#whaddaya need? [ shisui replies ]

[kusunokihime]

@chidoricry whispered: "Shut up, Shisui. For the last time, ghosts do not exist."

     “No way, man! I’m telling you, I saw one!”

     Clearly unsettled by what he’s seen - or at the very least, thinks he’s seen - Shisui clings to his younger cousin in panic. “I know I like to joke and shoot the shit, but this was real! Never seen anything like it before! There was a woman, but she was glowing, and I saw right through her! She looked right at me, Sasuke! But she just had these...these creepy, blank white eyes! It’s like she looked through me, man!”

     Shisui’s seen his share of things he can’t explain, and usually he’ll just shrug it off and say he just doesn’t have an explanation. But this time? He’s convinced.

     “I am never going back into the village cemetery at night. You couldn’t pay me to do it!”

[ Unprompted Asks ] [ Always Accepting ]

[thefriendlyflicker-a]

"I don't understand...why you enjoy this so much?"

[ Corruption starter sentences ][ @sennenryuu ][ Accepting ]

     “Not really a matter of enjoying it, honestly.”

     The impromptu battlefield is now quiet. What was meant to be an ambush five minutes ago is now a collection of corpses and blood soaking into the soil.

     Shisui’s tone is, rather than his typical quirky, a solemn, almost bitter sound. With a tug, he retrieves a kunai from the throat of a man he killed in a blink. An odd two decades of life brought to a grinding halt by a flick of a wrist and a blade.

     As always, he contemplates how unfair it all is. But only for a moment. He still has a job to do, and he’s not about to let himself get distracted.

     Only once he’s scavenged all there is to retrieve does he spare a moment to summon a bat, giving it a message to report the encounter to the Rokudaime. From there, it’ll be up to the corpse corps.

     Deciding to elaborate a bit on his answer despite the pause, Shisui gives Chitose a glance…only then realizing his Mangekyō is still active. Letting eyes fade from ruby to coal, he sighs. “I do what I do because I have to. Yeah, there’s shinobi who enjoy the thrill of battle, the rush of pitting your life up against someone else’s and hoping you come out alive. But I’ve never been that guy. Never could be.” Cleaning the kunai he’s picked up on a spare cloth, he tosses the soiled fabric aside. “I threw a decade of my life away in hopes that it would amount to a few less deaths.”

     True, things post-war have gotten better, but…they still aren’t perfect. And he can’t expect perfection. He’ll take what he can get.

     “…but nor can I deny myself acting when I have the skills to do so. As much as I hate killing, when it’s me or them, and I’m the one left standing between them and someone else…then I do what I have to. Nothing more, nothing less.”

     After another brief pause, he gives a single huff of humorless laughter. “…guess that’s part of why I was so curious about your own work the other day. I try to keep my contact with death as brief as possible. Taking it any further…I couldn’t do it. But I try to focus on what comes after. By killing these shinobi, I keep you safe. I keep the mission going. And hopefully something good comes out of it in the end. 

     “I can sit and think about the lives I just ended until I go mad. Thinking about the families they might’ve left behind, the cause they were fighting for, the fear pumping their heart just as fast as mine before it stopped. I could let it drive me to darker thoughts, darker actions that might, as you said, lead me to enjoy it in order to numb myself to it rather than be scarred. But I choose not to.”

     He tucks the blade into his pouch and shifts his stance to ready. “So, on that note…should we get on?”

[kusunokihimea]

✤ - for my muse to wake yours from a nightmare for Shisui from Rin

[Send a symbol for the following ][ @wanderingmelodies ][ Accepting ]

     Every shinobi sees shadows when they sleep.

     Shisui is no exception. He’s done his share of dirty deeds - be it for his village, his clan, or even for himself. His hands have been dyed crimson with blood, and black with ash. A lot like his eyes, he can’t help but think.

     Sometimes...he forgets Rin is the same.

     Maybe it’s his sister’s influence: seeing medics as something...purer than your run-of-the-mill shinobi. But Rin isn’t just a medic. She’s a kunoichi too. She’s saved lives, and taken then. Fixed them, and broken them.

     So though her whimpering in her sleep at first startles him...it doesn’t surprise him.

     There’s a moment to look to her with somber knowing before a hand carefully takes her shoulder. “...Rin. Hey, R-”

     Sharingan already active, he easily blocks her counterstrike, expecting some kind of retaliation for interrupting her vision, taken to be whatever enemy she’s grappling in her mind. But as soon as he does, he lets the red fade from his eyes, not wanting to scare her once her own open. “...just a bad dream,” he tells her, voice low with both exhaustion and gentleness. He lets her catch her breath, lets the tension slowly ease from her muscles before taking her in his arms.

     “...go back to sleep.”

     I’ll protect you.

[hyuuchiha-a]

[ tag dump - asks 1 ]

[thefriendlyflicker-a]

"If you want to know my history, then start by buying me a drink."

[ Looking for an icebreaker? ][ @sennenryuu ][ Accepting ]

     What’s better than an afternoon off? An afternoon off spent in a bar, of course! While Shisui isn’t too heavy of a drinker, he does like a little loosening every so often. He’ll have a little sake or a beer or two. He’s not the sort to get sloshed, but enough to take off an edge and relax is never a bad thing, in his humble opinion. And he tries not to do so too often.

     Of course, he’d found himself a bit surprised by Chitose’s presence. He’d got the impression she might not like places rowdy like this one, given her, uh…rather interesting reaction to his teasing the other day.

     So when he notices her, and gives a greeting despite still having a tinge of a bruise under his ribcage, he gives a snicker at her offer. There’s flushed color in his face, and he can’t stop a smile.

     “History, huh? I s’pose I might be a lil curious! And besides, I can’t not buy you a drink, I mean…it’s only respectful, given you thoroughly whooped my ass the other day,” he offers, still grinning. It’s not often someone catches him off-guard enough to land a blow given his speed…let alone enough to knock the wind out of him! “Just, uh…get whatever you want! We can chat. I’ll mind my manners, I promise. No more height jokes. Shinobi’s honor. Maybe we can trade a few stories, huh?”

     Admittedly, he found himself a bit curious after their run-in, and asked around - just a bit, not wanting to pry. And her roots outside Konoha intrigued him. And there are few who don’t find his own circumstances a bit interesting. Maybe he can offer some of his backstory for hers to learn just what kind of lady got the better of him.

[thefriendlyflicker-a]

✬ Making them their favorite hot beverage. (After all, it's been a long night of work)

[ Acts of Affection ][ @sennenryuu ][ Accepting ]

     Nothing aids in the drudgery of long nights quite like a cup of pitch-black coffee.

     While Shisui certainly has his sweet tooth, he’s come to appreciate the drink. He was a bit young to really utilize it much before Danzō eye-thievery, but since he’s come back to Konoha…it’s became a must. Most of his work helping to guard the Rokudaime is actually pretty boring given peacetime, but that doesn’t save him from having to pull all-nighters.

     He’s just contemplating getting a pot of the stuff ready when he happens to find Chitose already one step ahead of him in the administrative buildings break room.

     He perks up. “Seems I’m not the only caffeine addict on shift tonight, huh? If there’s some to spare, I’d gladly take a cup…or ten.”

[thefriendlyflicker-a]

“You need to rest now. Don’t move.”

[ RP starters: Concern ][ @sennenryuu ][ Accepting ]

     Ah, shit.

     Dark eyes peeling open, he manages a few even, shallow breaths. Yup. Hospital. Again. Only he can’t quite recall what happened this time. Wasn’t a complication with his eyes, was it…? He has had a few dizzy spells while adjusting to them…maybe he full-on fainted this time. She won’t be happy to hear that…

     “…got it,” he mumbles in reply. “Not sure I feel much like moving, tell you the truth. Nap sounds like a great idea, but…do I really need to do it here? Hate to take up a cot if I really don’t need to, doc.” While Shisui’s not as adverse to the hospital as so many shinobi seem to be, he doesn’t want to be in the way if this really was just a fainting spell. “Say, uh…any idea why I’m here? Still a bit fuzzy in that regard. Besides a little nausea and vertigo, I…think I’m fine?”

[thefriendlyflicker-a]

🎁 what never fails to make you happy?

[ emoji asks ][ @historias-multorum ][ Accepting ]

     “Ooh…tough call…I mean, I’m a pretty happy-go-lucky kinda guy most of the time,” Shisui muses, a hand rubbing thought fully at his chin.

     Or, rather…he looks like one most of the time.

     Still, he mulls the question over genuinely. “…I guess as cliche as it is, I gotta say family. Even when they drive me up a wall - lookin’ at you, Sasuke.” He flashes a grin. 

     “I mean, I’ve got so little of it left, and…knowing how the rest went down, it makes you think. Makes you treasure the little things. Just knowing there’s a few scraps still left is enough for me. So long as I’ve got that…I’m the happiest man in the damn world.

     “…and the most protective.”

[thefriendlyflicker-a]

"Get over here!" Your choice of verse!

[ Send in “Get over here!” for your muse to protectively hug mine ][ @noharin ][ Accepting ]

     Well this is quite the turn of events.

     For the most part, Shisui’s time spent as one of the Rokudaime’s personal guards has been, for lack of other words…boring. Post-war, the world sees a pretty big drop in overall violence. Sure, there’s still bandits, still rogues, but for the most part everyone is too tired and too leery of messing up the tentative peace the nations have found after their unified warfront.

     So Shisui’s biggest threats to protect Kakashi from have mostly been papercuts from the ridiculous amount of documents he’s had to go through as Hokage - especially a Hokage post-war with so many new treaties to arrange and take care of.

     Which is why when someone actually dares to attack their caravan on the way to Kumo to meet with the Raikage, Shisui quickly goes overboard, having been rather stir crazy the past several weeks. Which puts their medic, none other than Rin, in a bit of a bind as he throws caution to the wind.

     At least until the Nohara puts her foot down.

     One moment he’s blade-to-blade with a foe, and the next he finds himself tugged to one side as some sort of explosion goes off just left of where he’d been.

     “…well, shit,” he comments mildly, giving her turtle-like defenses a thoughtful glance. She’s still got one arm around his back, the pair of them knelt under the chakra shield provided by her bijū. “Guess I need to thank you for that one, huh?” he offers, giving a grin. “Sorry - I think all the desk work has be a little too eager, heh.”

[kusunokihimea]

“Oh my god! I just felt it kick!” From Rin to Shisui because why not

[Pregnancy sentence starters ][ @wanderingmelodies ][ Accepting ]

     There’s a pause, Shisui glancing over with comically-wide eyes before scrambling to his feet. “W-wait, really? Hold on, just lemme -”

     He scrambles over some furniture (nearly biffing it in the process - a graceful shinobi indeed) before coming to a sliding stop, hands hovering for a moment as he glances to Rin for permission first before letting them rest atop the swell of her middle.

     For a long moment, there’s nothing. He’s almost ready to give up, expression wilted, before there’s pressure against a palm.

     If his eyes were round before, they’re astronomical now.

     There’s still times where it hasn’t really...sunk in yet. That there’s a tiny human inside another human. That’s...partly his fault doing. The other responsible party being...Rin, of course. 

     This is one of those moments where it feels all too real.

     There’s a few more half-hearted shoves of a limb before they go quiet, and Shisui glances up from his bent-over position to look at Rin with a childlike expression of awe. “...guess they’re really in there, huh?” A blink, and then he breaks out into the biggest grin and burst of laughter.

     “...holy shit!”

[kusunokihimea]

“I look forward to getting to know you better.” (Im jumping on this arranged marrige train! Shisui and Shizune >:} )

[ Arranged marriage AU starter sentences ][ @13lilypetals ][ Accepting ]

     Well this is...awkward.

     Shisui didn’t even think this kind of thing happened anymore. People really still push their kids into arranged marriages...? And why him? It’s not like he’s really all that important. Sure, Uchiha’s a damn old name in Japan, but...it’s not like he’s one of Fugaku’s kids. He’s a cousin, and through the wife’s side to boot.

     “Er...right.” What’s he supposed to say? It’s not like a blind date where you can call it quits and run with the breadsticks. A hand itches his neck idly. “Sorry, I guess I just...dunno how to handle all this.” It’s not like he really had anyone else in mind, but...he wasn’t really looking, either. He’s enjoyed being a bachelor plenty, thankyouverymuch. 

[kusunokihimea]

‘☁’ (Lets shake things up a bit with Shizune and Shisui)

[Send me ‘☁’ to be locked inside with my muse on a rainy day ][ @13lilypetals ][ Accepting ]

     “Ugh, what a downer...”

     Looking out an administrative building window, Shisui can’t help a pout at the weather. While it’d been cloudy this morning, he’d hoped they’d avoid the rain.

     Well, so much for walking out for lunch like he planned...he didn’t bring an umbrella, and he doesn’t feel much like getting soaked. Looks like he’s gonna have to just tough it out here all day. Which...is technically his job anyway, but he’d been looking forward to a break...

     At least he’s not the only assistant on duty. With Tsunade here for talks with Kakashi, Shizune’s much in the same boat. Technically he could be said to be griping to her rather than himself. Which at least makes him look a little less off compared to usual.

     “Welp, guess we’re stuck in here for the day, eh? S’pose now I’m hoping their little chat will last longer - or at least until it stops rainin’...”

[kusunokihimea]

"They look kinda shady." (Shizune to Shisui >:} )

[Protective Big Brother / Friend Starters ][ @13lilypetals ][ Accepting ]

     “Hm...y’think so?”

     The pair are currently in the lower level of the administrative building. As it so happens, a few representatives from other nations have begun filing in. Being one of Kakashi’s main bodyguards, the Uchiha looks them over carefully, using long-developed senses to try and read them.

     “Well...to be fair, this is the biggest meeting there’s been in Konoha since the war’s end. I think everyone’s a little...on edge. So they might act a little jumpy cuz they’re just as nervous as us. I’ll be keeping a close eye on them, trust me. Two, when I can spare ‘em.”

     He stretches idly with a sigh. “Otherwise, I guess it’s business as usual, eh? Is Tsunade gonna make an appearance, or is she gonna let Kakashi handle this one alone?” As far as he knows, it’s current Kage only...but there’s little stopping Tsunade from attending something if she sets her mind to it. Which, he assumes, will mean dragging Shizune into it as well.

[kusunokihimea]

🏔 : our muses are hiking in the wilderness and a blizzard is beginning to brew/ they are lost/ need to pitch a camp. -- for Shisui and Rin?

[ Winter-themed ask memes ][ @wanderingmelodies ][ Accepting ]

     He should have heeded his gut when he checked the sky that morning. It’s no secret the weather’s been turning colder, though they’ve not had any snow...yet. Dark clouds on the horizon, he’d hoped, wouldn’t reach them during their trip north toward Kumo for a random duo mission. But as luck would have it, there was a shift in the winds, and now they’re really in the thick of it.

     By the time they know for sure they’re in for it, they’re in the middle of nowhere - no villages or rest stops for miles. Within just a few minutes of the first flakes, it’s a full-blown blizzard, white-out conditions meaning that they’ll only get lost if they keep going.

     Though he’s younger, Shisui admittedly has a bit more field experience than Rin - at least in a few avenues. He’d been too young for war, but his focus isn’t split between battle and medical. So, he decides to try and lead them through the situation before they end up a couple of human icicles. 

     If only he had at least some affinity for doton, he could just raise up a few earth walls, and they’d be fine. But fire, wind and lightning aren’t exactly physical elements to build with. Katon can keep them warm, sure, but only as long as his chakra lasts.

     “C’mon!” he calls over the howling wind, taking Rin’s hand. As plentiful as the trees are, cold air still whips between them, biting as steel. Along he drags her, looking for one of proper size and shape...and direction. Only once he finds one does he put his plan into motion. Sitting with his back to the wide, slightly-indented trunk, he puts Rin between his legs and under his traveling cloak, popping his head down under it. It’s not perfect, but the brunt of the wind misses them.

     “Okay. I need some quiet so I can concentrate, okay?” Steadying his breathing, Shisui focuses his chakra, stirring katon internally and carefully exhaling heated breath. It’s not scorching, just a hint of potential compared to a full-blown jutsu. But hence needing to keep a careful head as not to accidentally breathe fire over Rin’s shoulder...and ration his energy so they stay warm until this all passes.

     Until then, he’ll just turn himself into a living kotatsu.