sunshineverse | I coulda gave up then but-- Then again I couldn't have

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I coulda gave up then but-- Then again I couldn't have

Who: Uchiha Shisui

thelittleprincess , and Uchiha Obito

thebestuchiha
Where: Konoha
When: March 24th
Notes: This is a continuation from a couple of test drive threads, moved over here for ease of access etc.

It never ceased to bring a smile to his lips when the terrain changed and the clumps of trees became thicker. It meant only one thing: the gates of Konoha were near.

It felt good to return home. Not that he was going to be promised any down time or vacation, but there was something about actually marching up to the entrance of that beloved village than keeping her at heart when fighting for her elsewhere.

Shisui identified himself at the gates, passed the security checkpoints, and, having done the needful, made a bee-line to the Hokage's office. Hands in his pockets, he was walking slower than usual, sniffing out the smell of a brand new tea shop nearby. Now that's one place he was going to have to try soon.

But first, he was going to have to report to the Hokage. And then he was going to need a shower. A nice long one if the fact that the girls weren't sending him their usual coy smiles were any indication. He also wondered what his genin was up to. It had been a while, and he was going to have to figure out how she'd fared on her own for a month. If she'd been slacking, then there would be words.

He doubted it, though.

Either way, he figured he'd find out soon enough. He did have something planned for the two of them after all.

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"We know Oto has a snake summoner, extremely steep prices, and a reputation for having the most lethal poisons coming onto the marker in the Elemental Nations." His tone was completely dry. Clearly he wasn't terribly thrilled by the fact they knew so little.

"We also know that no one contacts the village directly. All jobs go through a civilian village in the country first."

Well, it sounded a whole lot like something Orochimaru would come up with. Fancy that, going all out and collecting a village full of minions. He wouldn't be surprised if they were all, at some point, his 'experiments'.

"I wouldn't put it past someone like Orochimaru to come up with something like that. We don't have enough probable cause to warrant an open investigation either, do we?" Sneaky. Shisui wasn't surprised.

"Unfortunately... not even slightly." He sighed, shaking his head as he leaned on his desk. "Not to say we haven't been... keeping an eye on things though. No need to risk being blindsided."

"Worst-case scenario would be Orochimaru gathering enough support from the other nations and letting Konoha have it. He'll have to burn Konoha to the ground if he wanted to take over, though." Because it was highly unlikely that the man would have any sort of support from the people. Except, of course, in the case of certain persons who would benefit from the snake's presence.

Shisui looked to Obito. "But you already knew that." They all knew that. It was the pile of dust bunnies collecting under the bed that they told the villagers was nothing to be afraid of, when in reality, every single one of them knew that the real monster lay waiting. Waiting to grab them when they were sleeping; when their eyes had closed long enough to miss the subtle shift of sand when the snake slithered out of its den.

"The Council has suggested surveillance and reconn for now, then, I presume?" It bothered Shisui because even with such measures, he had a feeling that Orochimaru was still able to slip through and assert his influence on Konoha. And they couldn't be wrong with their assumption here that the nukenin had something to do with recent events.

When he glanced at his cousin again, his gaze conveyed concern, and warning. "It will mean more than simply a breach of security if something should happen on your watch, Obito-nii." Family. Old wounds were bound to open once again.

He looked sideways at Shisui, letting him air his concerns without interruption. Shisui needed to work out things for himself, after all, and he'd known a long time ago that the best way was to point out the bits and bobs in the middle once everything was laid out. Sometimes they just... got missed.

"I know. Security has been tightened and I've called for a round of evaluations that almost no one is aware of yet outside the T&I department. They're old hat, so I know people won't be upset by them, but it's still better if they're surprised. I don't want to risk a security gap any more than you want me to have one, after all."

He paused a moment, then sighed softly. "The Council... is divided on what should be done so I'm moving ahead without waiting for them to sort themselves out. They've all given me their opinions, and I am, by no means, willing to slack on any kind of surveillance. Especially not with recent events brewing as they've been."

He was silent. For a long time, Shisui was silent, his gaze focused on a pile of papers on Obito's desk. "Perhaps it is time to admit a new member into the council," he murmured. "An Uchiha on the council would even things out." That council was made of every single member of the team his father had belonged to, sans Akimichi Torifu. But Uchiha Kagami had never had a chance.

Perhaps an Uchiha elder would even things out now.

And should there be any disagreement amongst the existing members, they'd know where they stood, despite the Hokage being Uchiha himself. Shisui wasn't closed to the idea of someone from the inside working to put cracks and fissures in the walls of Konoha.

"Maybe. As they are right now... they're useful, but I have breathing room. And much as I like and respect most old people in this village, I'm not thrilled about giving more of them the opportunity or position to try to tell me how to run the village, you know?"

He shook his head slightly, watching Shisui for a long moment. "If your dad were around I might go for it but... well, not everyone is your dad."

Shisui nodded. He knew full well what Obito meant. They couldn't always live in the past. As for Obito mentioning Kagami as a likely candidate should he have been alive, Shisui laughs, a twinge of sadness lacing the gesture. "If Dad was around, he'd have told you to pick someone younger. Someone who didn't necessarily think like the old days. Someone with fresh ideas to keep up with change."

He smiled at the other man, pocketing the scroll with the mission details for the renegade cat. "I might have picked Fugaku or Mikoto, but they're too high up the clan itself. Someone in the middle ranks, then." He paused then, thinking. "...Or someone who came after the Third. Saindaime's got a big heart, but he really can't be the only one all the time."

"Sensei's out until Kushina-nee settles herself in one country or another. That leaves my mess of Jounin." He leaned in, focusing on him intently for a long moment. "I mean, there's already my jounin council, so, there's them. Maybe I should bump some of you lot, mm?"

Shisui averted his gaze when he felt the Hokage's stare literally boring into him. "Whatever you think you need to do. But don't look at me; I'd be the worst candidate for the job."

Not because he couldn't do it, but because he would immediately be suspected of brainwashing the rest of the council.

"You say that, but you always have interesting views... that tend to work out in the end." He flashed him a smile, but it was one of those where it meant more things than it seemed. It was also gone quickly.

"Trust me, it wouldn't do you any favors. They'd all be plotting to dispose of either one of us." He shrugged, catching the tail end of that smile, which he returned with one of his own.

"Maybe." He paused a beat, giving him a look that was far more playful. "Maybe I should think about throwing Itachi at it sometime then."

Shisui had to laugh at that suggestion, though. " 'Tachi? He's more of a 'let me handle all of this by myself' kinda guy. It'll kill him." So no. Don't you dare shove the one person that meant the world to him in a tight situation with those old bags. Hiruzen excluded.

Shisui's tone had been playful, though there was every kind of seriousness underlying the statement. He worried about Itachi. But-- "But he'd be one heck of an asset to the advisory council, regardless." There was no denying what Itachi could bring to the table, though.

"If I did it I would have to pull him off his other duties and I think that would drive him up the wall within three weeks." He heaved a sigh, very sad, very put upon, and very aware that that couldn't happen any time soon. "So that'll have to be shelved one way or another."

Shisui shrugged. "Yeah. He's very hands-on." And then he had to cock an eyebrow in Obito's direction for all that dramatic sighing. "Try someone else from the clan. Someone a lot more knowledgeable in the old clan ways than one of us."

"I'll think about it." His tone said that he didn't care to poke into it further at the moment though. It wasn't that he hated the clan. It's just that he didn't get along with like, half of it it felt like some days and the last thing he anted was to have someone bitching at him constantly.

He kind of had enough of those already. "And what about you Shisui? What's your next step in the village?"

"I'd hope so," he quipped, glancing out the window. Expectations were high, and to be honest, warranted.

Shisui shrugged at the question that followed, though. "When you reach the top, there's nowhere else to go but down," he said, chuckling. "I have my students. My hands are full." No mention of Sakura, though.

He peered at him intently, then hummed lowly, head tilting to the side. "You really think I'm at the top Shisui? You really have no idea how this whole Hokage thing works then." He shook his head on a laugh, then settled back in his chair.

"Either way I'm not going down though. I'll work it out."

"Who said I was talking about you?" Shisui smiled at him.

"Hey, it's not like we could be talking about you. You have leagues ahead of you yet cousin." He shook his head with a little grin then lifted a hand to make a 'go on' gesture. "You have genin waiting."

"...Suddenly we haven't been talking about anyone." He shook his head, though. "I think I've reached that point where I stop and give back." He was only twenty eight...

"Aye-- She'd like the cat. ...I think. It'll make up for my absence, hopefully. I only just started and I'mthe worst teacher already-- neglecting my students." Okay okay, he was turning to go now.

"You can still move while giving, just make sure to drag them behind you when you speed ahead, yeah?" There was a knowing humor in his voice. "That's what I've been doing. Have fun with the cat Shisui."

"I didn't say I was handicapped, Obito." Now you're just making him sound like an old man. Oi.

And-- "I will!"

He was already walking towards the exit.

Seeing no reason to pick at him further, he just laughed softly and shook his head, settling back to his papers.

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I coulda gave up then but-- Then again I couldn't have

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