ruminant

Bonus: Little Sister AU - iv

Little Sister AU - IV

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Summary: Where Shisui is a slave to cuteness.

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4.

It was Shisui's first time visiting the Nara compound.

The Uchiha clan's relationship with the Nara clan wasn't good enough to give him an excuse to visit. He also wasn't close to any of the Nara teammates he sometimes had the pleasure of working with, so Shisui hadn't, well-

-He hadn't been able to see the forest and the deer the quiet clan was known for.

With him bumping unto Shikari who, apparently, lost her babysitter again, Shisui took it upon himself to take her home.

It wasn't like he was busy and-

He did feel a bit lonely.

The clan was becoming unreasonable. Itachi had been pushed into this quagmire along with him and suffering a disease that his little cousin didn't want anyone to look into. Sasuke was being a brat again and-

Danzo-sama's orders were starting to itch on his skin.

His annoyance at his clan's bullheadedness and insufferable pride aside, in the end- they were still his family.

The clan bought him up after his parents died and because he was a bit talented than the average shinobi-in-training, Shisui didn't suffer as much as his now-deceased cousin, Obito, once did.

There was bias, yes. The Uchiha clan was filled with flawed, subjective people that valued power and strength. It was easy to misunderstand them since they weren't comfortable in showing their emotions to people they weren't close to. They were stuffy. Absolutely insufferable at times, and the power plays inside their convoluted family tree made his adorable brain hurt, but-

They were family.

They, on a fundamental level, care for each other in a way that wasn't quite obvious - wasn't quite seen, but still there if one would take care enough not to take anything for granted.

And because they were a family, only family could choke the whispers of a coup and cut down the tumor that illogically whispered for war in midst of peace hardly stabilized from attacks of the surrounding nations.

It wasn't like he was a fool.

Even if Shisui's aptitude wasn't as high as Itachi, it was still pretty up there and he could proudly say that despite how he acts, he did have common sense.

He could see that Danzo-sama had his own schemes.

Even when there were times when Shisui tried to convince himself that Danzo still had a conscience and would not do the Uchiha wrong on the name of his grandfather and the old coot's teammate, Uchiha Kagami, Shisui couldn't quite believe that Danzo was meddling in this issue out of the goodness of his old and wrinkly heart.

After all, Danzo was an avid follower of the Nidaime's policy to a rather extreme degree and he always did have a sore spot over the Military Police the Uchiha was given.

Moreover, Root, the organization Shisui chose to infiltrate on his own, lest Danzo got a more gullible and malleable minion, was a good example of that man's cunning.

Shisui had heard from the administration that its operations should have stopped after the war, but well-

Look at where he was now.

Shisui knew that, for all the talk about him being a prodigy, his skill was inferior in all levels compared to the old bastard, so-

He could only follow helplessly - like a marionette on strings as he danced and danced to the man's tune, hoping that he could spare Itachi in the end and minimize the casualties on his clan's side after all of this.

(He was willing to sacrifice himself to the cause if it meant the innocent ones could live after the shit-storm had passed.)

"Herbivore," Shisui heard an adorable voice suddenly squeak, interrupting his train of thought as he forcefully stopped himself from bumping into the little Nara bun glaring at him...fiercely. "Snap out of it and fight me already."

Wait.

Shisui's face turned blank as he looked at the field the Nara heiress led him to.

What.

He stared at Shikari in front of him, who was waving around a stick he swore wasn't there a second ago and paused. Just when-

Did he miss something?

Shisui smiled weakly and patted the little creampuff's head. "Didn't we agree that I'm just going to accompany you home?"

The Nara heiress, in response, puffed her cheeks up at him in an attempt to look angry.

Which of course, didn't actually work since her face was too round and cheeks too pink, but the effort was commendable.

Shisui didn't know if it was because his response came a bit too long but before he could actually reply, the little Nara heiress unconsciously stuck out her lip in grievance and-

Pouted.

...Foul.

Shisui could feel his heart melt into a puddle of goo. Nara Shikari's attack was very effective.

Too cute-

Too adorable-

That right there, ladies and gentlemen, beat little Itachi's face when his little cousin first asked him to train together in Shisui's moe-loving heart.

"That's a foul," He repeated out loud.

"What?"

Shisui shook his head before waving the metaphorical white flag. He was supposed to visit Danzo later for another sinister pow-wow, but Shisui could spare the time for the little princess if she kept selling cuteness like this.

"Nothing," Shisui cheerfully smiled, gesturing for the toddler to come closer. "I'll teach how to fight. Come on. Show me your stance."

The baby looked at him disdain before starting a flurry of attacks that had Shisui looking on in approval.

He beamed - letting himself relax - as he carefully dodged around a particularly vicious kick.

Really adorable.

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A/N: This was another chapter I posted before in Patreon. Released this now to announce that I'm changing how I'm accepting commissions for my works. (I have this up to Chapter 7 already there so if you can't wait, you only need a dollar to get access!).

I got a handle on how I'm going to do it now. I already have set a plan for this AU so it wouldn't be as mindless and slow as the main story. If you're interested, check my ko-fi and patreon page for more details! Thanks for reading.