A whole year had went by since she graduated from the academy. By some miracle she isn't dead. Which is extremely surprising considering that one of her teammates is actively trying to murder her.
Then there was Itachi who was growing a bit too fast for her liking. Soon, he'll be another little murder that gets sent onto the field far too early for any sane persons liking.
It's just too bad that no one in this village was sane.
"Sister!" Her brother barged into her legs with break neck speeds.
When did he even reach her knees? Hell, when did he learn to walk? She's certain he couldn't do that the last time she saw him.
Shirin kneels down to his height and pokes him on the head, you know, like a complete ass.
"Ouch!" The boy rubs his head while frowning, he really looks like his father when he does that.
At least she thinks so, the last time saw Fugaku was a few months after her fourth birthday before he was promptly drafted to the front lines. She's fairly certain Itachi hasn't even seen the man before.
"Hey there kid, how've you been?" Shirin asks more gently than she does with anyone else as Itachi beams.
"Learning Kunai!" He says while imitating throwing the pointy weapon.
Aw, they're already training him to be a little killer, she's so proud. Look at her, she's so damn happy.
Shirin frowned while getting up from her kneeling position. "Well, I suppose you're better at it then I was when I was your age."
At his age she was probably still insulting everything in her path. She really was a mean toddler. Eizan was a saint for putting up with her for so long.
Itachi looked positively ecstatic at her compliment. Yeah, if this kid was a future kin slayer then she was the goddamn Hokage.
"Cool and strong like sister!" He cheers while clutching her shirt. "Big and tall!"
Shirin abruptly pinched his cheeks, unable to resist. "Itachi, I'm completely convinced that if the five Kages were trapped in a room with you we would have peace in five minutes."
"Peace good! Like sister!" He agreed while bopping his head up and down.
Well, this sister wasn't exactly good but whatever floats his boat.
"Yeah," she ruffles his hair, "peace good."
Not that he'd know, born and raised in war and all. And then when the war ends he'll never truly know peace anyway.
Poor kid, he was practically made for bloodshed.
...
It was in the middle of packing for another mission that Shirin caught a glance of herself in the mirror. For a split second she could see herself before the mirror decided it had enough and cracked.
That was fine though because Shirin managed to make an assessment on herself anyway.
"Disgusting."
...
The Hyuga leaned against the tree, tired from the long journey. Shirin could relate, she couldn't even feel her legs.
Taro, that brat, was completely fine even after walking for a day straight.
"He is not part Nara." Sumei declares while glaring at the boy.
"I agree, he's definitely lying about that. His mother was probably a ball of pure energy which is why he seems to have an endless supply of it." Shirin nods along, also glaring at the Yamanaka.
The two girls paused, somehow comprehending that they agreed with each other before shivering in disgust. Ew.
...
"Are you hungry, Shirin?" Shikuro asks her while grabbing some ration bars from his bag.
"No thanks Sensei." She replies rather dryly. "I'd rather die then touch those absolute abominations you call food."
"Please don't." He deadpans while handing her a bar. "Why? Because it is a lot of paperwork should you die."
"Thank Sensei, I'm really feeling the love." Shirin remarked sarcastically while rolling her eyes.
"Hm, I try. We can bond over endurance training once we get back."
How mean. She's so upset.
...
The three of them sat around a campfire while their Sensei was off to collect anything they could use to make a fire. Suna had no right to be so cold at night when it was blistering hot during the day.
"Um, Shirin, could you like set some sand on fire or something?" Taro asks while shivering.
"Sand does catch on fire Taro or trust me the entire desert would be on fire."
From the sun or from the Uchiha clan is anyones guess.
The Yamanaka groaned. "I hate the desert."
"I quite like it." The Hyuga murmurs. "It reminds me of the cold room."
Shirin was not going to even touch that.
Taro, on the other hand, was.
"The cold room?"
"Parents can throw their misbehaving children in there to receive punishment via extreame cold."
And here Shirin thought her clans shock room was too much. At least it wasn't used on children but rather traitors.
(If Itachi was stopped there would be no doubt on what room he'd be in).
"And that comforts you?!" He exclaimed in disbelief.
Sumei shrugged. "Better the cold room than the caged bird seal."
Right, because Sumei was the daughter of a clan elder and therefore was main branch material. It didn't make her fear it any less.
And they say blood is thicker than water.
...
The Uchiha Heiress clutched her wound in relative agony. If she bleeds out on the sands of Suna she'll cry in the Shinigami's belly, that is not the way she wants to go out. Dying in pain is not great, at least make it quick.
Sumei was buried into her side, breathing heavily and also bleeding quite badly. Taro was...alive. Probably. He hasn't moved in a while but she's sure he's alive.
An Iwa-nin approaches menacingly, or at least a very poorly disguised Iwa-nin, the Root smell is definitely there.
Pushing Sumei's face into her stomach so that she can't see the nin coming straight for them Shirin breaths in heavily while pooling chakra into her eyes.
"Mangekyo Sharingan."
The Root-nin died not a second later, a kunai plunged into their throat before they even had a clue what was going on.
...
"Hey Sumei, how does the Byakugan work? Like, how do you unlock it." Taro asks as the Hyuga bandaged up his wounds.
"Unlike the Uchiha we are born with our eyes ready to use. We use a sequence of hand signs as children to gain a better grasp on how to use our eyes. More advanced members don't need to do that." The girl explains, pride oozing from her voice.
Taro bops his head up and down before wincing when a stitch becomes undone. "Then how about you Shirin?"
She shrugs her shoulders. "I didn't listen in that particular lesson."
"Shirin~" he wined. "Come on, I'm curious."
With a sigh she decides to spill some clan secrets to the boy. "They reflect our soul, the more you go through the more powerful your eyes are."
And really, if her eyes reflect her soul then that explained a lot.
Her eyes didn't hold a pinwheel, just a colour she hadn't worn in her eyes for a lifetime.
...
Shirin stood over the corpse of her sensei. Taro was by his side in a second, trying to stop the bleeding.
"He's gone, Taro." Sumei echoed, her lilac pupils shaking. "We were too late."
Ah, the blame game, Shirin hadn't missed that one bit.
"Well, I figured that would be the case." Sumei looked at her sharply. "The enemy nin were after sensei, they dealt with him first."
"And how would you know that?"
The Uchiha knelt down next to the deceased man. "The enemy was covered in his dead bugs."
That was enough for both Sumei and Taro as they broke down sobbing like the seven year olds they were.
...
"Well, at least we got promoted." Shirin said dryly, eyeing her brand new chunin vest like it was her death warrant.
It was like the village was asking her to die faster.
Sumei nodded stiffly. "We will no longer be a team then."
"Yeah, I'm dropping from the shinobi forces."
Taro snorts. "You say that every time but always get denied your leave."
Yeah, because her clan is evil and keeps pulling some unknown strings to make her life miserable.
"I'll get it this time."
"In your dreams maybe." Sumei mocked with her signature smirk plastered across her face.
Silence befell the memorial stone once more.
"Sensei's wife is pregnant." Shirin murmurs.
Taro sniffled.
"He'll never get to see his kid." He states while his voice cracks.
"You gonna cry?" Sumei attempts to make fun of him but fails when she hiccups.
"W-what, no way." Taro looks to her. "Shirin is only a baby, she's six! If anything, she's gonna cry so we have to look after her!"
Yeah not happening.
Sumei nods at his logic. "T-that's right. W-we must be strong, for Shirin."
"For Shirin."
Shirin doesn't need your comfort!
In the end she didn't stop them from trying.
...
The old shrine still stands, a surprise really considering there are quite a few illegal religions going on there.
"Ah, you were Ruri's child." An elderly man stated while eyeing her. "Come this way, I know what you want."
"Then I'll trust you"
She absolutely wouldn't.
He leads her to a run down section of the shrine were not many worshippers sat. There was a circle made from purple paint.
"Stand in the circle and you shall have what you wish for."
"And the price?"
"Do you care?"
No, but it would be nice to know.
"One month of your life and a blood pact with the Shinigami." He informs her while smacking his cain off the ground a couple times.
Shirin entered the circle and cut her hand. "Today I offer one month of my life in exchange for communication to a member of the dead."
Silence.
Maybe this was a stupid idea.
"Shirin." A voice echoes off of imaginary walls.
"Sensei." She breaths heavily, looking towards the man.
"..."
"..."
"I don't have long."
"I figured, but there's something I must tell you."
"And that is?"
The Uchiha heiress hesitates. "Your son was born healthy and will live a long life."
If he stays a civilian that is.
The Aburame smiles. "Then that is all I can ever hope for."
And as quickly as he came he exited the world of the living.
...
"Happy birthday kid." Shirin says while grabbing something from her pocket. "I got you a gift."
Itachi leans in to see what it is. "Ring?" He questions while furrowing his brows.
"A special ring."
He puts it on his pointer finger. "Isn't special."
"Is to."
"Is not."
"Is to."
"Is not."
Shirin covered her ears. "Lalalala, I can't hear you over how special the ring is."
She's so mature.
"Fine!" He agrees, still angry. "Ring is special!"
"I lied, it isn't special."
Itachi screeched like a banshee while using all his kunai practice to throw one at her.
...
"You can't be here." Shirin tells the strange man that was walking a bit to near the main house for her liking.
"I-what?" He looks confused.
She suddenly felt annoyed. "Did you not hear me the first time? You can't be here, this is main house property."
"..."
The man was speechless. "But I am main house." He insists, looking confused.
"Just because your great great third uncle was related to us at one point doesn't make you main house."
Seriously, who did this guy think he was?
...
That man was her father which she only discovered after getting him arrested for trespassing. Poor guy.
Kushina cackled like a mad woman when she told her what happened. Because of course she would take joy in anything that would bring her father misery.
...
Her father had taken Itachi to the battlefield. She wants to wring his neck with her chubby little hands. Suddenly, Shirin doesn't feel so bad about getting him arrested.
Mikoto had made him sleep in the garden shed for every night her brother had a nightmare. As she should.
...
"Aw, your brother is adorable." Taro states while ruffling the younger Uchiha's hair. "I wish I had siblings."
He only says that because Itachi has decidedly not bitten him yet.
"You don't, trust me." Sumei says while eyeing Itachi with distrust.
Oh yeah, didn't Sumei's older brother try to drown her? The Hyuga clan commits a disgusting amount of parricide that she's surprised there isn't a civil war between that clan. Oh wait, that already happened.
Not that her clan can say much. Rest in pieces Uchiha Junshi, gone and forgotten.
"I'm good!" Itachi argues while staring down Sumei.
"Sure you are, brat."
"Don't call my brother a brat."
She's the only person that can do that.
Sumei rolls her eyes but doesn't argue.
...
Little Torune babbled happily upon seeing her. The kid reminded her a lot of Itachi when he was still in his cradle and couldn't talk back yet.
"Hey there brat, how are you?" She whispers as the kid said some nonsense that wasn't even real words.
"He's getting quite big now." The clan head of the Aburame clan, Shibi, murmured as he sat down next to her.
"Thank you for taking in Sensei's kid."
Sensei's wife died in childbirth. The kid just kept losing in life before it even begun.
She would've taken him if there were no other options, Torune deserved happiness and her seven year old body wasn't going to stop her from giving it to him.
"There is no need to thank me. Why? Because it was the right thing to do."
Shirin chuckled lowly, trying not to agitate the newly placed Kikaichu in Torune's body. "Do all Aburame talk like that?"
"I believe so. Why? Because it may be down to our genetics."
"Perhaps."
She's fairly certain genetics don't work like that but who is she to tell gravity defying ninja what they can and can't do?
"Do the Kikaichu hurt?"
Shibi tilts his head at the question. "When the child is young there is some bumps but they ultimately get used to them. Why? Their bodies adapt to the Kikaichu."
Sensei never fully did, she hopes Torune doesn't share that particular genetic with his father.
...
Obito waved towards her, gesturing her to come over. Naturally, Shirin went in the complete opposite direction.
"Hey princess, get your butt over here!" He yells, losing all discretion.
Who the hell was he calling a princesses?!
Shirin turned on her heel and stomped over to the Uchiha outcast who promptly started sweating profusely.
"W-wait, I'm sorry!" He apologises immediately when she's five feet away from kicking him in the shin.
"Well then." She says sweetly. "Spit it out while you still have teeth."
"You're a girl, right?" He blurts out.
Her face darkened while her eyes were on the verge of activating her sharingan.
"What do you think?"
He chuckled nervously. "Well, you obviously are. But like, I need your help with something that only a girl can help me with."
"And you decided to come to me of all people?"
"Yeah, well, you're the only girl besides Kushina and my grandma that I can tell." He states before getting to the point. "So here's the thing, I have a crush on this girl called Rin and I want to get her a gift. What do girls like?"
Shirin was speechless. Someone actually came to her for dating advice. The Shinigami must be eyeing her life to by that logic.
"Um, what does she do for hobbies?"
"...Heals people?"
He's hopeless.
"Get her a corpse she can experiment on, healers love that."
The scary part was that Obito looked as though he were considering it.
"Not really you idiot!" She yelled, bopping him on the head. "How would you even get one?!"
"...I know a place."
What does that even mean?!
She sighed while rubbing her forehead. "Get her flowers, they're a classic. Go to the Yamanaka shop and ask for Taro, he'll get you something good."
The boy beamed while rubbing his head. "Thanks a million princess! You really are the best!"
"Don't you dare call me princess again!" She exclaims but he was already gone.
...
Obito was pronounced dead not a month later. She wonders if Rin liked the flowers.
...
Rin died not a year later, at least they've got each other in the Shinigami's belly.
...
Hatake doesn't say anything as she sits down next to him at the memorial stone. Shirin didn't either, she doesn't like the kid all that much. But by god does he look lonely.
Friend killer Kakashi, a stupid nickname made by stupid people.
Maybe the Hatake is better than her in that aspect. Had someone called her that a kunai would've been plunged into their neck faster than she had done to her Sensei's murderer.
...
Namikaze Minato was named Hokage on a sunny. The sunlight shimmered off his hair beautifully as he gazed down to the crowds.
His speech was filled with pretty words of revival. It was just too bad he'll never be able to fulfil them.
Shirin gazed at a not so obviously pregnant Kushina who stood behind Minato. She had the biggest grin ever on her face. They look so happy.
She almost feels bad how their life was about to crash and burn in a kyuubi induced rampage.
...
Her new youngest brother was born when she was in the hospital for chakra deprivation. At least she was able to make it to his birth.
"Cute kid." Shirin notes as Itachi looks down to the kid like he put the stars in the sky.
"Is this how you felt when you looked at me for the first time?"
Probably not.
"Sure kid."
The freshly made big brother smiled gently toward his little brother. "I want to protect him."
Just don't irreparably traumatise him in the process.
"You do that little man." She ruffles his hair as he puffs his cheeks.
"I'm big now, you can't do that anymore sister."
Oh she absolutely could, it was her privilege as a big sister to be able to annoy her younger siblings.
He'll learn, soon.
...
Itachi made it to the shelter with his brother in one arm and a girl around his age in his other.
"You're safe." He breaths out heavily, falling to his knees while being careful not to drop Sasuke.
She knelt down next to him. "Of course I am, was there any doubt?"
He looked like he was about to cry, so there was doubt.
"Well, I'm fine." She looks towards the girl whose eyes had a singular tomoe spinning in them.
Poor kid will never forget this day for as long as she lives.
"Shirin!" Taro yells as he brings her into a hug.
Sumei appears not a second later, hair looking more disheveled then she had ever seen before. "You're both safe." Taro grabs Sumei, Itachi and the girl and pulls them into the hug.
Someone was crying into her shirt, she hopes it doesn't stain.
...
The Fourth Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina were dead. Hatake looked as though he were about to join them in all honesty.
Izumi, the girl Itachi saved, was silently crying into her hands as the Hokage gave his crappy speech.
Itachi stood next to her and occasionally patted her on the back awkwardly. It would've been adorable if the mood wasn't so solemn.
A new rock had to be made for all the dead people since the old one got destroyed. At least you can request old names to be put on there.
Shirin immediately requested for her name to be put into the memorial stone. She was denied.
...
Taro traced his finger on the memorial stone, trying to find a name. "Sensei isn't on here."
The Hyuga of the old team stepped forward to analyse the stone. "You're correct, he isn't on the stone."
Well that's mean. Her entire fortune bets that it was Shimura. Old coot had it in for Sensei ever since he refused to sign off of on Sumei's recruitment into Root.
"Well, we can always carve it on there."
Her old teammates looked at her as though she were crazy.
"We can't do that!" Taro turned to Sumei. "Can we?"
"I-" she hesitates, "don't know?"
"No ones gonna find out." Shirin insists as the two contemplate it.
She's a bad influence.
"I guess if no one knows..."
A no good, horrible little influence.
Shirin grins. "Get me a rock so that I can carve his name in."
____________________________________
An: hope you enjoyed.