Chapter 3
Shisui wakes up slowly. He feels awful, as if he just came back from an S-Rank mission with severe chakra depletion. As any good shinobi he takes in his surroundings before opening his eyes. He knows he’s in Konoha but not at home nor the hospital. ‘Danzo.’
The memory comes suddenly as Shisui feels fear creep up his gut. But he knows he still has both his eyes, ‘just a nightmare’ he tries to reassure himself. Something is wrong though.
“Good morning. I made breakfast and tea. Do you need something? I can call Rabbit back,” Shisui hears a cheerful voice say. He looks up to find a man with blond hair and azure blue eyes smiling at him. He remembers the blonde catching him as he fell unconscious and how he thought he would die.
“What happened?” Shisui asks confused as he tries to sit up. His throat feels dry and his limbs like rubber band.
The blondes’ friendly expression turns dark. Shisui knows this man is dangerous, but he doesn’t feel in danger, so he takes the water bottle offered to him and sits up.
“I don’t know how much you remember. I don’t know much but I can tell you everything I learned about your situation,” says the blue-eyed man, takes a stool and sits a comfortable distance away from Shisui. “I just returned to Konoha, when I felt a vile chakra and your distress so I thought that I should check it out. I found a couple of shinobi with some type of Anbu mask leaving with councilor Shimura, I never liked the man he always creeped me out hence I knew something was wrong. And I was right because I found you, missing an eye, poisoned and on deaths doorstep. I healed you and took you to Hokage-sama. The Sandaime knows what happened and we will talk with him later to finalize a plan against Danzo. How do you feel?”
Shisui isn’t sure if he should be angry, scared, thankful or confused. “My eye?” he asks in a small voice and brings his hand up to feel both of his eyes still there.
“Yeah, like I said I healed you,” the stranger grinned.
“Healed? An eye that got stolen. You healed an eye that wasn’t there?” deadpanned the Uchiha.
The man smiles sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck. Shisui realizes how young the stranger actually is, he can’t be older than eighteen. He’s average in height just shy of six-feet same as Shisui himself. The blonde hair is messily put in a in a bun and bangs frame his delicate features. His cheeks adorned with three whisker like marks, but his most striking feature are the big azure blue eyes. They are an ironic mixture of light and dark, heavy with grief and sadness while also full of life and mischief. Everything about this man sets the teen on edge, danger and safety such a paradox. The blonde looks like sunshine incarnate, so warm and bright.
Shisui feels himself blushing as he becomes aware of just how pretty his savior is. ‘Oh kami, I sound like a fangirl.’ The young Uchiha was never ashamed of his sexuality but if his clan knew they would ostracize him. Everybody knows Shisui is a flirt, though only his friends were aware that he was not just all talk. He always got criticized by the elders for his character, “How unbecoming for an Uchiha.” But he was powerful so the clan could overlook his “undesirable attitude”. The only one in his clan who was aware of Shisui being bisexual was Itachi. ‘Itachi…’
With the reminder of his cousin Shisui tries to compose himself. He got attacked by his superior, got his eye stolen, nearly died and got saved by a handsome stranger. The blonde may be handsome but still a stranger and anyone with so much chakra but still unknown is truly dangerous.
“Who are you?” the young Uchiha asks carefully. The blonde man stares at him for a couple of second with a blank expression.
“I’m Namikaze Nao, jounin of Konohagakure registration number 0157702.” Shisui doesn’t know a comrade named Nao but the registration numbers starting with 01 and ending in 02 are shinobi who specialize in infiltration or are hunter-nin.
“Wait, Namikaze?!” shouts Shisui shocked. Now that he is aware of the name there is no question that the man, Nao, is related to the Yondaime. They look eerily similar.
“Yes. I’m the Yondaime Hokages half-brother,” answers Nao as he again rubs his neck with a blush rising to his cheeks. ‘Cute,’ thinks Shisui and promptly turns red, again.
“Uhm, yes I- I didn’t uhm I,” stammers the sharingan bearer. ‘Kami, how embarrassing.’ He clears his throat and looks at the confused face of Nao. “Nao is a pretty name.” Shisui turns bright red as the Namikaze starts laughing and thanks him. He contemplates using an earth jutsu to swallow him whole, why did he say that?
While the Uchiha wallows in embarrassment Nao feels Rabbit coming back with another shinobi. The two Anbu agents enter and while Rabbit checks out Shisui with the mystical palm jutsu, the other agent follows Nao into the makeshift kitchen.
“ Your meeting with Hokage-sama is today at 1 pm,” comes the monotone voice.
The time traveler nods absently as he prepares a plate for the injured teen. Nao is still busy in the kitchen as the Anbu ask Shisui some questions and then leave. Of course, the Namikaze had to eavesdrop and therefore knows that the dark haired teen asked for confirmation on his identity. At least there won’t be the suspicious tension around them anymore. He puts the plate on the table and helps Shisui out of his bed. The Uchiha turns red, and Nao remembers how flustered Sasuke always got when he needed help. ‘Like a cat! Must run in the family.’
“Th-Thank you,” stammers the teen.
“No problem. I hope it tastes good,” Nao grins and Shisui turns impossibly red.
“No not for the food. I-I mean also th-thank you for the food a-and for helping me up. B-But I meant thank you f-for saving and healing me. I-I owe you.” Shisui is sure he will catch on fire now. He normally never gets flustered, but Nao is pretty and saved him . Usually, Shisui is the one saving people, not the other way around. Sure, he had a couple of close calls, and a teammate did help him, but he had never been that vulnerable not even as a child.
“You don’t owe me anything Shisui. We’re comrades, it’s our job to look after each other. Now eat up, we have a meeting with Hiruzen in a couple of hours,” says Nao smiling gently.
The Uchiha starts eating, still thinking about everything that had been said. He can’t really think about last night without panicking, so it’s better to concentrate on Namikaze. The Yondaimes brother had said he just came back to Konoha when it happened, he must have had a long and secret mission because otherwise everybody would have known him. His relation to the Yellow Flash would see him in every bingo-book. He’s powerful and most likely more a leader than follower, his reassurance of saving comrades indicates that a lot of people trusted him with their life. If his chakra alone doesn’t show his power level, then the nonchalant mention of Hokage-sama given name does. Maybe he can help Shisui and Itachi with their clan problem.
“Is it possible for Itachi to take part in the meeting. We wanted to meet last n-ni-night, but I-I coul-couldn’t make it,” Shisui tongue numbs as he remembers that night. He feels cold and his eye starts aching. He’s about to have a panic attack, when Nao moves closer, not touching, but his warm chakra envelops the Uchiha.
“Of course. I’ll make sure he gets the message,” comforts Nao kindly. Shisui gives a shaky smile and tries to change the subject.
“I didn’t know the Yondaime had a brother. You must have been away for a long time.”
“Yeah, we met during the third war, you know. It was really dangerous, so it was better to keep it a secret. Then he died and Hiruzen thought it better for me to go on a long mission. Seven years from home is, I think, long enough. I really missed it, especially Ichirakus. Best ramen in the whole world, believe it,” babbles the blonde.
As he is rewarded with a small genuine smile from Shisui, he just keeps talking. Nao knows the Uchiha went through a traumatic event and needs a distraction. He starts telling him stories of his travels, most of them with Jiraiya, and funny stories during his gennin years. Of how he got conned in the capitol or won a poker match against a noble without knowing how to play poker, how he accidentally joined a sect and was nearly sacrificed to pacify a demon. All these events had truly happened just during a different time, but it doesn’t matter if it makes Shisui laugh so much. They spent hours telling each other stories, not anything traumatizing or mission oriented but more lighthearted and fun. Nao understand why Itachi always raved about Shisui, he isn’t like the other Uchiha, the two of them could become great friends. And Namikaze Nao always protects his friends.