Argh! Sorry for the wait! I struggled so much with this chapter xD I hope it's okay?

Err, anyway WARNING! There are some vague descriptions of blood and violence here? I'm not sure if I should say anything as the tag was there already but... just in case. But don't worry! Everything is well!

12

A branch crunched and groaned, breaking under the sudden weight placed upon it, but the body had jumped away before it cluttered to the ground. A murder of crows cawed loudly and scattered some minutes after that, avoiding the hurried ninja that was running for his life.

Shisui knew it was just a matter of time.

He could almost feel the chakra of his tail, the shinobi Danzo had ordered to attack him. They were fast, and Shisui was tired, half-blind, and starting to feel the consequences of blood and chakra loss. He was running without a clear path in mind, barely aware of his surroundings beyond the tree branches and the approaching sunset.

He faltered for a second, and that little mistake cost him. He missed the next branch and fell, a pained gasp escaping from his lips even as he tried to reign it it, but quickly avoided getting plastered to the ground with a sloppy somersault, followed by a clumsy roll over fallen leaves that got stuck in his hair. He clutched his right arm with his left hand, trying to slow down at least that flow of blood, but not even then did he stop running.

He knew it was just a matter of time before they caught up, but—

But—

He wasn't called Shunshin no Shisui for nothing. They might be fast, but Shisui was faster.

With clenched teeth and steady resolution, the teenager let go of his injured arm to form the so familiar hand sign for the justu that gave him his moniker and flickered.

(What did it matter, if the liberal use of the technique consumed what little was left of his chakra reserves after fighting so long with the Mangekyou activated? What did it matter, if he was one foot closer to chakra exhaustion, when stopping meant his demise?)

It wouldn't have mattered that much, if the occasion was different. If this had been a mission, and the people chasing after him were enemy shinobi, Shisui would have resorted to other means to get out of the problem. He'd have probably been able to think much more clearly, make a plan, stick to it—

But this was an enemy that should be an ally. This was an enemy that only Shisui was aware of, and he couldn't just let himself be captured and killed—Not when that meant that nobody would ever know what happened to him; not when that meant the still avoidable annihilation of his Clan would come to pass.

His already limited vision was darkening at the edges, but Shisui fought against it. He couldn't pass out now, he needed to run run run get away—

He had been lucky, when his fight with Danzo was interrupted so suddenly. He hadn't even tried to get a look of his accidental saviour, he had just made use of the opportunity that was so graciously presented to him and took off as fast as he could. He managed to knock out one of Danzo's minions before he escaped through a broken window—courtesy of which he had yet another slash from which more blood was oozing from, as if he hadn't enough with the ones his attackers inflicted upon him. (Not to mention his missing eye. Kami, that hurt.)

He wasn't sure what was the cause of his stumble, but suddenly he found himself on his hands and knees, blood dripping down and splattering the ground with red that quickly turned to dark brown as it was absorbed by the earth. It hurt to breathe, and dark spots were still dancing in front of him, obstructing his visibility.

He felt dizzy and nauseous and so, so tired but he couldn't focus on that. He didn't even acknowledge his state as he pushed himself up again and activated shunshin once more.

The only thing clear in his mind right then was that he had to get away right now, he had to be faster—

He needed to—

He needed to get to somebody. He needed to tell somebody what happened, he needed—

He needed to know that his death wouldn't be in vain. That it would be avenged. That his family and his village and everything he held dear would be protected, would be okay.

The image of his little cousin and best friend popped up right then, and suddenly he knew what was the best course of action. If there was a soul that would understand where he was coming from and do the right thing, that'd be his. Shisui didn't doubt it for a second.

He needed to find Itachi.

Once he had an objective apart from not getting caught, Shisui redirected his path towards the training grounds Itachi normally frequented when he was not on a mission or on duty.

He could do nothing else but pray that he would be able to find him there, because he was feeling more and more detached and he was sure that any second now he was going to pass out and bleed to death (or his tail would finally catch up and kill him—not that it made much difference, he'll be dead anyway). If Itachi was not there when Shisui arrived, then—

No. He'd be there. He had to believe that, or he might just give up and he couldn't bear to even think about it. Giving up at this point would not only mean his death, but also the death of his clansmen and family and war, and Shisui could not tolerate the idea. He had to persevere. He had to move.

He grunted in pain as he collided rather roughly with the trunk of a tree, before he used it to push himself off and advance further. (He left a bloody hand print behind, but he couldn't really care. It was not as if he was trying to be discreet. He didn't have the time to do so.)

One more shunshin and then—

There.

The rhythmic thump, thump of kunai being thrown at a target, and a soft voice patiently explaining what the thrower was doing wrong. Shisui almost felt like weeping, recognizing said voice immediately.

"No. Not like that,"Itachi said fondly, and in some corner of his mind the approaching teenager knew that the only one his cousin treated with such tenderness could be none other than Sasuke. "You must bend your wrist more. Let me demonstrate again, and pay more attention this ti—"

With a whoosh of leaves and a humongous effort to control what was left of his chakra, Shisui activated the jutsu one more time to get to Itachi's side, and then five more times after he grabbed a hold of the younger teen. He had been barely aware of the shouts of surprised alarm just after he kidnapped his little cousin, but he couldn't stop—not even to reassure Sasuke of his brother's safety.

The succession of shunshin that followed were almost as draining as using his Mangekyou, but they were necessary—He couldn't waste more time. He had to take them both as far away as he could before Itachi got his wits and attacked him in self defence—which he did, just as Shisui finished his fifth overpowered consecutive jutsu.

The elbow to the stomach and the following grip on his arm was something he was expecting, as he had surprised his cousin too many times to count and knew it was his default manoeuvre to dislodge attackers. He let himself be pulled over Itachi's head and pinned to the ground, knowing that struggling was not his best option.

Itachi's dark eyes, which had been narrowed and icy and dangerous as he pinned Shisui to the ground and held a sharp kunai against the older teen's throat, grew huge as he recognized the mangled form of his cousin and promptly rolled over and away from Shisui.

"Shisui?! What happened to you?!" He demanded, horrified. Shisui couldn't help the wet chuckle that escaped him at that, even if it hurt like blazes and made him cough up blood afterwards. Go figure, that he needed to be at death's door for Itachi to show so much emotion to him. The boy hurriedly turned him over and Shisui was grateful—at least he wouldn't drown on his own blood before he could actually say what he so desperately needed to. "What—Oh, Kami your eye—! Why aren't you at the Hospital—"

"Itachi," he wheezed out, his lungs protesting. His head ached. He knew his Mangekyou was still active and consuming his chakra, but it was necessary for what he had planned.

"—so much blood, why—"

"Itachi," he repeated, clearer this time, and made an effort to stand up again and assess his surroundings quickly. The Naka River—good. "Itachi, listen to me."

The younger boy looked harried and so unlike himself, eyes wide and terrified and so confused. Shisui ached for him, for what he was about to do. He knew it was too much to ask, especially from a boy who was barely thirteen and had too much on his plate already but he was the only person Shisui trusted completely and right now, Shisui's only hope.

"Itachi… Promise me you'll protect the village," he said, looking at his cousin in the eye. "Danzo—he's not to be trusted, he did this to me," he confessed, and he watched as something changed in Itachi's eyes. They widened and flashed for a second, and if Shisui hadn't been so out of it, he might have noticed the red tinge of the Sharingan activating. "Promise me, Itachi, that you'll protect the village, and the Uchiha name."

"I—Shisui—"

"Promise me," he hissed and watched guiltily as Itachi recoiled momentarily before squaring his shoulders and putting on a brave, serious face.

"I promise."

"Good." Shisui then lifted his left hand to his face and with trepidation but solid determination, stuck his fingers in his eye socket and pulled off his remaining eye. It hurt as much as the extraction of his right one had, if not more—the adrenalin of the fight had glossed over the pain back then, but as it had almost disappeared by this point it was much more acute and he almost passed out. He bit his lip to keep the scream in and his focus on the present. It bled.

He heard the choked exclamation of distress and was relatively glad that he could not see what face his cousin was making right now—it'd be too painful, he was sure. Lifting his arm towards the point he had last seen Itachi, he offered his prize to the boy and mustered enough energy to smile at him. It was an honest smile, and he hoped that Itachi didn't come to hate him too much after all this ended.

"Take this. Learn about Kotoamatsukami, my Mangekyou's ability. Use it wisely," he said, and waited for Itachi to accept his gift. "And Itachi? I love you, little cousin. And I'm sorry," he said at last, and then took five steps back and let himself fall backwards.

"SHISUI!"

The heart wrenching scream was the last thing he heard before the cold waters of the Naka River engulfed him and carried him away. He was blind, he was tired, and he couldn't even breathe any more, but the smile stayed put. He felt that a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but he didn't let himself die just yet. Forcing himself to gather whatever was left of his chakra, he concentrated on doing one last jutsu—

Nobody would find his body, he was adamant about that. He wouldn't let anybody make use of it. Not even after death.

Drip.

He was floating in darkness. Or was it light?

Drip.

He wasn't sure if he was going up or down. Was he sinking? Was he floating? Where was he?

Drip, drip, drip.

He frowned, irritated with the soft sound. It didn't make sense, why was he there? Everything was peaceful—not dark, not light. There were no colours or smells or sounds, except for—

Drip, drip, drip.

Why wouldn't it stop, for goodness sake?! It was so annoying! Shisui hadn't let himself die just to be irritated beyond belief in the afterlife by a bloody—

Startled, he drew in a gulp of air and forced his eyes open.

Everything was white. White and silent except for a constant drip, drip, drip and hushed voices in the distance, and the melodious chirp of a bird singing outside the window. It was white and smelled like antiseptics and fresh flowers and it was impossible!

Shisui was dead! He had died after giving his eye to Itachi! He could clearly remember the horrible pain of plucking his own eye out and the guilt at hearing his cousin scream before the current carried him away and he died with a smile on his lips—

He sat up brusquely and looked around, instantly recognizing where he was. White walls, a window to the side. A simple door opposite the single bed in which he was resting. White sheets. The end of an IV drip stuck in his left forearm—the source of the annoying sound. A vase of bright and cheerful pink flowers over the side table that he shouldn't be able to see because he didn't have eyes any more!

Almost without a thought, he reached for his left eye and—yes. Those were his fingers. He could see them. Why? How? He closed the eye and there was black, and with a trembling hand he carefully touched above the eyelid to make sure that the globe was there. It was, he could feel it, and when he opened it once again the hospital room came into focus once more.

He could see. His eye was intact.

But how—

Alarmed, he reached for his other eye, the one that Danzo had taken from him and surely, surely it was gone, without a doubt because—

He hissed as he made contact with the bandage that just then did he notice was covering the right side of his face. He had felt—No. Yes? Gingerly, he touched around the eye socket expecting it to feel different, hollow. But there was a slight protuberance, and it hurt. It hurt as if he had an eye under all those bandages, tender and in need of protection and Shisui suddenly just needed to make sure, because it was simply not possible—

Just as he was starting to take off the dressing, the door opened. Shisui looked up and froze as he recognized his visitor, who froze along with him.

"Itachi?" He whispered, incredulous, watching as his little cousin inspected him with worry and relief and anger all mixed together in his dark eyes. He was carrying a book and the bags under his eyes told Shisui that the boy hadn't been sleeping well. "What—"

"You are an idiot. You are an idiot and I should kill you right now," the boy declared frostily as he advanced towards the bedridden teen menacingly. Bewildered, Shisui could do nothing but stare as Itachi put his book over the side table and then strongly but gently took Shisui's hands away from the bandages around his head. "Don't touch that. The wound is healing nicely but the area is delicate still after the operation. You could lose your eye for real this time if it gets infected now."

"Operation?" He blurted, more confused than ever before. "What operation? And my eye… didn't Danzo take it? And… how am I even alive?" He stressed, starting to hyperventilate. "I died! I gave you my left eye and died! I remember it! How come—"

"Shisui."

"—my eye is intact and we are here and I'm not dead—"

"Shisui!" The sharp tone made the stressed out boy shut up and look at his cousin wildly. "You didn't—After you mentioned Danzo, I knew something was wrong and I…" He hesitated minutely before looking determined again. "I activated my Sharingan and put you under a genjutsu. It made you believe that you were doing what you planned. Meanwhile, I knocked you out and brought you here."

"But my tail—"

"They had been dealt with."

"Danzo—"

"Has been investigated, interrogated and is awaiting execution."

"What?!"

"Shisui—You've been out for a week," Itachi informed and Shisui gaped. "You almost didn't make it," he continued and Shisui noticed, to his abject horror, that the boy had actual tears in his eyes and was struggling not to break down crying. Shisui had never seen Itachi cry, not even when he was an infant. He didn't know what to do! "The operation was touch and go and they actually lost you for a moment there, you had lost so much blood—" He hiccuped and Shisui, terrified, struggled to move, to embrace the boy, to do anything in his power to stop it because Itachi was strong and mature and he never cried, it was not right.

"Oh, Kami. I'm so sorry, Itachi. I'm so sorry. I'm okay, you see? I'm alive and well. A little mangled and half-blind for the time being, but alive—thanks to you. I can't believe it. Alive, Itachi. I'm fine, so please, don't… Please don't cry," he begged desperately.

He was trying to be reassuring, he really was! So why did his words only seem to make it worse? The thirteen year old was now actively crying—not with loud sobs and a running nose and shaking despair, but stiff muscles and a blank face and red rimmed eyes. Two separate tracks made of tears quickly run down pale cheeks to get lost under the high collar of the traditional Uchiha shirt and Shisui felt his heart constrict because his best friend had been so scared of the possibility of losing him, of Shisui dying and leaving him with such a burden over his shoulders to face alone and—

He felt his own tears making their way down his own cheeks, warm and wet and—liberating. Full of relief and gratitude and guilt because for all his thinking, for all his determination to die on his own terms, Shisui was just sixteen. He hadn't wanted to die. There were so many things he still wanted to do, so many things he wanted to see. He was so grateful to his cousin for helping him, for stopping him. He had been given a second opportunity, and he promised himself that he would make it count.

He squeezed the small hand he had grasped, trying to offer his best friend even a little bit of comfort.

"Why are you crying, idiot?" Itachi growled, rubbing his arm over his face to get rid of the tears. "It's all your fault. You don't deserve to be crying over this. Stupid."

Shisui chuckled and smiled wobbly at his younger cousin.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Stop apologizing, idiot."

"Sorry."

"I hate you."

"Sorry."

They were silent for some time, rejoicing in the fact that they were both alive and well. Shisui almost couldn't believe it. Even as he reassured Itachi, a part of his brain was still stuck on the idea that he had died and everything happening now was just a dream.

Surely it couldn't have been so simple? Danzo's men had been following him, he was almost dead and then—he was saved?

Even if he didn't want to doubt the hopeful vision, he couldn't bring himself to believe it completely. Things just weren't adding up. How come he didn't die of blood loss? Even if Itachi had literally stopped him from committing suicide putting him under a genjutsu, his state had been horrible. He distinctly remembered the light headedness of blood loss and the strain on his chakra conducts. How did little Itachi manage to bring him all the way to the hospital while avoiding Shisui's tail and making sure that he didn't die in the process?

"What happened?" He asked once again, and Itachi gave him a look that clearly stated that he believed Shisui was being dense. Shisui would have rolled his eyes in exasperation any other time, but now it hurt so he wisely avoided doing so. He did glare pointedly at the boy. "After I passed out. You were too vague. There are things that aren't adding up. How did you manage to avoid the shinobi that were following me? How come I have both my eyes? Why would the Hokage capture Danzo? You said something about an execution? What about—"

"Shisui, stop. Calm down," Itachi ordered and reluctantly, Shisui stopped with the barrage of questions. "It's… complicated. I shouldn't be the one explaining this, as I don't have all the facts, either. I could call Otou-sama and the Hokage here, they'd be the best option. They wanted to talk to you, anyway."

"Er… sure. That's fine," Shisui accepted with some bewilderment, because since the plans for a coup had started and Shisui had been ordered to keep an eye on his cousin, he hadn't heard Itachi referring to his father by anything else but Fugaku-sama. Something had happened while he was unconscious. Something even bigger than Danzo being apprehended.

But what?

"All right. Excuse me," the boy said and after squeezing Shisui's hand once more, he let go and walked out of the room.

He came back half an hour later with the Head of the Uchiha Clan and the Sandaime Hokage.

Shisui was then informed that he owed his life not only to his little cousin, but also to his accidental saviour. The blond man was named Namikaze Naruto, and he had taken Danzo down and retrieved Shisui's stolen eye. He had also helped the Sandaime with the investigation against the war hawk, which resulted in so many revelations that actually condemned the man to execution.

The best thing, though, happened when Shisui was left alone with Fugaku-sama and was informed that the Uchiha had decided to bury the hatchet and forget about the coup.

"The situation had been manipulated. We had been just where Danzo wanted us, obliviously dancing to his tune without even suspecting it," Fugaku had said solemnly, and there was an undercurrent of rage beneath his calm tone that burnt like acid, even when it was not directed at Shisui. "The Uchiha are no fools, and we do not let people manipulate us once we have realized that they are doing so. It has been decided that we should review our position within the village together with the Hokage. Ideally, the reasons why we decided to take such drastic measures will be cleared up and actions will be taken to resolve the situation in a way that results mutually beneficial."

Shisui had been ecstatic.

Things had turned out much better than he ever hoped they would when he had decided to approach Danzo with his solution to the coup.

Sure, he had lost an eye (which he regained afterwards) and almost died, put his cousin under too much stress and unknowingly revealed his opposition to the plan the Clan had been devoted to for so long. Sure, he'd probably be confined to the horrible hospital bed for some time, but—

He was alive, he was whole, the traitor was captured and his family and his village were once again in good terms—or at least working on getting there. His loved ones were safe and the prospect of war had been pushed far away.

He just hoped that he'd be able to meet Namikaze Naruto and express his deep gratitude to the man in person.

Whoops! There! What happened during that week? What's going to happen now? Mmmm... we'll see! :)

For anyone interested, the flowers Shisui got are Peonies, which stand for healing. I chose them over daisies because the room was already too white to have white flowers, too.

I hope you've enjoyed the chapter even with its distinct lack of Naruto. He's definitely appearing next, though!

Comments are appreciated!

Thank you all for reading!