New Perspective: Chapter 1

Summary: Sakura has a new admirer.

Shisui sighed as he walked towards the main house of the Uchiha compound. Itachi had sent for him with one of his crow summons in the ungodly hours of the morning (approximately 8:30 a.m.), telling him they had something important to discuss. Shisui had sent the bird off with a message telling Itachi that he'd be there shortly.

As the raven-haired man made his way through the streets, getting closer and closer to his destination, he heard shouting coming from one of the nearby Uchiha training grounds. Not recognizing the voices, Shisui decided to take a look. He changed the direction of his steps and found himself at the Northern practice field where he was met with an amusing sight.

It appeared that his little cousin Sasuke and his teammates had been sparring together. Well, they were sparring. Currently, Sasuke was attempting to hold back his pink-haired kunoichi friend, while the blond jinchuriki boy was scrambling away from her on the ground. Shisui had never spared much thought for Sasuke's team before; he had his own responsibilities, and besides, they never seemed to do anything worth noting. He knew that the blond one, Naruto, was a host to the kyuubi, but his annoying personality was much to Shisui's distaste. He didn't know much about the sole kunoichi of the group, but he felt like he had heard something about her that he couldn't quite recall.

Then, Sakura grabbed Sasuke's wrist and flung him across the field before punching the ground and ultimately shattering the earth around them, pulling Naruto into the gaping cracks below him where he couldn't escape. Ah, that's right, Shisui mused. She's the Godaime's apprentice. He watched as Sakura cracked her knuckles while marching menacingly towards her trapped teammate. Shisui then figured that as the responsible adult in the situation, he should probably intervene.

With a sigh, Shisui stepped forwards and raised his hand in a greeting. "Hey guys," he chirped, giving the trio one of his award-winning smiles and successfully catching them all off guard. Naruto was on the verge of grateful tears as Sakura's attention was taken away from him. Sasuke trudged out from the bushes he had been tossed into and looked over at his cousin in surprise.

"What are you doing here, cousin?" Sasuke asks warily. Knowing Shisui, he was probably up to something, but his face didn't show any sign of mischief. Then again, he was an Uchiha, so one could never know.

"Ah, nothing really, just passing by. Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Shisui asked, keeping in a silent laugh as he watched Naruto clamber out of the ground from the corner of his eye. He turned his gaze to Sakura and raised an eyebrow.

Sasuke still looked skeptical but he does as asked. "This is Sakura," he points at the kunoichi, "and Naruto," he gestures to the orange heap on the ground. "They're my team. Guys, this is my cousin, Shisui."

"Nice to meet you," Shisui grinned, still focusing his gaze on Sakura. The girl blushed under his stare and Shisui counted this as a win. He could feel Sasuke glaring at him off to the side, but paid him no heed. "Well, I wish I could stay, but Itachi decided to send one of his summons to drag me out of bed to meet him, so I have to head out."

"Bye," Sasuke said, his voice as monotonous as ever. Though Shisui could still hear the clear message. Get the fuck out and quit staring at my teammate. The elder of the two simply winked at Sakura and body flickered away, leaving the poor girl red in the face with her two companions.

About a week passed since the encounter with Sasuke's team, and Shisui was absolutely enamored by the little, pink spitfire. He tried to discreetly ask Itachi about her, but his response was always "why don't you ask Sasuke?" even though he was sure his younger cousin knew that Sasuke would be way too suspicious. So, Shisui just sulked in hopes that Itachi would give in and divulge some of the information he had on the girl. It didn't work.

However, his hopes would be more than fulfilled when he was invited to dinner at the main house later that week. Shisui didn't think anything of it at first- Mikoto viewed him as a third son, so he was often there for meals- but he was met by a pleasant surprise when he stepped into the house to find Sasuke's team there as well. A sly grin made its way onto his face when he caught Sakura's gaze. He made his way to sit beside her, but Sasuke quickly blocked his path and took the seat Shisui had been aiming for. Naruto already had the other side, so he was forced to sit next to Itachi, across from the girl he had yet to quit staring at.

"Fancy seeing you here," he practically purred. Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get any words out, Sasuke was talking for her.

"Team Seven comes over often for dinner. You're just never here when it happens," he stated, clearly not liking the way Shisui was eyeing his teammate. Shisui hummed in acknowledgement before turning to Itachi to chat with him while they waited for dinner to be served.

Eventually, Mikoto came into the dining room, balancing several trays of food on her arms which Shisui and Itachi immediately helped her with. After saying their thanks, the group dug in. No matter how many times Shisui came over for dinner, he would always be astounded by Mikoto's skill in the kitchen, and he told her just as such. She simply waved him off, saying he's just trying to butter her up so she'll cook for him more. Shisui laughed at this, but didn't deny anything.

For the most part after that, Shisui behaved himself, though he let slip a few flirty remarks directed towards Sakura. Sasuke would get livid every time he spoke to her, and Itachi appeared vaguely amused.

"So, Sakura-chan," Shisui started, "how has my baby cousin been treating you? He can be a real thorn in the side at times." Sasuke scowled at his observation, but Sakura seemed happy at the attention.

"He's pleasant most of the time, but a bit overprotective. I can't believe this is the first time I've met his family, even though we've been teammates since we were genin!" Sakura sent a playful look over at Sasuke. Shisui's eyes glinted with mischief.

"That's good to hear. Though, I understand his reasoning. Us Uchiha can be quite the… troublemakers." Shisui sent his award-winning grin her way. Sakura blushed (again), and fidgeted in her seat. Shisui looked satisfied with her response, and the remainder of dinner went by without a hitch. Once everyone had finished eating, Mikoto gathered the dishes and took them to the kitchen to clean. Sakura insisted that she help her with the washing, but Mikoto was firm in her stance that Sakura was the guest and thus was exempt from clean-up duty.

Sakura sat in the living room with her team, listening in on their bickering for a while before deciding she should be heading home. Everyone else seemed to agree, so they all stood up and headed towards the fouyer to say their goodbyes. Sakura had just promised Mikoto to visit again soon when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Shisui smiling at her.

"Sakura-chan, before you leave I'd like to ask you something," the older Uchiha said, ignoring the daggers Sasuke was glaring into his back.

"Oh, what is it?" Sakura asked, blinking at him curiously. Shisui found his throat drying up at her innocent expression. Gods, why was she so cute?

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me?" He asked. Sasuke leapt in front of Sakura.

"No, she would not-" He was cut off when Sakura hit him on the head. He rubbed the sore spot and huffed at her.

"I can speak for myself," she narrowed her eyes at Sasuke, then turned back to Shisui. Her expression lightened, as if she hadn't just probably given his cousin a concussion. "I'd love that, Shisui-san. When and where?"

Shisui beamed at her, giving her a location, date, and time. Naruto and Sasuke openly gaped at their female teammate, shocked that she would actually accept an invitation from him.

"Now, would you like me to walk you home?" Shisui offered, holding out his hand. It was Naruto's turn this time to come to Sakura's "rescue" as he pulled Sakura aside by her arm, dragging her to the door.

"No, need! We live nearby each other, so I will take her to her apartment," Naruto said, leaving no room for discussion. Shisui merely raised an eyebrow and bid them farewell right as they left. He could hear a yelp of pain and muffled shouting from behind the door, fading as the two walked away. He sighed and turned around to see a fuming Sasuke.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" the younger boy demanded.

"Taking a pretty girl out on a date," he replied with an evident "duh" in his tone.

"You don't date," Sasuke stated, annoyed with how nonchalant his cousin was being when he himself was about to burst with anger.

"I do what I want," Shisui countered, a smug look on his face. Sasuke couldn't say anything else, as his older cousin body flickered away. Sasuke hated that damn trademark.