Urgh, finally. I… actually can't believe it's been this long. Taking this much time to get back on track was not my intention. Sorry for the wait everyone.

As for why it has been so long… you know, at first I had a good reason. Writing a thesis is a bitch. I guess after that this story just didn't want to be written for a while. The words just wouldn't come. And then I got distracted a lot by other stuff, including (but certainly not limited to) general RL and my other stories. A case of story-specific writer's block really, though luckily not strong enough to kill the story completely (thank god). I just hope there are still people left who are interested in reading this.

Anyway, enjoy!

Shisui sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. His poor, abused hair. Had he known Harry and Kaien would be this persistent in taking their revenge, he would have thought twice before provoking Harry into glass-shattering aggravation.

"You do realize you only have yourself to blame, don't you, Shisui?" Haruka's face was as serene as ever, but Shisui did not miss the glimmers of amusement in his cousin's eyes and the subtle curl at the corner of his lips.

"Itachi said the same. Multiple times," Shisui complained. "A bit of sympathy would be nice, you know?"

Haruka just smiled his brightest nearly-non-existent smile. The slightly creepy one.

Shisui humphed. Just because he was the reason why Harry broke all Kaien's vivaria was no reason for Kaien to side with their little cousin in the brat's revenge. Or for Haruka to side with his younger brother. If it wasn't for Kaien's blackmail and Aunt Mikoto stonewalling him, Shisui would have forced Harry to turn his hair back to normal the moment he´d realized he had woken up with a vastly different hairdo than he went to sleep with. It had only taken two minutes, including waking up and realizing what the heck had happened, to decide that waist-long, eye-wateringly bright curls were not his thing. Especially not when they came in hideous colours. That clashed.

Cutting it off wasn't even an option because they were coloured to the roots, and bald was not a good look on Uchiha. Even shortening didn't work for long. It always came back overnight and by now his wastebasket looked as if someone had vomited select parts of a rainbow in it. He still cut it of course, and at the moment his hair was its usual length, but it was rapidly surpassing annoying and moving to downright irritating. Shisui was sure that Kaien was sneaking Harry to him whenever he let his guard down for a minute. No way was his little cousin being that stealthy on his own.

And Aunt Mikoto had forbidden him from retaliating against Harry with anything more serious than mock threats. It was unexpectedly cruel and Shisui was honest enough to admit he was a little resentful. Not being allowed to harass Harry until he undid whatever he'd done meant he had to take Kaien on if he wanted this to stop and get him to convince Harry. Kaien might not be ANBU, but he was more than skilled enough to make vengeance a very tricky business to carry out without getting a face-full back. It was vastly unfair.

Shisui swore he was going to resort to embarrassing genjutsu if they didn't quit soon. It was petty, but he was running a bit low on options that didn't involve violence.

Thing was, had Harry not used his abilities to make him the laughing stock of the Clan, Shisui would have been a bit impressed. Shisui hadn't known Harry could lengthen hair, hadn't even had a clue he could directly change a part of someone's body at all. He had a feeling that Haruka might have a good idea when Harry had figured that out. Harry must've been practicing just to get back at him for his teasing. Kaien had probably helped.

To be honest, as far as creativity went it wasn't that great a prank, but that did not make it any less embarrassing to be the victim. At least Harry's hadn't developed other, more annoying abilities. Yet. Levitation was only funny for so long, any snake might get hurt, and setting someone on fire was not something to joke about. Everything else Harry was experimenting with was, as far as he knew, not ready to use on people yet, so harmless annoying it was.

As it was, Shisui was glad he was good with genjutsu. A small one applied to his hair ensured that at least no one outside the Clan was aware that a brat and a juvenile idiot had gotten the drop on him. It would have been too damn embarrassing otherwise.

Plus the elders would nag his ears off if that happened. He liked where his ears were right now, thanks you very much.

Unfortunately, there was still a risk that people would figure it out, given how Kaien grinned and blatantly made the sign for 'Kai' every time Shisui was within range. No one would believe the guy was Shisui's older cousin if they could see him behave like that.

"Shisui! Haruka! Fancy seeing you here!"

And there the maniac was.

"So. She here yet?" Kaien asked, bouncing a little as he came to stand next to them inside the gates of the compound.

"Hello Otouto," Haruka greeted, his tiny smile turning fond at the sight of his younger brother. "Not yet. It's still a little early though."

Kaien hummed, turning a wicked grin towards Shisui. "My dear cousin!" he greeted enthusiastically, slinging an arm around Shisui's shoulders, knuckling his skull affectionately.

Shisui could feel his genjutsu dispel at his cousin's touch and squawked indignantly. Wriggling out of Kaien's grip he immediately started grappling with his older cousin, trying to get him into a headlock. "Damnit Kaien! The Elders are going to have a coronary if they see this! Never mind if others see this!"

"If, if," Kaien said unconcerned, cheerfully fending of Shisui's attempts. "We're inside the compound and she isn't here yet. Don't be a worrywart." A grin. "I don't see what your problem is anyway. These colours suits you so much."

"You–!"

"… Do I want to know what's happening here?"

Shisui turned slowly, dread rising in his gut. Mitarashi was standing a few yards away looking flat-out incredulous, her hand still in a subtle hand seal for Kai. Behind her, the two Uchiha on guard duty were giving them disapproving frowns.

Shisui and Kaien winced and let go of each other. Shisui shot a reproachful look at Haruka, who looked entirely unconcerned in the face of his glower.

He sighed mournfully to himself. They were going to get lectured, no doubt about it. They already knew the spiel. The Uchiha were old, well respected, a Founding Clan of Konoha, the Clan with the strongest doujutsu, and the backbone of the Konoha Military Police Force. Yadayadayada. They had a Reputation To Uphold.

Which meant no joking or horsing around in front of other people. Shisui's hair alone violated that.

Lightning-quick he reapplied his genjutsu, and the moment he felt it settle over himself he felt silly. Mitarashi had already seen.

She still hadn't lost that distinct what-the-heck look.

Shisui mentally grumbled. Stupid Elders. It was just sad that a fellow Konoha ninja looked so stunned just because she witnessed them acting like normal people. Why couldn't they be more like the Inuzuka, who didn't give a damn what anyone thought of them and were well-respected despite that? At least then people might not dislike their Clan so much. With the current policy no one ever saw more than stick-in-the-muds and smug superiority from them. And yes, those traits were indeed present in the Clan – in too great abundancies, in his humble opinion – but there was so much more they weren't allowed to show.

Sometimes it made Shisui despair a little.

Haruka cast a look their way and, visibly deciding that they weren't ready to play proper hosts just yet, stepped forward with a polite nod of his head. "Mitarashi-san, thank you for coming. Please follow me."

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Anko trailed after the older Uchiha in somewhat of a daze. She had thought that after a good night of sleep had vastly improved her mood, she would be more prepared to deal with Uchiha. She had counted on stiff politeness and well-hidden disdain. She had even prepared for some yelling.

Hell, she'd even prepared to make the Uchiha's lives a lot harder just for being a bunch of arrogant assholes she didn't like.

Turned out, it was for naught. Not even one minute into the meeting and they had already caught her so badly off guard that the air of barely supressed gleeful violence she had wanted to give off was already ruined by shock and curiosity. She had checked for genjutsu but even though she had not found any, she still wasn't convinced she was not under one.

Or maybe someone had managed to slip her a hallucinogen. That was an option too. Because there was no way this was real.

Despite herself, her eyes wandered to Uchiha Shisui. If she concentrated she could sense the genjutsu he had cast over his hair. The memory of what it really looked like was still fresh and bright in her mind. Anyone else might have dismissed the sight as a figment of their imagination, but Anko was ANBU, and she knew when to trust her eyes.

Shisui, who was a fourteen year old genius if her sources were right and had joined ANBU just a few months ago, caught her looking and grimaced so childishly you'd almost forget he was steadily building a reputation of one of the fastest and most dangerous ANBU Konoha had to offer. "Don't. Just… don't ask."

Against her better judgment she asked anyway. "What the hell happened to you?"

Honestly, she wanted to know. It wasn't every day an Uchiha sported a hairdo that just had to be prank-related. She hadn't even known Uchiha did pranks. She'd always thought they didn't have the emotional capacity for any form of humour.

The Uchiha scowled and jabbed an accusing finger at Kaien, whose answering grin was suspiciously wide. "He and Harry happened."

Kaien snickered. "Aww, don't grumble cousin-dear. You had it coming."

Anko couldn't quit staring. She felt as if the universe had done a one-hundred-and-eighty without informing her, because this was not how the world worked. Uchiha didn't act this way. Never. Especially not in front of non-Uchiha.

Yet here she was, watching Uchiha banter and laugh. About something she was absolutely sure was a true and honest practical joke.

How did this happen? She didn't even know that it was possible to have Uchiha who deviated from the mould this much. Though maybe it wasn't so much being 'unable'to act differently and rather being 'not allowed' she realized as she watched them and any Uchiha they encountered on their knew that within prominent Clans there was a lot of pressure from relatives to behave according to what was deemed appropriate by their elders, but she hadn't quite realized how big that pressure was. Kaien and Shisui received glares from random passing Uchiha for what was just a quiet, playful argument that sounded as something that was a regular occurrence for them. She had seen a hundred times worse just walking on the street. Surely the Uchiha's famous attitudes weren't just an act?

Then again, variation was part of the human nature, and most of the Uchiha usually behaved too alike to be entirely natural. But still. This much variation she had not expected.

Though now she thought about it… hadn't she worked with Uchiha Kaien before? She vaguely recalled from a mission involving a shipload of lethal animals, some disturbing kidnappings, and a missing-nin of the mad-scientist variety.

She also vaguely recalled he had just happened to be one of the very few Uchiha she'd been able to stand, staying brisk and professional even when one of the rookies had been an idiot. He'd given orders with only the barest hint of arrogance, which seemed more habit than genuine anyway.

And last time she'd seen him she'd wanted to maim him.

Heh. Oops?

She did the mental equivalent of a shrug. It was not as if he would ever find out.

The biggest problem with the Uchiha was, Anko mused while watching Kaien and Shisui quietly bicker, that unlike the Hyuuga, many of them had hellish tempers, were unafraid to unleash those if they felt someone wasn't taking them seriously enough, and had enough training in restraining themselves that the aggressiveness was turned into something less direct. Unfortunately, most of the time this lead to undue arrogance, harsh words, and the kind of disdain that would make even the kindest person's hackles rise. Not what anyone would call helpful when one was trying to mediate between two disagreeing parties. Which the Military Police Force had to do on a regular basis.

She remembered she'd wondered about their behaviour once. How anyone could live like that. Shouldn't they clash a lot with each other as well? She'd dismissed it then as something not worth wasting time over. She should have known that not every Uchiha was like that. At least, not at home.

Weird, to think she was within the Uchiha's home. But that was what the compound was, in a way. Uchiha only. She hadn't even realized how big a difference such a thing might be.

Stupid. Everyone acts different at home. Even if it's just a little.

Funny, how the Hyuuga were so stiff and formal but somehow still closer to their true personalities in public than these Uchiha. She'd have thought that to be the other way around, but she'd visited a Hyuuga colleague from the T&I Department at the Hyuuga compound, and they had all been the same snooty stick-in-the-muds she was familiar with as far as she'd been able to tell.

Or maybe that was just a case of Hyuuga adhering more to Clan rules than these particular Uchiha.

The three Uchiha really were surprising her. Well, Kaien and Shisui were. So far, Uchiha Haruka behaved no different than what his public image in the village indicated. He was a living example of the Uchiha stereotype. Specifically, that of the Aloof and Superior Uchiha. As opposed to the Loud and Arrogant Uchiha, which Anko found a lot more annoying than the Aloof one. At least the Aloof one had class.

And yet… instead of reprimanding his younger clansmen to re-establish the image of Uchiha superiority, Haruka seemed more amused than anything. As if he didn't care that his brother and cousin were behaving like children in front of a non-Uchiha.

Following the three Uchiha through the compound, Anko couldn't help but feel her curiosity rise. What else did she not know about her fellow shinobi?

It was only because she was extra alert that she noticed. She looked around, and blinked. She'd be first to admit that she had never entered the Uchiha Clan's territory before, but she was ANBU. She knew the layout just in case she would ever have to navigate the place in a tearing hurry. But was it just her or was the path they took purposefully disorienting?

When she asked about it Kaien grinned with an amount of glee that made her wary. "Neat huh? No better way to teach people how to deal with localized illusions!"

Anko narrowed her eyes and studied her surroundings. Some of the buildings seemed a little off, as if they were both near and far away. She had the suspicion that several did not look the size they really were. The illusions were all very subtle, almost unnoticeable, but if you knew they were there the sheer quantity was slightly concerning. And hidden among these more obvious illusions were even subtler ones that changed the names of streets, that concealed small items among the shop displays, and one mean one that hid the place where she knew there should be an alley so narrow you almost had to walk sideways through it. They weren't high level but their use was clever.

"Can't you just dispel them?"

"Why would we?" Haruka asked blankly. "There are many situations imaginable in which it is better to leave an illusion intact."

"Plus, we rather leave the dispelling to the kids. It's good for them," Shisui added, waving a hand at one particular illusion whose sole purpose Anko could identify was to make an edge of a roof appear about a foot higher than it actually was. "This is all pretty tame, obvious stuff, so it's not as if there is any danger to them. Not really, at least. The trickier ones we save until they have the reflexes to handle minor ambushes and such."

Anko nodded grudgingly. Couldn't fault that reasoning. And given that illusions were one of the Uchiha Clan's lesser known specialties it made sense that they would expose their children to them from a very young age to get them accustomed to having their senses messed with. Annoying for her right now, but at least a reasonable annoyance.

The Uchiha Kissaten turned out to be a peaceful traditional establishment. To her delight, they also served dango. Sitting down at the table the three Uchiha had obviously reserved in advance, she happily ordered a couple of sticks of the sticky treat.

"Right. Talk, Uchiha," she ordered, making herself comfortable.

"As we discussed the previous day, we are interested in acquiring one of your jutsu for one of our relatives," Haruka said, a professional air settling around him.

Anko sat up a little straighter. So it was straight to business then. Good. She didn't really feel like slogging through the obligatory small talk most old Clans preferred. "You mentioned that, yes."

What kind of jutsu do they want that they can't just find or copy from someone somewhere else? she wondered, not for the first time. She didn't have that many rare jutsu, and none she could imagine the Uchiha did not have a suitable substitute for among their own. They stole jutsu by the dozen if they had the chance.

Haruka waited a moment when a waiter came to deliver their tea and dango. Huh. Speedy service here, Anko thought to herself as the waiter politely poured their tea before leaving again. Anko ignored the tea and went straight for the snacks, popping one of the sticks in her mouth. She chewed appreciatively. Man, this was good stuff. Maybe she should come here more often.

Haruka sipped his tea before continuing. "The jutsu we are talking about is your summoning technique. We would be much obliged if you would teach it to our younger cousin, Uchiha Harry."

Anko narrowed her eyes, rolling the empty stick around in her mouth. 'Uchiha Harry'? She was sure she knew that name from somewhere. "Isn't that your Clan Head's brat?"

"His second son and our cousin, yes," Kaien agreed.

Thought so. Each ANBU was expected to know all kids with a potential or a confirmed Kekkei Genkai by heart, just in case one of them ever had the bad luck to get kidnapped. And if she remembered Uchiha Harry correctly… "He's a little kid, isn't he?" she asked flatly.

"He turned six two days ago," Shisui confirmed.

Anko slammed her hand on the table. "Let me get this straight. You want me to let your brat sign the Snake Contract? You do know a Summoning Contract can only be signed if the Snakes agree he's right for it, yes? And you're telling me the brat is six? Your Clan has summoners, you should know that if you're going to bring in a new summoner they should be at least an Academy graduate, not barely-trained brats! They'll be pissed at me for even suggesting it!"

To her irritation, Kaien smiled. "That is where his Kekkei Genkai comes in. Believe me, they'll want to snag him before anyone they can't work with does."

Anko gave him the suspicious glare he deserved. "And what does that Kekkei Genkai entail?"

The Uchiha's smile morphed into a smirk. "I think it's better if you see for yourself."

She eyed the mischievous tilt of his mouth, the badly-hidden grin on Shisui's, and the subtle uplift of the corners of Haruka's lips. Chomped down on another stick of dango in irritation. "You're setting me up for something," she accused.

"Only a harmless surprise, Mitarashi-san, I promise," Kaien said solemnly, a hand on his heart.

A promise from an Uchiha. Bunch of stuck up bastards that they were, they still followed the old Clan ways. Which meant that once they made a promise without a set time limit – as incredibly rare as it was – they kept their word to the best of their ability until at least a full day had passed, unless you forced them to break it. So she should be safe. Anko frowned mentally, recalling that the other two Uchiha hadn't made any promises. But she was of the same village and had – murderous urges aside, which she'd kept to herself anyway – never done anything untoward to their Clan, so this shouldn't be the trap it looked like.

Anko had spent enough time with Ibiki to recognize a test when she saw it. She heaved a mental sigh.

Give some trust, get some back. If the kid really had a snake-related Kekkei Genkai the Uchiha were taking a big risk involving an outsider, especially a Clan-less one like her. One thing to learn an ordinary jutsu. Quite another to possess the Snake Summoning Contract in combination with a complimentary Kekkei Genkai. If that ever became common knowledge the brat might as well end up tarred with the same black brush as she herself had been. Might anyway if it became known that she, the former student of the traitor Sannin, was teaching him. It likely wouldn't even matter what she was teaching him.

For the Uchiha to trust one who had been connected to that bastard less than two years ago and didn't have a Clan or even a sensei to back up her word on top of that…. That was huge.

She hadn't gotten that kind of trust since Orochimaru abandoned her and Konoha. No one had even come close to being willing to take this kind of risk when it wasn't necessary for a mission. She told herself that the novelty of the whole thing was the only reason why she was even considering it at all.

"It goes against every bit of common sense I have, but fine. I'll bite," she told the three. "Show me the big surprise then."

Despite her misgivings Anko knew she'd made the right choice when she picked up the edge of relief on their pleased countenances. "You'll owe me for that," she decided, before their little victory could get to their heads.

She scowled when their expressions became more amused. "We expected no less, Mitarashi-san."

In revenge she took all the remaining dango for herself. It was a pity that only Shisui seemed to be sad about that.

Fifteen minutes later she already regretted consenting to this. She had followed the three Uchiha around twists and turns, and the high number of low-level genjutsu prickled like bristly brushes against her instincts. It was making her irritable. Her mood was not improved by the fact that she was not enough at home in the Uchiha district to make a guess at what all the genjutsu were hiding from her.

"Where are we going?" she asked suspiciously as they circled around what she was sure was the Uchiha Clan Head's house. It was a good thing she had three Uchiha with her, otherwise she was certain she would get to gain some personal experience with the protocol of the Konoha Military Police Force for suspicious elements. Ibiki would never let her live it down if that happened.

The Uchiha could apparently guess at her thoughts just from her face. "Don't worry Mitarashi-san, Fugaku-oji-sama knows about this. He won't send the others after you," Shisui reassured her as he beckoned her to follow them up the roof of what she suspected was a shed or storage room.

She huffed in annoyance and jumped up across the wall to join them on the lower roof of the building.

Before she could ask where they were going next Kaien gestured at the garden she could now see below her. "Observe," he whispered with a small smirk.

Curious, she looked down. Messy black hair, about the right age – that had to be Uchiha Harry then. His eyes confirmed it. She vaguely remembered being surprised by them when she'd first seen a picture of him. Not sober black or grey like so many Uchiha, like coals ready to ignite at a moment's notice, nor the ruby red of their bloodline. Instead, Uchiha Harry's eyes were verdurous green like Konoha's forests during summer. It was an unusual enough colour for anyone, let alone an Uchiha.

Then she noticed the unobtrusive pattern of lighter and darker browns in his hands and a distinct triangular head sliding over his wrist.

She narrowed her eyes. "Isn't that... a hundred-pacer?" Anko asked incredulously, barely remembering to keep her voice down. The kid wasn't even holding its head! That was just asking to get bitten! Who in their right mind let a brat handle a venomous snake like that?

And here she had thought Uchiha were smart.

Haruka looked faintly amused by her reaction. His brother and cousin were less composed. They flat out grinned at her. "Yup," Kaien confirmed flippantly, as if his little cousin wasn't just one wrong move away from earning himself a serious visit to the hospital.

Anko gave them a look that hopefully conveyed her full opinion on that reaction. From the grin she got back she concluded she'd managed well enough, though not with the desired result. For a moment she considered simply turning her back on it all. Better not to get involved with madmen. Curiosity, however, was sometimes better than steel cables to keep someone from leaving, as she'd long ago learned.

She snorted dismissively. It didn't matter anyway. "So he's got a tame hundred-pacer. Good for him. Doesn't mean the serpents will allow him to sign the Contract."

When that didn't earn her a response, Anko cast another look their way and spotted a mischievous tilt of the younger two Uchiha's mouths. She glanced between the Uchiha brothers and their younger cousin with narrowed eyes. "… What? What am I missing?"

Kaien's smile broke through and even Haruka gave off the impression of being highly entertained. Shisui didn't even try to hide his grin.

Kaien raised a finger to his lips and winked. "Watch, and you'll see."

Frowning, Anko returned her attention to the youngest Uchiha. Noticed his lips moving, as if he was talking. Her frown deepened. She had long ago mastered the art of lip-reading but nothing he said she recognized. That was… pretty impressive, actually.

Anko strained her ears, trying to catch his words, and suddenly came to the startling realization she wasn't imagining things, and he was hissing.

She opened her mouth to ask the other Uchiha what the hell the kid was playing at, when the snake raised its head and hissed back.

Anko couldn't help it. Her jaw dropped.

For several long moments she couldn't do anything but stare at what seemed to be a conversation in a foreign language.

"… No way…," she whispered. "There's just no way- You're telling me he can talk with them?!"

Kaien broke down into full blown laughter and Shisui only managed to last a second longer before he too broke. Their behaviour only pushed Anko's incredulousness to higher levels. Uchiha weren't known for public display of emotion, so to see them laugh so freely was... kinda disturbing, really. It visibly startled Harry, who immediately raised his head and searched for the source of the noise, noticing their presence for the first time. The two Uchiha clearly didn't give a damn.

"Oh, your reaction is even better than mine!" Kaien crowed, delighted with her shocked exclamation.

Haruka, on the other hand, merely showed a small upturn of his lips, for all that he too had to be laughing inside. The older Uchiha glanced at a dubiously frowning Harry and gave him a wave to signal that everything was okay. Harry gave them one last lingering look before clearly deciding he was better off not knowing and disappeared to another part of the garden.

"I assume you now understand the reason for our request."

Anko gaped like a fish, before exploding. "You… you bastards! No wonder you were being all mysterious! Where the hell did he learn that?"

"That's the thing," Kaien said cheerfully. "He didn't learn it."

For a moment the female ANBU stared at him. "Go away. You've got to be kidding."

"I swear," Kaien laughed, pressing one hand over his heart, trying and failing to convey his sincerity. "He could do it even before he knew he could. Had been listening to a snake talking for a good half an hour without realizing it was a snake. None of us know how he got it, but it has to be some kind of Kekkei Genkai."

"Could he teach me?" Anko demanded.

Shisui shrugged. "We don't know, but I think so. Sasuke tried and managed to produce the right sounds, though Harry and the snake nearly busted their guts laughing at the accent and mispronunciations. That was a weird experience, by the way," he added, looking contemplative.

Anko nodded, ignoring his last comment. "That's all I need to know. If the kid teaches me the basics I'll convince my Summons to at least come and see him."

Haruka tilted his head. "You do realize that Harry-kun is a child? He has never taught before and won't be able to properly structure your lessons."

Anko waved her hand at him. "That's alright, I can use learning aids from other languages. He'll just have to translate."

Kaien crossed his arms, leaning against the wall of the next floor. "Unless you figure out a new phonetic script you won't be able to write things down. Are you okay with that?"

Anko grinned. "Yeah, I'll come up with something. Codes are one thing, but foreign languages are a lot more complex than any code you could create within a decent amount of time. Well, more complex unless you're really, really bored. Snake language? Even if I can't figure out a good system to write it down, that is airtight, private communication between my Summons and me. No way I'm passing that one up. And if I do it right I can even base a simplified code on it to get Ibiki off my back when he finds out I've been spending my time elsewhere, so it's not as if anyone will figure out I was here if you guys won't talk either."

Haruka nodded. "We won't. We do not wish for Harry-kun's abilities to become public knowledge."

Anko's grin widened. "In that case, I think we have an accord." She tilted her head. "Well, that is, if you're willing to pay for some of the missions I'll be missing," she added cheekily. She held out a hand.

Haruka didn't hesitate to grasp her hand in a firm handshake, sealing their deal. "We do not mind. We are grateful for your cooperation, Mitarashi-san."

She grinned. "Don't thank me yet. Your little cousin is going to have to do at least part of the convincing if he wants the Contract. I can only get them so far without him putting in some effort as well."

Haruka managed to project his amusement without moving his face. "We will give him some negotiation exercises."

Anko thought about the kid she'd seen and the kind of temperaments Uchiha were famous for. She laughed.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

After they'd seen Mitarashi off, Haruka patted his little brother and cousin on their shoulders. "Well done drawing her in."

Shisui gave him a sardonically amused look. "I knew you had a reason for asking me to come. You never expected us to behave, did you?"

Haruka let a brow climb a fraction. "Of course not."

Shisui scowled at the implied insult. "Oi, I can do it if I want to. It's this moron's fault. If he and Harry didn't keep messing with my hair and breaking my genjutsu there wouldn't have been a problem."

Kaien sniffed and swiped at the finger Shisui pointed at him. "Oh please, as if that's the only reason. You could have stopped our little fights anytime. Don't tell me you need Haruka-nii to scold you to remember that."

"I didn't! I just figured Haruka thought it might help when he didn't say anything!"

Kaien shrugged. "Well, of course he let us mess around. It was obvious that Mitarashi-san dislikes formalities when we talked to her yesterday. She must have been very tired. She didn't even try to hide those venomous looks she kept giving us." He tilted his head. "Then again, she seems the type who is just too straightforward to have the patience for them even if she's well rested."

Shisui looked thoughtful. "Nah, I don't think that's why. At least, not entirely. I heard some rumours about her. I think it's because formalities remind her of her old sensei. A lot of her behaviour changed after he became a missing-nin. She had to move teams because she was no longer suited for undercover and espionage missions. I heard she even changed her specialties."

"Huh." Kaien folded his arms with a frown. "I think I've seen her around when her sensei was still in the village, and yeah, she was devoted. But I can't remember her being that devoted."

Shisui shrugged. "I know, but remember how the last Sannin became a Nukenin." He grimaced to himself, recalling some of the nastier rumours that had somehow circumvented ANBU's strict mission confidentiality to circulate among the upper ranks of the Village.

Kaien's eyes were keen and inquisitive. Shisui knew his cousin had only done one year of ANBU before deciding that being a Tokubetsu Jounin was more up his alley, so he was not as up to date on the subject of S-class missing nin as Shisui was. Kaien wouldn't have been present when older ANBU members had shared some inside information with the newbies after the whole mess had come to light. Shisui knew what he would ask before he uttered the question.

"You heard something incriminating?"

Shisui firmly shook his head. "No. Just caught a few hints that there might have been more problems than could be expected from her sensei being outed as a traitor."

Kaien opened his mouth to question him further, but Haruka interrupted with a sharp look to both of them. "It changes little. Harry's ability meant we would oversee their interactions anyway." He levelled a heavy look on his brother. "Do not ask too much. No matter what else she is, she is a comrade and deserves to be respected as that. As a rising talent in T&I she is subject to observation by the most observant shinobi in the Village. If she was a security risk she would not still be trusted as a member of ANBU."

Kaien nodded, looking miffed that his questioning was interrupted but accepting the rebuke.

Shisui side-eyed him but remained silent. It was not as if he would have given his cousin more info anyway. He was still ANBU, and Kaien was not. Loyalty to the Village meant loyalty to your comrades, and from what he'd seen and heard, Mitarashi already had enough suspicion heaped on her. Haruka was right on the money with his assessment.

Until Mitarashi did something to revoke her current position, she deserved the same trust any of their comrades was entitled to.

"Now negotiations have finished you can take the rest of the day off, Kaien. Shisui, I do not know what other obligations you have today, but I assume you will be dining at Fugaku-sama's house?"

At Shisui's nod, Haruka continued. "Then please inform Fugaku-sama of our success and tell Harry I will pick him up at eight tomorrow. He has a lot of studying to do."

Shisui nodded. "Sure. You're going to the library tomorrow?"

"Indeed," Haruka confirmed, raising his eyebrow a fraction.

"I'll come with you. I don't have a mission scheduled and want to look something up anyway," Shisui said. And he wanted to see Harry's face when he got his new exercises, but Haruka didn't need to know that. Call him petty, but he didn't want to pass up easy entertainment when he didn't have to.

"Very well. I'll see you tomorrow then," Haruka agreed. Paused for a moment. "Though I would prefer if you would get that atrocious mess of your hair fixed. Kaien has been teaching Harry how to dispel illusions."

Kaien grinned and twiddled his fingers in a mocking wave as Shisui shot him a betrayed look.

"Will do," Shisui ground out, glaring at his idiotic cousin.

"Until tomorrow then. Have a pleasant day." Haruka turned away, face blank as always but with a barely-there upward curve to the corners of his lips. Snickering, Kaien hurried after him before Shisui could decide to teach him a lesson.

Shisui sighed and resisted the urge to strangle Kaien. They were in the middle of the street and still in range of the gate. It wouldn't do to cause too big a scene here.

Something niggled at the back of his head. Lost in thought, he watched his older cousins walk away. Kaien seemed particularly cheerful, bumping his fist against his brother's shoulder, who, of course, couldn't be bothered to give a proper fist-bump back. Though from his stance Haruka did seem unusually pleased. Pleased, and very much amused.

Realization struck him. Those bloody – forget not causing a scene! "You bastards!" he yelled, running after them. "You are the ones who convinced Mikoto-obaa-sama to keep me from letting Harry fix my hair!"

His two cousins didn't bother to share a look and broke out into a sprint, betraying their guilt. With a growl, Shisui shunshined after them, hand already diving into the kunai pouch at his hip. "Oi! Get back here!"

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

It was a rather miffed Shisui that shared the Clan Head's table that night. Not in the least because his asshole-cousins had been invited as well when they came barrelling past Aunt Mikoto an hour or something into their chase. His cousin's teamwork had been good enough that even after a several hours, he had not been able to exact all the vengeance he wanted.

I hate you, he signed subtly but emotively across the table from where Aunt Mikoto and Uncle Fugaku couldn't see.

Love you too, Kaien replied with a grin, uncaring about the bloody scratch on his face and the remnants of blue dye stuck in his hair. Shisui tried to kick him under the table but missed, and had to catch a dish before it would rattle too loudly. Kaien silently laughed at him.

Harry and Sasuke watched them suspiciously. Itachi seemed amused by their antics, in a slightly exasperated way. Haruka looked unperturbed, but if you looked closely you could see the crinkles of a hidden smile at his eyes.

"So how did it go?" Aunt Mikoto asked conversationally. Shisui was pretty sure she noticed the silent fighting but didn't feel like commenting on it.

"Quite well," Haruka said. "Mitarashi Anko has agreed to let Harry make an attempt to gain a contract with the Snakes. She has warned us that convincing them to let him sign might not be easy."

Uncle Fugaku nodded. "We expected that. The price?"

"A similar attempt and compensation for her time. She wishes to learn the language Harry speaks."

"Me? But I don't know how to teach someone," Harry said, eyes wide and worried.

Kaien ruffled his hair. "Don't worry squirt, we told her that. She said she'd get some learning guides for other languages, so you'll just have to translate a lot of stuff. You can do that, can't you?"

Harry furrowed his brow but nodded determinedly.

"Good. Then everything will work out just fine."

"Yeah, no thanks to you. I still don't get why you helped them with their stupid prank, Oba-san," Shisui muttered sullenly to Mikoto.

She smiled at him, as if she was completely innocent. Shisui didn't trust it for a minute. "Haruka-kun believed it might help. We reviewed what we knew of Mitarashi-san and agreed it had merit. It is no secret that she might refuse us out of pettiness if we did not find a way to snare her interest. She is not really subtle about her dislikes."

Shisui raised a brow. "'We'?"

Uncle Fugaku, he noticed, was pointedly staying out of the conversation.

"Well, of course we couldn't consider an approach that might harm the Clan's dignity without consulting our Clan Head and one or two elders, now could we?" Aunt Mikoto said as she placed the last dish on the table.

"Wait, does that mean we had permission to act the way we did?" Shisui asked excitedly.

Haruka nodded. Kaien's grin was positively wicked.

"And we continue to have it for the duration of this 'mission'?" Shisui pressed.

Another nod.

"Awesome!"

Harry, he noticed, was looking increasingly wary. Heh. Cute, the brat was developing some instincts.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

When Harry was presented with the load of books he had to read in the upcoming days, his face crumpled in dismay. Shisui tried not to laugh, but it was difficult. It was clear that only the promise of getting a shot at gaining a Summoning Contract kept Harry from setting the books on fire.

Which he was getting better at. Not so good that he got consistent results, but good enough to make something catch fire every time. Now all he needed was gain control over the volume of the blaze. Shisui was both proud and a tiny bit worried for his own collection of books and scrolls.

Even so, Haruka still shot Harry a sharp warning look. Harry's shoulders slumped a bit further. Such a little pyromaniac.

Harry was also getting good at reading faces. The glare he send Shisui's way spoke volumes of how little he'd been fooled by Shisui's attempt to keep the smile from his face.

Ungrateful brat. After all Shisui had suffered the last few days for his sake, it would serve Harry right if the snakes bit him.

I know it is not a very interesting chapter, but I really just wanted to post something for this again (and to put some people's belief that this is abandoned to rest; Ground Fire is not dead, I'm merely having trouble writing it). Hopefully this will get me back into the swing of things.

Notes on Orochimaru and the timeline: I have never been entirely clear on when Orochimaru exactly left the village, so I took Anko's age as an indicator. In part 1 of the Naruto series Anko is 24, according to the Wiki. So at this point in time she would be about 16 to 17. Graduation age is about 13. Now, when we see her as Orochimaru's student she seems about the normal age for a Genin. She has to have spent at least a year as his student to learn all the things she supposedly is capable of in canon and to take a shot at the Chuunin exams, so I'm putting Orochimaru's defection a bit less than two years ago, when Anko was somewhere between fourteen and fifteen.

Kai: full name of the technique being genjutsu kai, meaning 'genjutsu dissipation'. Used to counter/cancel illusions.

Hundred-pacer: this is the lovely nickname for snakes of the genus Deinagkistrodon (specifically Deinagkistrodon acutus), also known as the sharp-nosed pit viper, and is bestowed on them by locals in reference to the legend that, once bitten, a person can walk only a hundred more steps before succumbing to the bite. Their venom is hemotoxic and can be fatal.

Nukenin: missing nin.

Thank you for your patience and till next time!