#ino rips konoha apart for shisui

[x-authorship-x]

Shisui nii-chan and Ino Imouto AU but when Sasuke told Ino the truth of Shisui’s death Sasuke expect her to scream loudly in grief but Ino just stared at him coldly, silent cold wrath that could make a lesser men running. (And Sasuke would rather run too.) He could feel her chakra in cold fury in the interrogation room. Itachi sometimes warned him that a woman’s wrath is a terrifying sight and he didn’t believe it until now.

Ahhh fuck

You know what this calls for?

ROOT vs. Ino AU

Ino refuses to believe Shisui is dead and decides, as the nine-year-old heir to the mind-fucking Clan, to investigate it herself. She breaks into her father's office, she breaks into ANBU to recruit SQ2, she drags her classmates into it and skips a lot of schooling... she visits Itachi at the Station, before he gets bail and is shut up behind the Uchiha Compound walls, and ends up making friends with Shino, who lost his own pseudo-big brother in suspicious circumstances and has a hive that can track the last, fading traces of Shisui's chakra....

They go to the Uchiha shrine, Ino finds cane marks in the grass, before they're caught and scolded by the Uchiha. They're picked up by certain ANBU who may or may not be Squad Two (who are also not coping at all...), who exchange hand signs as they drag the two kids home. They obviously don't know that Shisui had been teaching Ino some secret signs she's not supposed to know, as they talk about the Uchiha butting heads with the Village Elders and this incident not helping the friction.

Ino realises that maybe something really deep and ugly is going on.

Ino thinks Shisui has gone missing, there's no body so she absolutely refuses to think he's dead and there's no way he'd CHOOSE to leave her, but... Shisui had a big bounty on him, so most enemies would have cashed it in. And! And! His eyes are super special, so he's obviously been kidnapped!

And, in her logic then.... Shisui was the one to bring Tenzo around that first time, skittish and silent and so disturbed by a simple shared meal, and Ino isn't an idiot, she knows what it means when the plants in her mother's garden respond to Tenzo's presence, but no one in the village seems to care that the last Senju is hiding in ANBU so where was he before all this??? No one seems to know he exists but he's right there!

The only way to get any further is... to snoop around the Hokage Tower to find where Tenzo came from and where Shisui could be now instead.

She's caught by ANBU, of course, and brought before Sarutobi, who is sympathetic as he knows that Inoichi is not coping, but firm that this cannot happen again. Ino demands to know if the Sandaime is aware that really special, talented young Shinobi are going missing (meaning Shino's Torune, Tenzo, and now Shisui). Ino bluffs and says that she's there with her dad's permission, that T&I are on the tail of the culprit, but Danzo is also there and his eyes are very very sharp.

That night ROOT come for her and Ino wakes in a bunker with her previously-KIA cousin Fū leaning over her and the boy she is now sure must be Shino's adopted brother. Will she find Shisui kept captive here too??!?

(Is Shisui dead or did Danzo catch him first???? Who knows!)

That morning, with Ino's bed empty, Inoichi loses his shit

👀👀👀👀

[spideywhites]

Thank you so much for the new chapter! I’m in exam period rn so this was a very welcome reprieve lol, I kid u not I reread the chapter at least a few times. I’ve also never properly commented on a chapter before so I’m a bit shy and was tempted to send this anonymously haha

Word vomit of lengthy thoughts on the new chapter:

Natsu training Sasuke!! I’m curious to see how their relationship will develop, now that Sasuke’s perspective of Natsu has changed from ‘reliable brother figure’ to ‘reliable brother figure + teacher + goal + caretaker’ of sorts. Knowing Sasuke’s character in the anime, this probably marks the start of an intense rivalry that’s likely one-sided on his part for a long time..

I’m also curious how Natsu’s ‘mentor’ relationship with Sasuke will affect the canon rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto. Perhaps this will also affect Natsu’s relationship with Naruto somehow? With Naruto maybe wondering why his beloved bro is teaching both his friends but not him

It’s sad to see Natsu finding it hard to face Sasuke, being reminded of all the angst with Shisui and Itachi. They’re all so precious 😭

Also… the bamboo chain necklace!!

Hinata standing up for her friends (and herself)! I love their little trio, but seeing them interact with Natsu on the side also drives home the fact that Shisui and Itachi are gone… also the line abt Natsu still being reluctant to return to any empty apartment… 😭😭 Eagerly awaiting Natsu interacting with more of Konoha 12! And having ppl to talk to! And eventually have a heart-to-heart with!

Natsu avoiding using Shisui’s tanto bc he doesn’t feel worthy of it yet, him telling Shisui not to linger bc he’s afraid Shisui will see what type of person he becomes.. or what Konoha makes of him.. my heartt ❤️‍🩹

More Itachi/Natsume parallels… really driving in the angst rip

Ino and her cute crush on Natsu!! “None of to ur business!” and running away, aww. The start of ppl crushing on Natsu and him being entirely oblivious, it seems. I’m curious as to whether Ino’s initial shock at seeing Natsu is bc of his striking appearance / she knows he’s the ‘demon child’ of Konoha / maybe she’s seen him around since Natsu’s been picking up Naruto?

Natsu finally learning the meaning behind the camellias 🥲

Natsu teaching Hinata fuuinjutsu and Hinata teaching him how to act like an heir… curious to see how this goes and them surprising ppl with it!!

Also, some random things I’m wondering regarding Natsu, Naruto and Sasuke living together:

Who does most of the cooking? I imagine Natsu taking the lead and making sure Naruto and Sasuke learn how to as well

Do they all sleep in the same bedroom and share 1 or 2 beds?

Naruto and Sasuke fighting over dinner and who gets which blanket… adorable kiddos

Anywho, love the new chapter sm! Also super excited for the new arc 😆😆

Happy to hear you enjoyed it, and good luck on your exams!!! (I do not miss that time period, lol) It’s super nice to hear all your thoughts, and I’m glad you shared! I honestly get so excited to see that people like my writing enough to really thinking about it. As for your questions:

1) Natsume does, in fact, handle most of the cooking. Naruto is actually learning rather well (with Natsume’s influence) but he can’t be trusted to cook things on a stove because he gets distracted too easily. Sasuke can make cereal. In the end, Natsume tries to cook huge portions to keep leftovers for as many days as possible because he can’t actually cook every night. Otherwise they end up getting takeout maybe a little too frequently…

2) There is still only one bedroom for now! It’s not going to last long with three growing boys, tbh… Naruto and Natsume have resumed sharing a bed, giving Sasuke the other one. Sometimes if Natsume feels too crowded, he’ll just sleep on the couch instead. Seems like a problem that needs to be solved soon… :)

Thanks again for reading!!! I’m looking forward to the new arc as well >:3c (and more of the Konoha 12 as well!)

[x-authorship-x]

Hi🌻💜

22. “This isn’t goodbye.”

#22- "This isn't goodbye."

"Liar. You know it is."

There was nothing Shisui, for all his witticisms, could say to that.

They sat in silence for a while longer, looking down at the bustling streets below as their feet swung through the open air. If it had really been Ino's choice to be here, she'd have picked somewhere else. The communal Yamanaka gardens, probably. As it was, whatever Pein had done didn't quite align.

Eventually, Ino couldn't stomach the silence any longer. The shock had worn off, the rage and screaming, her fists beating against a chest warmed with the mimicry of life. The demand for answers, the frantic grapple for chakra she couldn't access and techniques she couldn't use to rip this illusion apart. The anger. The denial.

"It's not real," Shisui had said, soft as though that could have made it any less painful. Any less true. "But it's not fake either... not really."

A non-answer. Maybe, knowing her father and herself as well as Shisui's own skills, Ino shouldn't have expected anything less.

"A goodbye would mean we'd never see each other again," was the counter Shisui finally came up with.

Ino planted her hands on the pylon either side of her thighs and rolled her head sideways to look at her brother.

Her dead brother.

"You're telling me this is the afterlife."

Shisui pressed his lips together at that, abashed as much as amused, and his dimples carved shadows into his cheeks. He was both exactly the same and so different from how Ino had remembered him; photographs hadn't done the animation of his expression any justice, had made him look smaller when he was more of a size with her father, to say nothing of his voice and laugh. It was heartbreaking - or, if would've been, if Ino had allowed herself to linger on the thought - to realise that her memory had been so stunted. That she'd already forgotten so much.

Half her life had revolved around this boy.

Ino shook her head before he could respond, grim and stubborn in her conclusions. "It's not. If you weren't a figment of genjutsu or my own brain, then you'd tell me the truth. I don't have the answers, though, so neither do you."

Agony glinted in Shisui's dark eyes. Despite the blinding brightness of the noonday sun overhead, he wasn't even squinting.

"Ino-chan..."

Ino couldn't bear to look at him any longer but the idea of wasting these precious moments not drinking him in... Instead, a pitiful compromise with herself, she tangled their hands together and had to blink back tears at the illusionary warmth and strength in his grasp.

"If you were really my brother, you'd tell me why you died. You'd tell me the truth."

A hitched breath beside her. Another first.

Shisui had never cried in front of her, before. He'd been like that, sadness in glimmers that he was careful to shield her from. Wondering how much he'd concealed had only made the grief and guilt worse in the long term.

"But you can't."

Her voice was barely coherent now, thick with the tears that didn't fall but blurred her view of Konoha into a smear of sky and colourful checkers.

"You're not him. I won't see him again, you're here because I wanted to see you but that doesn't make it true... So, you're right. It's not goodbye. You were never here in the first place."

Her fingers were going numb from the vice grip Shisui had on her hand, clutching it between both of his and then bringing her knuckles to his forehead when she swung her hair as a curtain between them. Tears dampened her skin.

"I don't care if you don't believe me. This isn't your time, Ino, and I don't want to see you again for many years because you've got a whole life ahead. I'll see you after. But-" and, now, Shisui's voice was almost too thick to follow "-I want you to know that I never wanted to leave you. I'm so sorry, imouto, but I'm so proud of you. And, even if you don't believe me, I hope you don't doubt that. I hope you tell Sensei and your mom that I love them, that I'm watching, that I'll see them one day too."

Ino could barely breathe, it felt like she was choking on too much and too little, and then Shisui's arms were sliding around her shoulders and they were crying together, tangled. And they weren't outside any more, no longer suspended like guardians above the home that Shisui had adored, but perched on the counter of her mother's flower shop.

And, suddenly, it was all too much.

This was an unfamiliar hug, she'd been a child when her brother had died and now she was almost the same height, now she could grip him back and feel the shudder of his spine as he mourned everything beyond his reach. And it was the cruelest, most beautiful thing, to glimpse a perfect what-if and know, in your soul, that you'd never see it again.

Suddenly, Ino realised that she didn't care she was a Yamanaka, that she was training to be an Interrogator, that she was a Shinobi and supposed to look underneath the underneath, that she was never supposed to concede and blindly believe.

"You're here," Ino wailed, and it was something between heartbreak and utter relief. "Nii-san, you're here."

"It's not goodbye, Ino," Shisui agreed, even as everything started to fading, like mist slipping through Ino's arms and she couldn't hold him tight enough.

"Shisui-nii-"

"I never left you to begin with."