To read up to 15 chapters ahead: https://www.patréon.com/SlyOW

-------------

I did not comment on his lack of reaction, and said, "Both of them are upset with me, but I'm working with them."

Itachi looked at me and said, "If you continuously tease others, they won't become your friends."

I slapped him in the back, since his shoulder was too high for me, and said, "Worrying for me cutie?"

Itachi shook his head, "Next time I'll tell my mom to say I'm not home."

I snorted, "Fine, fine… But for once, I did tease with a purpose in mind, other than messing with people that is."

Itachi did not say anything, but the way he looked at me perfectly displayed his curiosity.

So I explained, "Probably like you did, I joined an already established team…"

Itachi shook his head and said, "I graduated at the end of my term, so I formed a team."

I nodded and continued, "Well, for me to join, one of them had to leave, and in our field of work, it's either tragic or traumatic. Here, it was tragic."

Itachi mumbled, "You replaced a dead teammate…"

I nodded, and a heavy silence followed. I quickly broke it though and said, "Because of that, they don't want to attach themselves to me, probably in fear of feeling the same pain they did with whoever I replaced. Even if I had behaved perfectly, they would have ignored me."

Itachi listened on silently, so I continued, "That's why I teased them. It is harder to become the friend of someone doing their best to ignore you than someone who hates your guts, you know. So I teased them, and while they did hate me at first, they are quickly falling in love with me. Particularly Izumi."

Itachi smiled slightly, before saying, "They aren't as closed as you think they are. Probably not, that is."

Curious, I asked, "How so?"

Itachi explained, "To awaken the Sharingan, an Uchiha needs to go through a strong emotion. For me, like many others, it was loss."

"Sorry to hear that." I almost slipped in a joke about clan secrets, but it wasn't the right time.

Itachi nodded and said, "After one of my teammates died, we were given the choice to get another teammate, or just leave a hole in the team. So for you to have joined that team, at least know they agreed to have someone else in their team."

That was… surprising.

"What did you do?"

Itachi replied, "My teammate… quit. As for me, I joined another team."

I nodded, and suddenly Itachi stopped. Looking around, we hadn't left the Uchiha Compound, and had instead moved to the training grounds. The ones exclusive to the Uchiha Clan.

There, many Uchiha members were training, many more than I thought the clan even had members. Among those, a man walked towards us. He had short black hair, and was dressed in the Jonin attire, with a sword in his back. He looked like he was a couple years older than Itachi, and unlike the latter, his emotions were clear to see as he came up to them with a wide grin.

"Itachi, you brought a guest with you today?"

Itachi muttered back, "More like a demon…"

Shisui rose an eyebrow, before looking at me, and said, "I never saw you around before. Nice to meet you, I'm Shisui Uchiha."

Forcibly pushing down my inner fangirl, I shook his hand and winked, "And I was kidnapped by Itachi."

Shisui froze on the spot, making chuckle. Shisui sent a glance at Itachi, obviously asking what the hell was happening, to which Itachi explained, "This is Sukaina, the one who stopped the spy."

Shisui's eyes turned round, so I let go of his hand and slightly rubbed my shoulder against Itachi's, "Speaking of me to your friends? I knew I had a place in my heart."

"You do. In it's rotting part."

I grinned, and Shisui looked back and forth between the two of us, before saying, "I can't believe it."

I looked at him, and was shocked to find him bowing to me. He said, "Sukaina-Sensei, please teach me how to make him express so many emotions."

I took an old voice as I slowly spoke, "It is an ancestral art I developed through years of painstaking efforts."

Shisui replied, "I would do anything!"

I hummed, "Interesting… Unfortunately, you lack a certain quality to attain true embarrassment from Itachi-chan."

"Itachi-chan?! Please, tell me your secret!"

Switching from old to arrogant, I replied, "You have to be the most beautiful woman in the five nations."

Shisui was visibly shocked, before he made a hand sign, and with a puff of smoke, I saw a copy of myself standing in front of me.

A little disgruntled, I coughed and said, "Alright, you're getting better."

Itachi sighed, "I knew I was going to regret this… Can you two stop for a second?"

However, he flinched when two of me turned to look at him at the same time, in the same way. I grinned and looked at Shisui, showing him a thumb up, "You're learning fast disciple!"

Shisui turned back into his normal self as he said, "I'm learning from the best after all."

I tapped Itachi's arm and said, "See? He knows how to talk to a lady, unlike you, Itachi-chan. You should learn from Shisui more."

"Hear her? Learn from me, Itachi-chan."

Itachi shook his head and disappeared from the spot, in a fit of shunshin. Shisui and I looked at each other, grinning.

"For embarrassing Itachi more in a couple of minutes than I did in seven years, you have earned my most heartfelt respect, Sukaina-sensei."

I chuckled, "People often feel that way with me. Anyway, Itachi brought me here because I have a request."

"And what that may be?"

I pointed at the sword in his back and said, "I would like to learn swordsmanship."

Shisui's eyebrows rose in surprise as he asked, "Itachi recommended me to you?"

I nodded, "I first asked about one of his teammate, as she is the only swordswoman I know, but he said your swordsmanship suited me more."

"He said that?"

"With stars shining in his eyes."

Shisui smiled, before disappearing from my sight. Out of sheer instinct, I sent an elbow strike behind him, but it was blocked by a soft hand.

"People capable of following me when I use the Body Flicker are rare, even among the Uchiha."

I shrugged as he let go of my elbow, and turned to him, "I couldn't, it was instinct."

Shisui shook his head and said, "At your level, instincts are mostly informations your conscious couldn't read fast enough, and were transferred to your unconscious. It means you did better than many, and have a high potential. I specialize in speed, and a very high reaction speed and dynamic vision is needed to follow my training. It seems you fill out the requirements."

I was reminded of the Chidori by Shisui's words. In the canonical world, Kakashi had created the Chidori before getting the Sharingan from Obito, and was incapable of following his own movement without a Sharingan. It seemed Shisui's technique was the same.

Shisui walked around me, peering at me like a hawk as he asked, "Have you mastered the Body Flicker?"

I shook my head, so Shisui said, "Fine, then we'll train you in the Body Flicker, alongside with the basics of Kenjutsu."

My hands in my back, it was my turn to twirl around Shisui, with more grace if I may, and I said, "My oh my, being taught the Body Flicker by Shisui of the Body Flicker, the elemental nations will shake in fear."