#shisui is picking the sweetest fruits :)

[malignedaffairs]

Full artwork on AO3 (🍋🍋🍋)

[itachi-uchiha-deserved-better]

“OBSERVE”

Itachi always enjoyed watching Shisui. Not staring, because that was rude, but just watching as Shisui went about his day. Its something that Itachi didn't think that he'd ever be able to explain to anyone.

They were at the market. Itachi was picking up some things for his mother while Shisui just browsed, keeping Itachi company. As Itachi filled his basket, he kept glancing up to watch Shisui as the curly haired Uchiha fingered through a basket of apples, his brow furrowed as he focused on the firm red skin as if he was trying to see down into the core to figure out which apple would be the sweetest out of the barrel. The expression deepened the laugh lines around Shisui's eyes which Itachi loved.

"Hey 'Tachi, if we bring some apples home, do you think Mikoto would bake us a pie?" Shisui held out the apple he had in his hand for Itachi to inspect. Itachi's eyes shifted to meet Shisui's. He didn't take the offered apple, just shaking his head.

"Those aren't the right kind for baking. We'd want something more tart for that. "

Shisui pulled the fruit back up and frowned at it, an hint of disappointment behind his eyes. He turned back towards the open market stall, his unruly curls fluttering with the movement.

"There's at least a dozen kinds of apples here? Surely, one of them has to be good for baking." Without a second thought, Shisui put back the offending sweet apple and darted off to another barrel, staring down at it just as intently as he had the first. Itachi felt the corners of his mouth twitch up.

Many people didn't understand what it was that brought Itachi and Shisui together. To the casual observer, the pair were polar opposites. Itachi, calm and serious while Shisui was a bundle of nerves and chaotic energy that seemed ready to explode out of him at a seconds notice. No one else realized that Shisui's boisterous personality was exactly the reason why Itachi found him so enjoyable to be around. Wherever Shisui went, there was movement and laughter and warmth. Staring at Shisui was like staring into the sun. His jovial nature, his kind heart that was so at odds with his skill as a shinobi, they shone light into the darkest parts of Itachi, chasing off the shadows that clung to Itachi's soul. Whenever Itachi was with Shisui, he felt a little lighter. And when Shisui came back to Itachi with one of each kind of apple, offering out the basket full for Itachi's approval, Itachi couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Here. These yellow ones should do it. Let me go find some cinnamon and if Mother is busy then we can make the pie ourselves."

Shisui beamed, and Itachi couldn't help but let his sharingan flicker to life for an instant, so that he could burn the beauty of that smile into his mind forever.